What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

When I was at Quiltcon in February, I took a design class, Inspired by Architecture, from David Owen Hastings. Let me tell you, David's design process is soooooo different from mine! I learned so much from him and was determined to apply some ...

QuiltCon 2023 was in Atlanta.  John’s  daughter lives there.  So we drove down with our ultimate destination being Orlando, where John’s sister and my nephew live.  No total immersion at QuiltCon this year.  Instead, I spent one day there, mostly to hear the keynote speaker Chawne Kimber. I sat with the Chicago group and spoke with a couple of my quilty heroes and spent maybe an hour before the keynote looking at quilts.  Seeing quilts helps me identify what I like and what I’d like to try.  Here are a few of the quilts that  caught my ...

A little history on the Quilts Unscripted Bee and my personal history with quilt bees...

I’m a joiner. I love people and enjoy creating community. (I also love bold color.) Cheers from QuiltCon!

Way back on 2014 when I was a new quilt blogger and starting to connect with others in the online quilting community, I started participating in quilt bees (and quilt swaps, but that's a conversation for another day).

First, I joined do. Good Stitches, a charity bee. I was a piecer. The organization of do. Good Stitches is via a Flickr group, with directions shared ...

If I could be doing anything quilty, it would be improv piecing.  It is like taking a journey. "Come hither ye fabric scraps; together we will travel and see where we end up." 

Here is the Island Batik Challenge for March. It reads 

"March brings a free month for you to determine your own project of any size, using any theme and any technique!! This is an opportunity for you to express your creativity without guidelines. Have fun!"

And I did have fun. See how the bits and pieces grew.

Starting Point

And then there were two

Growing

Coming Together ...

I have a new finish to share. Meet Paroma.  Although the quilt was completed in August 2022
(hence the lush green backdrop), I had to sit tight till now. 

Paroma. 56" by 68"

Paroma is a Fat quarter friendly quilt published in Quilt Patterns - Fun Fat Quarter Quilts for Spring (anniescatalog.com)  With 22 FQ projects for just under $10, this is a steal.

In process

20 FQs make 20 stars and yield enough fabric to make a scrappy happy border.  Paroma finished at 56" by 68" and it just sparkles ...

Back in October, with just a week left to the submission deadline, I finally dove in on my idea for the American Patchwork & Quilting Hexagon Quilting Challenge for QuiltCon. The moment I saw the challenge theme I'd had the idea of these "half and half" mismatch hexagons (which my daughter points out don't really count since they are actually octagons read more

What's with all the rain? It's raining cats and dogs out there, and I'm not sure I want to go out. I don't think the girls will be too excited either. We'll see how the walk progresses this morning. 

So my French serger event got pushed back one week, and well, I was bad -- really naughty as a matter of fact. Instead of forging ahead and finishing the presentation to be ready for next week, I played hookey! It was a beautiful day (well, mostly), so I decided it was time to tackle the FINAL ...

 Whew! What a year! While it would be easy to focus on all of the crazy negative things going on in the world right now (no, I'm not going to list them. you already know!) I'm choosing to focus on the positive. And there sure was a lot of it in my world this year. Here are the highlights.... so I never forget how blessed I was in 2021.

Urban Emergence

For many years I’ve been a member of The Modern Quilt Guild, and was part of a now defunct local modern quilt group. I’ve watched a movement that began about 2009 go national in a big way; capture the quilt … Continue reading →

  The 2021 Calgary MQG Community Challenge Quilt,  with the signature "YYC" graphic was recently displayed at the Calgary Stampede.  Here's a few pictures from set-up.

 What fun!  Started in February, 2021, in the virtual QuiltCon workshop presented by Blair Stocker of Wise Craft Handmade - Boro Inspired! A patchwork quilt with lots of hand stitching.  

Derived from the Japanese boroboro, meaning something tattered or repaired, boro refers to the practice of reworking and repairing textiles (often clothes or bedding) through piecing, patching and stitching, in order to extend their use.

I cut into a thrift shop linen blouse.....a slither of a t-shirt.....a feed sack....an aqua linen skirt plus one of my cut apart acid green floral silk skirts to add just the right ...

 Well! I certainly did not intend to take 2 months off from blogging, yet here we are! I have been making making making..... which is not an excuse but it's been fun. 

During Quiltcontogether everyone was sharing the cool things they were creating in their virtual classes. For a couple of reasons I had not signed up for classes, and I found myself feeling a bit of FOMO. A little digging in my WIP pile and I found some blocks I had started at Quiltcon in Austin in 2020. I had forgotten all about these and honestly had not ...

Inspired by QuiltCon Together, we wanted to find out more about the folks behind the event and the movement to make modern quilts. The Modern Quilt Guild is comprised of 200 guilds around the world with more than 15,000 members. In these guilds, education and community are a focus year-round, bringing quilters together to explore, create and connect.

We reached out to Tricia Young, President of the Houston Modern Quilt Guild to get an up-close look at what guild life is all about.

Welcome, Quilters! Last week The Modern Quilt Guild hosted another fantastic QuiltCon, this one was all virtual (which meant we could take class in our pajamas snuggled under our favorite quilt. Score!) QuiltCon Together 2021 featured all of the QuiltCon goodness we’ve come to expect, from world-class instructors to exclusive exhibits, and a quilt show that is unlike any other!

We all know the quilt show is one of the most exciting parts of the conference! It’s inspiring to see the boundless innovation and beauty from so many quilt artists all in one place. Congratulations to all the ...

QuiltCon Together, 2021, wasn't awful and it wasn't fabulous.  While the social component was missing, the content was awfully good.  And it's an absolute luxury to listen to a lecture/workshop at your own time and own pace while doing something purposeful with your hands!

It was a lot of screen time, and most of it was so well done.  This picture oh Heidi Parkes hows how most of the presentations were done - little dot on the screen with the presenter and big screen for demos and handouts.  

 Wasn't QuiltCon Together a delightful event!  

Certainly was from my viewpoint. 

 What energy! 

And how easy and comfortable here at home to listen and watch lectures, participate in workshops and shop those marvelous vendors.  

Yes, I'm feeling energized and lovin' it.  

As many of you know who follow me and my activities, I've been downsizing in the hopes of becoming (tongue in cheek) a minimalist.  And try as I may, some items that I love but am finished with just aren't selling as I thought they would.  Case in point is this wonderful Bright Quilts from ...

 I had so much fun going through the Quiltcon Together virtual quilt show this weekend. As always, there was a huge array of stunning quilts in all of the categories. I found the community service quilts to be especially beautiful this year, and I was so proud of my guild, the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild for our contribution. Together in Turbulence was spearheaded by my friend Chris and many many quilters had a hand in the assembly. I was thrilled to contribute some blocks to the quilt.

I had no idea that receiving a first place ribbon for my Urban ...

 Well Quiltcon sure does look different this year. In my continued effort to create community during the virtual event. I organized a zoom party for several friends last night during the awards. Of course, Texas being the mess that it is, our power was in and out all day yesterday. A friend who had steady power and internet invited us to bring our technology to her house and watch from there, so we did (we being hubby and I).