Gum Wall

At our recent Seattle MQG guild meeting, we heard about the guild's plans for our QuiltCon 2027 Community Outreach Challenge quilt. We're using the bold palette - Bella Eggplant, Wheat, Shocking Pink, Pond, and Periwinkle, and as you might already know, the design theme is Half-Square Triangles. I was amused - though not disappointed - that our quilt would be inspired by The Gum Wall at our city's historical Pike Place Market. (Click the link if you're not familiar with it. Brace yourself.)

We were each given three pieces of fabric to make HSTs in at least two sizes between 1.5" and 5" unfinished. We had the option to make some skinny HRTs, but I opted to stick with the HSTs.

So I've sent my 22 HSTs + that one little scrap back to our Community Outreach team. Seriously can't wait to see what they come up with!

Weave Got This! :: :: Blocks 7A + 7B

After all the improv I've been doing, precision piecing like this took real focus. But this month's guild BOM blocks are done, each 8.5" x 17.5".

Thankfully, though I was kind of dreading making these, they were pretty straightforward and went together in just a couple of hours of sewing. Now they're safely tucked away until I work on the project again next month.

Guild Member Highlight

What a surprise it was to recently get an email from our guild co-presidents: "We've had interest from some guild members in having you as our spotlighted member." Well, how about that?! After responding that I'd be happy to, I was asked to fill out the slide below, and then at our April meeting last night, to tell briefly about myself and three quilts that I'd like to share.

The three quilts I chose to take with me were all what I considered representative of my style (do I have only one? I'm not sure I do.) - all improv, all scrappy, all with pieced quilt backs.

Let It Be - 2020

Side Chairs - 2024

Sundry - 2025

After briefly sharing about the quilts, there was opportunity to ask questions, and I found that fun. I remember one about my quilting style (mostly straight/ish lines in some form) and another asking what kind of quilting machine I use (my current Janome domestic or my JUKI).  Anyway, it was very fun for me to share with my guild, and am so grateful for their interest in me and my work.

Earlier in the week, I realized I'd need a good-sized tote to take the quilts in, and I knew that the Workshop Tote by Jeni Baker @jenib320 would be perfect. I'd made the patchwork version before, but time was short, so I'd need to do the plain version this time. That would mean 3/4 yard cuts for both exterior and lining, and wouldn't you know, for the exterior, I found a perfect 80% cotton/20% linen canvas blend from VESSEL by Alexia Marcelle Abegg @alexiamarcelleabegg in my stash.

For the lining, some Essex Homespun in Natural coordinated nicely. And though the pattern calls for 1" webbing, I had 1 1/2" cotton webbing in Chocolate that would work nicely, and have been very happy with the result. (Random: I'd gotten both the canvas and webbing in a Studio Mystery Box from Anna Graham @noodlehead531 last year. Love that they were both so perfect for this quick make.)

Anyway, the tote sewed up in little more than an hour, finishing at 16” tall x 16” wide x 8” deep, which held three good-sized quilts quite nicely. Pretty perfect.

Building an Improv Toolbox

Last Saturday, I spent the day on Zoom in a workshop with Seattle MQG @seattlemqg and Sarah Goer @sarahgoerquilts, who led her Building an Improv Toolbox workshop with us. Yes, I know I've taught my own class on improv techniques in days gone by, but I'm always open to learning more, and thought it would be fun to approach it from another teacher's point of view. And it definitely was!

It was suggested we begin class with six fat-quarters, but wanting to use scraps if I possibly could, I pulled a handful of pieces from stash that were all less than a quarter-yard. Some were indeed leftover from other projects, while some were just small pieces. It ended up being a very fun mix to play with.

By lunchtime, I had a nice little collection of blocks up on the design wall. Most of the techniques I'd tried before, but not those radiating strip blocks, shown below just above the stripes. Those were created in a pair, and I enjoyed trying them. I can definitely imagine making groups of blocks of them.

There were two techniques in the afternoon session that I particularly enjoyed and look forward to playing with more - compound shapes....

And slice & shift. With the example below, I also included a pieced slice & insert strip, which basically created another type of compound block.

Below are all the blocks I was able to create during the afternoon.

So by the end of the workshop, I had 29(!) improv blocks to show for myself. That was a lot of different techniques Sarah was able to share with us, wasn't it? She's a terrific teacher, and I'd highly recommend the workshop, especially for those wanting to explore beginning improv piecing.

Meanwhile, I'm planning on somehow puzzling all these blocks together into a small quilt. And even though I don't have a clear plan forward, I haven't been able to resist sewing some like blocks together. So stay tuned. Once I've made some real progress, I'll share this project again.

Full Circle

At our guild holiday party, I happened to be perusing the items on the free table when my guild-mate Cordelia @notmadebyrobots walked up with a stack of good stuff to donate. Thinking back, all I can remember her saying for sure was, "there's even a quilt in there that just needs a binding." Memories may be fuzzy, but I do know that said quilt came home with me.

It did indeed just need a binding, so recently I went to see if I could find fabric for one in my stash. I discovered a piece of RJR Cotton Supreme in Raven that was just the right size, and that matched the background pretty well. 

It dawned on me to look through Cordelia's insta feed to see what I could discover about the quilt, and boy was I surprised. The quilt I came home with was made with bonus blocks from a quilt she made during the Improv Stripes QAL I hosted in 2017! If that's not kismet, I don't know what is.

Well I thought that was all pretty amusing, and it kind of made my day. At any rate, this quilt that measures 54" x 54" is now finished, and both Cordelia and I agree it would be a great one to donate to our guild's giving committee. We can rest assured they'll find a perfect home for it.

"I Heard It On the Radio" PNQFAM Artist Reception

 I Heard It On the Radio

Seattle Modern Quilt Guild

June 11 - August 3, 2025

Back in December, I shared about the Seattle MQG "I Heard It On the Radio" challenge exhibit being displayed at the KEXP Gathering Space in Seattle. Well, it was our good fortune to have the exhibit shown again at the local (about an hour from my home)  Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum in La Connor, WA. The Artist Reception was last Saturday, and happily my husband and I were able to attend.

The quilt shown above is Golden Blunders, inspired by Golden Blunders by The Posies, created by Christa Poel. I wasn't able to get photos of the entire exhibit, but have several of the quilts shared below. If you want to see more, be sure and look back at my post from December.

And finally, here is my entry on the left, Surrounds, inspired by Seattle by Perry Como. 

I guess I got a little distracted, and didn't get close-ups of the two quilts hanging next to mine, but here are the cards hanging next to them, Major Tom in the center, and The Neon Lights Are Bright on the right. Hopefully you can zoom in a bit and see them better. Totally missed getting a photo of my card, darn.

Anyway, that was very fun! Surrounds will be coming home in August, but it was really a joy to participate in this challenge with nearly 40 of my guild mates. Thankfully Beth @goolaffgirl got good shots of the entire exhibit, so check out her post if you'd like to see more.

Stash Jazz

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to attend any Seattle MQG giving quilt sew-ins, and finally I decided to just go ahead and make a quilt for them to donate. Some time before her passing last year, Carole Lyles Shaw gave permission for the guild to use her Stash Jazz pattern for giving quilts. I opted to make the 55" x 62" Small Lap Quilt version, though mine actually came out 55" x 58" due to the amount of border fabrics I had. 

The pieced blocks were made totally of scraps; then the solid blocks and borders were from stash.

Honestly, piecing the scrappy slabs was time consuming! I had grabbed my blue and yellow/orange scrap baskets, thinking the quilt top would be primarily blues and oranges. Come to find out, I had more yellow than orange, so that's what ended up happening.

Still, when it was time to cut the solid slabs for each block, I still went with blue and orange - Kona Riviera and Orangeade. Except I didn't have quite what I needed, so the blue corners are actually Kona Ocean, and the orange corner is obviously a print. I think it works, especially since the quilt top is definitely focused on the scraps.

For the back, I started by piecing the leftovers, and added stash prints and solids to bring it up to size.

Early on I knew I wanted to do a grid for quilting, and when I remembered I had a cone of Aurifil 50wt 2225 [Salmon] - thank you Aurifil! - it felt like kismet. And gotta say, quilting went so nicely with my new machine. It gave me a lot of joy to have the quilting go so smoothly.

I had originally planned for a scrappy binding, but once I was trimming the quilt, scrappy didn't feel right. Or at least not with the scraps I had left. Happily, I happened across random pieces of original Cotton + Steel Mesa by Alexa Marcelle Abegg from back in 2014(!!). And I think it's a fun addition.

So thanks to perfect timing, our guild meeting is tonight, and I'll be able to deliver both the Pixie Stix quilt I bound and this Stash Jazz to the Giving Committee for donation. Pretty sure it will go to either Kenmore Senior Women’s Shelter or YWCA Pathways for Women. Perfect.

Linking up with Quilting Jetgirl's Favorite Finish {June 2025}.

Linking up with Quilting & Learning, What a Combo's Free Motion Mavericks.

Giving Quilt

I've held off sharing this quilt hoping I'd find out more about the maker and design, but several weeks have gone by and I've learned nothing, so since it was something I used stashed fabric on, and counted in May's Fabric Usage, I figured I might as well go ahead and share it. 

The quilt top was rescued off the Seattle MQG retreat free table by Amber @greenamberdawn, then longarm quilted by Jana @janalroyal. Besides to these two guild members, credit also goes to guild Giving Quilt chair Linda Teri, who passed the quilt off to me for binding, suggesting "contrast would be good."

Perfect! I was free to choose binding fabric from my own stash, and used a fun pink on pink dot to finish the quilt, which measured 60" x 72". I'll return the quilt to Linda at our June meeting for labeling and donating. This year, the guild is donating to Kenmore Senior Women’s Shelter, YWCA Pathways for Women, and Westside Baby, so the quilt will go to one of those organizations. Glad I could help make it happen.

ETA: THANK YOU to Wanda @exuberantcolor for identifying the quilt pattern for me! It's Pixie Stix from Strip Your Stash by Gudrun Erla @gedesignsgudrun. Whew. One piece of the puzzle solved.

"I Heard It on the Radio" Exhibit Celebration

On December 2 at the KEXP Gathering Space in Seattle, the artwork of nearly 40 members of Seattle MQG opened to the public for viewing. The exhibit was the culmination of the "I Heard It on the Radio" challenge that we had been given months ago. Works were inspired by a song chosen by the maker, each between 60" and 100" in diameter, with tenets of modern quilting kept in mind. 

Many thanks to the Challenge Committee – Bridget, Chandra, Jackie, Karen, Kae, Kelty, Lorinda and Martha - for making the vision a reality.

During the challenge, a playlist had been made of all the inspiration songs. You can have a listen too, by scanning the QR code above.



I had the pleasure of visiting the exhibit on December 4, the evening of the opening reception, and it was good to gather with members to celebrate and enjoy the exhibit, most of us seeing the quilts for the first time.

You may remember my "Surrounds," made for the challenge earlier this year. I shared the quilt, but not my inspiration song, which was "Seattle" sung by Perry Como. Or as I think of it, "The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle." I remember it often being on the radio here in the Seattle area when I was a kid.

It was actually composed by Hugo Montenegro with lyrics by Jack Keller and Ernie Sheldon. It was the theme song for "Here Come the Brides" TV show, and also sung by Bobby Sherman, my teenage heartthrob. Yeah, I have fond memories around this song, and think of it often when the skies are blue here in the PNW.

"Surrounds," inspired by Seattle by Perry Como, created by Debbie Jeske

I took photos of several other quilts that caught my eye (and that I was tall enough to get a photo of), and I hope you enjoy seeing just a smattering of the gorgeous work displayed.

"Hooray for Hazel," inspired by Horray for Hazel by Tommy Roe, created by Cordelia Nance @notmadebyrobots

"Modern Pop Sunrise," inspired by Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles, created by Karen Braitmayer @kbrtymr

"Into the Woods," inspired by Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim, created by Jackie Benedetti @tinwoman48

"They Say the Neon Lights are Bright," inspired by On Broadway by George Benson, created by Martha Peterson @onceawingnut

"A Day for You," inspired by If I Had Words to Make a Day for You by Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley, created by Linda Kucera @lkhomework

"Hum Along with Me," inspired by Stop by Jane's Addiction, created by Louise Wackerman @imfeelincrafty

"Sunshine and Spider Webs," inspired by Sunshine by Frozen Orange, created by Rachel Berryhill @rachel_lynn000

"Fade to Black," inspired by Fade to Black by Metallica, created by Rachel Singh @liketosew

"They/Them," inspired by Deadname by Flasch, created by Tiffany Muskrat

So hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of the exhibit. Honestly, I was so impressed with the exquisite modern quilts created by my fellow members. The exhibit was a joy to see and experience.