Modern Quilting Documentary

It’s here! I am finally done with my modern quilting documentary and I couldn’t be more excited! I learned so much through the process of making this that it feels so good to be done and it was screened today.

Overall, the hardest part of making this documentary was the learning curve of both Apple Computers and using iMovie.  I have been a PC person my whole life, so switching to a Mac for this project was really tough.  Everything is relatively the same, but slightly different, making easy things seem really daunting.  For example, right clicking.  We take so many things for granted using one format or the other.  Overall, I would use an Apple again, but I probably would not buy one for my personal use.  I am really happy with a PC, but learning something new is also really cool.

iMovie is a beast within itself.  The program has so many tricks that I was learning throughout the entire process.  One feature that I really liked was that the program would automatically save my project as I worked on things.  This came in handy because over the course of the month or so it took to make, I only worked on it twice a week.  The features of the program that I really enjoyed is how iTunes, iMovie, and iPhoto work together so well.  I found it really useful to download my music into iTunes and my photos into iPhoto then I can open them up in iMovie to incorporate into my project.  The way things work together is a beautiful thing.  I also like the transitions, text tools, and photograph tools iMovie has.  These came in handy in the project as well.

Other than learning about Apple computers and iMovie, I surprised myself by learning a lot about modern quilting as a craft.  I have been quilting for a few years now and done a lot of research on the Internet, but talking to two professionals about it really puts things in perspective for me.  I never realized what a personal process modern quilting really is.  The idea of modern quilting is a really cool one – just go with it.  I named my project “Shut Up & Make: A Modern Quilting Documentary” because of something I heard while at the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild Meeting.  President Melissa Richie said that it’s important to “Shut up and make” in order for the process to take shape without too much thought and planning.  I really like the idea of letting go in order to make something beautiful.

Well, I hope you enjoy the documentary as much as I enjoyed making it.  It was a long, hard process but the results are so rewarding.

Enjoy!

 

It’s Birthday Time!

Luckily, and unluckily, two of my good friend’s birthdays are two days apart in May.  I decided to overextend myself this year and make both of them something special.  For Annichen, my pink-and-pug-loving friend, I made her a shirt from the Wilksten Tank pattern.  I have made this pattern before, and love it.  The first thing I did after I made my first tank with this pattern was trace the pattern onto parchment paper so I could make many of these really comfy tops.  Luckily, Annichen and I are relatively the same size, so I’m hoping this will fit her.  If not, I will have some adjustments in my future.  I chose a linen fabric – perfect for summer.  The pattern is pink and red flowers on a white background.  This fabric really screamed “ANNICHEN!!” when I saw it, and it was on sale, double bonus! The pattern is so easy to make, it came together in about two hours.  If you’re interested, you can go here to see more patterns and get more information about the Wilksten Tank pattern.

I then made TWO things for my super artsy friend, Kristan.  She is finishing up her degree in art therapy and is going to study abroad in Ireland this summer and I wanted to make her something that she could use on her trip.  What to make for the girl that has it all?!?  I decided to make her a simple artist’s roll up.  It’s a tool roll that she can use for pencils, pens, brushes, or even makeup brushes.  Again, I used Lotta Jansdotter’s book, Simple Sewing, and again this project came together really easily and fast.  I used two rather contrasting fabrics because I liked them together and separately, and I think she will too.  I added some ribbon trim on the outside of wiener dogs because she has two little wieners, and they’re super doper cute.  I also added a tag on the inside that says “p.s. I love you” to remind her while she’s gone.

The other gift I made for her is a reversible tote bag.  This project was also super simple and came together quickly.  I can’t remember where the pattern is from, but I printed it out about a year ago now to make as gift for Christmas.  They were all well received and it’s a bag that every girl can use.  It rolls up so you can throw it in your purse or bag for the day and take it out when needed.  I received one of these bags (commercially made) as a gift for Christmas a few years ago, and can’t tell you how many times I’ve used it.  It’s super convenient.  I used Anna Maria Horner fabric for the outside – the blue feathers, and then donkeys with rain boots on for the inside.  It’s super cute!

We are going on a ten mile hike today, followed by happy hour at our favorite place in Genesee, Hideaway Kitchen + Bar, followed by dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, The Bistro, in Evergreen.  It’s going to be a busy day!

What is Modern Quilting?

I’ve been asking myself and others this question a lot lately.  What is modern quilting?  I’m making a documentary about modern quilting and I have been finding out a lot of history and techniques that I never even knew existed.  While many people are familiar with quilting as a craft, I feel that modern quilting is somewhat of a misleading term.  The dictionary definition says that modern is an adjective meaning “characteristic of present and recent time; contemporary; not antiquated or obsolete” (here).  While I think this is mostly true about modern quilting, I also think that people have been making modern quilts long before modern times.

Quilt by: Melissa Richie

According to the Modern Quilt Guild,” Modern quilts are primarily functional and inspired by modern design. Modern quilters work in different styles and define modern quilting in different ways, but several characteristics often appear which may help identify a modern quilt. These include, but are not limited to: the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. “Modern traditionalism” or the updating of classic quilt designs is also often seen in modern quilting” (here).

 

Something that I found surprising is the popularity of Gee’s Bend and how much they have done for modern quilting as a whole.  The town of Gee’s Bend, Alabama is a pretty isolated area with one road in and the others sides surrounded by water.

 

Gee’s Bend, Alabama, surrounded on three sides by water

The 42 African-American women, who spanned four generations, made quilts out of readily available materials in new patterns that weren’t seen before.  The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas was the first place the quilts were on display, making them very popular with historians and quilters alike.  The dedication and thought these women put into the quilts is spectacular.  To learn more about the quilters and quilts of Gee’s Bend, go here.

I was surprised in my interviews with Melissa Richie, President of the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild, and Nancy Swanton, owner of the Golden Quilt Company in Golden, Colorado, that no one mentioned Denise Schmidt. According to the Modern Quilt Guild’s website, one of the defining moments in modern quilting history came when Martha Stewart featured Denyse Schmidt’s quilts in her magazine, Martha Stewart Living in 1998.  The magazine called the quilts a, “chic, modernist aesthetic.”  To learn more about Denyse Schmidt and her quilts, go here.

I am planning on posting the documentary this weekend.  It’s almost done, I just have a few more tweaks to complete it. And I’m SO excited.

 

 

Bathroom Makeover

Without even planning for it, I have been doing a bathroom makeover. After I have made this project this week and the new shower curtain I made today, I really feel like I am doing a bathroom makeover.  I bought some eyelet at Joann’s on sale last week with the intention of making a new shower curtain.  Our bathroom has no windows, so any extra light while in the shower is much needed.  Our old shower curtain was from a thrift store, so it was super short for our shower/tub and kind of old.  I liked the pattern, but it was time for a change.

Here is the old curtain:

It’s white with green stripes and barely fit over the edge of the tub. I really liked it when I picked it out, but it was time for a change.

My inspiration was this which I found on pinterest, but the link was broken.  I love how light and airy the eyelet makes the bathroom feel.  I think a shower should feel like an escape or a spa treatment.

It was my first time using grommets and it was kind of scary.  I had my boyfriend help due to the use of tools (a hammer).  Overall, they were fairly easy to use.  I got the kit that had the anvil and setter in it so I could easily work with the grommets.  They only came in a box of 10 and we needed 12, so we had to get an extra box.  I’m not sure what I will do with the others now… more projects, no doubt!

I got three yards of 45″ eyelet, but I didn’t have enough.  Luckily I had the exact same eyelet from a shirt I made the summer before, so I simply made panels and sewed them together.  The only problem with this is that the eyelet is somewhat directional and I wasn’t really paying attention.  The pattern is now upside down on two panels, but if I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know.  The most important thing was the the fabric had the wrong side in.  Eyelet has two sides that look really really similar, so finding the wrong side is somewhat tricky.  I really had to study both sides in order to figure out which side was the wrong one.  I decided to put a border of some cotton with flowers to secure the edges and add some fun and color to the curtain.

I’m loving it!

Off to take a shower! 🙂

I Have A Problem…

I love magazines.  I love looking at the beautiful, glossy pictures of Martha Stewart Living, Sunset Magazine, 5280 Magazine, and Country Living. I recently have come to terms with my obsession love  for magazines and have decided to make a change.  I want to keep only three magazines which will force me to read them (because I won’t have so many choices) and keep a rotation cycle going.  While I love magazines, I find myself never reading them all, or putting them in my “read” pile, walking by them so many times, and never reading them.  I will then put them away and pick them up later to discover that I’ve never even read that one!  This not only annoys me, it also annoys others in the house.  My piles of magazines can be found everywhere.

I saw this really wonderful pattern in one of the first sewing books I ever bought and thought it looked perfect.  This book has many projects that are, as the title suggests, simple.  It is a good book with a very Scandinavian aesthetic.  Lotta Jansdotter is an author, fabric designer, print maker, and sewer.  She has a distinctive Sweetish style which can be described as simple with bold colors against rather neutral background.  See her website for more information.

The book said it was a level three project (on a scale of one, two, and three), but I finished it up in about 45 minutes.  I thought it was super easy, but this is the first project I remember making from the book.

I chose this beautiful Prints Charming fabric I got from Purl Soho last year. It’s one of those fabrics that I bought but never had the guts to cut into.  Well, I needed a heavier fabric for this project and had nothing else that would work, so it was time to cut into it!

I think it really turned out well and I am excited to recycle fifty pounds of magazines this week!  I have a friend who is willing to take them off my hands, but I’m not sure she knows what she’s getting herself into.  🙂

It’s a really great addition to the bathroom.  It really cuts the choice of reading material down, which is helpful for me not to spend an hour in the bathroom reading a magazine before I realize it (something I do at least twice a week).  Here it is hanging proudly in the bathroom:

Have a good weekend!

More Progress

It’s another snowy day here in colorful Colorado, which means I got to do a little bit of sewing.  I am trying to get some work on my scrappy herringbone quilt done.  I got four more blocks done and am starting to run out of scraps (horray!).  Remember how I said I wasn’t sure if I was going to have enough scraps cut out to finish the quilt?   Well, I was right.

I only have enough scraps to do three more blocks, not even one whole row.  I am planning on doing two more rows to make it 4×5 blocks.  This will make a really nice sized throw for the den when snuggling up watching TV.  I now need to decide what to do for the backing and binding.  I think a small print with a white background would look good for the back and any color for the binding would work with this quilt.  I might do a green or purple just to make those colors from the quilt pop.

I love the way it’s coming along!  The juxtaposition of colors, shapes, and patterns works so well together.  I can’t wait to start sewing the blocks together to see the herringbone pattern really start to come together.

Before I assemble any quilt, I always like to take a picture to see how the colors work together.  I’m not sure why, but I can see so much clearly when I have another representation to look at.  When I am in person, I rarely see things that I can see in a photograph.  I also like to consult with my boyfriend who is very keen on color and pattern placement…who knew!  This quilt will especially need many photographs in order to see the right placement of blocks.  I have already moved things around on the wall so much.  I don’t want any similar / like colors to be too close together in this quilt in order to achieve the truly scrappy feeling I’m going for.  This can also help if I take pictures and look before the quilt is done.  Do I have enough of every color I want to incorporate in the quilt?  If not, it’s not too late to change a few things and add more colors or shapes or patterns.  This really gives me the freedom I love about modern quilting to have an idea and make it happen.

I hope you all are having a great snow day too!

My Favorite Quilt Store: Golden Quilt Company

Although the official “Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day” is January 24th, it never hurts to profess your undying love for your local quilt shop.  My local quilt shop is Golden Quilt Company in beautiful downtown Golden, Colorado (home to the Coors Factory and Buffalo Bill!). I discovered it shortly after moving to Evergreen, Colorado.  I was on the internet looking for a quilt shop in the area and found the Golden Quilt Company.

Owner Nancy Sawnton does a wonderful job stocking modern fabrics, batiks, black and white fabrics, and the much loved and vibrant Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  When I first visited the Golden Quilt Co.  I was told about the owners love of black and white fabrics, and boy they weren’t kidding.  Nancy has dedicated almost one full isle to just black and whites.  She also has a love for Kaffe Fassett.  The entire back of the store is dedicated to his bright, bold fabrics.

How cool is this couch!?

In addition to the large selection of fabrics, books, patterns, and sewing supplies, Golden Quilt Company offers classes in the adjacent Fiber Arts Studio.  They teach many different techniques of quilt making.  They used to offer classes in the back area of the store which is not dedicated to more fabric.  What an upgrade to be able to have so much more space to teach classes and techniques.  This is the beginners modern quilt class:

And another beginning quilting class:

This is the modern nine patch class:

This stunning quilt is from the Playing with Shiva Paintsilks class:

And many art quilts:

Not only is the staff extremely helpful, they are also very friendly and always want to know what kind of project you are working on.  I have purchased fabric at the Golden Quilt Company for many quilts and they always want to see pictures and help with fabric selections.  Because they are in downtown Golden, they get a lot of foot traffic from visitors to the town and to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, which is just down the road.  I have heard great things about the museum but haven’t got a chance to go myself yet.  They always have new exhibits coming into town, with a steady mix of modern, art, and antique quilts.

Anyway, I have been visiting this quilt shop for quite some time now and LOVE them.  Give YOUR local quilt shop some love this week!

Modern Quilt Guild Name Tag

To participate in giveaways at the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild‘s Meetings, all participants must (1) be a paying member (check!) and (2) have and wear a handmade name tag.  I spent today working on making my name tag for the March meeting.  I was given a membership card that has important information on it, but it’s pretty boring and doesn’t qualify me for the giveaways.  Having a name tag is a kind of fun way of getting to know everyone and seeing their sewing style.  I know that mine represents my style.

I wanted something super cute, so I made a super-mini geese in a ring bock.  It took me forever to figure out how to reduce the size of this beauty, but I was really relived when I finally figured it out.  Here is the template (look how small!):

I used Essex linen (scraps) for the background and itty-bitty scraps for the flying geese. It was a challenge to make this block so small.  I have made it before in a mini quilt you can find here, but this was really really really really small.

I then added grey borders and some embroidery for my name, then added batting and backing to give it some stability and girth while hanging around my neck:

I added the finishing touches of ribbon to hang it from and quilted a small border and voila!

I then made a lanyard to hang it from. I used a lanyard and ribbon to hang it from because I decided that if I change my mind and want to pin it instead of hang it, I could easily detach it.

I’m very happy with the finished product and can’t wait to show it off at the next meeting. I’m sure that the other ladies have much more interesting name tags, but I am pleased with my first try.

After finishing this project, I was interested in finding other name tag projects and came across this site on flickr.  I am so impressed how creative and interesting other people’s projects are.  I am really blown away by the great amount of inspiration.  I have got a lot of new ideas for my next name tag and possibly for the upcoming project in the modern quilt guild.  The project is a secret name tag swap.  You make a name tag for another member but they don’t know who is making it for them.  I don’t know any of the other members so it would be a great way for everyone to get to know me.

Mini Quilts

I like small quilts.  They are an instant gratification project that can be accomplished in a day.  Sometimes you need a project you can finish in one day. I also like mini quilts because they all character and texture to blank walls.  They are a little piece of sunshine every time you walk by them in the house.

I made this mini wall hanging about a year ago while practicing a paper piecing star project. I was interested in paper piecing and this is the first project I tried.  The pattern is really easy and great for beginners.   I used Essex Linen by Robert Kaufman for the background and binding, which gives it a really nice texture. The middle fabric has bees on it and one of my favorite parts of this project is that each piece of the star has a bee in it.

This is a project I made to fill up a huge space on our wall above two windows.  I wanted something that had cool colors and used flying geese.

It’s probably my favorite wall hanging I’ve made.  It was fun and easy to make, not to mention therapeutic to not have to worry about any other shapes and patterns.  I could just zone out and listen to books, music, and podcasts while working. The fabric is a mixture of solids, stripes, and some polka dots.  I love waking up in the morning and seeing it hang.

This is a project I did for a good friend as an “artist’s exchange.”  I made this wall hanging for her and she made me a piece of art which is now proudly hanging above my wood stove.  It is paper pieced and one of my favorites.  About a week after I gave it to her, I sent a picture to my grandma.  She told me that she had seen this pattern in a quilting magazine before but that the version I made was much better.  🙂

This is a Dresden plate that I found at my local thrift store hidden amongst the shower curtains, sheets, and bed spreads. I haven’t decided if I want to do anything with it yet, so it’s hanging on my wall for now. I love looking at the tiny hand stitches it has.

I also found these bits of quilt at my local thrift store, already framed.  They look like they were from a quilt that didn’t make it.  The hand stitching is unbelievable.  It’s hard to capture in the photos, especially since they are framed.

To see more mini quilts, see this.

Front Range Modern Quilt Guild Meeting

I attended my very first Front Range Modern Quilt Guild meeting today.  Aside from the long (1 hour & 15 minute) drive, it was really fun.  I sat in the back of the room so I could take some pictures and videos and just absorb all that was happening around me.

There were about 35 ladies attending and the agenda had all sorts of things from swaps to giveaways, Quiltcon recap, and show-and-tell.

I had e-mailed President Melissa R. earlier in the week about attending a meeting and she was super friendly and helpful with all my questions and concerns.  She facilitated the meeting, keeping everyone on track.  Angela (Vice President) also chimed in when necessary and was busy checking people in.

Listening to the panel of the four women who went to Quiltcon (a quilting conference in Austin, Texas – see this for more info) was really interesting.  It was a good mix of those who paid for the classes, those who paid for the lectures, those who paid for both, and what they all got out of the experience.  It sounds like a lot of (overwhelming) fun.   Some of the lectures are up on Craftsy (here) for FREE!  What a treat for those of us who couldn’t attend.

My favorite part of the meeting was the show-and-tell.  There were many different projects shown and all were SO different but good.

I really liked listening to what others had to say about modern quilting as a movement.  Some ideas I took away from the meeting were:

-“Shut up & make!”

-Use modern quilting to start a conversation about the craft

-Don’t use rules so much, just go with it.

As a person who is a self-proclaimed rule lover, I plan on taking these ideas to heart in order to advance my own quilting. I am also making a documentary about modern quilting and got a lot of great ideas from this meeting.  It’s great to be around a group of people who have similar interests as me.  Talking about modern quilting with my boyfriend or mom is not as satisfying as talking to someone who gets equally as excited about wonky log cabins and Amy Butler fabric.  🙂

To learn more about the Modern Quilt Guild or Modern Quilts in general, please see this.