Third Time Charm?

jill here....  I just love making baby quilts.  Not only is it fun to celebrate a new arrival but because of their size, baby quilts usually come together quickly.  Market Values sews up in almost no time; the fabric selection is the more challenging aspect.  My constraints were that I would use "stash" fabric and a girl recipient (mom wanted soft colors).

In my stash, there was lots of the large scale saturated pastel floral print (previously used in Cheddar, No Crackers).  That was my start for fun and girlie.  Next was the stripe and an aqua that looked good with it.  I added in some very soft grey. a cute dot and decided pink would be appropriate.  I could only come up with 6 fabrics rather than the prescribed 8 so decided to repeat (actually not at all a problem). Below is the outcome.

The pink just seemed overwhelming!
Too bright!

So I slept on it. The next morning, I ripped out the center section .  I decided a different value of aqua was the best solution and found a cut dot that was enough value change make the transparency believable.

The aqua was better than the pink but created
the appearance of five separate sections.
Too much value change...try again...

The position of the little dot with the
larger scaled print works well. 

 The third attempt....

This middle aqua section is not as dominant
and therefore reads more as a whole unit.

The little dot placed on the light aqua and the stripe placed
on the darker aqua would have been a better value balance.

Sometimes done is good and cute enough!  Which one will I quilt?  'Till next Tuesday...

Zesty Market Values by Benartex

jill here....Market Values is a fun pattern that goes together quickly...once the value decisions have been made.   Occasionally, there is some "unsewing" when the values aren't quite right.  So was this case in point:  the large scale yellow overlaying the light grey was a better second choice.  The original stripe (love stripes) was too busy and value confusing.  It found a happy home in the backing. 

Modern Quilt Relish's Market Values in Zest (Kanvas) by Benartex 

Quilted with "Nouveau Feathers" by April West.

This fabric has a pearlescent finish for a wonderful luster. It pressed and sewed beautifully. The grays, blacks and yellows illustrated in fun geometrics, florals and stripes are eye candy.

This is the throw size but it's darn cute in a baby size (comes queen, too).
The quilt is hung horizontally for photography purposes.

Backings are the greatest way to feature the leftovers!

Hope your autumn starts out golden!  Later, on Tuesday....

Seeing things to completion!

Marny here,
We are tying up some loose ends around the Modern Quilt Relish studios.

First, remember when we told you about this Market Values quilt we stitched up for Heidi Kaisand and her store Hen and Chicks Studio.  April was kind enough to send a pick when she visited and saw it up on the wall.  Doesn't it look wonderful quilted and bound!  (The quilter did a wonderful job, wish we could credit her but we do not know her name.)  (Just found out her name is Kelly Van Vliet.  Thanks April for the info.)   The fabrics were all at Heidi's so if you want to explore the possibility of a kit give them a call!

We also get to wrap up the Jennifer Moore's Monaluna Taali version of Supper Club and send it on its way to California.  Her fabric designs are so special.  Perfect for a Modern Baby.   Enjoy looking at her blog and her website.

Here it is all spread out.  Sorry about the fold lines.  The binding has been on for a couple of weeks but the quilt has been folded on a shelf patiently waiting for a label.

Close up of the quilting lines.

Label just about ready to be sewn to the back of the quilt.  We use Printed Treasures fabric sheets.    They work great and we can print straight from the computer using a regular printer.  The labels are simple and functional.

Enjoy February!  Valentine's is just around the corner.  I hope to put together some homemade gifts before the next post.  Uh oh!  Now I've done it.  An audience and a deadline.  Yikes...

Till Tuesday...

Maket Values: Quilt Top in Six Hours!

jill here....A couple of months ago, Marny and I offered a Market Values Mystery Class.  It was a pattern test: a chance to gain feedback prior to published print  AND to have a good time.  The quilters were given the ingredients to make their fabric selections before class.  They came ready to cut and sew.   What a cooperative group. We even had time for a tasty lunch!  Several sewers finished the quilt top within the six hour time period.



With helpful comments, Marny and I made some improvements to the finished product.
W

MODERN QUILT RELISH VERSIONS

Lap sized Market Values in Daisy Janie's Shades of Gray

 Modern Quilt Relish kid sized Market Values

Market Values in Batiks

I cut out this top in 1/2  hour and Marny and I sewed it in 2 1/2 hours TOGETHER. What Fun!

It's new home is at Hen and Chicks in Conrad, Iowa.

'Till next Tuesday....

Fresh Fabric for Brioche & Baguette

Jeanne's Fall in Colorado, thanks for the photo!  Great memories...

Marny here....

First, we want to thank everyone who attended our lecture at the AQS show in Des Moines.  We were so pleased to share "A Little Taste of Modern" with you.  The talk focused on a design principle (balance)  and the design elements (space, line, shape, value & color) that we feel are essential to a Modern Quilt.  Preparing the lecture made us distill some of our thoughts into a cohesive whole.  It was a good exercise.  Hopefully those attending enjoyed themselves.

We did receive permission to share our Robert Kaufman surprise!  It is such fun news for us!  Wow!  They have a new line of fabric coming out called Stockholm, designed by Robin Zingone.  While we can't show you pictures of the fabrics before they launch them later this month, we can tell you they are fabulous.  It is so much fun to be cutting into the beautiful prints and putting them up on the design wall.  They are going to be made into our Brioche and Baguette pattern.  (You can scroll down through the pattern shop to see which pattern we are talking about.)  Stockholm is a perfect fabric line for the pattern.  It will be even more exciting for us to see the quilt hanging in their booth at Houston Quilt Market.  We will have one in our booth too, lucky us.

Our Market Values Pattern is heading to the printer's on Friday.  It will be a proofreading frenzy (and special thanks to our little team of proofers) since the pattern has changed a bit since the mystery test class we had.  Our students offered many valuable suggestions.  The pattern will be better for it.  Thank you.

How are all those Dinner Plates Quilt Along quilts coming along?  I've seen a couple of tops lately and I can't wait to see the finished projects!  It is always so much fun to see how unique each quilt is.  We saw Lois' fun top during the Market Values class and I got to see April's Sunday afternoon.  It will be just wonderful when she gets it quilted, and she will soon I bet.

Till Tuesday.

Wow events for Modern Quilt Relish

Marny here...
Modern Quilt Relish is keeping busy.  Jill and I are just trying to keep up with it.  The business has taken on a life of its own...and it doesn't allow for down time, that is for sure.  One of the words I keep uttering and writing in emails is "wow" and usually it is followed by an exclamation point.

Last Thursday we had two wonderful classrooms of students participating in a mystery presentation of our upcoming pattern Market Values.  Several of the students managed to cut their fabric and complete their quilt tops in under six hours.  Awesome.  Wow.  Jill has lots of photos to share when the pattern is revealed.  We received numerous really good suggestions and positive feedback to help with creating the final written version.  Lots of fine tuning of the instructions has filled our days since.    Photographs need to be taken for the cover the next time the sun shines and the breeze stops.  Our faithful proofreading team will be called upon soon, and then off to the printer everything goes.

This Friday we are lecturing at the AQS Quilt Show in nearby Des Moines.  Lecturing (except to my kids of course) is way out of my experience and my comfort zone.  We are excited to share our thoughts though--we can always talk about quilts!  Hope to see some of you there.  Please introduce yourselves if you get a chance.  Our lecture is entitled A Little Taste of Modern.

Now for some exciting bits of news leading up to the International Quilt Market in Houston at the end of October.  The portion we attend is only open to the trade.  Quilt Festival follows and that is open to everyone.  We have been given some wonderful opportunities in Houston!  Again all wows!

We are designing a pattern for a fabulous fabric designer, Jan DiCintio.  If you go to her blog and her website you will see all her wonderful designs.  She has a brand new line of fabric to add to her company Daisy Janie.  It is called Tilly and you can see it here.  We can't wait for the fabric to arrive here in Ames.   Just you wait to see what we have cooked up for her!  Our machines will be humming and our computers will be clicking next week.  It will be another new pattern at Market.  October will fly by.  Wow.

A large fabric company let us know they are using one of our patterns to display a new line of fabric.  How awesome is that?  Wow.  It was a total surprise and an absolutely delightful one at that.  We will take photos and share them after market.  We neglected to find out if we could share details before posting.

And yet another fabric company approached us about using some of their new fabrics in another one of our patterns.  Again, WOW!  We are thrilled and excited.   The fabrics are perfect for the pattern they have in mind.  Again pictures will appear following Quilt Market.  And again, we did not ask in time for this post if we could share details.  But we actually get to make up samples with their brand new line of fabric!

Thursday, 9/29/11, (in Ireland) we will be guest blogging over at Fluffy Sheep Quilting. Cindy contacted us about participating in her series of posts on Start Your Own ....  In our case it is about starting our pattern business.  This world is certainly shrinking in a very nice way with the use of the internet.  Her questions made us pause a bit and reflect on the business of Modern Quilt Relish.  Please visit her blog on Thursday to read more...

So believe me, we are sewing and writing and photographing and blogging and having a ball.  Wow.

Till Tuesday...

Cooking up Classes

jill here....Seems like fall is coming around the corner.  Our weather has been beautiful and much nicer to sew with all the windows open!  Sometimes when I'm designing, brain freeze occurs and I just have to switch to a less creative mode.  This weekend, baby quilts temporarily took over as there is somewhat of a time issue, they are happy and relatively small!  So I unearthed a couple from the unfinished pile and  brought them close to finished.  And the backings are the icing on the cake.....chenille and minkie!

Staggered pastel squares bordered by diagonal dots and striped pastel
 chenille for the backing.  Just needs a quilting expert!

I love pinwheels!  This one is for the more sophisticated baby
.....minkie on the back!

I'll keep you posted as to the completion!

Now on to the mystery!  Kelly's test kitchen at the Quilting Connection in Ames (515-233-3048) is presenting our MARKET VALUES as a mystery class!   Spend Thursday, September 22nd from 10-4 cooking up our latest modern lap sized, gender friendly quilt.  The cost is $45.00 and we provide lunch. The fee includes our newest pattern which will be launched at the Houston market in October. You'll be our pattern testers, sworn to secrecy.  We'd love to have any of you sign up!

For the recipe you'll need eight fabrics-four sets of pairs.  The Quilting Connection has the specific amounts and some value guidelines to help the selection process.  You can contact our email with any other questions.  It will be both fun and easily achievable for a great holiday gift!

On Friday, September 30th from 4-5 we are presenting a lecture/trunk show at the Des Moines AQS show.  Our talk is entitled "A Little Taste of Modern."  We'll discuss techniques, fabrics, design and market influences pertaining to the new modern. We'll explain a bit about the Modern Quilt Guild movement and it's influence on current quilting trends.  And of course we will show some quilts and help define some modern quilt elements.  There is a whole list of classes and lectures available in addition to all the vendors and quilt shows to inspire your quilting! Come check us out and we'll make it worth your while!

This Friday, August 26th we'll be presenting a trunk show in the Dysart, Iowa.  The delightful Isabelle Originals and Ivy Threads quilt shop invited us to speak at 6pm.  It will be fun to meet new friends from Northeast Iowa.  Email Robin for info.


Onto the comments from our recent, very scientific survey....Again, we are most grateful to those of you who answered.  And not only did you give us some useful information, it helped us feel more connected to you on the other side.  So what if we have to use bribery!

It is no surprise that most of you are modernists, not totally throwing away your traditional roots.  Many of you don't choose to purchase patterns, which we suspected.  You are very creative and improvisational.  Then again, many of you are collectors of patterns and books; sometimes one or the other.  I can say that since I started designing, I certainly purchase fewer patterns and some books.  Part of it is confidence, the other is time (not enough to possibly make it).  There is sometimes reward in creating "what you see is what you get".  In remaking samples, I just follow the pattern and don't have to endure any brain freezes!  Patterns are more affordable, especially in these economic times.

As to the quilt pattern photography, it seems that flat out, total representation is the choice.  More options are better. You know that it can be fun to take a chance with your own fabric selections!  We recommend you try it and send us pictures of your vision.

Enjoy your week and check back next Tuesday for Marny's Dinner Plates quilt along circle instructions.