Rock The Block by Joe Cunningham

I am a year and a half into what I like to call my formal education in Modern Quilting. It started with goign to QuiltCon in 2024, where I experienced the closest thing I could imagine to having my mind blown in a positive way. Sadly, I have had quite a bit of wexperience with tragedy but this was spectacular. I have been doing a modern twist on traditional quilting forever, even though I did not know it. However, using a pattern was pretty much the norm--I do the color and I might change up the layout, but I never considered just winging it.

So this is my second year in and I was ready to try classes outside of those at QuiltCon--I have never packed things for a class there that I have been happy with, and it is hard to recover from that when trying to learn a new thing. So when the Minnesota Quilters Quilt Show list of classes and teachers came up, I was motivated and excited to give it a try. Joe Cunningham is a teacher that quilters in my guild really like, asn so I picked the least "out there" of his design classes and took the plunge. I really had a great day, and even though I didn't totally follow directions, I ended up very happy with what I made. Not to mention that I used a fabric I had had for over a decade and was very pleased with how it performed.

Bianca Springer--Thanks I Made Them!

I skipped lectures at QuiltCon for a number of reasons—I wanted time with the quilts in the exhibit was the main one—between classes and the exhibit, I have no additional time. Then the auditorium set up is not my favorite for lectures—too big, too distracting and not enough bang for my buck. Finally, the on site experience is a sensory overload, whereas at home I can watch in an ideal environment. The only downside is that there is a limited time within which to watch the lectures, and this one was the last one I had a chance to watch. Bianca has a passion for garment making that is impressive. She is an inveterate upcycler who haunts thrift shops for vintage patterns as well as fabric, quilt tops, and quilts. She talked a bit about how she approaches making a quilt made by someone else into a garment. She tries to honor the spirit of the design the maker had in mind—which she is amazing at—and then points out that if she is buying it, no one who knew the maker is making space in their life for that quilt, so she is giving it a new life it wouldn’t otherwise have. She went on to walk the viewer through how to pick a pattern, how to make the garment, and the various ways you could make and embellish pieced clothing. It was very inspiring and I would seek out a talk by her in the future.

The Quilted Jacket

I cannot say enough great things about the workshop that I took with Sandra Lee Designs to learn how to make a quilted jacket. Sandra is a phenomenal teacher, and I would travel again to take a class with her, she is just so talented and so fun, and at the end of the day, everyone in the class ends up with a beautiful jacket because she knows how to make that happen. I got into this because I had so much fun at my first QuiltCon that I knew I had to go back, and ideally I wanted to go back with the woman who taught me that any amateur with a credit card and some foreplanning could attend this spectacular event. So sign up again I did. I say it was her idea and she says it was mine, but somewhere along the road to going back we agreed that we should each make a jacket that would scream "We are going to QuiltCon" to those in the know. I think it was her, because basically, I cannot sew. Not in the third dimension at least, and that is definitely a skill you need to pull of the quilted jacket. So when I caught wind of this class, I knew I had to make it work for me to attend, and I am so glad I did! I brought a quilt that I had made 30 years ago that was so damaged I did not feel up to the task of repairing it--so I cut it up, sewed it back together, and voila! A jacket emerged!

Sandra Lee Design

I took a class with Sandra Lee Chandler at the Chaska Area Quilt Club's fall show this year, and I was very impressed with her as both an artist and as a teacher. Here is what she has to say about herself on her website Sandra Lee Designs: "With over 35 years of teaching experience and multiple accolades as a textile artist under my belt, including serving as a Bernina Ambassador, Aurifil Color Builder Designer, and appearing on The Quilt Show and Quilting Arts TV, I've learned the secret of happiness - there is no pre-written pattern to life! This realization, in conjunction with my strong passion for fiber art and teaching, propelled me to create Sandra Lee Design, a Creative space where makers can gather to experiment, collaborate, and inspire one another to push their creative boundaries. There is so much more to art than just the end product Art is vibrant and diverse, and it holds the power to serve as a reflection of what means the most to you." I took a class to make a jacket, but her identified specialty areas are making denim quilts and clothing and teaching the Sashiko and Boro methods of stitching. She is an avid upcycler who has a great eye and shares her thoughts and ideas freely. I would highly recommend taking a class with her, and I would travel again to do so myself.

The Quest to Quilt

I have been working on getting myself back into quilting after my father died, and this quilt, which is a pattern that is available free of charge, was one that I did with a class at my local crafting store, Home Ec Workshop. I so love the store, it is in a hundred year old house, with lots of quilt-friendly fabric and lovely yearns for sale, and a classroom in the back that is just fun to be in. I had taken one class there since his death, and unfortunately, I did not care for the pattern much. I did manage to make 2 throws, and I quilted them both before the class ended--so a very good start--but it did not stick, and so I needed yet another push from somewhere. Luckily I have a co-worker who quilts. She has been doing double duty as a fabulous person to work with AND an inspirational quilter. She was my spirit guide at my first QuiltCon last year, she introduced me to her Modern Quilting Guild--which was a huge boon, because they are almost entirely on line and so I joined them, a source of monthly inspiration as well as specific times to quilt together--I really couldn't ask for more. She lost her father the year before I lost mine, and she came out of it okay, so I should too. In any case, she is a great role model, and inch by inch, taking baby steps, I am working on getting my creative aura back.

Longarm: Changing The Game

A year ago I took some classes at the American Quilt Society's meeting in Des Moines to see if I should get a long arm quilting machine. In the year before that my spouse and I plus two of our kids had all moved from queen sized to king sized beds, and I knew from preious experience that I could not quilt that size on my beloved Bernina 1130 machine. So it was a choice between sending them out to be quilted and quilting them myself with a new machine. I signed up for three separate classes and in between them I went up to the exhibit hall and tried out the various long arm quilting machines. They had similarities and differences, but I immediately discounted the ones that were way more expensive and the ones that were too industrial feeling for me. The later may be a mistake, as they are also ones that need less maintenance and are built to be used more than I will ever be able to use mine, but I was just too overwhelmed by them. I didn't feel that I could approach them, either physically or in my mind's eye, so I had to cross them off. I do not know anyone who has a long arm so I was going to be largely on my own if I took this plunge and I needed a machine I could wrap my head around. One year in, I have come a long way, and I have so much further to go! I have made mistakes often, but learned how to fix them, and I have made over 50 quilts, most of them small, but not all of them. I have started to think more about the quilting, not just about the piecing, and I have given away quilts to babies like I used to when I was younger. It was a very good decision and my only regret is that I didn't get to this point sooner.

Reading Inspired Quilting

I really enjoyed the latest Louise Erdrich's book, which is set in Minneapolis on the site of the book store she owns, commenting on prejudice, the injustice of policing and justice in America, that black and brown lives matter, the importance of supporting civil rights for all people, and the joy that books and reading can bring to your life.

I also loved the cover art, with a riff on the pin wheel quilt, and the use of simple primary colors, so I went to my fabric collection, and started this quilt to recapitulate it. At this point I am planning to skip the beading, but I love that too.

Bisa Butler's Quilts

I got to see these magnificacent works of art at the Chigago Art Institute this past weekend, and it was an amazing experience to behold. The quilts are portraits of people, some of them from famous photographs, some of them people the artist knows, and all of them rendered in bold colors and reminiscent of the fabrics I saw when I was in East Africa. It is hard to describe just how moving these pieces are in person, how much personality wach of them conveys.

The exhibit allows for the viewer to take in each quilt one at a time. They are spread out over several rooms, and there is a sound track for the exhibit, developed by Bisa Butler's signifiant other, who is a DJ. This is a celebration of blackness, exuberant and inspiring to behold.

The Double Star Quilt

A couple of years ago I tried to start quilting again, and I just never got very far.  I got out my quilt pattern books, I picked out some fabric to put together, but I could just never get my groove on.
That was when I decided that I needed outside help.  I saw several of my Facebook friends were doing workshops at our local quilt and knitting shop, Home Ec, and so I got myself on the mailing list.  The things that I saw those first few months looked very intriguing, but truthfully, I was so sick and debilitated from a prolonged episode of sepsis and hospitalization that I really wasn't up to it.  But by this time last year I was thinking it was time, but that I should start small.  So I took a napkin making class which was an awesome launching pad, in that I loved it and I finished something.  The winning combination.

That was the beginning, not so very long ago, and this is where I am today.  I took a start-to-finish quilting class, which i highly recommend, especially if you have limited quilting experience and need something to get you really started.  What I needed was someone to pick out the pattern and give me a deadline.  So with this quilt pattern I feel more confident that I can once again quilt.  I am on my fifth one of these quilts, with four of them completely done, and in less than a month.  I won't keep that pace up, but it is a really nice feeling.

Quilt Week: Modern Applique

 I am going to post a few of the quilts that I saw at Quilt Week in Des Moines that were memorable to me.  Some of them will be prize winners and some will not.  There was a much broader showing of quilts that I saw there than that I will talk about, but this is a slice of it.  This was one of the quilts that I saw there that fascinated me, and that I thought I could make and make it well.  I have a lot of short comings as a quilter, but color, design balance and embroidery are all strengths for me.

This detail shows what I am talking about. The decorative embroidery is so whimsical and pleasing.  I love the playfulness of the sewing and embellishment.  It is a quilt that would take a year to do, but in the end it would be an heirloom.  I feel like I need to get a few easier quilts under my belt (I am working on number three, and I have number four started).  Maybe when I hit 10 it will be time to think along these lines.

Quilt Week: Balanced Modern Quilt

This quilt is entitled 'Quilting Balance' and I think that it fits.  I have done very little in the way of free piecing, with the exception of crazy quilting.  With that, I have used a square and then pieced on top of it so that i have some form and some free flow.  This quilt, which is relatively small, has very little in the way of that.  Putting it together, for me, would be a little daunting, but as I look at it I can see that the lower right part of the quilt has some straight lines, and I could start with something like that.  And maybe move on to more adventurous design.  So I can see a little bit of method in the madness, and it appeals to the same sense that the African American quilting tradition has.  My mother gave me postcards of the Gee Bend quiltmakers many years ago, and then I had a chance to see an exhibit of them later.  I see this kind of quilt, which has some very tiny elements of that, as a baby step for me in that direction.  I also have been getting into the narrow quilting lines in some of my smaller non-quilt pieces and find it attractive in this quilt.

Quilt Week: Red Applique on White

I have always loved quilts that have red on white.  I like the traditional red embroidery that was prevalent before World War II.  I even have several squares of it embroidered in an unfinished projects box that I have yet to go through and finish.  And I have spent some time appliqueing over the past decade or so.
The thing about this quilt that I love (and that I have never done myself) is the applique design that is overall, with an elaborate border which I assume was pieced all at once on each of the edges of the quilt and that the center is appliqued as an enormous piece.  I am almost certain that I would have to be in a class in order for me to get this started, but it is something that I love the look of and think is within the range of my abilities.  I actually like to do needle turn applique, and I might struggle with the perfection of lay out that this quilt achieves, it is on my to do list.

Quilt Week: Bright Modern Abstract

This is a quilt that has some elements of the two quilt classes that I took when I was at quilt week.  One was not having an exact pattern and getting to cut out in a somewhat controlled but still random way, so that there is a sense of order and a sense of chaos all in one quilt.
I love the bright colors in this quilt, which is something that I do not often for for in my design elements, but I really like in this quilt.  I bought a number of 1/2 yard lengths of fabric while I was there (it is impossible to leave quilt Week without fabric, that is just a given.  Please do not distract me with details about how much fabric I have at home.  I know that).  So I am really well equipped to make something like this.  Once I finish the other projects that I have in progress, that is!