We are all so terribly sad about what's happened in Japan... Did you all see that Jacquie is giving a quilt away if you donate to the Red Cross? So generous of her! Check out her post here and please give what you can!
Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solids Challege
It was so much fun taking part in the Kona Cotton challenge that Robert Kaufman was generous enough to sponsor for many many of the Modern Quilt Guilds. Each group was allow to create their own rules for the challenge. Here in LA, we were each given one charm pack in the dusty palette. From there we were allowed to add one additional solid fabric in the quilt top, and one more for the binding. Here's the quilt I made.
The quilting is 100% inspired by this quilt.
This type of random piecing is so much fun for me to do.
And I used some scraps from the piecing in a bit of the binding.
There were so many amazing entries into the challenge. We had a lot of categories that the guild picked winners for but these are the two that tied for "best of show."
Amazing, right?? So wonderful! And isn't it funny how much they work together?? They both picked Ash as their background! You can see all of the quilts that were made by The LAMQG here. And there's also a flickr group for photos of all of the different guilds' challenge quilts.
And here we all are showing off our quilts!
Oh and Jacquie's talk? So so inspiring!
Everyone was so thrilled to get to know the woman behind the blog we've all been reading. She was open and warm and just an all around wonderful speaker. And the quilts! She brought many more than you'd imagine could fit in one suitcase and each one was more beautiful than the next. I heard rumors of a petition getting started to get her to move to LA...
A lil' quilt.
I sewed up a little sample for my class at Sew Modern. A beginner's how to quilt class that includes some fun improv. piecing of log cabins. Just a little 30" square quilt with four big blocks that sew up quickly.
I'm pretty sure the class is almost full but I'll list it more in the future too.
This little center is my favorite part of the quilt. I love these gray stripes. I'm in a stripes place these days.
Jacquie comes and speaks to the LAMQG tonight! AND we have the Robert Kaufman Kona Cottons Solids Challenge reveal. I can't wait to see what everyone made! Not to mention that 70 people have RSVPed for the meeting. It's gonna be a big one!
The Best Ever.
That's what the LAMQG 1st annual quilting retreat was. Seriously. The. Best. Ever. We had so much fun! First off - 18 inches of snow fell while we were there. That's a whole lotta snow. Amazing that this is only an hour and a half outside of sunny Los Angeles!
Those are the cars we drove up in. And we stayed up in those cute lil' cabins.
We dealt with one vehicular mishap, but all ended ok and while there was some trudging around in the snow to get places, everyone was warm, inside and sewing, sewing, sewing for most of the time.
We were in such a great space! We even had a big cozy fireplace that we all gathered around the whole weekend.
The knitting nook was also quite active through out!
The women I've met in the LAMQG have become irreplaceable to me. I've made so many friends who I am certain I will still be sewing and laughing with when we are old cranky quilting ladies. This has added to my life immeasurably and I'm so, so thankful for what we've created here with The MQG. I read on blogs that lots of you are having similar experiences in your local Modern Quilt Guilds and that makes me so happy. We've started something really great here.
Anyhow, I didn't get nearly as much done as I could have... but you know what happened just as much as quilting? Chatting. Lots and lots and lots of chatting.
We all could have stayed for longer! And next year we will.
Many more photos here.
Spring Market MQG meetup!
Any of you going to Spring Market in Salt Lake City? If so, be sure to join us at The Modern Quilt Guild meet up!
Friday May 13th at 8:00 PM at the Marriott's Destinations Lounge
Hope to meet some of you there!
LAMQG Retreat
I'm headed out for the weekend to the 1st annual LAMQG retreat!
There's no packing lightly for these things, is there??
I've never been on a quilting retreat but I suspect that lots of good times are ahead. Here's what I do know: the (100% self-appointed) Cocktail Committee has invented a drink they have named The Seam Ripper. Do you think that other guilds invent themed cocktails for their retreats?
Fabric inspiration.
I am loving these Kaffe Fassett woven strips right now.
Mixed with some Carolina Chambray blues. Something good is going to come from this... I can feel it!
Happy weekend everyone!
Visiting the Kansas City MQG
Last week was filled with MQG meetings for me! On Thursday I headed away from this...
... to this in order to give a talk to the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild.
The cold and snow were well worth it though because it was really great to hit up the meeting and see that they are having just as much fun as we are in LA. And there are so many people at their meetings!
The talk was really fun to give. A huge thanks to the KCMQG for being so warm and welcoming!
Additionally, it was truly wonderful to get a chance to meet and get to know Jacquie. We've been blogging friends for a long time, so meeting in person was a ball! Lots of late nights chatting about quilts over wine - what could be better??
We'll be catching up again soon since she's coming to talk to us here in LA in March!
And one last photo of an amazing sunset at her house... so so beautiful!
Checking in with the LAMQG.
Things have been going gangbusters over at the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild these days!
Last night we had our first meeting at our new home, Sew Modern.
Lauren, (seen here attending to some very important hosting duties!) who opened the shop has been an active guild member since the very start so we're thrilled to have a new place to meet that is such a natural fit. And there's just so much fabric there!
We had 63 (a record for us!) people at this meeting and it was a ball.
Hope to see more new faces at our March meeting!
CHA
Latifah and I hit up the CHA trade show this weekend. It was lots and lots and lots of scrapbooking stuff. The good news was that C & T and Stash Books were there too. It was so great to see the Block Party cover quilt displayed!
Hope you had a great weekend!!
It's a quilter's miracle!
I seem to have actually managed to train the cats to stay off of the quilts while I'm working on them!
Those of you with cats understand what a feat this is.
It's a whole different story with these two...but they are allowed on this one!
Stitch Winner!
Thanks for all of your kind words about the scarf. It also inspired a new banner for the blog! Ok - a winner of the magazine...
The random number generator picked number 57! That's Eileen. Congrats and keep any eye out for an email from me!
A scarf in Stitch and a giveaway
Oh hey! Some work of mine is in the latest Stitch!
I'll go ahead and say it: I don't think wearables and quilted go together. Pretty much ever. So when Stitch asked me to make a scarf for the Spring 2011 issue I was daunted. I wasn't required to make it quilted, but hell, I'm a quilter. So I tackled the task and think that I did alright at making something ok!
I used flannel in the middle to make it have more of a flexible drape than batting would have given it.
Now the giveaway! Who wants a copy of the magazine? Leave a comment and I'll announce a winner on Monday. Good luck!
On the design wall...
Blocks from The Triple B Bee. Just have to make one myself to add to them and then I can put the quilt together! Not certain of the lay out but this is going to be a lap quilt that lives in my sewing room. I went with a darker color scheme than I usually do but I'm interested in using different kinds of color combos these days... We'll see how I put all of these together.
And all 44 charms from a Robert Kaufman Kona charm pack! Aren't they pretty all laid out like that? RK have been so generous and have donated these charm packs to Modern Quilt Guilds that want to organize a solids challenge. Of course the L.A. group jumped at the chance! Having them up there is getting me inspired...
Fun.
Really, really, really fun.
What with Lauren opening Sew Modern, a new shop, (not pictured - this is down in Orange County where we went for some training) and having a long arm there, this could become a new habit... It really is all it's cracked up to be.
Have a great weekend!
You know what's exciting??
This right here, that's what!
Still a few months until it comes out but it's already up on Amazon for pre-order.
Hope you all had sewing filled weekends!
The Baby Harvatine Quilt
I have been reading my friend Liz's blog, Lady Harvatine, for a long time. It was one of the first I found when I started quilting. Thanks to the LA Modern Quilt Guild, we now know each other and are pals. She's having a baby very soon, so of course I had to make her a quilt!
I'm a touch stripe obsessed these days...
I quilted double zig-zags in each blue and yellow strip (I didn't use a double needle, just did one zig-zag then echo quilted it) and added the occasional pop of monochromatic fabric.
Oh and guys, did you see? There's totally a dog in a teacup right there.
Hope 2011 is off to a good start for you!
Goodbye 2010
As the year wraps up I thought I'd stop in and say that I hope each and every one of you has a happy new year. I've been very lucky and have had an overall great year, but 2010 has had its ups and downs for a lot of us, so here's to 2011 being more up than down!
Happy happy new year and see you all in 2011!
Merry Christmas!
Hope those of you who celebrate are having a wonderful day!
Christmas comes early.
I'm so excited that Janome is sponsoring me with a Horizon Memory Craft 7700 machine.
Needless to say, I'm thrilled. I mean, let's be honest here - I did a veeeery long happy dance when the UPS man pulled up with it.
I've been sewing on the same machine (my first machine) since I started quilting about three years ago. I can't knock the lil' lady because I've made over 50 quilts, large and small, on her. But for a long time now, I've known that my machine was holding me back, with quilting in particular. I have spent a bit of time with my new Horizon and let me tell you - it's like a door opening. Everything just looks so much better. The stitches, the smoothness, it's just clearly a quality machine. I am going to be a straight line quilting addict for a bit I think. It all just comes out so pretty and NOT shifty on this machine. I'm thrilled.
This machine is so much faster than my old one. I'm zipping through my tasks and getting things done so quickly! And the space! Just look at the space!
There is SO much room in the throat of the machine. Seriously - so. much. I'm in the middle of quilting a queen right now, and it's not even a squeeze to get it through the machine.
And so far, in first place for "best feature I didn't have but now do": The Automatic Thread Cutter!
This upgrade has been a long time coming for me and let me tell you, it doesn't disappoint! I am amazed at what a difference it makes to have the right tool.
Now you'll have to excuse me - I'm going to go spend lot and lots of quality time with the new machine.