Modern Selvage Quilting - a book review & giveaway!

"Unsuspecting, a creatively inclined woman walks into a yard sale; a quilter walks out."

This happened to Riel Nason, Canadian author, mother, quilter and lover of selvages. She left that yard sale with a huge box of random fabric for $6 and proceeded to cut out her very first quilt with fingernail scissors because they were the sharpest pair in the house.

I haven't (yet) met Riel, but I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing her fun and original selvage quilt creations, first on Flickr and now on IG.  When it comes to creating with selvage edges, her imagination knows no bounds! This is a person who mounted one-woman show of Hallowe'en inspired selvage projects entitled "1/4-inch Scream". Awesome!

Her new book Modern Selvage Quilting contains instructions for 17 projects using selvages. 

"Selvages are like ticket stubs you keep from a fabulous show"

(how true!!)

Like Riel, I was smitten after discovering selvage quilt projects online. Jodi's remarkable selvage dress was my first introduction to the concept of saving and using selvages (I'd tossed them for years before realizing they were usable. Gasp).  Then I came across Riel's adorable snowman quilt . By that time, I'd started saving selvages. My first projects were very small - some cute little mini coin quilts, then some larger spool quilts and finally my prized Selvage Colourblock Quilt (made from 4 years worth of selvage-saving).  After that quilt, I figured I was done and gave all of my leftover selvages away, except for those incredible linen Echinos with shaggy edges and interesting text.  Those I've kept. 

If you were like me and have yet to discover the fun of saving and making with selvages, you'll find Riel's book is an excellent resource. She covers everything from cutting (just how much printed fabric should you cut off with your selvage edge, anyway?) to sorting, planning, measuring, pressing, sewing and ultimately creating projects efficiently with your selvages.  You'll also find tips on how to label, quilt and care for your selvage projects.

You'll find a variety of projects, in addition to the expected quilts. One that I would normally find too cutesy (a window valance) actually takes on a meaningful kitsch when made for your sewing room with favourite selvages. I also love the lattice pillow (above) - it would look perfect in any modern sewing space, or living room for that matter!  

Definitely the most unexpected quilt design in the book for me is the selvage medallion quilt - it is a great modern pattern that I think would be really fun to make. That X border is so good.  It almost makes me want to start saving my selvages again!

Have you got a selvage collection? If not, are you keen to start one now that you know there's a book full of cool modern projects you can make with them? C&T will give one random commenter a free copy of Riel's book (a US winner will receive an actual paper copy, an international winner will receive a digital version). Leave a comment that includes, or links to, your email address (if I can't contact you, I'll choose a new winner) and tell me about your favourite selvage-y project!

ETA: The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to commenter #42: Bea, you've won a copy of Riel's book!

Check out the rest of the tour here:

May 10 Riel at C&T Publishing Blog

May 11 Cindy at Live a Colorful Life

May 12 Yvonne at Quilting Jet Girl

May 13 Diane at Butterfly Threads Quilting

May 16 Krista at Poppyprint

May 17 Casey at The Studiolo

May 18 Leanne at She Can Quilt

May 19 Sandy at Upstairs Hobby Room

May 20 Mel at The Quilting Room with Mel

May 21 Riel at The Q and the U

Quilting My Own Stories

I've been having a little too much fun with my stash lately. If you follow along on Instagram, then you know that there are some crazy little stories coming from my crazy little brain, all based on fabrics from my stash.

My longtime blogging pal (who I finally got to meet in person at Quilt Market last spring!) Amy Friend has finally published a book. I say finally because Amy has many devoted followers that love her original paper piecing patterns and amazing quilt designs.  We've been wondering for years when she'd put a collection together into a book for us.  Intentional Piecing is the exact book you'd imagine from her; fussy cutting for fun and fabulous projects with lots of attention to detail and amazing tips for success! Get 30% off your book purchase from Lucky Spool with code FRIEND30!

Amy is hosting the Tell Me a Story Quilt contest   Until June 1st, anyone can make a story quilt block (pattern is in the book) and share it on IG using the hashtag #tellmeastoryquilt for a chance to win a spectacular bundle of fussy-cuttable fabric sponsored by Sew Me a Song 

 To celebrate the book launch, Amy asked some friends to play along and make a block, so you may have seen some pop up on your favourite blogs already. You may already know that foundation paper piecing is not my go-to quilting technique.  Sure, I love the accuracy and detailed pictures you can create, but I just don't have the patience for the fussy business, tiny pieces and all of those seams. That is why the story block is perfect for me! I love that Amy has pre-cutting instructions for all of the pieces required for the block (very little fabric waste is my jam).  I intended to humour Amy by making a block, but once I started pulling fabric, looking for just the right combinations to tell a story, I couldn't stop! Soon I had a pile of fabric on my cutting board and so many stories swirling around in my head that I was feeling a little manic. I had to start sewing.

I've sewn so many blocks and made up so many stories that I think I'll spread out my posts over the week to keep you entertained. To start us off, I'll share the block that I made just for Amy. Years ago she gifted me a small linen panel that she's screen printed with the cutest little houses and trees. If you've been following her for any length of time then you know that she's an avid gardener and has a very special French garden plot in her back yard (that I admire greatly).  So here is Amy's House, made with her screen print and a precious scrap of Farmdale floral that I covet:

Pouch Production and Sewing Beyond Cotton

While at our annual Loon Lake retreat in mid-November, several of us got busy trying out some of the awesome projects in Krista Fleckenstein's new book Beyond Cotton. Krista is super clever and an amazing artist to boot, so she's got some incredible ideas on how to expand our work beyond cotton just like the title says.

I started out making pouches using Krista's easy pattern. I didn't have leather on hand with me at retreat, so I substituted Craft-Tex (a C&T paper product that is totally washable and strong like leather!). I'd pre-washed and crinkled my Craft-Tex before retreat, hoping that I'd be able to use it for some project or other.  These pouches will be gifted at Christmastime. I was nervous using chunky metal zips, but I didn't break a single needle and I'm so pleased with how nicely the zipper ends appear once the pouch is turned right-side out. Plus, I got to use some of my treasured Japanese linen collection!

I made these smaller versions after returning home and getting my hands on some lovely upholstery-grade vegan leather (otherwise known as vinyl).

I also followed Krista's pattern to make leather boxes (again using Craft-Tex) and got to try riveting thanks to friends that had brought along the hardware and tools. There was a lot of banging on this retreat as we were riveting all the things with hammers!  This is a very tiny box, so to avoid confusion I stamped exactly what might fit in it onto the bottom of the box *wink*.

Finally, Krista had sent along a few leather cuff kits for us to try our hand at punching a pattern of holes and then using them to embroider a design with floss. I was feeling a bit lazy, so I stole Katie's carefully prepared design template and copied her bracelet completely.  Here's a photo with all of our lovely leather cuffs!

I've since visited a leather supply store here in Vancouver. I must say, it is not a cheap endeavour. Keep an eye out for free leather couches on Craigslist!! There may also be some industrial felt winging it's way to me right now for some more fun projects out of the book. Next, I want to try some stamping on canvas. Check out Krista's sweet tutorial and make your own wrapping paper this year.

Thank you for so much fun, Krista!! 

The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters - a Review & Giveaway

Now here's a book I can get behind. And beside, and into. Sherri Lynn Wood's Improv Handbook is just that: a handbook. This is the most inspiring, informative and useful book I have in my quilting library. Honestly. I'm going to try and explain why without writing a novel (because I could, but I know you probably have other things to do today).

Regular readers of Poppyprint know that I've been quilting for 15 years. I learned in workshops at my LQS and later, through my guilds.  I have taken, and taught, many, many workshops.  In the past, I have described myself as a 'schooled' quilter, meaning I learned from experienced sewists/quilters who taught me technique and skills towards making a defined pattern/block/quilt in a prescribed way.  Over the past two years, I've moved towards exploring creative ideas beyond simply selecting fabrics for a pattern. I really feel like my technical confidence has come far enough to let me explore creating in a new way instead of just following a checklist of instructions and measurements to achieve someone else's idea.  It is unlikely I'll ever stop using patterns altogether, but I'm ready to venture out and see what happens.

Sherri's book is a guide for this exact moment in my creative life. I was lucky enough to purchase one of the limited copies at QuiltCon and have her sign it during the full day workshop that I took with her. She advised me to "be my own ruler". In the book, she discusses this more and encourages quilters to add their own voice to their work by free cutting, thereby creating a personal 'line' or signature. It is an interesting concept that I like - sort of like your own signature line or angle that could appear again and again throughout your work. As a practised "squaring upper", I've never actually built a large quilt from oddball shaped hunks of piecing or blocks that don't have squared edges....you know, the jigsaw puzzle approach. In our "Floating Squares Score" class, this is how the quilt came together. Sherri refers to this as "finding the natural fit" between two pieces of fabric and explains the concept with illustrative photos in the book.

My piecing work from the workshop (I am itching to get back to this!)

Classmate work  

The book is a collection of 'scores', not patterns. The scores are like recipes for improv concepts that are often related to shape, like squares, strips or curves.  You can explore each score using your own fabric that you love, but sometimes limits are put on the number of colours you can choose, or the sizes you cut. The score gives you parameters, but also permission to adjust, add, subtract or abandon certain elements as you progress.  Almost 250 volunteers accepted Sherri's call to test her scores and possibly have their quilts included in the book. In the final edit, 22 contributor quilts are shared alongside Sherri's own work to give you plenty of inspiration. I found a certain comfort in seeing the subtle similarities in the quilts (thanks to the score), while also recognizing the unique results of each maker's work. Here are a few of the excellent examples of the Patchwork Doodle score made by some of the volunteer testers for the book (click on the photos to read the makers' feedback on the process of working from the score):

Curve, by Lucie Summers (a star improv quiltmaker and author of  Quilt Improv)

By Maria Shell 

You Are Here, by Sharon O'Brien

Returning to the idea that this book truly is a handbook, Sherri not only provides parameters, encouragement and permission to explore, she also includes a lot of practical advice.  When you create without patterns and you sew oddly shaped hunks of fabric together (many with stretchy, bias edges), sometimes crazy stuff happens.  Detailed photos and diagrams show you what to do when your quilt ends up with a pucker or wobble that your iron can't tame.  I know I will have to give these techniques a try. It is such a different approach to squaring everything; I like the idea of not having ruler-cut straight angled seams between the patchwork sections.

There's also a lot of new-to-me quilting and creative vocabulary in the book.  Phrases like "bimodal construction", "flexible patterning", "cutting from your core" and the concept of improv quilting as storytelling referencing African American quiltmakers.  There's just so much great stuff!  The book is 175 pages long and it is packed with quality text and gorgeous photography. It is possible I'm unable to be objective about it at this point, because it really is a game-changer of a book for me.

You know how children are often the creators of the most beautiful, free and colourful artwork because they just make what they like without self-restraint or critique?  I wish I could make quilts in this same way, without censoring my choices or demanding more perfect results.  Reading The Improv Handbook really gave me the confidence to try, and I have big plans to stretch myself creatively in the coming months and years.   The work I'm doing with my Improv Under the Influence piecing technique is still ongoing, but I foresee expanding my improv skills with Sherri's guidance. I'm definitely ready to move in this direction and I'll be referring to Sherri's book, and those of my other improv mentor Gwen Marston, along the way.  I'm also trying to adopt Sherri's method of evaluation by looking at my work and, instead of immediately identifying everything I'm not happy about, asking the following questions (we did this as a group in our workshop):

What surprised you?

What did you learn?

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied?

What would you change?

We all love to be our own worst critic. Try using Sherri's evaluation questions and I bet you'll immediately feel better about your amazing quilting skills! The maker of the quilt below did just that.

Primary by Elisa Albury is one of  my fav quilts from the score testers. I really enjoyed Elisa's evaluation of her work, which is super honest and insightful (click photo to read it in the Flickr comment).

I could go on, but it's time for the giveaway before I lose you altogether. Are you eager to try something new and make your own original work, or further explore your creativity in an improvisational way? Leave one comment for your chance to win a copy of The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters.  At the request of the publisher, this giveaway is open to North American addresses only.  I request that your email MUST be linked to your comment (or appear in your comment) to win. A random winner will be selected on May 23 at 5:00 p.m. PST.

EDITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE WINNER IS COMMENT #36: Congratulations Barbara Woods!

Disclosure: STC Craft provided me with a review copy of this book (which, like 90% of the free stuff I get through my blog, I'm passing along as a door prize in one of my future workshops/retreats since I already had my own copy!).  Some of the quilts shown in this post do not appear in the book, however they were made by volunteer testers who have given their permission for images to be shared for promotional purposes. They're amazing, so I'm sharing them.

Have a look at the other stops on the blog tour as I'm sure each post will offer more inspirational photos and more chances to win your own copy!

Quilt Lovely - An Interview with Jen Kingwell

You all know Jen Kingwell's patterns: The Circle Game, Steampunk, Chain Reaction, Gypsy Wife and more. Her work is very recognizable for her inspired use of multitude prints and detailed piecing. Although I own several patterns, having won them at the Fat Quarterly Retreat in 2013, I have yet to tackle any. The closest I've come is borrowing a set of templates for Steam Punk!

By Jen Kingwell

Fons & Porter/F+W; $26.99 US

When given the opportunity to take a peek at Jen's first ever book, I jumped at the chance. She's a quilter I greatly admire.  Imagine my delight when I found out I could interview Jen for this blogpost - yay! I did a little research online and learned a bit more about Jen's style and technique by watching these great videos filmed recently by the Fat Quarter Shop at QuiltCon. I follow Jen on Instagram so I knew that she'd recently returned home to Australia, and her quilt shop Amitie Textiles, after living in the Middle East for a couple of years.  The Nosy Parker in me really just wanted to know how she managed to stay creative while isolated from her shop, her people and her home!

Mrs. Bannister's Stars, from Quilt Lovely by Jen Kingwell

Krista: Congratulations on your gorgeous fabric line Gardenvale and inspiring book Quilt Lovely, Jen! Both are firsts for you and seemed to have happened around the same time. Did your design work require a lot of discipline and planning to keep on schedule? Did you start out knowing you'd spend your time in the Middle East working on the book?

Jen: Thank you Krista. I'm really happy with both. I had no idea the path I was going down. Sometimes ignorance is bliss! I had to be very disciplined( not my greatest strength). After I had decided what I was doing I did set a schedule and I worked to that. I think for me that was the hardest thing. I'm an organic designer and quite often things start with a very loose idea and just grow. I frequently fall out of love with things as I go along and they have a rest in a drawer or the bottom of the cupboard but with the book I didn't have time to change my mind. Maybe that was a good thing but it hadn't stuck as I've just sidelined something I'm not happy with this week!

Krista: You've owned Amitie quilt shop for 15 years and been immersed in quilting through teaching, selling fabric, designing patterns and running the business. How did the past 2 years living in the UAE affect your quilting?

Jen: I would never have embarked on the book and fabric range if I was in Australia. Always so busy with "things". I had the luxury of time in Al Ain. The first year we were there we lived in a hotel. I didn't even make the bed! So spoilt. I stitched from day light to dark. It's always inspiring to be surrounded by new things. I think the colours of the desert will be popping up in a few projects in the future.

Flea Market Dash from Quilt Lovely by Jen Kingwell

Krista: Much of my own quilting experience and joy is shared with others through participation in my guilds and retreats. I've seen stunning examples of hand work shared online by Middle Eastern women. Did you work alone while in the UAE, or were you able to connect at all with other like-minded expats or local women?

Jen: I worked alone. We lived in an area where there were not a lot of expat women. Most who were there worked. It was a very "local" city and ladies in the UAE to my knowledge are not so interested in handcraft as in other parts of the Middle East. I did join the Abu Dhabi quilt guild and there were a few local ladies in the guild. The highlight of my week was to drive to Abu Dhabi to stitch with my little group, a mixed bunch! All from the UK and Scotland. These women were my lifesavers. They had all lived there for quite a while and advised me on all things UAE! More laughing and eating was done than stitching. It was so worth the 3 hour round trip.

Krista: I really enjoyed listening to you and learning from your experience while watching the Fat Quarter Shop videos you filmed recently at QuiltCon. Now that you are home in Australia, will you be teaching regularly? Is teaching a passion of yours?

Jen: I had such a great day with the Fat Quarter shop team. I will be teaching quite a bit this year both here in Australia and overseas. I really enjoy meeting so many great people as I travel and I always seem to learn as much from them as them from me I think.

For the Boys from Quilt Lovely by Jen Kingwell

Krista: There is a certain vibrant, scrappy aesthetic in the work of many Aussie quiltmakers that I recognize and have always admired. What do you think is the main influence for this common approach in Australian quilt design?

Jen: Our quilting community is small here in Australia. Our quilting stores are smaller also and many years ago before online stores you could only purchase what your quilt stores carried. Store owners didn't have the luxury of space to stock whole ranges so you "chose" your collection. A mixed bag of fabrics and I think many of us have grown up and developed this as our style.

Krista: The online quilting world moves quickly and there is often a feeling of urgency to make quilts and move on to the next thing. The beautiful quilts in your book are a wonderful reminder that patience pays off in the form of heirloom quilts - you even hand quilted your work instead of having everything longarmed in a hurry. What advice can you give to people in the 'just get it done' mindset about the value of slowing down?

Jen: I love this question. When I sit down to hand stitch it's like an enormous exhale for me. I swear I can feel my blood pressure lowering. I started to hand stitch many years ago when my girls were small. I'm a midwife by trade and worked, so in the evenings I wanted to sit with the family and share the days news.....the sewing machine was never appreciated! So hand stitching it was and I just loved it. It's easy, very cost effective as you need little equipment and it's very sociable.

I also love the " quiet" of hand stitching. A comfy chair, your favourite music and a window, needle, thread and fabric. That's all you need. It's hard to put into words the joy I get from hand stitching in particular hand quilting. It's like " meditation".

Thank you for kindly answering all of my questions, Jen!

Jen's fabric line Gardenvale is available now as precuts and I think shops are receiving yardage as soon as next week.  It is truly a scrap quilter's dream fabric range and I look forward to adding some to my stash as a way to expand into more floral and blender fabrics. I love that the line is named for the location of Jen's shop in Melbourne - how perfect!

image from The Fat Quarter Shop

When I receive a new book, I immediately skip all the pre-amble and head straight to the project photos. I love the matte finish paper in Quilt Lovely and the gorgeous photos of the quilts out in the real world.  I did take the time to read Jen's Appendices to learn more about her thoughts on value, colour and scale. She's got great advice at the back of this book.  There are several pillow and quilt patterns that are immediately do-able for the intermediate (or confident beginner) quilter. However, with rather a lot of travelling in my future, I am contemplating a slow hand-piecing project instead. I don't do "quiet sitting" very well (my elementary school report cards will back me up here), but if I'm trapped on an airplane I might as well be productive. Sometimes it is a good idea to bust out and try a challenge. I will keep you posted!