Minecraft

Tracy made the quilt for her grandson who is a fan of the Minecraft video game.  A tutorial for this quilt can be found on the My Rainy Day Designs website.

We discussed a few different options and the family liked the option of vertical lines.  I did not want to quilt them too close together and cause the quilt to be stiff instead of cuddly, so we landed on 1 1/4" spacing.

Tracy added some extra blocks on the back for a fun surprise.

Modern Lines

Wendy made this interesting quilt with a modern edge.  It is mostly cotton with some linen in the form of the black fabric.

Wendy had a vision for how she wanted this one quilted and I was happy to oblige.  She requested vertical straight lines and we decided on an organic spacing that matched the slightly irregular lines on the black linen.

The Fireside backing with Quilter’s Dream Puff batting makes for a lofty quilt.

 

Modern Building Blocks

Shelly brought her Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt.  It is hard to get a sense of the scale of this quilt from one photo. The largest blocks are 36"!   The second photo shows it on my queen size bed to get a better idea of what it is really like.

This kit came out in 2015 and Shelly got pulled into the wave of people joining in.  The instructions were very unique and caused Shelly to put the project away a number of times before finishing it.  With having to cut each of the 48 blocks from a separate page of instructions and limited piecing instructions I can see why this turned into a multi year project!

Shelly requested straight line quilting, and we decided to keep the spacing organic.  I tried to avoid the stitching lines going in and out of the ditch.  I think the lines add a nice simple modern finish.

Shelly added a lovely floral flannel backing that gives the quilt a spring like feel.

This quilt was quite the undertaking and I think Shelly should be proud that she saw it to the end!

 

South Cross & Old Market Square

Barb brought a pair of quilts that are both patterns from Erin at The Blanket Statement.  First up is the South Cross quilt which is the newest Blanket Statement pattern.  

Barb selected the Gingersnap pantograph and a chorcoal grey thread.  We opted for Quilter's Dream black poly batting for this one as it had a solid back backing. 

Barb also brought this Old Market Square quilt.  She wanted to keep a really clean and modern feel so we opted for organically spaced straight lines. The black batting didn't look great when placed under the Natural Kona fabric so we used Quilters Dream Blend instead to keep the colour clear and bright.   

Blue and Green Shall Never Be Seen

This unique quilt with a fun name was made by Shelly.  All of the small double sawtooth star blocks were made for Shelly by members of a Queen Bee swap group that we are both participating in this year.  If you haven't heard of this kind of swap it is pretty simple and lots of fun.  First gather up to 12 quilting friends (we have 10 this time around) and assign everyone a month to be the Queen.  The Queen selects a block and gives some indication of color preferences and each of the other members make 2 blocks and mail them to the Queen in her month. Shelly received these blocks in March and this was the pattern she sent us to use.  Growing up Shelly was told "blue and green should never never be seen" when it came to matching up colors, so she had to request blue and green blocks!

Shelly did some successful quilty math to piece to large centre star.  Shelly had a real vision to keep this quilt feeling modern which is her style.  She knew she wanted vertical lines and loved the idea of keeping them relaxed and casual by keeping the spacing organic and random.  We also wanted to make sure the end product wasn't too stiff by quilting them too close together.

I have to say once again that I love my Innova longarm.  I am able to balance my tension well enough to confidently use a cream thread on the top and a navy thread on the back. 

Shelly is keeping this quilt for her own bed and I hope it is a happy memory of a fun block swap for years to come.