contemporary quilts

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle from Quilt & Textile Collections

Earth Day is approaching soon and since textiles lovers are big material consumables, we should try to do our part to save the earth. Most of us have the condition Stable Syndrome or “stash accumulated beyond life expectancy.” As you know, to aid the world the first rule is to reduce. So, to celebrate Earth Day, why not see how much fabric you can use from your stash. That’s right, sew away for the day! (If you need to buy a few pieces of new fabric to make use of the stash, no worries, it was already made and ...

added 1 year ago. under contemporary quilts

Wild Goose Chase.....Top Done from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

I spent some time in the Thread Shed

yesterday piecing the last 2 seams

of the Wild Goose Chase quilt top:

2 Seams left to piece together...

1 seam left to piece together...

Giving it a final pressing...

I took it outdoors for a photo shoot...

I put it back on the design wall

and noticed that the very last flying goose

on the bottom right corner...

is upside down.

Time to get out the seam ripper !

Wild Goose Chase 56 x 66

CLICK HERE to view all Improv posts

CLICK HERE to view all Fabulous Finishes 2022

CLICK HERE ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 1 year, 10 months ago. under contemporary quilts , design wall , improv , new work

Improv....Wild Goose Chase.....Progress from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

This is what the improv piece looked

like a week ago on the design wall:

I have continued to add more flying geese units

around the outside edges...

I am slowly filling in all the gaps...

I started to piece the top together...

it is like a puzzle putting all of these units

together of all varied sizes.

There are so many seams,

the quilt is shrinking in all directions

as I piece it together...

It is becoming one cohesive unit...

I am in the process of adding a new row

to the right side...

then I can piece all ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 1 year, 10 months ago. under contemporary quilts , design wall , improv , new work

Improv Piecing.....Wild Goose Chase from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

In the last 2 weeks I have spent some time

with my latest improv project...

This is what it looked like 2 weeks ago:

I was just getting a few blocks up

on the design wall...

It is growing...

All of these flying geese units together,

remind me of a Wild Goose Chase...

My scraps are dwindling...

I am using fabrics scraps from hexagon quilt

I made a few years back.

I will keep adding geese units

until the scraps run out...

The Thread Shed has a new addition:

Sunflower Quilt Block

The Sunflower Quilt block looks great

on the ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 1 year, 10 months ago. under contemporary quilts , design wall , flowers , garden , improv , new work , thread shed

Large Florals.....Progress from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

I spent this week with the

Harlan Valley Quilters

at the HVQ Spring Quilt Retreat 2022

I took along my new large flowers quilt top...

I decided I want this quilt to fit my bed,

so I added more of the white background

around all 4 borders...

This white background will give me lots

of open space for some FUN quilting designs...

I have the background fabric ironed

and ready to baste...

We have a big work table where we

spray baste our quilts together...

I spray baste with Odif 505 spray...

no odor and it sticks really well

and ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 1 year, 11 months ago. under contemporary quilts , design wall , flowers , harlan valley quilters , new work , quilt retreat

Large Florals... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

This is what the sewing table looks like

out in the Thread Shed today...

I am cutting and piecing gorgeous florals...

These are part of the Modern Love collection...

I am a sucker for large floral fabrics...

They look like a watercolor painting...

I am trimming 158 bias squares...

The Bloc Loc rulers are the only way to go

when you are trimming bias squares...

After the bias squares are trimmed,

I pieced them into pinwheel blocks...

All of the units are cut out and pieced

and ready for the design wall...

This is the center panel of the quilt ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 1 year, 12 months ago. under contemporary quilts , design wall , flowers , new work

Improv Quilt Top.....Progress from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

I am making progress on this

Improv Quilt Top:

I completed the top last October

while attending a quilt retreat in Idaho

CLICK HERE to view

The top is pieced from my hand dyed fabrics.

These are improv blocks I played

with back in the Spring of 2020...

I incorporated solid strips of fabric

to calm the piece down a bit...

Just love the luscious lime borders...

I pawed through the fabric cupboards

and found this blue for the backing...

I plan to hang this quilt, so I chose

Quilters Dream Green batting.

The quilt will hang straight and flat ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 2 years ago. under cattle , contemporary quilts , cows , farm , free motion quilting , improv , new work

Architecture from Quilt & Textile Collections

At the Houston Quilt Festival this year there was a grouping of quilts called Tactile Architecture which had several unique approaches to the theme. It made me ponder the use of architecture in quilts. Certainly, we see the use of buildings in the Baltimore Album Quilts using applique to create the buildings. In fact, it was sometimes the buildings which helped trace the quilt's origins. The Tristan Quilt, also known as the Guicciardini Quilt is one of the earliest surviving quilts and re-creates scenes from the story of Tristan and Isolde. It tells the tragic story of two doomed ...

added 2 years, 2 months ago. under contemporary quilts

For the Love of Applique from Quilt & Textile Collections

Applique is fabric applied or "laid on" to a background fabric. The technique has been around for centuries and used on clothing, tents, animal blankets and other everyday items. One of the older surviving examples of applique is an Egyptian canopy quilt from 980. B.C. Different cultures developed different uses for applique and in the US the development of a “quilt culture” supported a long history of applique. The applique quilt is usually “designed” as opposed to leftover scraps pieced together randomly. Applique quilts can be made of a repeated block or an album with a variety of different ...

added 2 years, 2 months ago. under contemporary quilts

Fabulous Finish.....Number 1 from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

It's official....

My first Fabulous Finish for 2022

" Bird Seed "

Flying Geese and Pumpkin Seeds

I put this top together last Spring

and all that was left was the binding:

I use a 20 inch square ruler

to square up and trim off the corners...

then I trim off the sides...

All the rough edges are trimmed off

and it is ready for binding....

I cut my binding strips 2 1/4 inches

This is a lap quilt that will be used and

washed a lot, so I am putting the

binding on by machine:

After the binding is ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 2 years, 3 months ago. under applique , contemporary quilts , fabulous finishes , machine quilting , orange peel , pumpkin seed quilt , traditional quilts

Thread Shed....Fresh Start 2022 from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

I read somewhere recently that it was...

Clean Off Your Desk Day

I decided to put this into good use

in the Thread Shed:

I don't have a desk in here,

but I have lots of work surfaces

that were piled high...

I should have taken a before picture.....oops!

I cleaned off my big ironing board

the Cowboy built this for me 20 years ago.

I hand dyed the board cover.

I also cleaned off my main work table...

it is a vintage drop leaf table with lots of leaves

and is about 80 inches long.

I cleaned ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 2 years, 3 months ago. under applique , contemporary quilts , fabulous finishes , free motion quilting , orange peel , pumpkin seed quilt , traditional quilts

Improv 9 Patch......Design Wall Progress from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

This Improv 9 Patch continues to be my

summer piecing project:

This is what it looked like the last time

you saw it...

Here it is today:

I have been adding more white blocks

around the edges...

I need to piece a few more white blocks

for the bottom edge.

I will eventually add solid white blocks

around all of the edges and the quilt

will fade away to completely white

and the colored blocks will appear to float

in the center.....that's the plan anyway.

All of the hay fields have been mowed,

raked and baled...

We ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 2 years, 8 months ago. under contemporary quilts , design wall , farm , improv

Improv 9 Patch......Improvising from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

The Improv 9 Patch is evolving...

Design Wall 1

I just placed the blocks on the wall

as I made them...

no real design in mind.

Design Wall 2

Removed the Gray Blocks

Moved the blocks to travel diagonal

from top left to bottom right by color family

Adding white blocks to the outer edges

Design Wall 3

Adding more blocks with white centers

to lighten up the center area of the quilt.

Adding more white blocks to the outside edges.

Staggered the blocks so they are not in even rows.

I like the staggered rows, not so rigid looking ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 2 years, 10 months ago. under contemporary quilts , improv

Improv 9 Patch......Progress from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

We are 2 weeks into Hay Season...

I mowed the 4th hay field today...

The Cowboy has baled the 1st two fields so far...

In between mowing hay...

I have been spending time listening to

the hum of my sewing machines...

a few minutes here, a few minutes there.

It all adds up !

I have been making more

Improv 9 Patch Blocks...

This is the meager solid fabric stash

I started out with...

I have been hard at work adding to my solids...

Now how FUN is this !

I also found a Kona Solid Fabric color card...

365 yummy colors ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 2 years, 10 months ago. under contemporary quilts , farm , improv

Orange Peel / Pumpkin Seed Quilt......Machine Quilting from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

I spent the day with my Monday quilt group...

Yes, the orange peel quilt is.....

under the needle !

I purchased this quilt support from

Patsy Thompson Designs

I never machine quilt on a domestic machine

without it....ever !

Absolutely NO DRAG when machine quilting.

It is the only way to go !

I drew myself a little road map to remind me

which direction the feathers go...

I have one block quilted so far...

the lighting isn't the best right now

to view the quilting stitches.

Here is a close up view of the quilting...

I will refer to my ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 2 years, 11 months ago. under applique , bernina , contemporary quilts , free motion quilting , orange peel , pumpkin seed quilt , traditional quilts

Pick Up Sticks.....Trimming from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

Trimming...

I spent some time this week trimming blocks...

Pick Up Sticks Quilt Blocks...

Trimming the blocks down to 10 inches...

The Harlan Valley Quilters

have created 30 Pick Up Sticks Blocks

Here they are timmed down to 10 inches

and ready for borders.

We will stitch the borders on next week.

This is one of our newest babies:

Strawberry Alice has a new heifer calf.....Silky

CLICK HERE: to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

added by LuAnn Kessi 3 years, 2 months ago. under cattle , contemporary quilts , cows , farm , harlan valley quilters , pick up stix

Orange Peel / Pumpkin Seed.......Progress from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

On Mondays I stitch with

The Harlan Valley Quilters

This has been my Monday project

the last few weeks...

At this point I have completed the seed shapes

and they are ready to be stitched down onto

the 5 inch background squares

I have not put the blocks up on the design wall

in any order at all, just stitched them and

slapped them up there.

Next week I will arrange them by color families

and see what that looks like...

Maybe a shift of color from top to bottom ?

For now they are on the design wall

completely random ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 3 years, 2 months ago. under applique , contemporary quilts , design wall , orange peel , pumpkin seed quilt , traditional quilts

Pick Up Stix Quilt Blocks... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

Every Monday I spend the day with

The Harlan Valley Quilters

As a group, we stitched up

Pick Up Stix blocks...

CLICK HERE to view Pick Up Stix Blocks

CLICK HERE: to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

added by LuAnn Kessi 3 years, 4 months ago. under contemporary quilts , harlan valley quilters , pick up stix

Orange Peel - Pumpkins Seed Quilt.......Progress from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

I have decided to incorporate

flying geese blocks

into the Orange Peel/Pumpkins Seed quilt top...

After scratching my head a bit,

I figured out the cutting dimensions

for the flying geese units...

2 flying geese measure a 5 inch square.

Flying Geese with solid backgrounds...

Flying Geese with text backgrounds...

The flying geese will break up the monotony

of all of those pumpkins seeds...

they will help move the eye across the quilt

in different directions...

Okay, I have a plan for the design...

now I can just sew the units:

The Quilt Retreat gave me a great start ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 3 years, 5 months ago. under applique , contemporary quilts , design wall , orange peel , pumpkin seed quilt , traditional quilts

Orange Peel or Pumpkin Seed Quilt... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

This design goes by several names

Orange Peel and Pumpkin Seed

are two of them...

I am attending an Oregon quilt retreat this week

with the Harlan Valley Quilters.

I am starting a Pumpkin Seed quilt...

The seeds are piling up...

I used the Sizzix Big Shot Plus

to cut out the seed shapes...

The Sizzix made quick work of all

the curved cutting...

Time to play with the seeds

and different background squares...

Tomorrow I will cut and sew some

flying geese blocks

and add them to the design.

CLICK HERE: to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 3 years, 5 months ago. under applique , contemporary quilts , orange peel , pumpkin seed quilt , sizzix big shot plus , traditional quilts

What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?