The Show Continues

Since you enjoyed the mini quilt show last week, here's more! Darting Birds by Whitney (the peacock tree) of That Stash Bee had us using Whitney's own tutorial {here} for 6" finished blocks. Her palette is one of my favorites, and I really enjoyed how she arranged the blocks. Isn't it fun?

A current photo of my ástərisk, currently hanging in the Modern Metallic exhibit of Quilt!Knit!Stitch! in Portland, OR. I'm not able to attend the show, so it was nice that Cath of Wombat Quilts kindly took a photo of my quilt . . . which just happens to be hanging next to hers! Feel free to check out more of the goings on under the #quiltknitstitch hashtag on Instagram.

photo by @wombatquilts

And finally, here's a pair of snapshots taken during Sew & Tell last night at the meeting of the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild. We had each just shared our MQG Fabric Challenge projects before gathering together for this group shot. Boy there were some beauties there! See them closer plus all of the other projects shared last night in our guild flickr group.

photos taken by Rachel/snippetsofsweetness/@snippetsofsweetness

That's it for now! Hope you enjoyed the show!

The Backs

When I shared a recent quilt finish, I was gently scolded for not showing off the quilt's back. I suppose I only do that when I do something I consider especially creative. But that doesn't mean I don't like the back. In fact, sometimes I like it alot. At any rate, here's some 2014 quilt backs you haven't seen . . .

Radiancy got one of my very favorite prints - Newspaper Strips from Carrie Bloomston's Collage.

All the prints in the front of Still Swooning were from a fat-eighth pack of Anna Maria Horner's Dowry. So for the back, I pieced together strips of 3 pieces of the same print in different colorways.

With Aurora {aka Northern Lights} being all in solids, for the back I chose 2 stash prints - Cat Mint from Catnap by Lizzy House and Metro Living Ring Dots in Pewter. Simple, but I like. Seriously, I could back just about every quilt in Metro Living Rings.

Lastly, ástərisk got a single piece of Madrona Road by Violet Craft. I confess I was a little sad it took all I had, but it was a good fit. (Random: note how the faced binding shows off on the back more than a regular binding.)

So there! True confessions revealed. Nothing earth-shattering, but now you know. Sometimes I have the time, energy, and inspiration for something more unique, but usually my quilt backs are pretty basic. Just for fun, here's a link to a Quilt Backs Pinterest board where I add ideas as I come across them. If you have a favorite go-to quilt back, I'd love to hear about it!

ástərisk

ástərisk measures 31"X36"

Last month was plumb full of special projects and a vacation to boot. Arriving home a few days ago, I knew I was cutting it more than close to even consider entering the Modern Metallic challenge sponsored by Quilt! Knit! Stitch!™ this August. No, I hadn't started already, and no, I had no ideas. But really now. Our guild, one of just 9 invited to share their modern quilts in this exhibit, had been given lovely stacks of fabrics, courtesy of Robert Kaufman ~ Quilter's Tussah and Quilter's Linen Metallic.

So I got started, inspired in the beginning by these wonky triangle log cabin blocks by sewtakeahike. I added in some Timeless Treasures Dream (thanks, Marci!) and Michael Miller Mirror Ball Dots, and made several blocks, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Putting them up on the design wall, I initially thought I'd place them kind of tumbling down, but when I rearranged them more like an asterisk, I liked them even better.

Nothing in the stash was quite right for a background, so a quick outing yielded some {totally out of my comfort zone} metallic Hoffman Fabrics Asuka. It was a bit of a puzzle piecing the center of the main quilt top, but it eventually evolved. Taking a critical step back, I liked it but. Something was missing.

I decided it needed a flange. I consulted Jaybird Quilts' Binding Flange Tutorial, though I made the flange to play the part of a skinny border, rather than an accent to the binding. (Just fyi, I cut my flange fabric 1 1/2" wide.) To that I added borders, mitering the corners to imitate the look of a frame, using my go-to tutorial for mitering by Amy's Creative Side.

Whew! Time to quilt! After debating (and a bit of unpicking) I went with something I both liked and enjoyed doing - wonky spirals. When picking up that background fabric, I had also found the most awesome Aurifil 50wt #2975 ("brass" - love it! What else can I use it on??) for the background, and after a quick Ig poll, decided on #4060 (a variegated called "Silver Moon") in the triangles. Totally happy with both those choices!

With time running out, I opted for a faced binding to keep up the 'framed' look. And for that, I always refer to OPQuilt's tutorial over at she can quilt. Yes, I can't believe I mitered 2 features on this project. But isn't a miter a strange and wonderful thing?

In case you're wondering about the guy I'm standing by in the top photo, that would be The Hammering Man. He's a permanent (and tall!) feature outside the Seattle Art Museum. (Random fact: I had no idea he has siblings till I wrote this post!)

After a photo tour around the city today, and submitting my Modern Metallics registration, I'm breathing a sigh of relief. And pleased to have taken on a challenge once again.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.