Notes From the NJS Judges - Part 1

My two quilts that hung at the Canadian National Juried Show in Toronto last weekend made it home today. For the first time in 3 shows, I found that the judge's critiques are very constructive, thoughtful and well-explained. I'm actually going to keep the pages with their thoughts this time. Usually I read judge's comments and then they head straight into paper recycling either due to a misunderstanding of the intention my quilt, or comments on elements of the work that aren't that relevant to me (but are very important for traditional judges).

I thought I'd share the comments with you here as a point of interest. This is what the three CQA-certified judges wrote about Round Peg, Square Hole, which was juried into the Modern category:

Judge 1
Unique optical illusion created in overall design (mission accomplished, thank you!). Value gradation in every other block is effective. Straight-line quilting is even but stitch length seems long. The white thread colour that contrasts with the solid coloured fabrics and then blends with the background white fabric is effective.

Judge 2
Fascinating visual play is achieved in this compelling design. Excellent understanding of balance using colour is shown (yay me!! Maybe I know more about colour than I give myself credit for). Some well-blended gradation of fabrics is noted. While the quilting stitch throughout is even, it would improve the construction and visual effect if the stitch length was shorter.

Judge 3
Accurate piecing (woohoo!) suports the creative circular design concept. The gradation in colour in some of the pieced units adds design interest. The quilting stitch is even and straight but extremely long - quilt stitch length could be shorter.

There is much for me to celebrate here. This quilt is my very own design and I chose the colours carefully (thanks to RJR Fabrics for supplying all of the fabric for the front of this quilt during their What Shade RU blog hop). The design compliments really make me proud!

I've always liked a long quilting stitch length and typically when walking foot quilting I increase the stitch to 4.0. I'm hearing loud and clear that quilting judges (at least at CQA) prefer a shorter stitch length...even on a wallhanging. I will keep this in mind when making a quilt that I'd consider entering in a show.

Would you like to try creating your own version of this fun log-cabin variation? The .pdf downloadable pattern is available in my Craftsy shop (link up there at the top of my right sidebar).

Tomorrow I'll let you know what they had to say about the last Speed Date with Improv sample I made and entered in the Abstract Design category.

Round Peg, Square Hole - a New Quilt!

You've seen this design from me before - I made a 4-patch version and called it Quarter Round last year for the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild's Modern Mini Showcase exhibit. It also proudly hung in the Small Quilts category at QuiltCon 2016. I did a digital mock up of the design in Touchdraw and I got so excited about all of the design possibilities available just by colour-blocking certain strips and making more blocks to repeat the pattern.

When I sent a picture of the 4-patch to my creative genius friend Berene looking for name suggestions (Quarter Round was her idea), she also thought I should try making it with an ombre effect. I held that thought.

Recently, RJR Fabrics asked if I'd like to participate in their What Shade Are You? feature on their Quilt With Love blog. The blog hop showcases their Supreme Cotton Solids. This was my chance to choose as many colours as I wanted to make any project my little heart desired. "Yes please" was my reply!  Of course, actually choosing the fabrics took me f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

The last couple of years I've been enjoying working with the contrast of warm and cool colours in my improv work, so I thought I'd do the same with this quilt. Here are the colours I finally chose from the Supreme Cotton Solids colour card.  They are listed in ombre order from lightest to darkest in their colour groups.

Shell Pink 175T

Candyland 86T

Hot Pink 217

Rhododendron 181T

Ruby Slippers 286

Glow in the Dark 204

Peridot 342

Wimbledon 205

Clover 128T

Kelly Green 127T

Goldenrod 92T

Carrot 131T

Tangerine Dream 276

Mandarine 159T

Chili Pepper 49T

Seafoam 301

Nile Green 90T

Toy Boat 366 C&S

Horizon 354

Twilight 353

and finally, Kerchief 364 C&S as a warm white background.

And here it is! All 38" square. Because I can't stop myself, there's a lot of straight line quilting 1/2" apart in concentric squares and it's all on the bias grain of the fabric. There was definitely some distortion of this little quilt (even with ditch-stitching the edges of the blocks to stabilize them first).  A full wash and blocking was in order, so I did that prior to finishing the edge (see below). I can honestly report that these fabrics are 100% colourfast in cold water. No running, no fading. I used a mild, unscented powder detergent in a front loading machine and the colour catcher came out completely white. 

The quilting is all done with Aurifil thread #2026 in 40 wt (with white Aurifil 50 wt in the bobbin). 

I love this positive/negative star that happens when the 4-patch blocks meet in the middle! Every one of the sixteen 10" blocks in this quilt are built with the same pieces. The resulting illusion of round edges within the square block are all about the colour placement and which strips are designated "background", or in this case white.

I just couldn't bear to border the blocks in with a binding, so I chose to face the quilt. I've done this before using different techniques and always been very pleased with the results. This time, I followed a tutorial by fellow VMQG member Terry Aske. You get such nice, sharp corners! (I used the method of cutting out a 1/2" triangle of batting in each corner of the quilt).

Here you can see both a front corner and what it looks like on the back where the facings overlap.

I'd like to thank RJR for the opportunity to work with their lovely solids. I'm excited about issuing a pattern for the Quarter Round block with some layout suggestions and colouring pages so that you can try it, too! I've got a couple of pattern testers raring to go, so hopefully I can finalize the pattern early in the fall.

VMQG Modern Mini Showcase

The Vancouver Quilter's Guild is having their annual show this weekend and they've invited the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild to share work as a special exhibit!

VMQG members were challenged to make mini quilts no larger than 80" total perimeter. The quilts had to be made of solid colour fabrics and illustrate one or more of the design features of modern quilts, including (but not limited to);

• use of negative space
• minimalism
• improvisational piecing
• modern take on tradition
• alternate grid construction
• bold geometric design

I decided to recreate my Log Cabin Study I (see last post) for the showcase. I increased the size to 20" square and I think that the proportions work out a bit better with the even block sizes of 10 1/2" instead of the 7 1/2" blocks in the original quilt.  This time I went with red-orange and tangerine colours from Denyse Schmidt's modern solids collection, along with white and a teal binding.

"Quarter Round"

(thanks to my clever friend Berene for suggesting this name!)

It is quilted in the same manner as the first version, just parallel straight lines with coordinating Aurifil 30 wt thread that I carry out of the coloured strips into the white background and vice-versa.

If you are local, why not check out the show this Friday and Saturday? Here's the info on location and times. I can't speak for the traditional quilts on display, but I know there will be 26 gorgeous modern ones to see! If you're interested in what a modern quilt looks like, then come and check out our Modern Mini Showcase.

Power Nap

Here's my latest finish: Power Nap.

This quilt was constructed using the fun Quilt As You Go (QAYG) method. It is mostly made of upcycled old work shirts of B's, some linen, chambray and a few shirt-stripe scraps from my bins. I thought it would be fun to add the red in the centre of the log-cabinish blocks as the "power tie" to the shirts.

I even left a cuff button on - can you see it? I sewed the placket closed before piecing that sleeve into the block.

Marianne Haak visited the VMQG and gave us a trunk show and workshop. She is definitely the most experienced person I know using the QAYG method. Check her blog for detailed tutorials on every step of the process and admire her gallery of quilts. If you want to create a large quilt on a small machine, then this is a great way to go.  All of the blocks are quilted individually, squared up, then joined with strips. If you are creative with your piecing and plan a little bit, you can hide your joining strips very well!  I used skinny strips to join the blocks into 3 rows, then wider strips (stuffed with a strip of batting) to join the rows and elongate the quilt a little bit so that it wasn't perfectly square. It ended up about 58" x 62".

The first two blocks that I built in the class were very random and improv. I made a few more like that and then decided to make corner blocks in a more traditional dark/light log cabin. I like to organize my chaos a little bit ; )  All of the blocks were quilted with Aurifil 40wt thread in cherry red. Most of them have a spiral, but one I quilted with straight lines. I didn't like how the straight lines were pulling and distorting the stripes in the shirt fabrics, though, so I went back to spirals.

Our friend, neighbour and investment guru turned 50 last weekend and his wife threw him a great party that we really enjoyed. There were strict instructions for no gifts, but I'd already decided to give him this quilt after discovering he likes to take a power nap at his office most afternoons. That's why I called it Power Nap instead of my original idea of Power Tie.  It is always a little nerve-wrecking giving a quilt away, especially to a guy. I took it over the next day in time for him to spend the afternoon on the couch watching the Masters. Luckily he not only loves it, but he also appreciates the time and effort that has gone into it. Win!

Laughing their way 'Round the Rainbow

Don't these quilters look like they have had the BEST afternoon retreat EVER making Rainbow 'Round the Cabin quilt tops? See the other half of the retreat gang with their low volume versions on the Martingale stop of the Make It, Take It blog tour. Leave a comment with a memorable retreat story of your own (on their blogpost, not here) and win a copy of my book!