Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century

2018 is off to a very good beginning and I couldn't be happier.

Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century is finally out. It's a 200+ page book compiled by Riane Menardi, Alissa Haight Carlton and Heather Grant published by The Modern Quilt Guild and Stash Books. The publisher describes it this way, "a collectible, hardcover book that traces the history of modern quilts, explores hallmarks of the genre, and honors the genre's past, present, and future."

The book features a wonderful sampling of over 200 modern quilts and I'm happy to say one of mine, Rhythm & Blues, is in the book! WaHoo!!! It's an honor to be included along side the work of so many well known modern quilters. You can see Rhythm & Blues on page 24.

Several months ago I was contacted by TheMQG to see if they could include Rhythm & Blues in a new book they were putting together. Yes! Yes! Of course you can can I screamed at the email.

I designed and made Rhythm & Blues way back in 2012 specifically to enter in the QuiltCon 2013 quilt show. It was not only accepted into the show, but also won third place in the Use of Negative space category. That was an exciting moment for me as it was only the second time I had entered a quilt show. After QuiltCon it went on to hang as part of the first Modern Showcase at Quilt Market and Quilt Festival both in Houston and Chicago.

While showing in Chicago, the editor of Modern Quilts Unlimited saw it and contacted me about publishing the design as a pattern in their magazine. It appeared in the Winter 2015 issue. Back copies are still available here. Be sure to look for the Winter 2015 issue.

I'm happy to say Rhythm & Blues will also be making an appearance in another book by C&T Publishing coming out in May of this year. Modern Quilts Unlimited has compiled a book that features modern quilts from past issues. At this point I don't know any more than that but it's certainly exciting to see how one quilt is getting around in the world.

Whether you consider yourself a modern quilter or are simply interested in what modern quilting is all about, I highly recommend Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century. Give it a look see. Learn about the movement. Be inspired. I'm certainly finding wonderful inspiration in every page.

Read C&T's blog post and enter for a chance to win your own ebook copy.
It's available for purchase through TheMQG, C&T Publishing and of course places like Amazon and hopefully your local quilt shop.

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Disclaimer; I make no profits from the sale of this book. I am simply providing links to TheMQG and C&T Publishing for your convenience.

Rhythm & Blues

Remember my Rhythm & Blues quilt? 

Now you can make your very own version of my award winning quilt.

Toward the end of last summer, I received an unexpected email from the editor of Modern Quilts Unlimited who had seen Rhythm & Blues at the Chicago Quilt Festival. She wanted to include it in the winter 2015 edition of the magazine. I have been a subscriber to the magazine for a couple of years so it was a thrill to be asked.

Rhythm & Blues was originally made as an entry for the first QuiltCon Quilt Show in 2013 where I was honored to win third place in the Use of Negative Space category. You can read more about it here. Since it wasn't originally made to be a pattern, I hadn't written any sewing instructions, but thankfully I did have good notes. Directions and calculations were written and off the quilt went to Illinois for a photo shoot.

The magazine is on the newsstands now and includes many wonderful quilts. Here's one of my favorites called Global Threads by Laura Gilvin. Check out Modern Quilts Unlimited's Facebook page to get a sneak peek at other projects in this issue.

I'm also happy to report that I will have a quilt in the 2015 QuiltCon Quilt Show. It's called Matrix Blooming. I'll tell you more on that next week. I wasn't able to see Rhythm & Blues in person but this time I will be there and I can't wait. QuiltCon here I come.   : )

Sew Solid Sunday, Working With Solids

I had the pleasure of meeting Debbie Grifka of Esch House Quilts at Quilt Market in Houston last fall. She has a very bold graphic design sense which is reflected in her quilt patterns. One of my favorites is her pattern A New View. Since then I have started following her blog and today I'm linking up with her new series entitled Sew Solid Sunday with one of my first all solid quilts . . . "Rhythm & Blues".

Many of you have already seen this quilt as I previously blogged about about it here and here.

Today I'd like to talk just a bit about my experience working with all solids. My background is in graphic design and I have an affinity for strong, bold graphics. Solids work wonderfully in expressing this graphic style. They strip away the added layer and complexity that a print fabric brings to a quilt design pairing it down to the most basic elements . . . the shapes and colors in context to one another. It's this aspect of solids that I find so pleasing and interesting to play with when designing. Pure form, color and composition.

When working with all solids, you have a wonderful opportunity to really explore basic elements of design. Ask yourself these things when you are designing a solid quilt.

• color;  how do the colors relate in context to one another.
• shape;  how do the different shapes relate and play off of one another.
• composition;  how do things like balance, rhythm and line effect the composition and lead the eye around the quilt.

These are just a few of the things that I find fun to explore when designing any quilt but most especially when working with solids. I'm even working on a pattern based on the design elements from "Rhythm & Blues" which I hope will be out later this year.

However making all solid quilts has led me to realized that after awhile I miss the absence of prints. I actually crave the riot of color and pattern that can only be found in a complete abandon of solids in favor of prints, prints and more prints. This is who I am.

I love both solids and prints for their unique qualities. Solids have the ability to express bold, graphic, even simple concepts with such clarity and strength. Prints have the ability to stimulate the eye and interact with each other on another, more complex level.

If you haven't tried solids, I recommend giving it a go. You can visit my Pinterest board of all solid quilts for some inspiration. It's so much fun to see what creative work others are doing with solids. There are sooo many fabulous solid quilts out there!

Hopefully I'll have a new solid piece to share on one of Debbie's future installments.
Please hop over to Sew Solid Sunday for a little solid inspiration from the other links. : )

On a final note I'd like to give a nod to Debbie's wonderful Mondrian quilt, by leaving you with my version of a Mondrian inspired quilt made mostly with solids entitled "Mondrian Unleashed".

QuiltCon

Three quilts entered.
Two quilts accepted !
One quilt wins an award ! ! !

Rhythm & Blues won 3rd Place in the Use of Negative Space category sponsored by Michael Miller Fabrics!  I can't begin to tell you how excited I am.

I've seen lots of pictures on Instgram and there are some amazing quilts in the show. I don't really have a lot of quilt show credentials under my belt so this is all rather new and most definitely an honor considering all the great talent out there.   : )

If only I was in Austin right now to see them in person.  : (  
I didn't even know which quilt won what award until just now when the winners were finally posted online. For a complete listing of the winners go here.

I made 2 new quilts to enter in QuilCon. Both were based on concepts that had been in my sketchbook for ages. Seemed like a great opportunity to finally bring those concepts to life.

The first quilt was "Rhythm & Blues".
The inspiration for this quilt initially came from studying the design elements in woven interior decorating fabrics. I was interested in the interweave of colors that occur within the strong horizontal format of the weave. As the idea progressed, I became more intrigued with the vertical movement that could be created as different colored groups of lines interact with each other. The quilt morphed into a graphic representation of the sound bars that move up and down on digital recording equipment and "Rhythm & Blues" was born. I have plans to explore other versions of this basic design later this year.

I quilted it with horizontal lines. A single line in the white bars, double lines in most of the blues and triple lines in the darkest blue. It made for a lot of starting and stopping, which is an area where my skills need improvement.

The second quilt I made was "Mondrian Unleashed".
"Mondrian Unleashed" was inspired by the paintings of Piet Mondrian, an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement of the early 1900's. He simplified compositions into vertical and horizontal lines and used primary colors plus black and white. I was intrigued by his compositions and the limited placement of color and initially planned to reproduce this structure using print fabrics in place of solid colors. As the concept evolved though, I broke free of the rigid horizontal and vertical structure in favor of diagonal lines. The placement of color within the spaces created by the intersection of lines falls in a way that intentionally leads your eye through the quilt.  I have other color options I'd like to explore with this one as well.

I quilted random diagonal lines all over the surface that echo the randomness of the quilt design.

The third quilt I entered was "Zebras in My Garden" made using my Facets pattern. While this quilt wasn't accepted, it's actually my favorite in many ways simply because of the use of color and Kaffe prints.

Making these quilts was a great learning experience. One of the main things I realized about my personal quilt journey is that the design process is what I love the most. Guess that's why I have so many sketches and so many "yet to be made" quilts. I really enjoy the compositional aspect of designing and working with color. And while it was a lot of fun to work with mostly solids, I realize my first love is prints and riots of color. I'll still design and use solids frequently because there are just so many delicious colors available, but I'll never give up on prints . . . especially Kaffe.

I encourage all of you to go out on a limb and enter a competition this year. If you aren't accepted into one show it certainly doesn't mean you won't be accepted into a different show. Sometimes it just means finding the right fit for your work. Be confident in your ideas, improve the skills that need work and let the rest of the world see what you do.

I hope QuiltCon is a grand success. I can't imagine that it won't be. 
To all of you lucky enough to go, I'm quite jealous but hope you had a blast!!