::Constellations::

I can’t get enough of this Lizzy House Constellations, so when I walked into The West Seattle Fabric Company and saw it, I knew it was coming home with me.

I truly think Lizzy’s designs are some of my favorite currently on the market.

Her hit of whimsy is just the right amount and her colorways are always dead on in my book.

Behold, purple!  I love purple.

Genies, hedgehogs, cats…it’s all there.  Plus, I certainly can not have enough Pearl Bracelet in my stash.  This active solid makes blending other prints in a dream.

I’ve been itching to make a Supernova Quilt from the book with this line and with a class next week on it I’ve finally stepped into action.

Here’s the starts of my Night Owl quilt.  I’m fond of this owl fabric, especially this little guy.  Thought I would try my hand at some woodgrain quilting when I’ve logged some practice in.

It took great restraint to not add purple.

Quick, make a trip over before I go buy it all up!

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::Stitch and Flipped Value Quilt::

Value (the relative lightness or darkness of a color) is used in EVERY quilt, though not always successfully.  You can play around all you want with color schemes (analogous, complementary…), and color temperature (warm and cool),  but value is still going to be what you need to create design.

I wanted to play with value in a scrappy way that was different from my half-square-triangle Value Quilt Tutorial and thought of stitch and flip triangles as an easy place to start.  The technique is one of my favorite in Quilting Modern.

Overall this quilt’s values ended up being very medium to light.  The contrast created by the values was in no way extreme.  The values created a softer, mellower look.

There are some places in this quilt where there isn’t enough value contrast. Giving myself some distance from the quilt would have been helpful to see that.

In the end though, I can embrace those learning mistakes and see that this quilt is perfect for a baby.  And that little yellow rosebud fabric in there…I had those sheets as a kid.

This quilt also made me take a look at my overall stash building.  Lights, I am deficient on lights.  We all know how to take care of that little problem don’t we?

This little Value Quilt was thrown on the long-arm when I visited Sandie last week to quilt my Modern Charm Squared Quilts.  The spiraling pattern was challenging to trace smoothly from the paper pattern I followed.

Sandie told me something she had heard that stuck in my head.  ”It doesn’t have to be a perfect line, just a pretty line.”  All washed and crinkled, be it so.

The backing is from the stash.  An older Alexander Henry that is just like sunshine.

The binding, a Cloud 9 flannel that I got from Drygoods here in Seattle.

This Value Quilt has already found a great home.  Those babies keep coming.

I’ve now made about a million of these hst with stitch and flip triangles which I call double trouble.  I’m not very enthusiastic about them up on the design wall, so I have some create thinking to do this week.

Happy Sunday!

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::Half-Square Triangle Class:: $85/Saturday October 27th from 10am to 4pm at the West Seattle Stitch and Sew Studio.

This versatile quilt block lends itself to endless designs. We’ll cover quilting basics such as picking fabrics, matching seams and create perfect points.  We’ll play with a layout that suites your style and you’ll walk away with ideas for a multitude of quilts. All level of sewists welcome.

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::Seattle Lone Star Quilt Finish::

What happens when you start piecing stitch and flip triangles and squares into a 16-patch?

Well, a star is born!  In Seattle it is not uncommon to see just a lone star or two in the sky.

The squares in this quilt are scrappy and a bunch are leftovers from the Blind Copilot Quilt in our book Quilting Modern (which is available again btw)!

I love that you can use up the smallest bits of fabric and that I have another sample for my Stitch and Flip Triangle Workshop in November.  You can see a few other great examples of this block in the Quilting Modern Flickr Group.

Krista Wither’s did the quilting.  We collaborated on the design.  I wanted something that would help define the large triangles that formed the star since they were a little off-set.

The background quilting needed to be a bit denser to advance the star and we went with this shape.  It worked out fabulously in my opinion!

Now I can stare at all those little scraps when we read at night.  I’m not much of a wall hanging gal, but if Roan had a larger room this might be up.

I love this Lizzy House print on the back.

After messing around as usual with the back, I went with one lone wonky star and showcased some favorite fabrics in the points.

This quilt will be on display as part on Krista’s exhibit at Island Quilter that opens on Friday night.  Hope to see you there!

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::Improvisational Elongated Triangle Blocks:: $45 Thursday October 4th from 6-9pm at the Quilting Loft in Ballard.

Create an edgy block of triangles with this simple improvisational technique. Follow up with an invisible zipper class or create your own quilt. All levels of sewists welcome.

 

::Invisible Zipper Class:: $45/ Thursday, October 11th from 6-9pm at the Quilting Loft in Ballard.

Installing invisible zippers if easier than you think. Come learn how to make professional looking pillows, you’ll be hooked! All levels of sewists welcome.

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::Adding Stitch and Flip Triangles to Half Square Triangles::

I had to take these off the design wall to focus on what really needed to be done.

I started fiddling with the idea of using scraps for half-square triangles with stitch and flip triangles during my Swirling Medallion class.  This simple technique from the book lends itself to so many designs.

I went with a small sized square so I could use up even the smallest of favorite scrap fabrics.

They are ideal for chain piecing.  Think of it as an ongoing project in between all those others.  I simply have added a stack of white squares to my sewing table and as I produce scraps from other projects I add hsts to the mix.

I think on-point might be what I go with and I’ll mess with them more before I teach the Stitch and Flip Triangle class and the Psychedelic Baby Block Class that will cover this technique and more.

It would be fun to play with value a bit more, but the process itself is so gratifying as you watch it grow.  Rather addictive I would say and always fun to see those out of print fabrics that you have miniscule amounts of on display in a quilt.

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::Improvisational Strip Piecing Workshop::  $85 Saturday, September 8th, 10am-4pm at Island Quilter on Vashon Island.

An all day workshop to explore the creation of your own quilt designs utilizing improvisational strip piecing.  We’ll cover this improvisational patchwork technique while constructing blocks for your own quilt design. All level of sewists welcome.   Quilting Modern Book required.

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::Good Stuff::

Besides time with my family, I can’t think of time better spent than being with friends, eating good food, quilting, buying fabric and doing good.  For the Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild Meet-up we did all that.  The Seattle, Portland and Vancouver Modern Quilt Guilds all meet for a weekend here in Seattle.  My Saturday was packed full of fun at Island Quilter who graciously hosted our charity sew-in with style.  Thanks Anja and Paul!

For more photos or to add your own we’ve created a PNW MQG Flickr group here.

(Photo by Holly)

The idea behind the sew-in was conceived in a car.  Yes, it’s true.  Sandie and I were driving along trying to figure out how the travelers could leave their machines at home and how we could all mingle with ease while doing what we love.

Bernina NW came through with machines, I collected supplies via the sponsors below and we created stations for the production of the quilts.  We all switched places as we wished and created some great quilts using Susan Beal’s modern log cabin cross quilt pattern from her book and the stitch and flip triangle technique from Quilting Modern.

I love all the color.

You’ll be seeing these quilts again finished.  We each took home some finished tops to quilt and donate where we saw fit as individual guilds.

I finished up two quilt tops on Monday that others had worked away at.

I should say the sew-in would not be possible with out donations from our gracious sponsors.  Please support these fabulous companies as they supported us.

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::Seattle Star Quilt Top::

I’ve been obsessing a bit over star quilts lately.  My Star Pinterest board is overflowing and I was having problems deciding which design to start with.  I’ve also set myself a little goal of clearing out some unfinished projects.  I had a pile of stitch and flip triangles left over from designing Blind Copilot for Quilting Modern and thought I could kill two birds with one stone.

These little Stitch and Flip Triangles are addictive and a great scrap buster.  You can just sit down and chain piece a bunch if you have a pile of squares at hand.  I’d recommend going with the triangles on the larger side for this design if you were to give it a go.

So Seattle Star came to be.  It is not unusual in this city to see just one or two stars in the sky so I thought the name appropriate.  Traditionally the design is made with half-square triangles and charm squares into a 16-patch block.

Anyone know its name?  I’d like to remake it with solids someday.

It turned out a good size for a little boy and came together lickity-split.  You can get a better idea of the size in this photo below.

I contemplated a pieced boarder, but I think it would be too distracting.

Yesterday I picked up the backing.  Now onto the hard part, how the hell to quilt it?  I’m up for suggestions.

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::Flip Triangle Quilt:: $45 Thursday, August 9th from 6-9pm at the Quilting Loftin Ballard.

A quilt with sharp points and design.  Pick your favorite fabrics and come learn the ins and outs of this block.  All level of sewists welcome.

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::Book Signing and Trunk Show::

Please join me this Saturday, April 28th from 11-2pm at the Quilting Loft in Ballard for a book signing and trunk show.  I’ll be demonstrating the ‘stitch and flip triangle’ technique around noon and 1pm.

The Quilting Loft will be offering a little ‘special something’ to each person that buys the book.  Preorder via the Quilting Loft and receive 20% off the book.

Hope to see you there, but if you can’t come Saturday, the reception for my quilt exhibit opening at Island Quilter on Vashon Island is next Friday, May 4th from 6-9pm.

Hope to see your smiling faces at one or the other!

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p.s. some giveaways of the book are available at the end of this post.

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