What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 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).

 I'm thrilled to report that it was so much easier to walk around yesterday than the previous day. The plow had either come back, or sidewalks had been shoveled, and snow had melted. However, I think that we have more snow coming today. Oh boy! The piles of snow on the sides of my driveway are high, but nothing like I've seen in the past. Let's hope this is the LAST big dump of the year. It sounds like this snow has hit hard in many places that don't normally get snow. Hopefully, everyone will get ...

I’m very excited about QuiltCon Together, the annual event presented by The Modern Quilt Guild. So far, I’ve been to every show and I’ve had a quilt in every show, too. Even though this year’s event is virtual, I still wouldn’t miss it. Here’s where you can find me – and my quilts – online from February 18-22, 2021.

My Workshops

Carefree Walking Foot Quilting (On Demand) – Sold Out
Carefree Free-Motion Quilting (On Demand) – Click here to register for DSMQ009

My Walking foot quilting class is completely sold out. However, as of this writing I still ...

As QuiltCon Together approaches (02/18/2021) I thought I would share this quilt that made it into the virtual show but had not made it onto my blog so far. 

Say hello to Orange Creamsicle. Orange Creamsicle started with a single block that I had hoped would be a great compliment to the rest of the Sunday Best blocks.

To be honest the block just didn’t really work with the rest of quilt. Yes, that became the start to Orange Creamsicle.

I introduced some limits to this quilt after the first block, as I really wanted to try ...

Making Prints is the very first workshop I ever taught. Back then, students were subjected to a volcanic eruption of information as I attempted to teach them EVERYTHING in a one day workshop. Heads exploded. Chaos ensued. I learned. 

Now, I disperse this information over a series of classes. Here is the basic progression of those workshops. 

Follow the links to sign up for the workshops that I am currently teaching.

Making Prints—Strips & Stripes
Circle & Curve Sampler
Three Points—A Triangle Workshop (Quiltcon Together)
Kitchen Sink Quilting—the ART of Making  Do
Linear ...

You guys, I got the acceptance email two days ago, but I couldn't tell anyone about it at first because it seemed so unreal.  I had to go to bed, wake up in the morning, and check my email again to make sure it was still there.  My Mission Impossible quilt was accepted by the jurists into QuiltCon Together 2021!

Just a Glimpse of My Mission Impossible Quilt

This quilt is my original design, made for my oldest son's high school graduation in 2019 and sized to fit his XL Twin dorm bed when he went off to ...

I sure am glad that The Modern Quilt Guild knows how to make lemonade out of lemons. Earlier this year when it became apparent that there would be no big public quilting events through the end of the year, The MQG made the decision to go virtual for their show next February and I’m thrilled to be a part of it!

Click Here for the QuiltCon Together Catalog and Interactive Schedule

Due to the online nature of this event, more people will be able to participate! Class sizes are still limited, but I made my schedule available so that ...