Showing posts with label Make Modern magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Make Modern magazine. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

An Epic Bow Tie Neutral Quilt Finish

I'm almost glad that it was raining today because I found the best place ever for the Epic Bow Tie Neutral Quilt's photo shoot!

These were taken this morning at Parks Canada Place in Gatineau Quebec. I was lucky that it was decorated for Christmas and fairly quiet.
Draped quilt lounging around
Are we ready for Christmas yet?
Enjoying the decorations - do I spy a reindeer?




















A closeup lounging shot
The lovely folded quilt pose





















Finally we need to have the full view shot.
The Epic Bow Tie Neutral Quilt
Here are some of the FMQ designs that I used.

 



What I learned

  • I used a quilting ruler to make the straight lines within the snowball. It took me a while to get the hang of it and then I decided to try to just "eyeball" it - and it worked well. It did go better when I turned the quilt around so that I was quilting towards myself. I can FMQ in all directions when I'm quilting a curly design, but I found it much harder for a straight line. 
  • I really love the sun design. I'm sure that I could adapt it for other sizes.
  • It was good to use just a few FMQ designs, although I have to admit that I did get bored with those straight lines.
  • I used silk batting for this quilt - it FMQ so beautifully!
  • I bought more fabric to add extra light fabrics for the background but I used only one of them since the others were too yellowish. I'm going to keep an eye out for beige fabrics since they're not easy to find.
  • If I were to do it again, there are a couple of fabrics that I used as background that I wouldn't use since they were too close in value to the lighter brown fabrics in the snowball. 
  • I used a scrappy binding. My only rule is that the fabric in the binding cannot be the same as the block next to it. I've made that mistake once and I have learned from it!
  • I just love the look of a freshly washed quilt. The texture is just so beautiful. I'm glad that I waited to take pictures until I had washed it. Now I just need to add a label and my friend will finally get her quilt. 
Related links
Linking parties
I will be linking this baby to Free Motion Mavericks as well as the November One Monthly Goal (OMG) finish link up. 😊 Colour and Inspiration Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Put your foot down, TGIFF, Friday Foto Fun, Design Wall Monday, What I Made Monday, Monday Making, Colour and Inspiration Tuesday, To-do Tuesday,

Great news! The Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt was featured on Susan's Midweek Makers! Thanks Susan :-) August 20, 2020: Show Me Something Free Motion Link Up

Project details



Epic Bow Tie Neutral Quilt
Pattern by Jen Van Orman from Make Modern (Issue 22, May-June 2018)
47" x 59"
Technique: piecing
Material: cotton, silk batting














Posted by at 11 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, September 30, 2019

Epic Neutral Quilt Top is Done

The quilt top was completed just in time for the last day of the One Monthly Goal (OMG) September Finish link-up. Yeah!!! 😎 It's also on time for the Make Modern Instagram 5th anniversary party at #highfivemakemodern.

Epic Neutral Quilt Top Finish

The quilt is based on the Epic Bow Tie Quilt by Jen Van Orman, which was on the cover of Make Modern Magazine (Issue 22, May-June 2018). I finished it yesterday afternoon when there was still enough sunlight to take the mandatory photo shoot on the fence.
Lots of neutrals - all shades of beige and brown
It's not as colourful as the pattern quilt but for a neutral, I like it. I love looking at quilts in different colour combinations to see how the colours can change them. This one is very different, partly because I chose to make the middle snowballs with the browns etc. and the background in beige. In her pattern, Jen made the snowballs white and the background of different colours.


Quilt top finished!













Here are a few more photos, including the close-ups.
The blowing in the wind shot

A close-up of the different fabrics

Another close-up
What I learned
  • I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but as I was piecing the bow-tie blocks, I would get at least one quarter of them sewn on the wrong side. I tried different things to fix this but finally I didn't have to worry about it anymore because I was finished!
  • It's a great little quilt pattern that would be lovely if made with colourful scraps like the one in the Make Modern magazine.
Related links
Linking parties
As I mentioned, I'll be linking up to the September finish link up of the One Monthly Goal (OMG). I will also be linking up to some fun linky parties. Let's see what's going on in quilt land. Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party,  Needle & Thread Thursday, Put your foot down, Midweek Makers, Peacock Party, Beauties Pageant, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Finished or Not Finished Friday, and Free Motion Mavericks with Muv. 
Posted by at 9 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, September 03, 2019

Finally progress on the Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt

It's been over a year that I worked on the Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt. I'm glad that the intended recipient is very patient 😊

Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt

The good thing about letting a project sit is that I had time to collect a few more brown fabrics to add to the mix. It's just too bad that I didn't pick up more beige....oh well, there may still be time to get a few more!
Units of 4 blocks make a snowball

The quilt is based on the Epic Bow Tie Quilt by Jen Van Orman, which was on the cover of Make Modern Magazine (Issue 22, May-June 2018). As much as neutrals are not my favourites, I enjoy seeing what effect using such dramatically different colours will have on the pattern. So far, I'm not disappointed.

The Bow Tie Blocks
I don't like cutting my fabric all at once so I've been cutting it as I go. I have now completed over 60 blocks but there's still about 20 left to do.

I couldn't wait to finish all my blocks to start putting them together. I'm in the process of sewing most of the 60 blocks into units of 4. Below are the blocks that haven't been pieced into units of 4 yet. I'm trying to make each unit contain different beige backgrounds and different brown fabrics in them. 
The blocks that haven't been paired yet.
What I learned

  • I know that I probably shouldn't have started making units of 4 yet but I really needed to see how it was progressing....and I was bored making single blocks.
  • Now I know that there were too many blocks of a specific beige background so I won't be using that one for the next blocks. Like I said, I will probably buy a couple more background beige (it's in the mail 😊 )

Related links
Linking parties

I wrote this post specifically to link it to the One Monthly Goal (OMG) September goal setting link-up. I'm pretty confident that I will have the quilt top finished by the end of September. Yeah! Of course, I could get distracted by a few squirrels before then. We'll see 😊

I'm also linking up to these great linking parties around blog land. Let's see what others are up to! Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, UFO Busting, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Midweek Maker, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Peacock Party, Free Motion Mavericks with Muv, Put Your Foot Down,




Posted by at 7 comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Embroidery, Hexies and Art in Florence

Here is my final travelling post from Italy. I didn't have time to work on my hexies very much, except on the train between Venice and Florence. We just had too much to see and do, or I was just too tired :-)

Embroidery in Venice

I wanted to take my favourite jeans with me to Venice but they have holes in them (on purpose). I decided to patch them up with some of my hand-dyed fabric but didn't get a chance to finish them before leaving...so my jeans were packed with embroidery floss :-) It's a work-in-progress. I've added to them when I came back but I'm still not quite finished!
Embroidered jean patches - a work-in-progress
Wearing my patched jeans
in Venice















Hexies in Florence

I did get a couple of hexie flowers done on the train to Florence because I really wanted to take pictures of them there 😊. That little pouch I made in June, "Selvage Love" from Make Modern magazine, really came in handy for travelling. Everything fit into it for my EPP.

Putting together some hexie flowers on the fast train to Florence
I took this photo in one of the many cafés where we stopped to rest and use the facilities.
Hexies at a café
This scene looks like it could be taken in Provence, but Florence is in Tuscany.

Blue hexie with lavender

A lovely scene at a café in a Florence square
I couldn't resist taking this photo with the Arno River in the background, even if I had to try a few times - it was quite windy.
Everything is sculptured, even the lamp posts!
I wish I could tell you who made all of this art (that's my daughter's strength!) This was at the foot of a whole area of statues called the Piazza della Signoria.

A little hexie admiring the amazing art in Florence
Kingfisher Stitch-Along
A few Kingfisher blocks

I even had time to work on a few blocks for my Kingfisher Stitch-Along quilt. It's coming along nicely since I worked on it when I got back and was sick. It was very restful to work on when I had the energy.

Stitching on the train


Art and beauty in Florence

I looked for images of textile work in art but didn't find many.

This is part of a fresco of the "Madonna sewing and the Child playing" by Giovanni Di Tano Fei (1405-1410). It is located in the museum area of the Basilica of Santa Croce.
Madonna sewing and the Child playing
This is a representation of the moon. I believe that this art piece is located in the Opera del Duomo Museum.
Representation of the moon
We had to try the vin brulé in the outdoor market outside of the Basilica of Santa Croce. It was wonderful.
Vin Brulé in the outdoor market
This is the Arno River and the Ponte Vicchio. This photo was taken from a window of the Uffizi Gallery. I took a lot of photos of statues in the Uffizi Gallery. I want to use my own photos whenever I incorporate images of statues in my art.
Arno River and the Ponte Vicchio

What I learned

  • I have so many photos of art, texture, patterns etc. that it was very hard to decide what to include in my post. As I create art from any of my photos, I'll make sure to include them into the posts.
  • Although I love art, I have to be honest and say that there is only so much art that I can look at without getting bored....so it was really great to look for specific things as I looked at all of this art in Florence. For instance, I looked for art, like the "Madonna sewing and the Child playing", that incorporated textile work.
  • In the complex that makes up the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, I found some great patterns that reminded me of quilt blocks. I spent some time in the Baptistery examining some great patterns on the walls. Then, while my daughter went to an art exhibit that I knew I wouldn't appreciate, I spent some time drinking beer and making possible sketches for an art quilt. This trip with my daughter was truly amazing, steeped in culture, amazing food and art. 

Related links

Linking parties
I will be linking this posts to some great link-ups. Check them out and see what's happening! Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, Friday Foto Fun, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Silly Mama Quilts - WIPs, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off the Wall Friday,


Posted by at 4 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, July 02, 2018

Squirrels and July plans

Even though I have tons of projects on the go, I can't help but be sidetracked by new shiny colourful things!

Squirrel project

My Squirrel project this month is a lovely pouch called "Selvage Love" that was designed by Kristy Lea of Make Modern Magazine.
Selvage Love pattern from Make Modern Magazine
I've been wanting to make something with selvage strips for a while now. This seemed like the perfect little project. I added a pocket to the inside lining so it should be useful. 

If you're wondering why I called it a "Squirrel" project, it's because it's one of those unplanned projects - Drop Everything And Make it! just like someone distracted by a squirrel :-) I'll be posting it on mmm! Quilts' Dreami! linking party.

One Monthly Goal (OMG)

My OMG for July is to finish my latest (third) batik lap quilt. I ran out of thread in April and I finally got around to order more and received it last week. It's orange and teal blue Kimono Silk Thread. I'm using the orange for the back, and teal for the front of the quilt. 
Batik lap quilt to finish  FM quilting












This is the first larger quilt that I use an all-over design. Since I fell in love with the Feather Meander during Angela Walters' FMQ Challenge Quilt-Along.

Since it's been a couple of months, I'll have to practice the design a little, but I'm confident that it won't take long before I'm back into a groove 😊


What I learned
  • I'm glad that I took some time to create the pouch. When I work on longer projects like the EPP Hexie flowers, I need a little quick project to distract me. This was a good one, and I will probably end up using it to carry my hexies supplies.
  • I had a little trouble with the pattern since I had never added zipper tabs to a pouch before. I turned them the wrong side but it wasn't a huge problem. Now I know that zipper tabs keep your zipper from opening or closing all the way so that it doesn't get undone.
Related links
Linking Parties



Posted by at 22 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt

Making neutral quilts is not my favourite thing to make. I generally love working with colour - the more, the brighter, the better! Working without what I perceive as colour is not easy, but I have grown to appreciate the quiet restfulness of neutrals.

Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt

Some blocks to try out
I've been wanting to make a quilt from Make Modern Magazine for a while now. When I saw the Epic Bow Tie Quilt by Jen Van Orman on the cover of the latest Make Modern (Issue 22, May-June 2018), I knew that I was going to make something from that pattern.

At first I considered making a runner, but since I have a neutral quilt to make, I wondered how effective this pattern would be in neutrals. At the very least, I knew that it would be different!


Make Modern Magazine, Issue 22
The pattern is quite simple, which is always what I look for 😊. It's really a take on a snowball block, which I find fascinating for some reason. It may be the act of creating something that looks like a circle but isn't.

It took me a while to decide, but I think that a beige background with the circles in medium to dark browns and taupe will make for a lighter looking quilt.

Since people love neutral quilts, I've been accumulating these for a while. I find it fascinating that there are so many different beige prints out there.

Something else that I like about this pattern is that I don't have to cut up all the fabric at once. That is a definite bonus!

Here it is so far.
The first few blocks of the Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt 
This quilt is really coming along well and is perfect for when some relatively mindless stitching is all I can handle.
I'm really liking it so far!
What I learned
  • This quilt really suits my quilt making process - cut a few fabrics, make a few blocks, try them out and repeat.
  • This process often brings about surprises because as I cut up different fabrics, the look of the quilt changes.
  • The light background should also be more fun to FMQ since I can mark it without effort, if that's what I decide to do. I remembered that lesson from my last neutral quilt.

Related Links
Linking Parties

Great News! I was featured on the Clever Chameleon. Make sure that you visit Dione's blog. She's doing some great stuff with colour!....and even appreciates neutrals 😊.
Posted by at 10 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Thursday, March 01, 2018

Charming Baby Pattern - Make Modern Issue 21

It's here! The March/April issue (21) of Make Modern Magazine. As much as I love this magazine, this issue is special - because from pages 78 to 81 is my baby quilt pattern - Charmed!
First page of the Charming pattern in
Make Modern magazine, issue 21 

What a thrill. This is something that I've always wanted to do. I'm not sure if I will write more patterns (although I do have an idea for another one 😊), but it was a great experience!

This pattern is loosely based on my Beautiful Day Baby Quilt which I made in the spring of 2016. The idea was to put a quilt together, very easily and quickly, that would have lots of negative space for me to practice my free motion quilting (FMQ).

In my original quilt, I had just found a flying geese foundation paper piecing strip pattern and had essentially sewn around them, adding a corner stone at one end. There was very little measuring and tons of opportunity for FMQ.






So when I decided to submit a pattern, I still wanted it to be as easy as possible, with lots of negative space for the quilting.

The first thing I did was to sketch something on grid paper. That's how I plan my quilts (what little planning I do!)

Fabrics used in Charmed baby quilt

In July 2017, I sent a scan of my hand-written grid pattern, a photo of the fabrics that I would be using as well as the information they requested for pattern submissions. I'm happy to report that the information was very clear and the submission process was painless :-)


Of course in July, the March issue sounded very far away.  I was sure that I would get it all done by September....right! I wrote the first draft of the pattern in September, and spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to quilt it, but I only started cutting fabric in mid-November.
Fabrics all cut, following my draft pattern
Chain stitching some of the pieces
The most challenging part of writing the pattern was figuring out what to call each part, since they weren't really blocks. I'm not sure that I was terribly successful, but Jane, their editor did a great job of consistently naming sections and pieces.

Since I had no idea what pictures I would eventually send the magazine, I took a few more than usual of the process. I finally didn't send them any, but they are useful for this post!

The piecing of the quilt went well since I really wanted a simple quilt to make.

My favourite but most stressful part of this process was FMQ the quilt. I knew that if I messed up, that I would have enough time and fabric to re-do the quilt, but I was really hoping not to have to make two quilts.
Pieced and sandwiched

The hardest decision was selecting the thread colour. It's hard to find thread that matches, but that also makes the quilting stand out!!! It didn't start off well since I used a thread that was too dark to quilt around the blocks. I ended up working around it, but I was pretty nervous for a while.

For the quilting design, I FMQ three large pinwheels with other secondary designs. Since the quilting really didn't show up in pictures, I used some light orange thread to make some of it stand out more. You have to see the quilt up close to appreciate it. It might not have been the best decision for a magazine, but the images in the pattern are good. It really is about the pattern - the maker can quilt it as they want.

Some of the FMQ 

FMQ details
I always have a great time at the photo shoot. I took many photos in my back yard and some in the house, but they weren't very good. Finally, the best pictures were taken in the usual spot, outside of my office.
Charmed baby quilt and the snowy owl
I had just bought the snowy owl in the Parks Canada Place as a Christmas present for my daughter, so it came along to keep the quilt company.
    Issue 21 - Table of Content
What I learned
  • Because I was writing a pattern, I had to change my quilt-making process. I cut up all of the fabric in one go, making sure to measure many times before cutting. I almost never cut my fabric ahead of time, usually cutting it as I need it. But then, I don't often follow a pattern either :-)
  • I realised when I was writing the pattern, that I am very visual - so that I usually follow the pictures in a pattern more than the directions. I will often only read the directions carefully if the pictures aren't telling me what I need to know. I found that translating the pictures into words was not easy.
  • As I was piecing the quilt, I had a few adjustments to make to the instructions. It did go fairly smoothly.
  • I learned a lot by the changes that Jane made to the pattern. It did make it easier to follow. I wrote many of my instructions in point form so Jane added some important words!
  • I also struggled with making the instructions clear for anyone who might be using directional fabric. Thank goodness, Jane simplified the issue.
  • I want to thank the editor of Make Modern, Jane Kelly for her great editing and Kristy Lee, the creative director, for her help in making this a wonderful experience. Thanks so much!!! 
Cover of
Make Modern, Issue 21
Related Links
Project Details



Charmed Baby Quilt
30" x 30"
Materials: cotton
Techniques: piecing, free motion quilting






Linking Parties

I am linking this post to Sarah Goer's Show Me Something With Squares. 

Posted by at 9 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)