R.A.N.D.O.M.

Even though Live a Colorful Life's Really Random Thursday hasn't happened in a while, I still always think of it on Thursdays. And today I actually have some randomness to share, so I figured why not?

Hopefully you caught Christa Quilts' post showing off the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase at the upcoming International Quilt Festival? Very fun! After seeing this impressive collection, I'm even more thrilled that my Fissures was included.

photo credit, Christa Watson

Here's the blurb about the exhibit from the show's online catalog:

The Modern Quilt Guild Showcase 2014

Sponsored by Aurifil USA, Inc.

Modern quilting is a new twist on the traditional art of quilting, and is rapidly gaining interest

from the next wave of quilters. Members from chapters of Modern Quilt Guilds around the

world were invited to submit their works for this popular annual exhibit.

While perusing the Quilts.com site, I came across the results of the Quilting in America 2014 survey. A few stats . . .

• 10.3% of U.S. households (12.62 million) are home to at least one active quilter
• 30% own more than 4 machines
• 86% access the Internet daily
• 12.2% of quilting households are considered “dedicated,” responsible for generating 60% of quilt industry 

You can see the complete summary here. I think you'll be surprised at some of it!
          From the Quilting in America™ 2014 Survey presented by F+W, A Content + eCommerce Company

The Blogger's Quilt Festival is well underway, and hasn't it been something seeing all those awesome quilts? Just a couple of days left to add your entries. I had high hopes of finishing and entering my current project, but the quilting's been slow-going, so I'll be content with my one entry, and just sit back and enjoy the show.

And as the BQF is winding down next week, Handmade Holidays at Sew, Mama, Sew will be going gung ho. Every day in November, there will be tutorials, printables and recipes to help you create a Handmade Holiday. Here's a link to lists for previous years - all sorts of holiday goodness! And more to come.

Just a reminder that my A Quilter's Table facebook page is always a good place to find some randomness. I post whatever strikes my fancy, most recently daughter dear's x and + quilt, the latest from shecanquilt, and a fun {and random!} way to hang mini quilts from pieceful life. Check it out! 

Twofold

After the delightful 2nd place win earlier this week, you'd think that would be enough. But remember back in December when I shared that my Fissures quilt was hitting the road? It had been accepted in the "Wall Quilt - Modern" category of the 2014 AQS QuiltWeek® Contest in Phoenix, Arizona, where Common Affection happens to be hanging with the Modern Quilt Challenge exhibit! The show starts today, and believe it or not, Fissures won 2nd place!

What makes this even more exciting than it already is is the fact that my friend Leanne/shecanquilt won 1st in our category!!! I am so thrilled for her, as she inspires and encourages me so much!

Two of my quilts in the Phoenix show.
Two wins in one week.
Two friends celebrating each other.
Definitely double the fun!

Fissures On the Road

After her win in the Modern Quilt Challenge, good ole Common Affection is currently somewhere between Des Moines, Iowa and Phoenix, Arizona.

Well believe it or not, she'll have some familiar company when she makes the pit stop for the next exhibit on the tour. Fissures has been accepted in the "Wall Quilt - Modern" category of the 2014 AQS QuiltWeek® Contest in Phoenix, Arizona in February.

Have fun, you two!

2013 Finish-A-Long: Q3 Finishes

The third quarter of the Finish-A-Long was a good mix of projects - one charity quilt, one for our home, and one that was a bit of a challenge. {Click on quilt names for their original posts.}

Top priority was FAITH Circle's June quilt, where we used SewCraftyJess' "Starburst Cross" block tutorial. I was thrilled at the "hot" blocks my bee-mates sent in!

They were stitched simply into rows to create Starcrossings.

My next project was dealing with the Modern Maple blocks made by That Stash Bee. My original goal with these was to have a Modern Maples quilt to use in our home by the time fall hit, and I started the Falling for Modern Maples flickr group to have some company. If you like this block as much as I do, check out the group for some great inspiration - and feel free to join. It's a no-pressure group of like-minded-maple-lovers.

On my couch right now is Anticipating Autumn. With the variety of block backgrounds, it was a logical jump to set them with a mix of solid and print squares. Not sure this block is out of my system quite yet.

The last finish for Q3 used the Slice and Insert blocks I made during Katie & Jacquie's class several months ago. At first I was considering a layout something like this . . .

But when it came right down to it, I opted to create a 'medallion' of sorts with wide, unequal borders. Meet Fissures.

What I didn't get to were the blocks my Always Bee Learning Bee bee-mates made with the Polaroid blocks collected during the *Picture-Perfect* Polaroid Swap. This one will go right on my Q4 list for sure.

Many thanks to Leanne/shecanquilt for all her work on the FAL! Be sure and check out all the amazing finishes for this quarter!

Linking up with Leanne/shecanquilt and the Finish-A-Long Q3 linkup.

Fissures

Fissures was first started in an Improv Slice and Insert class I took with Katie Pedersen and Jacquie Gering several months ago, and is loosely inspired by "Shattered" in their book, Quilting Modern.

It began with these 9 blocks, 7 of which I had made in class. Fabric-wise, I used a background of Kaufman's Carolina Chambray in Natural, slicing and inserting with the additions of Anna Maria Horner's Field Study multi-colored butterflies and Kona Olive. Eventually the small blocks (7" finished) were grouped together and 'bordered' with more of the Olive.

For quilting the center blocks, I used Aurifil 50wt #2000 (Beige) and did small, squarish spirals in each little section. This was alot of fun, and I'm super pleased with the interest it adds to what I considered the focal point of the quilt.

In quilting the border, I switched to Aurifil 50wt #2910 (Foliage Green), and began by following all of the solid green inserts out to the edge. From there I echo-stitched, using those lines and any seam lines as guides, with lines about 1/2" apart.

Quilting as I did gave quite a variety of angles and actually made the solid green quite busy. I had a few issues with puckers with all the turning I was doing, and I was temped to wash this one up to hide some of that. But for the sake of full disclosure and sharing process, I opted to just put it out there as is.

For the back, I pieced the last of my Field Study {bummer} with large blocks of In the Beginning's Dit Dot. Yes.

This quilt is one of those that was pretty much satisfying from beginning to end. And I'm gonna come right out and say that one of the things I love about it, is that when I was back in the class and showed Jacquie the fabrics I was planning on using for my slice and insert blocks, she commented something like, "nice fabrics but I've never done this technique with prints."

But by the end of class, she was encouraging me along with a smile and a hearty, "It works!"

This project was on my Q3 Finish-A-Long list and also on my selfish sewing week list. Linking up with Fabric Tuesday and Finish It Up Friday.