Authentic Mini Quilt | Mini Quilt Monday!

So I'm just squeezing in under the wire, but I wanted to get this posted in time to link up to Faith's Mini Quilt Monday series on her blog, Fresh Lemon Quilts! I figured it was a great opportunity to blog about a mini quilt that I recently completed, and the swap for which I made it.

A couple of weeks back, Sharon (who blogs at Craizee Corners) asked me if I'd like to be a guest blogger this month on her blog in celebration of Sweetwater month. Sharon likes to feature a fabric designer each month, and invites her friends to come talk about their experiences working with that designer's fabrics.

"Sure", I thought. "I love Sweetwater's fabrics, and I'd even like to make something to show off on Sharon's blog!"

At the same time, I was planning a mini quilt for Kait as part of the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild's mini quilt swap -- a perfect opportunity, I thought, to pull out my small but beloved scrap stash of Authentic, Sweetwater's first line with Moda. These scraps were my leftovers from my pillow project featuring the line on the Moda Bake Shop.

I also decided on the perfect pattern for my quilt: the Bay Breeze pattern by Monica Solorio-Snow, a.k.a. the Happy Zombie. It's an oldie but a goodie -- I originally found it in the Summer 2008 issue of Quilts and More magazine. (I've made a mini quilt from this pattern once before -- WAY back when I first starting sewing!)

I really, really loved how this little quilt came out. You can read my full Sweetwater month post on Sharon's blog here, and see Kait's blog post about receiving this quilt here.

I mentioned this quilt was made for a swap, so want to see what I received in return?

Julie, a fellow TMQG, made this amazing and beautiful mini quilt for me. Isn't it fabulous? It's made from hexagons -- which she machine pieced! -- from Tula Pink's "Prince Charming" line. (Oh, so she caught on to my weakness for Tula Pink fabrics. I guess I don't hide it too well.)

With those birds added and framed so beautifully with a chocolate brown binding, it's a beautiful addition to my wall decor.

Thanks so much, Julie -- I LOVE my quilt!

For more mini quilt love, be sure to check out Faith's Mini Quilt Monday series.

TMQG Pillow Swap

In my role as "swap swami" for the Triangle Modern Quilting Guild, I try to organize fun activities and swaps for the guild members. Earlier this summer, I introduced the idea of a pillow swap where everyone makes the same size pillow cover. By keeping the format consistent, I thought it would be fascinating to see the different directions that everyone would pursue in their designs.

We decided on a standard travel-sized (12" x 16") pillow form to keep the project relatively small and manageable. I had a lot of leftover scraps of Kate Spain's Central park line and the coordinated shot cottons that I originally selected for my Carousel quilt, originally featured in issue 4 of Fat Quarterly, and decided on a half-square triangle pattern that really highlights the different colors and patterns in the fabrics.

I tried something a little unusual for me, which was to use a colored thread for my quilting. I took a risk and quilted the pillow top in orange thread with an all-over meandering free-motion pattern. It certainly made the quilting pop off of the pillow rather than subtly recede into the background.

I finished the pillow with an envelope back that featured some leftover HST units and some contrasting prints. Overall the pillow was a ton of fun to make, and I think / hope the recipient (Bethany of Crafty Geeks) really liked it!

Want to see what I received?

Caitlin (who blogs at salty//oat) made this adorable little pillow just for me! I love Caitlin's modern sensibility and her minimalist approach to the design of this pillow. She based it on this free block pattern by Ashley of Film in the Fridge, and I feel that her liberal use of white and the carefully selected solid shades is spot on perfect.

Of course, the stars of the pillow are the little Heather Ross-designed girls playing with their toy horses. Caitlin is actually works at Spoonflower (lucky girl!) and was able to score these scraps from Heather's recent line with the company. The two vignettes of the girls on the front of this pillow make it extra special for me because of the reference to my twin daughters.

Speaking of my daughters, I am sure you can imagine how many times this pillow goes missing, only to be found in one of their rooms!

Thanks so much for my amazing pillow, Caitlin -- it is much loved here in the Quilt Dad household!

Mug Rug MADNESS!

Did you know that it's Mug Rug Madness week over on Erin's blog? She's pulled together a wonderful collection of posts about mug rugs (what the heck are they? how big should they be?) as well as giveaways and fun tutorials in case you're itching to jump on the bandwagon.

Which you should, because it's a fun bandwagon to be on. Case in point: check out the two mug rugs I made for our last Triangle Modern Quilt Guild meeting. We had a mug rug swap and here's what I contributed:

First, a scrappy Parisville version using scraps from my ribbon quilt. I adapted Elizabeth's technique from her Map of the States block to draw up some templates for this one. The wonk is probably too subtle to get the full effect, though.

Here's the back:

For my next one, I used fabrics from Patty Young's Flora & Fauna collection. I love the colors and basic design of this one. Again, I made a scrappy binding which I think turned out great.

Here's the back, featuring Patty's beautiful hummingbird design.

And here are all of the mug rugs that were swapped. I took home the amazingly crafted bunny one as well as the bright cross-design one right next to it.

Have you made any mug rugs lately? I'd love to see them!

Undersea Quilt Update

A few weeks back I posted about a new project that I called the Undersea Quilt. It was born out of a block swap that I organized with the members of the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild. Read more here.

Since that time, I've added the entire left hand column and bottom row, made entirely from new blocks sent to me by my Twitter friends. I'm waiting on a few more blocks and will add another column.

Isn't this quilt the coolest? It's rapidly becoming one of my favorites. Like, ever.

Note to self: figure out a better way to hang quilts for pictures so that the entire top row isn't cut off!

The deets:

• Blocks are 15" square each.
• I requested 12.5" wonky square-in-square / improv style blocks, and added a 2.5" frame around each block.
• Fabrics are an eclectic mix of Momo lines (Wonderland, Odyssea, Freebird, It's a Hoot, and Just Wing It) combined with some oliver + s Modern Workshop, solids, and anything else that the block-makers wanted to add!

Undersea Quilt

By the time you read this, I expect to be recovering from my elbow surgery. I'm taking this opportunity to catch up on a few blog posts I've been meaning to write for a while.

Take a look at this beauty! It's currently the WIP that I am most excited about. A few months back, I organized a block swap for the members of the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild. We all started with a common set of fabrics (a selection of Momo's "Odyssea" for Moda Fabrics) and then made blocks for one another based upon each member's specific request. I asked for square-in-square blocks inspired by Denyse Schmidt's wonky style.

Each member was allowed to add in fabrics (from any line) that they felt was a good coordinate for their blocks. I had a really great time shopping for fabrics from across the shop that I thought would look good with the Odyssea prints, and I loved picking specific fabrics that I thought would further the underwater feel of the quilt.

I got back some wonderful blocks from the talented quilters in my guild. I wasn't quite sure what to do with them, but after assessing the large stash of fabrics I still had on hand, I decided to give each block a 2.5" frame to really highlight each block. I think it was this decision that elevated this quilt top from "really like" to "really really love"!

The only problem was that, at 12 blocks laid out in a 3 x 4 grid, the quilt seemed kind of small to me. Don't forget, I am over 6'4" tall, so what might be a throw quilt to some is barely even a lap cover for me! Because I loved the way this quilt was turning out (and also because I severely over-bought fabric and had a TON of leftover cuts), I decided more blocks were needed.

I turned to my fabulous Twitter followers and put out a plea: would anyone want to make a block for my quilt? I was hoping to get 4 takers so that I could add one more row to the quilt top. What I didn't expect was the flood of responses I got from quilters around the world who were selflessly willing to make me a block. Based upon the response I received, I think I will be able to nearly double the size of my quilt!

Some of the new blocks have already started to arrive. They're not pictured here yet, but they are AWESOME. I'm so very excited to receive the remaining blocks and finish this quilt up. It's going to be one of my favorites -- not only because it's just so cool, but because it will be made with love by both members of my local guild and also some of my favorite online friends.

Stay tuned -- when I add all of the new additions to the quilt top, I'll post another picture and keep you posted on its progress!

Glam Garden Gala

I just got home from Fall Quilt Market in Houston last night, and it was a BLAST! While I download my pictures and collect my thoughts for a proper blog post, allow me to catch up on some of my draft posts that I haven't had a chance to publish yet.

I think I've mentioned before that I serve as the "swap swami" (not my choice of title!) for the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild. That means I try to organize fun activities and swaps for all of the guild members.

Recently, I worked with the awesome, generous folks at Robert Kaufman fabrics to challenge the guild members with a fun challenge (hi, and thanks Allie!) Inspired by Tula Pink's Project Plume with the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild, we provided each member of the guild with a Ten Square of the Glam Garden collection by Josephine Kimberling.

The challenge? Make a project of your choosing with the Ten Square and, if desired, only ONE additional fabric. The project could be anything -- a quilt, a mini quilt, a table runner, a bag, a garment ... anything! At our last meeting, we hosted the GLAM GARDEN GALA, where we all showed off the items we made with the fabric.

First, here's the item I made (and OMG, I just saw while researching the links for this post that someone used the SAME pattern for their Project Plume mini quilt!) The fabric I added was Kona Ash, and I was able to make a nice-sized baby quilt that I think would be perfect for a modern, sophisticated baby girl! (Not everything for babies has to be pink and pastel, right?)

Here are some picture of the other members' projects. All pictures taken from the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild Flickr pool.

Amazing stuff, no? Part of the agreement to take part in the challenge was also to make an additional block that will be used to make a full quilt for charity. Here are those blocks:

This was such a great activity for our guild. BIG, BIG THANKS again to Allie and the gang at Robert Kaufman. We couldn't have done this without you!