I Dream of Quilts

New Blog: www.thequiltengineer.com

idreamofquilts — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:52:34 +0000

Hello everyone! Thanks so much for visiting this blog! I’m so excited that I’ve got my new blog The Quilt Engineer up and running. Please come visit me there to see new posts.

There will be no further posts to this blog.

Thanks for visiting me!
Latifah

The Madelyn: A Girly Modern Baby Quilt Gift Set

idreamofquilts — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:31:19 +0000

So, I just completed a quilt gift set for a coworker. He and his wife were the first friends that I had in the last couple years that have had a baby girl. I love baby gifts and I love little boys but, it’s just something about being able to create a truly girly baby gift. So, I saw the Frolic line by Wendy Slotboom in the fabric store and just knew I had to use this fabric as the inspiration for the quilt. What is cuter than fabric with a collection of owls, possums, squirrels, and woodpeckers on it? And it’s paired with pinks and yellows and greens? So cute. Then I picked a bunch of Kona solids and other fabrics to coordinate and I went to town. I knew exactly what pattern that I was going to use. I had sketched this out for a very colorful quilt a while ago (made with solids of course) but, I was excited to try it with prints. I do love how it turned out. It’s so delicate and girly. And so out of my comfort zone with the colors. I love it! I even got a chance to use one of my decorative stitches on my machine that I never use. The decorative stitch added such an extra dimension of girliness too! Let me know what you think about it!

Here’s the quilt with the ball on it.

Here’s a detail shot of the quilt. The squares are 1.5″ square. And there are two lines of decorate stitching in each of the two white panels. Oh, and you can see a peek of the back with that striped pink and white minky on it.

I usually make “Bibs, Burps, and Balls” to go with baby gifts. I made three bibs and three burp cloths.

Here are the bibs by themselves.

Bib detail. On the gray bib i just added a few straight line stitches.

On the bib with white, I put a line of the same decorative stitch that was on the quilt.

Here’s a little detail from the ball. It’s not as round as I would like it but, it’s still cute!

And, what’s a gift without a card? I also used the decorative stitch here!

Here’s the inside of the card.

And, here it the gift all wrapped up!

Now I’m ready to make this quilt in a colorway that more reflects me! Here I come solids!

A Really Awesome Giveaway: Congrats R0ssie!

idreamofquilts — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:53:12 +0000

So, if any of you are into modern quilting and DON’T know about the flickr group Fresh Modern Quilts, then you don’t know what you’re missing. But, I suspect it’s not that many of you because the group has just surpassed 2,000 members! In celebration of this R0ssie is having an amazing giveaway with 29 – yes, that’s right 29 – awesome giveaway items. These giveaways items are from some of the most amazing contributors to the Modern Quilting world. Check it out and sign up to win here.

Just a sneak peek at some of the amazing giveaways:

Signed Copy of Denyse Schmidt Quilts! (Photo courtesy of R0ssie)

Fabric Pack from the Awesome Malka at Stitch in Dye & a Pillow Pattern (Photo courtesy of R0ssie)

Fabric from Lucie Summers (Photo courtesy of R0ssie)

And, yes, there are 26 more. You have to check it out.

Bee Blocks for March

idreamofquilts — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:47:28 +0000

This weekend I got caught up on all of my Bee Blocks! The first two are for the amazing Jenny from Home Ec for the Bricolage and Butter Bee. They were a lot of fun to make! The great thing about bees is that you get to play with fabric that you never would use yourself. I love the linens that Jenny chose and the warm and cozy feeling of the blocks when they were finished. I hope you like them Jenny!

Bricolage & Butter Bee for Jenny, Block 1

Bricolage & Butter Bee for Jenny, Block 2

Second are blocks for Greta for the Fussy Cut Bee, Group B. So much fun and so many bright colors. This is going to be an awesome quilt when it’s all put together. The floral fussy cut centers of the log cabin were lots of fun. Greta, I hope this is what you were looking for!

The Fussy Cut Bee - March Blocks for Greta, Block 1

The Fussy Cut Bee - March Blocks for Greta, Block 2

I’m also have about half of my blocks back from the Bricolage and Butter Bee. They are sooooo awesome! Look at those colors. I carried around all of the blocks that I have so far for a few days because I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them! Here’s a sneak peak from Lauren. I’ll share all of my blocks with you when I get them.

Bricolage & Butter Bee - Blocks from Lauren to ME!

Boardwalk Quilt & More Coming Soon. . .

idreamofquilts — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:03:11 +0000

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. It’s been a lot going on in my world, which of course is no excuse. BUT, if it’s any consolation, I have some really exciting things coming up here soon. Look for the first post on the 5th of April (So, it looks like we’ll be launching sometime in May. Stay posted!).

In the meantime, I took a few pictures of my latest quilt creation this weekend. It is a quilt that I made as a throw for my bedroom. It is called “Boardwalk”. I had a hard time naming it but, my friend Chris suggested “Boardwalk and I thought it was perfect. The long vertical stripes do put you in mind of a boardwalk. I love the colors and the vibrancy of this quilt. I debated over the white binding and even took it to the LA Modern Quilt Guild meeting to get everyone’s vote. I got lots of great advice but in the end they encouraged me to be daring and go with the white. I’m so happy I did. It wasn’t until the binding was completely sewn on that I knew I had made the right decision. I did have a challenge with the mitered corners for a 1″ binding (finished width). Maybe I’ll add a quick tutorial on this because I love the effect of the 1″ binding. I’ll post more pictures soon.

Moment – Japanese Fabric Store

idreamofquilts — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:10:54 +0000

I just so happened to be in Torrance, CA taking care of some business this afternoon when remembered a discussion post over at the LA Modern Quilt Guild about a new Japanese fabric store on this side of town . . . I just can’t resist oogling over beautiful fabric so of course I had to find it. Just walking in the store I knew I was in trouble!

It’s called Moment (I love that name) and it was pretty awesome. It’s the largest selection of Japanese fabrics that I’ve seen – they say the largest in the US. I snapped a few photos with my camera phone. They’re not that great but, they give you a glimpse of all the awesomeness! Aside from fabric, they had great trims and lots of other goodies straight from Japan – all sewing related. And if you purchase fabric, they’ll give you a free 2 hour sewing lesson!

Hope you enjoy the eye candy!

Echino selection at Moment

Fat Quarter Selection

Adorable Linen Trims

Cute Felt Animals

What exactly does “modern quilting” mean?

idreamofquilts — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:14:46 +0000

What does “modern quilting” mean? I’m sure each of you has your view on this. And some of you are very opinionated about it. Well, you’re being invited to share your views on the Modern Quilt Guild site. There will be posts every day this week.

Check it out and don’t forget to chime in.

I’m NOT the only weird one. . .

idreamofquilts — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:20:17 +0000

That’s what I think when I’m with all the other amazing ladies (we haven’t had any men attend yet ) that attend the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild meetings. I guess many of us quilters and crafters have always created alone. Of course the internet has opened up a wide community but, it’s nothing like being in person with people that are just as passionate about your art as you are. Yay! This is so much fun.

My family and friends are extremely supportive and appreciative but, I think I can see just a hint of ‘she’s just a tad bit touched’ in their eye as I’m passionately describing my latest quilting exploit. But, the Modern Quilt Guild is like my support group. We can all be weird about this together and it feels like we’re finally at home with people that understand us!

It is both fun and inspiring to see all the creativity that comes out of the guild. And, this month to see all the creative potholders – wow! And the awesome show and tell quilts. Here’s a few pictures so you can get a glimpse of the fun! Enjoy!

Going Potholder Crazy!

idreamofquilts — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:57:44 +0000

The Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild had a potholder swap for our December Holiday Gift Exchange. At first I wasn’t extremely excited but, when it came down to it I had an absolute blast. There was a problem though. We had to design ONE potholder. One potholder? Are you serious? That was excruciating for me! So, instead of one, I designed FOUR! I know, I know. That’s a few more than one but, I had fun AND I got to try out some new techniques that I hadn’t tried before. The biggest thing that I got out of making potholders is that they are like a tiny mini quilt. Like a one block quilt. Anyhow, here are the potholders that I designed. Let me know what you think. The photos aren’t that great because I waited until I got to Home Ec. for the guild meeting to snap photos and wrap them!

Striped Delight
I’m really into solids and I have a sketch in my quilt sketchbook to make a quilt using 1″ strips (1.5″ strips with 1/4″ seam allowance on each side) of a variety of solids. So, I decided that my first potholder would be a mini version of this – with 1/2″ strips. I LOVE IT! I can’t wait to make a quilt like this. Very modern and chic. And fun as a potholder. Of course this one had to be circle. I just love circles – and it really seems to balance the linear design of the 1/2″ strips. The details were fun too because I put lots of colors on the back too – even inside the pockets have different colors – I didn’t take pictures though.

Improv
So, I’ve never done the improvisational log cabin block that everyone does. For some reason, I’m more drawn to clean lines and exactness in my quilts. So, this of course was my chance to do it. I had just bought a few pieces of the Alexander Henry Lorenza fabric in the Onyx colorway so I decided to have a go at it. I paired it with a couple of really weird Kona Cottons that I had bought for another project and they matched perfect. I bound it in Kona Cotton Cerise – one of my current favorites.

Strings of Strawberries
I hadn’t yet convinced myself to invest the energy in string piecing a whole quilt but, I’ve always wanted to try it. So, here was my golden chance. I had fabric left over from my Strawberry Disco Fields quilt and pulled a couple of other prints from my stash. It turned out to be a lot of green and a little red and black sprinkled in. So, I highlighted the green and just put one print on the back – a green and white polka. But, there a surprise inside! A little more of the Very Berry fabric! Once again – I didn’t get photos of the inside but, you’ll have to trust me!

Squares in Circles
When pulling fabrics from my stash, I had a stack of black and white next to a stash of green and whites and I just loved the combo. I just had to do something with this. I, as most of you have since established, love circles as well. So, I just pieced squares of various alternating green and white & black and white fabrics in a little patchwork block and then I pieced this into a black circle which I then pieced into a whit background. I had fun with concentric circle quilting lines on this one. I also love the back. Pretty simple. But, I’ve always loved the Disco Dots fabric by Michael Miller in Black and White so I had to highlight it. The back is a little bit of a mistake. My intention was to have a green and white print at the top where the white is but, I think I placed it upside down. Oh well, another perfect mistake!

And the Winner Is. . .

idreamofquilts — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:22:08 +0000

Sorry for the delay! I ran the Random Number Generator yesterday but, didn’t finish with my post. Anyhow I’ve been having so much fun this week with the potholders (for the swap that we had at the LA Modern Quilt Guild last night) I decided that the lucky winner will get to tell me what colors that she wants so that it will match her kitchen(or whatever other colors that she wants)!

And the winner is. . . . drum roll please. . . number 67 – Lynne! I will be emailing you shortly. Please respond back with your mailing address and the colors for your potholder so that I can get it in the mail by the 12th!

And, I know how much fun I had with the last potholders I made that I can’t just make one. So, I decided to pick another winner – or to let the Random Number Generator pick another winner. And the second winner is . . . Number 22 – Valerie! Once again, you can pick your colors and I’ll try to come up with something fun. Expect an email from me soon!

Thanks everyone for participating! And, I can’t wait to do it again.

Cheers!