Robert Kaufman Stockholm Fabric Giveaway

Marny here...
A few posts back we shared that Brioche and Baguette was being made up in a new line of fabric from Robert Kaufman.  The line is called Stockholm and the designer is Robin Zingone.

Here is the version we hung in our booth at the Houston Quilt Market.
The version we made for Robert Kaufman's booth is on a grey Kona Solid.
Unfortunately we neglected getting a picture of it hanging in their booth.

Here are the three wonderful colorways of Stockholm.

This is the colorway we got to use in Brioche & Baguette.  It will be on the new pattern cover.

This colorway is featured in a new project that April is quilting today!  It will be revealed at a later date.    Top secret for now.

Pinks and reds--very yummy and my personal favorite.  

A fat quarter bundle of Stockholm in the pink and red colorway is our giveaway this week. 

Please leave a comment about any pinks and reds you are seeing pop up in ads, fabrics, nature etc.  It is all around us. We can only mail to a winner living in the United States.  Postage is the stickler.  The drawing is open until midnight Monday, November 14th.

Till Tuesday....

Winner of a Modern Quilt Relish Pattern, and another Giveaway

Marny here....a couple of posts ago the scraps from making Leftovers were challenging me.  The project is developing.  Design choices are being dictated by available scraps and limited time for hemming and hawing.

Sack of evenly cut strips too good to toss.

So far a rhythm is developing, background strip, two of the above scraps sewn together and seamed randomly to the background, a unit made from the original scraps, and again two of the narrow scraps sewn together and added on.  Repeat.

The strong verticals have taken over the original random scraps, but we will see where it ends up.   I will keep picking it up and adding to it over the next week.  It is my current productive procrastination method--you know, doing "something" but not the "thing" you should be doing.

Busy times for Modern Quilt Relish right now.  New patterns are being designed, trunk shows are being developed, and lots of preparations are underway for Spring Market in Salt Lake City.

The winner from last week's post is Janice.  Congratulations!  (Please email us at modernquiltrelish@gmail.com with your choice.)  The question we posed was what is your least favorite color to quilt with?  Interesting that two mentioned orange and one bright blue with bright yellow.  Where do our color biases come from?  Sometimes I end up using my least favorite color (orange) or my least favorite fabrics and they are the perfect addition to the quilt/composition. Funny, life is like that too!

So here is this week's giveaway question.  You need to comment with a response to the question to enter.  We will send you the pattern of your choice if you win.  

What size quilt do you most often make?  Queen, throw, baby, wall hanging, table runner, etc.  Just let us know.  

Till Tuesday.

We're Launched, Take a Look

Wow!  It was a busy week.  We feel affirmed, excited and just a little tired.  Our AQS  launch with the Quilting Connection's help was successful by our standards...and even fun.  We are grateful to so many of our co-workers, friends and family for their support and enthusiasm.  We know our market is different and that is what we're aiming for:  modern quilters of the world, here we come.

Modern Quilt Relish's mission is to create simply sophisticated patterns for the contemporary quilter that are fun to execute.  The six patterns are understandable for both the verbal and visual learner and translate well to a classroom or retreat setting.   Patterns (retail) will be available via this site using PayPal or credit cards.  This service is a work in progress so stay tuned.  (Update!  We are fully operational and receiving orders.  In fact our first orders are heading to the post office now.  Such fun for us.)


The winner of this week's comment is Amy, going as a mom for Halloween!  The question for this next week (and the winner of MQR106) :  What is your favorite color combination?

Launch Tomorrow @ AQS and Giveaway

Congratulations, Liz!  You are the winner of pattern #104.  We'll be sending it out soon.

We're as ready as we can be.  We met our deadlines and it's time to get going.  Many curves have been thrown upon us and we're still here.  Yesterday and today were setting up in Des Moines.

The unloading went very well.  The floor is set up just like quilt market with aisle numbers clearly marked.  The hunky men were so helpful getting us the right equiltment.  Our booth #s are 908 and 809 for Viking sewing machines.

This is Kelly and Janelle hard at work on a portion of the booth.

So, still a work in progress.  Please stop by and visit; let us know if you are blog followers.

Giveaway comment for pattern #105:  What are you going to be for Halloween?  Next week our patterns will be available to purchase on our blog.

Giveaway and More at the Door

Marny.....Fall has arrived on my doorstep.

The weather has turned crisp and clear (for the most part.)  Mums are dotting the entire town with their color.  The woods around my home are starting to turn.  I find myself taking routes across town that go by the best maples to check their progress.  Some will be so fantastic I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity of seeing them at their peak.

I have purchased pumpkins to celebrate the change of seasons.  The mums and the pumpkins outside the front door make me happy every time I drive up to the house.

But something even better is cause for celebration inside the door. 

Yep, our patterns arrived early from the printer.  They look just the way we had hoped.   We are so excited to introduce them to everyone at the AQS show in Des Moines, October 6-9.  Their premier will be at the Quilting Connection booth #908.  Our samples will be hanging and a limited number of original kits will be available to purchase.  Come visit with us!  We'd love to show them to you.

The winner of Modern Quilt Relish Pattern #103 is Jan.  Please email us at modernquiltrelish@gmail.com with your mailing address so that we can pop it in the mail after October 6th.   To enter the drawing for MQR #104 please place a comment at the end of the post about your favorite part of fall.  Mine is the crisp, clear air and the energy it ignites in me.
And that energy is being applied to getting ready for the big reveal next week.  There are brochure sheets to design, patterns to bag and kits to tie ribbons on.
See you next Tuesday.

Giveaway Week Two & Modern Fall Leaf Tutorial

Congratulations Ethne!  Please send us your mailing address by emailing modernquiltrelish@gmail.com.
You will be receiving MQR 101 Modern Pickle Relish after October 6th.  Thank you for commenting from afar.

Jill and I attended a gallery quilt show of Linda Andeberg's at the Ankeny Art Center.  Linda was a long time member of the Contemporary Quilting group we facilitated.  It was remarkable.  Particularly because she comes to quilting from a painting background.  It is wonderful to see her paintings side by side with her collage quilts and print techniques.  She is disciplined in her details and techniques.  The show runs until September 30th.  We encourage you to take a look.

Speaking of followers, Sarah has posted two quilts on our flickr site.  Thanks and who will be next???

Modern Fall Leaf Tutorial

1.  From four fat quarters (Batiks in our case) in a range of values cut 12 inch squares.

2.  Place your four squares right sides up, one on top of the other.

3.  Cut a simple leaf shape with gentle curves through the middle of your squares.

4.  Cut down the center of the leaf shape.

5.  Rearrange.  One of each fabric will be in your new square.

6.  With the needle clear over to the right, and a 2.5 stitch length sew the leaf shapes into the background.  You might take a larger seam if there is a lot of puckering.  Press (into submission.)
7.  Stack a pair right sides up, layering one side overlapping the other, cut down the middle to make them fit one one another.

8.  For a little center definition, add a 3/4 - 1 inch strip of one of the background colors.  Lay this under one side and cut along the leaf so that you can make the center vein fit.  Sew.

9.  Than add the other half of your leaf matching the endpoints as much as possible.  Sew along the leaf and the background. You will end up with a block.  Sections will not match and you might have to do some creative finishing with deeper seams and pressing.

10.  Trim freehand.  No rulers.

So this week's giveaway will be our second pattern, MQR 102 Bowtie Pasta with a Twist.  Enter the drawing by posting a picture of a quilt on our flickr site.  It can be following our leaf tutorial, a quilt you have in progress, or a completed project.  Can't wait to see what you come up with.

See you Tuesday.

September in the Air

jill....Wow, Tuesdays seem to roll around quickly.  While I was cleaning (very much needed) my studio, I reflected upon my creative space and how lucky I am to be able to leave this space and come back to it - just as I left it. One of the trade offs of kids-out-of-the-house!  I really love my very large cutting table, (crafted by my husband), sewing table with ample space to the left to hold those heavy pieces of fabric and a "big board" to support my pressing and fusing.  All of these make for efficiency. And oh yes, my television that I use as a radio to keep me company if my dogs aren't under foot.  It would be nice to have more natual light but there are always variables that we can't control...

So I thought it would be nice to have some interactive converstations about tips and efficiencies.  Here's a starter....I totally gave up on matching thread (except when it shows) and using black thread on black fabric.  It's just too hard to see and unsew.  Imagine that.  Sometimes I even go rougue and leave a differnt thread in the bobbin.  Mostly, I match for just a little contrast in the value: light, medium and medium dark in either a brown tone or grey.  I press open most of the time, use a 2.5 stitch length, a scant quarter inch seam and a presser foot with a "fence" to help keep me on track.

The other tool  I use daily is my movable design wall.  It's two large sheets of celotex, light weight but rigid, covered in batting.

Marny....I like my design wall and my big board too.  Pressing on that nice large surface is terrific.  It helps to keep every thing flat, and is great for pressing fabric before cutting.  I change needles before every new project (and sometimes more often if it is a large quilt.)  I clean the lint from the bobbin and underneath the case after every project as well.  I am far from a neatnik, but these two steps give me trouble free sewing.  Auraifil thread makes my machine purr.  Mettler is wonderful too, and comes in lots of colors!

Wearing pedometers makes us aware that sometimes effieciency is not good for you.  You need to get up and move after every seam or so.  You can chain to some extent, but don't get "chained" down.   Every person should aim for at least 10,000 steps a day if they are able.  Staying active is what will allow us to keep on quilting (and keeping up with our families.)

So here is the thing, everybody let us know what your favorite tip or tool is.  We'll draw a random name next Tuesday to receive one of our hot off the presses new patterns.  The pattern will be sent after October 6th.  We have six new patterns, so expect lots of interactive drawings coming up.  Keep commenting and keep checking.

See you next Tuesday.

First Giveaway Final Chance

Thank you to those who have taken the plunge and entered our giveaway!  The contest is still open.  Just submit your thoughts on "modern" and "contemporary".   What defines these for you personally?  We will be discussing the comments next week, and will add our own thoughts as well.

Needs a home!

Marny…..So the odds for winning the fat quarter bundle are very favorable right now,  get in there and comment!  The comments we have already received are most intriguing.  They show a lot of thought and they also illustrate the wide range of personal definitions of “modern” and “contemporary” quilting.

As promised we will explain how to add a comment.  Anyone can add comments to our posts.  You do not have to have any special account or email address.  It is a simple process.  We would love to hear from more of you. 

So here goes:

·          Click on the word “comments” at the end of the post.

·          This will send you to a comment box.

·          Type in your comment.

·          You then select a profile (that can be anonymous)

·          Click on the words “post comments”

·          There may or may not be a distorted word you retype on command, but this is simply to eliminate the chance of spammers.       

·          And voila!  You’re done.

Now to explain how to become “Followers”:  you can see this section on the right hand side of our blog.  “Following” is not the same as commenting.  It shows us that you are a fan of our blog.  To follow you will need to have one of several different accounts—Google or Yahoo or others.  It is free to have these accounts.  You can see that some of our followers have photos associated with their id and some are just blank.  You can click on a follower and check out their profiles, other blogs they follow, their own blogs or whatever other information they choose to include.   We’d appreciate having you as a Follower too.  Here is a URL for giving you a bit more information from the official Google blogger site.

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=104226

Next week we will explain more about our Yahoo Flickr site.   It is a photo site that we have plans to make available for those interested in posting their modern/contemporary quilt explorations. 

Please comment.  Our giveaway will end at midnight central time, June 28^th.  We will announce the winner in our post on June 29^th.  Good luck to you all.

See you Tuesday.

Our First Giveaway!

Jill……Starting a quilting blog has been technologically challenging:  good brain exercise.  We’re followers of a few other blogs and enjoy both the artistic and sometimes personal statements.  There is sometimes a connection, identity with certain life happenings and processes.   So we’ll try to keep this focused on design with brief connections to our personal lives.  Perhaps you’ll relate (or not).

The last couple of weeks have been full of the personal processes.  Both Marny’s and my youngest have each graduated and moved really far away.  I turned 60.  For me, the numbers are a reflection of fewer years ahead than behind!  The time is NOW to make a design statement.

We love helping customers with fabric selection.  At the Quilting Connection, we sell a lot of kits but like to encourage more personal choices, making one- of-a-kind quilts.  This site will encourage that same individuality.  We hope that ideas presented here allow you to discover your own vision.

So as we search for our vision, we ask you to join in the process.  We would like for this site to be interactive.  Next week, we will inform you on how to become “friends” and publish your photos on Flickr.  (Just in case you don’t know.) Our partnership involves discipline, just like exercise and healthy eating.  Find a buddy and meet as often as you can: encourage and offer constructive comments.

Challenge:  We’re searching for definitions of both MODERN and CONTEMPORARY.  Please don’t look it up in the dictionary (we’ve already done that)!  What defines these for you personally?  Share your ideas.  We will be giving away a fat quarter bundle of Robert Kaufman’s organic Free To Grow.  To enter our giveaway, make comments to this post within the next two weeks.  We will announce the winner on our June 29 post. (For those who don’t know how to post comments, we will give the instructions next week.)

Until next Tuesday!