Month: July 2016


Jul
2016

Busy week and mini quilt swap

categories: Miniquilt, Modern Making, Quilting, Sewing

Last week was busy, busy.  Hubby took vacation, but Monday I had a doctor appt.  Tuesday, we dropped Sookie at American Pet Spa & Resort while we took a mini trip. Thursday, we had to get the car serviced. Friday morning we took 2 grandkids to McDonald’s, then I had a CT scan that afternoon. I wasn’t able to do much “making” until today.

In June, I joined the Instagram #starblockquiltswap.  We signed up to make a mini quilt for a partner assigned to us.  We receive personal info such as favorite designers, favorite colors, dislikes, etc.  My partner chose modern/wonky and said she liked the fabric designer Alison Glass, but disliked dark colors.  I had recently bought numerous Alison Glass fabrics, so it was perfect!

I decided on the “Triple Star” block designed by Elena Roscoe found in the Modern Bee book by Lindsey Conner. Today was the deadline for a progress post.  I felt I needed to actually have it completed so I could spend the rest of this week making/collecting extras to go with it. Everything needs to be ready to mail on Friday.  Here’s my completed mini for my partner.

TripleStarBlock
Triple Star Block
Starblockquiltswap2
Close up quilting

 

 

 

 


Jul
2016

Smitten Sunday

categories: English Paper Piecing, Modern Making, Quilting, Sewing

Smitten

Smitten is an English paper piecing pattern designed by Lucy Carson Kingwell, the daughter of renowned Australian quilt designer Jen Kingwell. I know EPP doesn’t sound modern,  but I’m using scraps left over from my modern quilts, purchased in scrap packs, or sent to me by an Instagram swapper. This pattern is perfect made scrappy. Jen Kingwell says  “Ten fabrics don’t work but 110 will.” I purchased the pattern from PaperPieces.com along with a complete set of papers to avoid making templates.

Since I’m new at this, I needed an EPP tutorial, and found a lovely one on YouTube.com from Sue Daley, Australian EPP expert. This is where I learned about gluing fabric to the papers instead of basting. My practice attempts at basting didn’t work out well, plus I didn’t want to remove hundreds of basting threads. Here’s a photo of the supplies I gathered for the project:  a rotating mat, sharp scissors, thimbles, Roxanne size 11 needles, the Sewline glue pen, and of course neutral colors of Aurifil thread!

smittensupplies

 

Below is my first large hexagon. I have 3 sides sewn together. By tonight, my goal is to finish the other 3 sides and sew them all to the center hexagon. I plan to post progress on this quilt every Sunday, and hopefully this work-in-progress will continue to grow quickly!

Smittenhex1

 


Jul
2016

Hello & Welcome to My Blog!

categories: Modern Making, Quilting, Sewing

Why have I started this blog?

I love reading blogs, especially quilters’ and crafters’ blogs.  Years ago, I began a blog to document my sewing, but rarely posted on it, plus the blogging site set all the rules and maintained control.  It’s been dormant for 2 years now.  Since my daughter is a prolific blogger, she guided me to WordPress, where it’s much more user friendly and I have my own website.  I hope to document what I’m working on by showing progress and completion, to help myself stay organized and finish the projects I start.  

I have a long list of UFOs (unfinished objects) that need to be completed, some even traditional designs/quilts.  I’ve been keeping a list on the computer and marking things off as I complete them, adding more items that have been started.  But that doesn’t really document progress, which is something I can show in pictures and words here.    

Why Sew Mary Modern?  

I’m not a vintage person at all.  I like modern designs, modern patterns, and modern fabrics.  I’ve “destashed” (removed from my stash) most of my older traditional fabrics (with the exception of my drawerful of batiks) so I can focus on modern.  I don’t really know how to define “modern” when it comes to designs and fabrics, but I know it when I see it.  It’s mostly bold colors, geometric designs, clean lines, and it’s not pastels, florals, or batiks!  Most manufacturers have hundreds of solids that are used to coordinate rather than blenders and fusion-type fabrics. Some of my favorite modern designers are Tula Pink, Alison Glass, and the Cotton & Steel ladies.