QuiltCon, Modern Quilt Relish patterns and more

Marny here…so the time is almost here…QuiltCon starts Thursday! We can't attend this year [ :-( ]. There will be fantastic lectures, classes and shopping opportunities! We want to mention two merchants, Sew It Up Studio and Heartway International in particular.

Heartway International is in booth 414! We also know them as The Pat Pourri from Mililani (outside Honolulu), Hawaii! Our paths crossed at Quilt Festival in Houston this fall. We used our TV Dinners pattern to showcase their collection of Paint by Carrie Bloomston for Windham Fabrics very nicely. 

Look at these yummy prints and tone on tone solids.
Love the newsprint, lotus prints and the clever stripes!

yep, I should add that Carrie's company is Such Designs.

Key for the fabrics and positions they hold in TV Dinners.

Blocks made using the seven fabrics you see 
folded and stacked in the top photo.
¼ yards or fat quarters work great as yardage for the blocks.
The outside borders and binding all come from a single length of fabric!

This 'after' photo shows just how awesome the 
multidirectional newsprint looks used as a background!

Since I started with half yard cuts and an extra half yard of the aqua lotus print the back was easy to make from the leftovers! 
Just horizontal bands of colors interrupted vertically (but not centered) by the lotus print and a spot of orange. I love it when you can use up your fabrics from the front to create an playful back!

Next we want to mention Sew It Up Studio out of Hurst, Texas in booth 801.  They've made a Tasty Measures sample using an intriguing ombre running from pinks to orange to golden yellow. The quilt features a pretty floral! Kits and patterns will be available in their booth. Visit and take a peek!

A photo Sew It Up Studio sent of their quilt. 
Fun colors, ombre from pinks to golds! 
Wish I could see the quilt in person! 

Tasty Measures Smooth Sewing

jill here...There's a new quilt shop in the area! Woodside Quilting opened in September.   Easy to get to on the north end of Des Moines; the shop is cute, fresh and has great classroom space!

Trina, who runs the shop during the week showed us around.  When a new Robert Kaufman ombre fabric arrived, I offer to make a Tasty Measures sample.

This is the folded ombre, RK Quilter's Linen background in the left corner with the batik focus on top.  The focus has those interesting luminous areas of yellow against the dark background.

 Robert Kaufman's pointillist ombre.

 This ombre transitions from dark to light (selvage to selvage); some ombre fabrics transition from one value in the center to the same on the outer edges.

The major portion of this one is in the red/ red orange range with small amounts of the very dark and light.  With larger segments radiating from the center, the sets are cut with the orange to dark on the bottom and orange to gold on the top.  There is extra fabric to allow for selection but one has to plan ahead.

 Ribbons of strip sets make the fabrication come together quite quickly.  Start to finish, the throw top was sewn together in 4 1/2 hours.

 I'll deliver to Trina this week! Trina is a wonderful long arm quilter so it will be fun to see how she makes her magic bring it to life.

Three good things about the cold: soup, sewing and basketball!  What are your favorites for this very long season ahead? 'till next Tuesday...

Support Team Cooks Up Tasty Measures

jill here....Our Tasty Measures samples just returned from the Sisters, Oregon show.  Wish we could have seen all the fun quilts.  Back in Iowa, we just couldn't get by without the help of our fan friends!  Isn't this baby Tasty Measures cute as a kitten?  This clever quilter lengthened it to just the right size (for this baby).

The measures are perfect for the scale of fabric prints.

The active cats are a great focus and the little red print adds that pizzazz!

I'm curious about what the print says... Now why isn't there a puppy print as cute as this?

'till next Tuesday....

Tasty Measures, new Modern Quilt Relish pattern

Marny here…off to Quilt Market we go!  Pittsburgh here we come!  The car is loaded with quilts and booth outfitting supplies, patterns are sacked and our Take & Teach lesson plan is prepared.  Just this one exciting task remains…introducing our new pattern, Tasty Measures.  

Tasty Measures features segments of color that gradate in value away from large rectangles of focus fabric.
This throw uses a single ombre' fabric as the source of the color segments.
It is a super and really fun way to use the ombre' fabrics! 

This baby size is so cute!
Here individually chosen fabrics serve up the segments.
Tasty Measures is a great way to use those happy novelty prints that tempt you (even when you don't have much time)!    

One view of the Tasty Measures runner in indigos.  Notice the dark to light in the segments are prints!

Another shot of the runner with the quilting more visible.

Don't you love the fabulous frontside of this Tasty Measures runner Jill shared last week in her post about using the backing fabric to establish a quilting design?    

Tasty Measures is written for four sizes; Baby, Throw, Queen and Runner.  The directions are written such that you can choose whether to use ombre' fabric or individual fabrics.  It is such fun to put together!  We'll have it in the shop once we return from Quilt Market.  

See you a week from today…if not before!

Backing Design Cue for Graphic Quilting

jill here....  I love indigo fabrics set on white backgrounds.  It's that crisp juxtaposition that is fresh and modern.  At Houston market I discovered fat quarters at a TransPacific booth.  These were the inspiration for our newest pattern's table runner, Tasty Measures.

The middle four fabrics are portioned in the smaller segments, the outer fabrics are used in the larger.  Some are reversed (used the darker side) for value, creating more of an incremental difference from the white background.

I discovered this coordinating fabric at the Quilting Connection:  a graphic pattern for straight line quilting with my walking foot.  Perfect as the backing!  This line of fabric is now carried through
 Henry Glass.

Not to bore you with the whole process, I worked backwards starting with the top taped wrong side up.  I added a flat cotton batting that was 4 inches larger, then placed the backing, right side up.  I purposely aligned it on the sandwich so that the design was not "centered" with the top,  just a bit asymmetric.  I taped all around and then pinned every3- 4", avoiding the straight lines of the design.

I quilted, with the walking foot, both sides of the straight lines (5) the full length of the runner.  This gave the quilt enough "basting" that I removed the pins for a clear shot at the angles.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was, just had to anticipate the points to turn the pressor foot.  I did not quilt every line but I do like "channel lines" so strategically alternated for a pleasing pattern.  I took breaks for my hands and shoulders.  What a fun discovery on the other side!

I used a very light grey thread.  The design is visible but doesn't overpower the pattern of the runner.

The graphic lines are a nice counter to the indigo print's organic nature.  We'll reveal our three new samples as we leave for market next Tuesday.

We look forward to International Quilt Market in Pittsburg.  We haven't experienced a market east of the Mississippi so it will be fun and we hope to meet new customers.  Rather then our regular schoolhouse talks, we going to "Take and Teach".  We have a class, Saturday morning before market opens, where we show modern marketing ideas and make some pattern mock-ups.  The class is full but we'll share ideas and a market special if you stop by our booth #1934. We're on a corner with a great central location ...would love to meet you.

'Till next Tuesday...