Local Workshop - Level Two Tote

Are you looking for a fun workshop to make a special something for a special someone for Christmas? Although so many of my sweet friends in the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild have already made a Level Two Tote (or 8!), there are some who are looking for a little guidance and the chance to have a sew day with pals. To that end, the VMQG has booked a lovely church hall in Burnaby and we're going to have a class on November 17, 2018 from 10 am to 4 pm.

The tote features a cotton canvas or home-dec print on the upper level with a lower level of cork fabric, waxed canvas, or lightweight leather or pleather. It is intentionally lightweight without a lot of stabilizer for a relaxed-looking bag that doesn't knock stuff off the shelves while you're browsing the china section ; ).  It fits a ton of stuff and the straps are super strong - it's a perfect daily bag that'll accommodate your water bottle, embroidery or knitting project, a book, your wallet and a few other essentials.

The workshop has now opened for non-member registration. I'll be offering kits that include all of the hardware + leather that you need, plus I come equipped with anvil, leather punch and hammer, so you don't have to! Everyone should be able to complete their tote in class.

Book the class and get all of the details by emailing workshops@vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca

Bring a friend and learn some great bag-making skills. This workshop is perfect for first-time zipper installers, rivet-newbies and anyone looking to gather tips on finishing details for a professional look.

Vancouver Special

On Saturday and Sunday August 25/26, the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild will proudly present our second Modern Quilt Showcase. Once again, I'm coordinating the show alongside a few other dedicated guild members who've been working super hard to pull it all together. It takes an enormous effort to plan a multi-day public quilt show in a large, industrial setting. We love the Pipe Shop venue in North Vancouver because it is flooded with natural light; the wide open space featuring huge timber posts is the most perfect backdrop for our colourful, modern quilts.

Unlike most contemporary quilt shows taking place these days, we've once again decided to forego the usual "drape" approach to hanging. Our quilts will hang directly from cross bars and dowels suspended from overhead wire. Many of the quilts will have backs visible, which is also rather unusual for a quilt show. It'll be a stunning show of about 140 quilts. I really hope to see you there!

We issued a challenge to our members this time: create a modern mini quilt for the theme "West Coast Modern". The quilt must be made of solid coloured fabric and not exceed 80" total perimeter.  I'm enjoying challenges more and more these days as my confidence in designing original work increases year after year.  I've also learned that it's possible to make just about anything you like and figure out a way to make it fit the theme.

I considered lots of modern landscape interpretations because, well, Vancouver is a coastal city on the edge of B.C., with ocean on one side and mountains on the other. Then out of the blue, I decided to take the "modern" more literally and create a little quilted version of a well-known (somewhat controversial) house design built throughout Vancouver's east and south sides. These homes are known as Vancouver Specials: they feature two full above-ground floors built on grade, maximum square footage, shallow sloping roof, typically a kitchen on each floor, front balcony with sliding glass door, brick bottom with stucco top and an off-centre entranceway.  They often fill their city lot, leaving a small front and back yard.  The homes were built relatively quickly (some came in kits) and provided multi-generational housing that suited the influx of new Canadians to this city who were used to living this way in their home countries and cultures.  While not the most attractive homes, they served an important purpose: to welcome new families to Vancouver and provide affordable housing in a rapidly growing urban area.

As families have aged out of these neighbourhoods, many of these 70's built homes have been purchased by younger professionals and renovated into expansive, spare modern spaces for family living. There is even an annual home tour featuring such houses.

image source: weloveeastvan.com

I created my little version entirely with Oakshott shot cottons and quilted it with the new Aurifil longarm 40/3 cotton thread on a cone. I love the weight of this thread for quilting!  I'm thinking more and more about minimalist design and trying it out. This may be my first step...making this quilt a true challenge for me. It's definitely one aspect of modern quilt design that I find the most difficult to wrap my brain around.

I sewed a little sleeve and label on the back yesterday. My mini is all ready for the showcase. To make the mini challenge even more fun, we'll be asking visitors to vote on their favourite. The quilt with the most votes will receive the most beautiful miniature ribbon, handmade by a guild member.  All other quilts in the showcase are also up for Viewer's Choice ribbons, so please come by, enjoy some incredible modern quilts, buy a lucky raffle ticket on our charity quilt and vote for your favourites.

VMQG Modern Quilt Showcase

August 25, noon  - 8:00 p.m.

August 26, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Admission: $5, children <12 free="" p="">

The Pipe Shop, 115 Victory Ship Way, North Vancouver, BC

 (just one block east of the Lonsdale Quay Seabus Terminal)

Accessible with washrooms onsite

Free parking nearby in the ICBC parkade, pay parkade at the Pinnacle Hotel & Lonsdale Quay.

1 hr and 2 hr free street parking in the neighbourhood

VMQG Modern Quilt Showcase COMING SOON!

VMQG Modern Quilt Showcase - the inside story

Amazing.
Remarkable.
Stunning.
Well-hung (teehee, best quilt show compliment ever).
Totally modern.
Incredible.
Beautiful.

These are just some of the wonderful compliments we received at our recent quilt show. Not only was it the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild's first show, it was also the first quilt show in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver area) totally devoted to modern quilts. We all feel very proud.  I've been involved as a volunteer for several traditional shows, but this was my first attempt at leading a show committee into unknown territory! The fact that this show came together in 5 months is nothing short of remarkable and a testament to our determined show committee and trusting guild members. Many lessons were learned and we are already excited about implementing ideas and suggestions to make our next show even better! Plus, we have 2 years to prepare for the next one. Phew!

Ellen, by Matthew Wheeler

Much of the KAPOW element of the visual impact of our show had to do with the incredible venue we secured: the historic Pipe Shop Building at the former North Vancouver Shipyards. That's partly why the show happened so quickly, the venue was only available one weekend in 2016 and at the time of booking, the fate of the building was unknown so the management could not allow bookings beyond 2016. The show committee felt it was too perfect to miss out, so we went for it!!  The industrial beams, heritage wooden posts and concrete floor were the perfect backdrop for our modern quilts to shine (in natural light!).

Top L-R: Mix Tape by Lysa Mair, MonoGlamatic Clams by Dianne Semark, Round and Round We Go by Terry Aske

Bottom L-R: Noon Window by Gigi Hamer, Spider's Web by Shannon MacLachlan

You can see that we chose a minimalist hanging layout using post and pipe (but no drape) in the centre of the space and tensioned wires with silver binder clips between the wooden posts.  We kept costs down by buying wire and hardware in bulk and having my husband and brother make the wire sections based on measurements we took in advance of the show. The majority of quilt backs were visible, much to the delight of visitors to the show. Having the quilts free in space with air and light all around them was gorgeous. Janet Archibald and Terry Aske did an incredible job planning the layout over many, many hours. They used colour photographs of all of the quilts to determine which ones would look best adjacent to each other considering size, colour and subject matter. This is a massive job that included mapping out the aisles and wires in the space for best traffic flow, labelling all of the quilts and creating a detailed map so that volunteers could hang the show.

L-R beginning with Holly Broadland's Rainbow Girl circle on white, Berene Campbell's Rainbow Mashup and  Delhi Dreams by Megan Hanna. 

On the far right is a bit of Andrea Bamberg's Rainbow Coin

Our entire show was something unique in the local quilt show scene, but I think something extra special was our Modern Mini Showcase Wall. The venue happened to have a free-standing white wall at one end that was the perfect surface to display a collection of mini quilts our members made for inclusion in a traditional show in the fall of 2015. Our idea was to create a gallery display for educational purposes - we'd asked members to make minis (less than 80" perimeter) using only solid fabrics, that demonstrated one or more of the MQG design aesthetics of modern quilting (for example: improvisational piecing, alternate grid construction, use of negative space). This vision was realised by the talented Dianne Semark, a guild member who is also a professional graphic designer. It was a revelation for many of our visitors!

Here I am hamming it up with someone you've read about from time to time here, my fabulous SIL, by my Quarter Round quilt.

In front of this wall, we set up two long tables covered in solid fabric scraps, card stock and glue sticks. We invited visitors to create their own modern mini "quilts" using those on the wall for inspiration. Volunteers helped out and this activity was an overwhelming success with children and adults alike. One unanticipated outcome was that several people left their creations behind - we taped them up to the beams and they became integral to the display over the weekend. Result!

Doesn't it look amazing? 

Here she is again, having fun with a friend at the activity table!

I'll just share a few more shots with you. If you're interested in seeing photos of all of the 138 quilts on display, check out the amazing photos by Sonja Callaghan in this flickr group

I'm rather partial to this little threesome. From L-R:  Selfie by Felicity Ronaghan, my Round Peg, Square Hole  and Fire and Water by Susan Chaffe (one of my favourite quilts made in the very first Temperature Check workshop I taught).

Here's a shot of one of the three fabulous Viewer's Choice ribbons made by guild member Berene Campbell, pinned on a winning quilt made by Paul Krampitz called 1001 Knights

That's my Light Of May quilt just in front of the 3 people and to the left of it is Janet Archibald's Shadow Box 

Not including all of the children under 12 who entered the show for free, we had 754 visitors. If we include all of the guild member volunteers and kids, there were definitely over 800 people who came over two days. We're thrilled, considering it is our first show and it took place on an August weekend. Our venue is not in the city, but it is located adjacent to a very convenient Seabus that travels between downtown Vancouver and North Vancouver every 15 minutes. Many of our visitors actually made the effort to take public transit and travelled on the boat for the very first time. So cool.

There's so much more I could share, but I think I'll stop here. My life has been pretty saturated with quilt show stuff for the past few months (including the 33 hours I spent at the venue over the show weekend along with Terry, Janet and Felicity). It is time for me to move on and get back to sewing.

ETA: I've been asked about the quilts that appeared in the show and how we 'chose' them. Well, none of us on the committee were interested in jurying the work of our fellow members, nor was our show judged. We discussed the space and estimated how many quilts we could hang compared to the number of members we have (about 120). We decided to guarantee every member that their 1st choice quilt would have a place in our show and encouraged them to enter a quilt that they felt would best exemplify the modern aesthetic and help us introduce modern quilting to the community at large. In the end, we had enough space to hang all entrant's 1st and 2nd choice quilts! There wasn't enough room for all 3rd choice ones, so we stopped there. Quilts on the modern mini wall were "free" and not included in the choices for general display. The bottom line: we trusted our membership and our collective desire to put on a truly modern quilt show. Nailed it!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of our show and some of the behind the scenes planning details!

VMQG Showcase This Weekend!

Please join us as we showcase the fabulous work of our members! Families welcome! This incredible renovated shipyard warehouse will be a gorgeous industrial backdrop for our work - this'll be a brand new quilt show like you've never seen in the Lower Mainland.

We'll have over 100 modern quilts on display from wall hanging to large bed-sized quilts. Some will be for sale (visa & mastercard accepted). In addition, learn about the modern design aesthetic at our Modern Mini Quilt Showcase wall and try your hand at designing  your own mini quilt composition. Volunteer guild members will be there to guide you.

We also have a gorgeous raffle quilt! Tickets are only $2/ea and 100% of proceeds will support Vancouver's Mom to Mom Poverty Iniative

ADMISSION ONLY $5, children < 12 free

On Saturday evening there is a free community concert adjacent to our venue along with many exciting food trucks to 10:00 p.m. It's going to be a party!

This event is wheelchair accessible with level building entries, standard doors and a ramp off the Lonsdale Ave. sidewalk. An accessible washroom with ramp access is located outside the venue, on the east side.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

Latifah Saafir is coming to Vancouver!

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is super excited about our upcoming visit by Latifah Saafir, one of the founder of the Modern Quilt Guild and an incredible designer. Latifah will give a lecture on the past, present and future of modern quilting on Friday, May 27th at 7:00 p.m. at the MEC head office (Great Northern Way near Clarke). There are still tickets available for the lecture at $15.

In addition to the lecture, non-members are invited to fill the few spaces we've still got left in the Rocket 88 (Sunday) and Molehills (Monday) classes! Please see this post for full details and Paypal links. 

Rocket 8 by Latifah Saafir

Molehills

I'm excited for the GlamClam class on Saturday (sorry, sold out!). I need to get cutting!! Hope to see you at the lecture if you're local and can make it.

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.

A Refreshing Start to 2015

The day before our VMQG December meeting, I listened to a conversation on the radio between two DJ's trying to psych each other up to do the annual Polar Bear Swim on January 1st.  The "swim" (I use this term loosely as it is really a screaming dash into the ocean and a panicked, breathless waddle out) takes place right downtown on Vancouver's famous English Bay beach.  The first and last time I participated was with B and my father, 17 years ago, and that was only because of peer pressure at work, where we were going to have a team with T-shirts, a towel and a participant button (I'm a sucker for the free stuff).

Spectators on top of the English Bay bath house, looking down onto the beach

While listening to the radio announcement about this year's event, I had a thought: what if I could get a bunch of VMQG members to join me in the swim? We could wrap up in our gorgeous modern quilts to get warm once we got out of the water and 15,000 people could potentially take notice of our guild/quilts/work!  In my typical, somewhat irrational and impulsive way, I got excited about this idea and proposed it to the members at our December meeting.

There was nervous laughter.
There was immediate shaking of heads, exclamations of  "no way!" and "you're crazy!"
I'm sure there were a couple of people wondering how the heck I managed to get the microphone in my hand yet again.

As I looked around at around 60 faces in the crowd, I saw a few smiles and enthusiastic nods. I reminded everyone that this is a FREE event and asked for a show of hands. I think 10 or 12 went up. Yay!

In the end, 6 guild members and one niece braved the chilly dip. Kudos to our co-presidents Holly and Felicity who both took one for the team and showed up with their big smiles! Here we are all cosy in our winter outerwear, just before stripping down to our bathing suits. It was a gorgeous day of 4C sunshine - couldn't have asked for better weather! Photo cred: Happysewlucky

The event packs the beach with spectators and there are many groups that dress up as well as individuals that participate year after year for their coveted button. There is an actual race (first three swimmers to the 100m buoy receive a trophy) which all of us were happy to let someone else win.  In reality, the dash to the water is supposed to be at 2:30, but everything gets very confusing and there is lots of screaming and cheering and throwing of clothes, so I think the first toes hit the water at about 2:25.

We got all prepared in our suits and water shoes so that we only had to take off our jackets and dash!

Photo cred: Happysewlucky

Based on the advice of experienced Polar Bears, our little group stayed off to the side of the main event so that we wouldn't get trapped in the water ahead of a crowd rushing in behind us. Miss G and I had made a pact to go all the way and dunk our heads under. That hurt.

Here's G after her SECOND dip!! This girl's got spunk. Photo cred: Happysewlucky

Don't our quilts look amazing in that sunshine?! Photo cred: Happysewlucky

It didn't take long for the gasps and screams of shock (yes, the cold was much more shocking than I expected!) to give way to laughter once we were all cosy in our quilts.  It was an amazing team-building activity that I hope will continue to next year with an even bigger group.

See you on January 1, 2016! Photo cred: Happysewlucky

What did YOU do to ring in 2015? 

Happiest wishes for the new year to all of you!

It is October, right?

Travelling over a change in month can be so disorienting. How is it mid-October already? Since returning from Italy, we have celebrated B's birthday and Thanksgiving. Next up is Hallowe'en!

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild often holds a block raffle at our meetings (one completed block = one raffle ticket to win a set of blocks). Every year I make tons of Hallowe'en blocks to enter, because I really want to make a Hallowe'en quilt! Alas, I've never one the Hallowe'en lotto. This will be my 4th attempt, so wish me luck.

I spent some time over the long weekend playing with scraps. Here's one of the blocks I made using some Oakshott Colourshott scraps from my Chess on the Steps quilt (speaking of which, go look at the incredibly playful All the Colours Quilt Leanne made using my pattern!).

I used a 1/2" hexy to start and pieced 3/4" strips log-cabin style in rounds. So fun!  Our blocks have to be in size multiples of 6" finished, so this one is actually 6 1/2" square, but I've zoomed in on the pumpkin for the photo.

apologies for pretty awful night time phone pics - it's dark and stormy here today!

For this 6 1/2" x 12 1/2" block, I first pieced some strips together and then cut out tumblers using my Accuquilt Go!Baby for some scrappy candy corn. I liked this so much, I made three more similar blocks. The meeting is next Monday night and I will let you know what happens.

I'm slowly making my way through holiday photos, editing, labelling and uploading. I'll be able to post some soon!

VMQG's first overnight retreat!

The VMQG had a sleepover!  Planning for this special weekend had been in the works for over a year. When then-President Holly asked if I would like to organize the guild's first retreat I was more than happy to get started. Of course I want to retreat with my modern quilty peeps!

We stayed at a beautifully secluded and quietly comfortable retreat center, with freshly planted herb and flower gardens, about an hour out of Vancouver. I had been there four times before, but not for a few years because my regular retreat group is too large for this work room (I fear that once the other members of the guild find out what a great time the 22 of us had, so many will want to attend our next one that we'll need a bigger venue, too!).

On our first night we had a fun wine and cheese welcome that included our pillowcase swap. Prior to retreat I'd sent everyone a tutorial for making a French-seamed and piped pillow case using the "sausage roll" method (google it, there are lots of tutes!).  It was a brown paper bag swap with stealing - despite some speedy steals, we all ended up with a fun pillowcase.

I made the AMH Drawing Room one scored by Jo Anne on the left there.

I'm afraid that's all I've got for photos. When I wasn't giving away draw prizes, hosting wine and cheese swap and show & tell, or painting my nails with the lovely Soakwash Lizzy House nail lacquer set (at midnight!) I had my head down working on a VSQ.  That's a Very Special Quilt.  Please come back tomorrow for my Bloggers Quilt Festival entry....you'll see it then.

Yet Another....

Last Sunday I taught Anna's 241 Tote pattern for the VMQG. There were 14 guild members in the class and everyone was excited to make their totes (for some it was their very first attempt at making a bag!).  I always forget to take photos during my workshops, so I don't have any from the class - hopefully some will show up in the VMQG flickr group.  The modern guild students are very keen. Many had done online research before  class and wanted to widen their bags and customize their pockets.  I can't wait to see them all finished at our November meeting!

Whenever I teach, I like to do demonstrations of certain construction elements in patterns, so I come to class prepared with all of the fabric pieces ready to make my own bag.  This time I made one using an adorable Heather Ross Spoonflower print of VW Camper Vans on linen blend. I've already got more 241 Totes than I could ever need, so this will be a gift for a friend desperately seeking her very own real-life camper. Hopefully this will tide her over until she can find just the right vehicle!

The side panels and strap are Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in black from Marmalade Fabrics, the lining is a Denyse Schmidt print for JoAnn Fabric and the pocket linings are a fun retro flower print from Patty Young's Flora & Fauna line.  I like to put several rows of top-stitching on my bag straps for stability and strength.  I use a topstitch needle, size 90/14 and in this case, a Guterman polyester thread. I have had cotton thread stitches pop on straps before, so if I have an decent matching or contrasting poly thread on my thread rack, I'll use it.

Once in a while very funny things happen in workshops, mostly due to people concentrating on their work with one ear and the conversation with their other ear. Here's one from Sunday:

Student to me: Do you actually use those little side pockets?
Me: Yes, just for a pack of gum
Another Student (using one ear): YOU PACK A GUN?!?!?!
Me: Yup, that's right, I pack heat in my little side pocket.

Hope you're having a great Wednesday. I'm off to watch D's high school field hockey team in their first play-off game. Go Eagles!!

Wee Needle Book Swap: VMQG - LMQG

While in London, England for the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July, I had so much fun with some new friends from the London Modern Quilt Guild who were staying in the same hotel as me. Late nights in the lounge after retreat classes and dinner were a hoot - these girls were very entertaining!  I can't remember exactly who suggested it (probably at 1:00 a.m. after many glasses of wine), but we cooked up a little trans-Atlantic swap between their guild and mine, the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.

We discussed swaps we'd already done in the past with other MQG's that included pouches, tote bags and pin cushions. Due to expensive international postage we figured the items should be small and light. Needle books became the obvious choice; no one had swapped them before and they are definitely small and light! Because many of the LMQG members are not on flickr and don't blog, we figured the easiest way to do this swap was to keep it "blind".   Everyone will avoid the stress of trying to make the perfect thing for an assigned partner and simply make a cute needle book, wrap it in brown paper and send it off!

We've got well over 50 people in total participating!  All of us will have a sweet handmade needle book from a fellow MQG member in time for our Christmas meetings. Fun!

I made the one you see pictured here yesterday with some of my Briar Rose "Two-fers" from another project and some Essex yard dyed linen in Flax that I purchased here.  The luscious felted wool inside is hand dyed by my local friends at Wool Penny Rugs.

I just love that tiny fabric covered button (also a scrap of Briar Rose) - sometimes a little detail like that can take a simple project to the next level of special, along with the hand-embroidered border around the front and back pinwheels.  I am hoping these details will distract the recipient from the fact that the lining strawberry print is upside down. Ahem.  Linen does not fair well with unpicking a 1/4" seam (can you say fray?).  I knew it would be risky, so I had to leave it and I'm okay with that.

This swap happened very casually and just because I happened to be visiting with a group of super fun fellow MQG members. Are you a MQG member who will be traveling or visiting another MQG somewhere in the world? Why not suggest a swap? It's a great way to forge connections and friendships between Modern quilters and it doesn't have to be complicated, expensive or onerous.  We'll take photos at our December meetings so we can share pictures of swappers with their needle books and see who received our work over in London and vice versa! 

(p.s. The VMQG is a large and enthusiastic swapping guild. We have several more swappers signed up than London does, but that's okay because the extra people will swap "in-house". That means about 10 locals will swap amongst themselves rather than be left out of the fun)

Jigsaw Love

In February, the VMQG block challenge theme was hearts, hot pink, orange and linen. Members were to make blocks and challenge themselves with a new technique in their block construction. There were lots of people who have never worked with linen before (hello, swishy fabric!). We got some amazing blocks back for our group quilt!

I volunteered for first crack at jigsawing the blocks together. My idea was to put a bit of structure around some of the hearts with an improv log-cabin feeling...more like little borders really. I didn't want to go all crazy wonky since this will be passed on to other guild members and it's no fun getting an un-square, totally insane partly finished quilt top to work on!

My block contribution is the bias appliqued string of hearts. I've always wanted to try applying a folded (wrong sides together) bias strip by sewing along the cut edges, then folding the strip over the seam (concealing the raw edges) and appliqueing the folded edge down.  No bias bars or bias tape making gizmo necessary. It took some planning to get the heart shape right, though. This is a great way to apply stems and vines by machine, too. I first saw this method used by my pal Double N Dianne on a sweet 1930's repro quilt she made.

I can't seem to find any photo tutorials for this in a google search. If anyone knows of one, please share a link in the comments and if not, I could take a few pictures to show anyone who is interested!

Sewing is taking place here, but it mostly involves circus costumes these days (not very exciting since all I make is the basic bodysuits). The big show is in a couple of weeks and we've got lots of work to do! I've also finished a very special quilt but I can't share it quite yet. Hopefully in a couple of weeks.  

In the meantime, the sun is shining and Vancouver gardens have exploded into spring bloom. It's just gorgeous here now! I hope spring has sprung in your town, too.

Tis the Season....

....to sew my heart out, but not be able to share anything with you!  My nieces read my blog, my kids follow me on IG, my SIL reads my blog. It's hopeless, any surprise would be ruined if I published photos before the big day.

Now that the VMQG has held their Christmas meeting I can share one recent make with you, though. I love this one. It's a little beyond the intention of the scrap swap we did (last month we all brought a sandwich baggie filled with our own scraps with our name concealed inside. Then we grabbed a bag off the table to take home and spend a couple of hours making something out of the scraps to gift back to the scrap owner).   I might have spent more than a couple of hours.

I made this machine cover for my lovely friend Berene. In the summer, she bought a Pfaff QE 4.0, the same machine I have. It was my plan to make her a cover for it (since she sews at her dining table) for her fall birthday, but I didn't manage it. This swap was a perfect opportunity and I was happy to score Berene's scraps! All of the wonky stars, patches and the strip along the top of the machine were in her scrap bag. The medium grey Kona were all scraps of mine from this quilt (which, by the way, is now quilted and bound - photos as soon as the rain stops here. I'm thinking maybe May).

Having the same machine made sizing a breeze.  The panel across the top of the machine has a piece of heavy weight interfacing under it so that the front and back sides drape vertically from the top of the machine. These geometric quilting lines are a triple stitch that I love using for stand out lines - here I used a 28wt Aurifil that has a lovely sheen. The cover is quilted with a fun backing fabric that I've enjoyed using on the back of various projects over the past couple of years (yikes, I'm almost out!).

The cover was finished just in the nick of time, so I didn't have a chance to take any photos - thanks for taking and sharing these ones Berene!

I plan to make another appearance prior to Christmas, but if you're taking a blog-reading break, then I'll take this opportunity to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday! xox

A Meeting of Modern Minds...and hearts and hands

Last weekend I was thrilled to participate in a meet-up of the Portland, Seattle and Vancouver Modern Quilt Guilds. Oh my gosh, it was so much fun!

Sew-in action at Island Quilter

We ate, drank, stitched, sweat, SHOPPED, laughed, instagrammed, tweeted and then laughed some more (did you notice I said sweat? It was super sunny and hot at the sew-in, like gals were stripping down, me included!). I wish there would have been time to get to know more people but when fabric is only $10/yd a (Canadian) girl's gotta spend some quality time making choices. Of course I went with the intent of looking and maybe touching, but not buying. Yeah, that lasted about 10 minutes.

The Westminster Fibres rainbow at Island Quilter on Vachon Island, WA

Members of the executive boards from all three guilds made arrangements for a hotel block in Seattle, a social on Friday night (with goodie bags), a charity sew-in all day Saturday with door prizes, then shop-hopping after the sew-in that continued on Sunday morning. All of the shop owners were lovely and offered us snacks, drinks and discounts.

Modern Cross blocks for charity quilts. Susan Beal, author of Modern Log Cabin and Katie Pederson, author of Quilting Modern were both on hand to take us through making blocks from their respective books

Our sew-in took place in the gallery at Island Quilter surrounded by a beautiful exhibit of modern quilts from Portland and Seattle MQG's. This is Katie Pederson's stunning Seeing Value quilt.

A great deal of shopping took place. I wasn't the only one, I swear. Just look:

Here's Berene holding a spot in the cutting line at Drygoods Design

Here's Violet Craft throwing all logic aside and doing what every amazing quilter mama does: they make a quilt out of whatever fabric their cat and purple-lovin' daughter wants.

Coming clean: here's my haul. At least what I'm willing to show you. I'm so BAD!!!!

Friendships fostered online were cemented in person. I was super happy to finally meet Kelli, the owner of Drygoods Design. If you are ever in the Ballard neighbourhood of Seattle, do check out her small, but mighty, beautifully curated fabric collections. Every bolt's a winner!

And of course the weekend in Seattle meant some quality time with my BQF namesake, the adorable K2 (on the left) and I got to meet Katie Pederson (R) who is absolutely charming, kind and so talented.

I also got to be a cookie in this delicious Poppyprint/Happy Zombie/Violet Craft sandwich!

There is a flickr group dedicated to the meet up, so if you want to check out more photos of sewing, quilts, shopping and modern quilters, look here.  And if you are lucky enough to live within a 4 hour drive of another Modern Quilting Guild, I encourage you to meet up - it doesn't have to be full blown conference, just have fun together! It really was a blast.

Big hugs to Heather, Petra, Season, Katie and Holly who secured venues, fabric donations, machines, prizes, discounts, made nametags and info sheets and most impressively, smiled the entire weekend.