Thursday, July 19, 2012

G.O. Modern

Over a year ago, the 4x5 modern Quilt Bee was created, and I was super pleased to be welcomed in. First up was making a mosaic for my hive.
Gray, Orange, & White mosaic for 4X5 Modern Quilt Bee
click here for photo credits

I remember struggling for weeks over what block to make for the first round, and finally chose "Planetarium" by Elizabeth Hartman
blocks for 4x5 bee Q3-Beehive 10
For the next two rounds, I was more confident, and continued to enjoy making interesting, modern blocks in a variety of palettes, while my own orange and gray blocks came in one by one.
Do any of you remember this post, where I begged for advice? Now What? What was I to do with my stack of finished blocks? I mocked up 7 different sashing scenarios, and in the end, ordered both KONA Tangerine and Charcoal, still not sure what direction I would go.
When I actually laid out the blocks on my two fabric options, the gray looked nice, but the orange just popped. In the end, rather than sashing, I framed each block, then trimmed each to 15" to compensate for the minor discrepancies in block sizes.
I hadn't originally planned on a border, but the way I'd framed the blocks, they really needed more along the outside edge. So the charcoal came into play after all. And I'm pleased with the overall framed look it gives the sampler.

For backing, I chose gray Gridlock from Dear Stella - love it! And I was just a tad short, thus the pieced bit in one corner. I drug out half my gray/orange stash to pick out a binding and finally settled on a subtle but nicely coordinating gray stripe by Riley Blake.
Now. The quilting. Almost always the step where I question myself the most. What in the world would do this quilt justice? This modern sampler from my first bee, made of blocks contributed by 15 bee-mates from all over the world. I decided I should keep right on stretching myself. I needed to do something unique in each block.

And so I did. I think I probably said, "Oh my GOSH!" about 100 times, maybe more, as I struggled with rotating it as I sewed, trying one new pattern after another. Daughter dear was over in the middle of it all, and I told her, "It's not perfect." To which she replied, "So what? It's an experience quilt!" And she was right, of course. The journey of participating in a bee, of creating modern blocks, of expanding my machine quilting skills all converged in this quilt.
Which is why when it came time to name this quilt, I gave it quite a bit of thought. I wanted to include a reference to my palette of gray and orange, while also giving a nod to the overall process. And finally I came up with "G.O. Modern" - where I've traveled in the making of this quilt, as well as an encouragement for the future.
 G.O. Modern measures approximately 65x80". 
It was machine-pieced and quilted, bound by hand, 
machine washed and dried.
Photos taken at Park Avenue Salon, Mukilteo WA. 

This quilt is my first Third Quarter Finish-A-Long finish {see list here}. Linking up with TNT Thursdayshow off friday, T.G.I.F.F., Fabric Tuesday, and from the blue chair.

53 comments:

  1. It's such a beautiful quilt Debbie. I really love how it all came together. Ithe 3x6 bees opens up in August and I'm hoping I can get a spot :)

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  2. Absolutely beautiful. Such a great balance. And what a lovely place to display the quilt. You have a good eye for that!

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  3. it's just gorgeous! Love it and I hope my sampler quilt will be as lovely as yours!

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  4. Totally awesome, Debbie! The tangerine and charcoal look just right with those blocks. And how cool of you to do so many different quilting designs!

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  5. It's a fabulous quilt Debbie! Modern in name, colour and design! Congratulations!

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  6. I love how it all came together! You did a wonderful job on it - everything looks perfect, even if it did take a lot of thought to get there.

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  7. Love it, Debbie! What a great way to set those blocks rather than sashing.

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  8. Oh Debbie it's stunning!! LOVE the tangerine, great choice and the charcoal finishes it perfectly. I love Dear Stella fabrics and that makes a great back. The quilting is just incredible!

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  9. That quilt is gorgeous! I haven't participated in a bee like that but would love to give one a try! Enjoy your beautiful quilt!

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  10. Wow Debbie - that is gorgeous! You have amazing skills!

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  11. it is perfection debbie! i love it! you did a great job on the framing and borders. isn't it awesome to have so many blocks from so many people. it is my favorite!

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  12. Congratulations.It`s spectacular and love your color choice.You did great job!!

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  13. Debbie, it looks fantastic!!! Love the color's you choose and your quilting looks awesome!! Coming up with so man quilting designs is no small task. Wait to Try New Things and really stretch yourself :)

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  14. This is just an awesome quilt! I love all the details, and the tangerine border is just excellent!

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  15. It's beautiful! I am so inspired by your work, thanks for telling your quilts story!

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  16. It looks fabulous Debbie. I think I remember commenting on the choice of dashing ; )

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  17. It's great Debbie! And what a perfect size too. You did well in choosing the borders/sashing colours in the end, after all of that deliberating. I don't even remember what I 'voted' for but I agree that it works so well with that orange that just pops!

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  18. I am saying "OH MY GOSH" looking at the finished product!! I like that you mentioned you had to trim the blocks down to 15" that bugs me sometimes when I have to do that to compensate,but in the long run it all works out:)

    I love the pic of it in the window at the spa!!

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  19. OH WOW. That is just stunning. I love how you have it in the window like that! It's gorgeous! I am so inspired. :)

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  20. Beautiful Deb! The two solids you added were a great choice.

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  21. The quilt is so pretty and the story is just perfection. I would not have had the courage to pick orange and grey but it is so fabulous! Maybe that's what I should make my swoon quilt with - orange and grey. Hmmmm.

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  22. A stunning success, Debbie! Absolutely gorgeous!!

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  23. Oh it looks absolutely fab, well done for battling through it all!

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  24. It turned out awesome! I love how you did the sashing and borders. Your photos of the finish are fantastic, too!

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  25. Amazing Debbie! What a great finish and inspiring story to go with it. I like that your daughter called it an experience quilt. That's why we do this right? Well done!!!

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  26. oh, what a gorgeous quilt, Debbie. And I loved reading the whole story of how this beauty was formed. So, so inspiring. Good for you for stretching and going out of your comfort zone.

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  27. Gorgeous quilt! The colours really compliment each other well! Such an amazing finish! =D

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  28. So beautiful and I especially love the photography! Great job and such a unique quilt!

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  29. Your finished quilt is really beautiful, Debbie. Well worth the time and angst put into the decision making.Beautifully photographed as well!

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  30. Absolutely stunning Debbie - love your quilting and how you have photographed it too!

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  31. I nominated you for two blog awards!
    http://www.yellowcloth.com/2012/07/blog-awards.html
    xo,
    Jacinda
    www.yellowcloth.com

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  32. It's just awesome, Debbie!
    And your photos are just beautiful!
    I'd love to see more close up photos of how you quilted the individual blocks . . . maybe a future post? :-)

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  33. What a great quilt and your photo's and presentation of it are wonderful! It would be a stretch for me too, but you did a beautiful job!

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  34. Beautiful fabrics, and great blocks. I love the border, it definitely makes a difference in the overall look of it!

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  35. What a joyful quilt, Deb! Your Sashing/border choices are perfect, and I love your quilting experiment!

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  36. Wow... congratulations! It is awesome! It would look so nice in my house, though. Here is the address:... Well, maybe I should have been more subtle! :-) Enjoy the weekend!

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  37. So fun to read your quilt journey for this lovely G.O. Modern quilt! I applaud you for continuing to stretch yourself with each step of the process. Why-oh-why do we feel that our piecing/quilting/finishing skills must be perfect before we are willing to put them to use? (Said by someone who is stalling on stipplng a baby quilt because of fear I'll mess it up!!) You have a wonderful quilt here and a great trip to reflect back on :)

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  38. That's an amazing quilt Debbie! Congrats on a gorgeous finish

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  39. Stunning quilt Debbie - I love the solids you chose.

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  40. Debbie--It turned out so great! Love how you finished it.

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  41. Beautiful, Debbie! I enjoyed hearing about your process.

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  42. WONDERFUL JOB and Great looking quilt. What a voyage you went on! and Kudoos for trying all the NEW things!!

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  43. it's just beautiful and what a buzz ending up with this gorgeous thing AND new experiences to take forward. Well done!

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  44. Wow!! What a photo to have of it in that window. :D

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  45. This looks beautiful! I love it!

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  46. I love the orange and charcoal together. It is a beautiful quilt!

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  47. I love those color choices! Great job & nice pictures!

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  48. VERY lovely. I'm in the 4x5 Bee as well, but have only participated for 2 quarters, and with a different color pallette each time. I'm bummed it's on hiatus, but I'm hopeful to get going again in the fall!

    That's last photo with the quilt in the window is amazing!

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  49. Beautiful! It looks perfect to me!

    I didn't know you lived in WA. I grew up in Gig Harbor. Got to love the NW in summer!

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  50. Beautiful! I love the idea of framing the blocks and then cutting them down to the same size. I will definitely be doing that in the future. And, your colors are so yummy!

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  51. Beautiful! I love the idea of framing the blocks and then cutting them down to the same size. I will definitely be doing that in the future. And, your colors are so yummy!

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