make modern 1 issue four

14projects

Modern Yardage:

Meet

Sew Your StashWork with what you have!

Sewing foruniting quilters for

fabrics that scale

Issue Four

inspiring

Sydneycharity

Anorina Morris

Dear Diary…

Quiltcon!

make modern 5 issue four

meet the makers

Alyce Blyth@blossomheartquilts

blog

Lori Hartman@lorihartmandesigns

blog

Cheryl Brickey@meadowmistdesigns

blog

Soma Acharyablog

Melissa Gottliebsen@msmidge

blog

Jane Kelly@wherejanecreates

blog

Kristy Lea@quietplay

blog

Stephanie Kendron@modernsewciety

blog

make modern 6 issue four

meet the makers

Tricia Mathis@quiltbugcreations

blog

Casey York@caseyyorkdesign

blog

Caroline Press@trilliumdesign

blog

Adrianne Reid@adrianneonthewindyside

blog

Lara Motta@luellabella

Shannon Mowerblog

make modern 11 issue four

by Adrianne Reid

We all love a good rainbow. The beauty of this mini quilt lies in having therainbow as the background, allowing the bright white churn dashes to makea statement of their own.

candy dashgood things, small packages

make modern 33 issue four

ask the makers

quilt crimesEach issue, we ask our contributors a very important question about some aspect of

quilting. Regardless of how long we’ve been quilting and sewing, there is alwayssomething to learn or a tip to make or do something slightly differently. So this

issue we asked our makers about their quilty crimes. If the quilt police existed, what wouldour makers be arrested for?

Jane of Where Jane Creates & MM Editor“The first thing that comes to mind is my inability to finish projects before I startsomething (or ten things) new. I’m sure the Quilt Police prefer people who workin a linear fashion, not those of us with Quilter’s ADHD.”

Kristy of Quiet Play & MM Creative Director“Oh where do I start? I don’t bury threads. I minimally baste and quilt my quilts.I baste on the table, and don’t even bother with tape or clamps. Clearly I’ll haveto start making an escape plan if the Quilt Police ever knock at my door.”

Lara, MM Business Manager“Fudging seams! I hate unpicking - so will press, steam, pull, pin, and fiddle untilmy seams line up, usually taking twice as much time as unpicking in the firstplace!”

Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts“Unless it's a mini quilt, I rarely iron/press my quilt tops. If they're fresh off thepresses, I just go straight to basting. But if it's been sitting around in thecupboard, then I will. Ditto for quilt backs – I just pull tight and tape them downtightly on the floor!”

Stephanie of Modern Sewciety“I am always sewing over my pins when I piece. I know I shouldn’t and I havebroken so many needles doing this but I still do it. I need to be arrested, I know!”

Lori of Lori Hartman Designs“I would definitely be arrested for not always ironing my fabric before I startcutting!  I know, it's horrible.  Sometimes I'm just so excited to get started that ifit isn't too wrinkled I will skip the ironing and go straight to the cutting.”

make modern 34 issue four

Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs“If the Quilt Police were to show up at my door it would be for sewing over pins!I know that it is ‘bad’ but it keeps the seams aligned.”

Shannon of Modern Traditional Quilts“So...I would run like gang-busters from the quilting police – and they wouldn'tbe able to find me through their usual trail of dog-ears because I simplyto trim them.  The only way they could tie me to the quilting crime scene is at myquilting machine where I simply cannot quilt a project without catching fingeron a needle or pin connecting my leaders to my quilt.  I seriously have drawnblood on quilt I have done (and that's a lot).  They'd have to catch me usingmy quilter's DNA – on the supply of band-aids next to the bobbins.”

Soma of Whims and Fancies“I often wait too long to quilt my tops until I am absolutely sure of the quiltingmotif.”

Caroline of Trillium Designs“If there were a Quilt Police, I would like be arrested on multiple charges andthrown in jail for life without parole as I break many, if not most, of the quilt rules.I prefer to press with steam, I never prewash fabrics and I don't bury threads.Those are the top few, but there are many more rules that I will break. I am not arule follower.”

Tricia of Quilt Bug Creations“If there were quilt police I would probably be arrested for putting on borderswithout measuring them first.  I know that I shouldn't do this but sometimes, ina hurry, I do.”

Casey of Casey York Designs“I would probably be arrested simply for having so little regard for the ‘rules’.When I'm inspired to make a design a reality, I'll try any and every technique--including making up my own--to accomplish my goal. Not all of my experimentswork, but when they do it's very satisfying.”

Adrianne of On the Windy Side“I do not pre-wash my fabrics before using them in quilts (with a couple ofexceptions, like 100% linen fabric).  To be honest, if I did pre-wash, I'd spend moretime washing, drying and ironing my fabric than sewing with it.  So far, notpre-washing hasn't caused me any problems (but I am very vigilant about usingcolour catchers)!”

make modern 50 issue four

Bright, fresh colours and adorable motifs make this sweet little appliqued quilt a perfectgift to welcome a new little baby to the world. It’s cute without being cutesy, whichappeals to babies and their mothers alike.

by Tricia Mathis

ellie’s elephantsgo to gifts

make modern 67 issue four

just use it!

sewing your stashpracticalities

We’re going to make a sweeping generalisation hereand assume that if you’re reading this, you’re a fanof fabric. And that you take pride in your stash,

which may contain more fabric than you could possibly turn intoquilts in the next year (or five). And despite this, you will morethan likely buy more fabric for the stash over the coming year.

Here at , we are huge fabric lovers. We buy it, petit, sometimes even sew with it. But a lot of it goes straight to thestash, where it stays (in some cases, in OCD colour coded glory).In previous practicalities features, we’ve talked aboutmaintaining a workable stash and organising your scraps. Butall of that is null and void if you don’t actual the fabric you’vegot, which is why we’re talking about sewing your stash.

It seems simple enough… buy fabric, then use it. But it’s not always that easy. Sometimeswe snap up the must-have bundle of the moment while it’s still available or we buy somethingfor a specific project but don’t get around to sewing it up. Sometimes the lure of a big salesucks us into buying things we don’t really need. Often we deem certain fabrics too preciousto cut. All these factors contribute to having a stash that is bigger than any one quilter canmanage. End result: you’ve got so much fabric that it’s guilt-inducing and overwhelming.

This is why it’s important to take a long, hard look at your stash and actually use it. Acommitment to sew from your stash isn’t as strict as a fabric diet, but it does force you to lookto what you already own and be a little creative with your supplies.

organise your fabricIt goes without saying that if your fabric storage is in a state of disarray, it’ll be harder to sewfrom your stash. We’ve covered this extensively in previous issues so won’t go into too muchdetail now, but it is important to get that stash in order. This is your first plan of attack.

Once your fabric is in order, it’s time to do something much more fun – pull some fabrics!Even if you don’t have a particular plan in mind, take a few minutes to pull some fabrics thatwork together. Explore new colour schemes. Mix and match things you wouldn’t normally puttogether. Pull out your treasured bundles. Take pictures of your fabric pulls on your phoneand store them for later inspiration, then when there’s a particular project you need to make,you can pull up your pictures and see if you’ve got the perfect fabric selection already thoughtout. This is a great exercise to help you really understand and appreciate what’s in your stash.

make modern 64 issue four

Yesterday is a modern interpretation on a classic quilt block dating back to the late1800s. It features block, which is also sometimes called the

block – because back in the 19th century, it wasn’t uncommon for a loved one to travel for work and never be heard from again. Cheryl gave her quilt a modern twist by using a simple colour palette of black and white solids.

by Cheryl Brickey

yesterdayvintage2modern

make modern 74 issue four

Our Kristy loves the challenge of using her paper piecing magic to create complexoptical illusion designs. At first glance, you might wonder how on earth all thesepieces come together to create the overlapping, linked in effect… but with paper

piecing it’s as easy as following the numbers.

by Kristy Lea

sew the rainbow

interlocked

make modern 87 issue four

modern sewciety

stephanie kendron

Even though she grew up with a grandmother andmother who were always sewing when she was achild, Stephanie never took much interest. However,

as it does for many of us, all this changed when Stephanie’sfirst daughter was born seven years ago.

“As with most stories I have heard lately, I had my first childand felt the urge to sew things for her. I also neededsomething that was all mine to do. I was a full time wife andmom but having that extra activity that required only meprovided lots of sanity for me as a new mom,” Stephanieexplains.

Stephanie believes she got into sewing at just the right time: “It was the start of blogs andmodern fabrics,” she says, admitting she was addicted to it almost immediately. “It was justwhat I needed and I knew I had found my creative outlet.”

Coming from a non-creative career, Stephanie believes that quilting has helped her to findherself. “I have a bachelors in business and a masters in counseling and that wasn’t verycreative! I am so glad I found this passion of mine. It has really helped shape who I know I amsupposed to be,” she says.

While most of us are content to stitch away, connecting with other quilters online and readingour favourite blogs, Stephanie has taken it one step further by creating her own, uniquepresence on the web. She is the owner and presenter of Modern Sewciety, a modern quiltingpodcast, where she chats weekly to many of the biggest names in the quilting business.

For Stephanie, reading about something online was one thing,but she really wanted to get to know the stories behind some ofour favourite quilters and designers, so she started podcasting.“Getting to know them (quilters) was the reason I started thepodcast. I wanted to know more about their stories,” she explains.

meet the maker

Photo credit: Melody Coarsey

make modern 22 issue four

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