block(s) for Jacquie (and Jon)

so I made my block for the next month of the quilt bee today. I opened the fabric when I got it, but didn't take a close look at it. today I laid them out, and I was really struck by the deer paint-by-number fabric, so I decided to showcase it in the block. I use the blue linen as lines between, to look a bit like a windowpane maybe.



I decided to make a second block with the scraps:


I hope Jacquie (and Jon) like these!

For Jacquie

I sewed this up yesterday - I already had Denyse Schmidt on my mind since I was sewing up this quilt and of course, Project Improv.

I hope this is what your son was envisioning Jacquie.....I was a little nervous about this block. I wanted to make sure I got it right.

I left it at 16" so you can cut it down when you get it (so it wouldn't fray too much).

Modern Dots

i finally got back into the sewing room today and a quilt block was the perfect-size project for me to tackle.

i love, love, love this dot fabric, so i decided that for me, "minimal" meant using only two different fabrics. and a minimal number of seams. you could also view the block in this orientation:

well, i suppose you could turn it in any of the four directions, but these were the only two i photographed. it's a bit of a stab in the dark, but i hope your son likes it, jacquie! thanks for giving me the chance to play with this print.

Jenny's block

Here you are Jenny:

Thank you for a gentle nudge out of my comfort zone. I decided on the wonky log cabin theme as well, but wonky and improvisational is not my forte'. In fact, I sketched it out first and seriously considered paper piecing it because I was so nervous. (Keep in mind I'm the one who actually made templates for the only slightly skewed seams in our first blocks for Rebecca.)

Doing several smaller wonky blocks seemed less intimidating to me than one large one, so I wound up with a miniquilt effect here. In fact, there's another small block I rejected, but will send off to you. Perhaps you can use it in the backing.

As I look at the picture, I wish I had rotated it 90 degrees. I think I like it better that way. Tilt your head to the right and see if you agree.

Another Block for Jenny

Here is my block for Jenny. I loved loved loved her fabric choices and making a wonky log cabin is one of my new favorite things to do so this was especially fun for me. Unfortunately, the post office is closed tomorrow so it won't get into the mail until Tuesday. I hope you like it!

modern, minimal, masculine...a quilt for jon

The quilt for February is for my son, Jon, who will be graduating from high school in May. This quilt is to go with him to college. At first I wanted the quilt to be a total surprise, but I quickly realized that I couldn't pick the fabric or the style for him, so I let him choose. He looked at all my fabric and chose Erin Michael's Lush. The boy has good taste. He also chose a aqua/blue linen. His instructions: modern, minimal, masculine.

The fabric fits his personality and lots of things about him. He grew up in the country building forts in the woods and watching the deer in the backyard. He's now a total city kid. He's artistic and musical and loves modern design.

So here are the fabrics. There are four different combinations. Jon's words of advice: think simple, stark, minimal, nothing too fussy or complicated. (he doesn't want it to look like a quilt block, if that makes sense.)

Don't feel like you have to use all of the fabrics you were sent. Jon wanted one of the prints showcased in each block. There are a couple of solids with each print. I pushed for a pop of bright color, but he really liked the muted colors. I'm good with you adding fabrics, but try to stay with the feeling Jon described.

The blocks are going to be large, 15.5 inches. If you want to make it larger and let me trim it when it arrives, that's fine too. That linen can fray like crazy.

I looked for inspiration quilts, but I couldn't find one that had the feeling that he described.

I don't have loads of experience working with linen, but a couple of things I learned that might help. I used spray starch on the linen before cutting and even during the piecing. It helps keep it a bit more stable. I also pressed seams open. This reduces bulk and makes a nicer block. Be sure to press, not iron. That linen will stretch out of shape in a minute.

I'm not quite sure of the structure of the rest of the quilt at this point. I may frame the blocks in the brown and blue wood grain fabric or I may make setting blocks that use all the prints in the line to resemble vinyl record albums...large circles with a smaller center circle. I'm still playing with the design. I hope you have enough fabric. The linen is the only fabric that I'm short on...but if you need more I'm sure we can figure it out.

Have fun folks! The packages go in the mail in the morning!

Jenny's Blocks

Here you go, Jenny. I had extra fabric and tried to make two blocks.This block has just a little bit of wonkiness. It didn't exactly turn out the way I had imagined in my head, but it's pretty close.This one was a total experiment. I had some ideas I wanted to play around with, but I ran out of fabric.As you can see, the second block is smaller. I sent it along anyways, in case you want to use it. I hope you like it, Jenny.