Florabunda Baby Quilt

Florabunda Baby Quilt
41" x 41"

I had so much fun making this little baby quilt with Melanie Testa's new fabric line Florabunda!  And, I am delighted to be part of the blog hop (see below) to showcase her new line!

I started making quilts many, many years ago.  My first quilt was a log cabin quilt.  After making a few traditional quilts, I was drawn into the world of art quilting.  The learning curve was quite steep as I had no real art background or training, but I knew that's where I wanted to go!  However, there are also times when my brain needs a rest, and I am drawn back to working with quilting blocks and commercial fabrics.  This was one of those instances, and it didn't disappoint.  I loved touching this fabric.  It was soft and the colors and patterns were so appealing to me.

I had an idea to use some triangles for this quilt, and started coloring on graph paper, and this is what evolved.  When the fabric arrived, I was ready to go!  The entire quilt went together in just a few days.

I added some hand quilting with Superior's heavy weight Sew Sassy thread, which looks perfect with the aesthetics of this quilt.

Here it is, photographed in the wild.  I would have put a baby on it, if I had one!  :)

Now for the blog hop info!

Twelve artists have joined with RJR Fabrics, Quilty Box and Melanie Testa to host an Instagram Florabunda introduction and fabric GIVEAWAY!  You are invited to join the Blog Hop each day, June 7 through June 16.  Please, visit and like all Florabunda Blog Hoppers on Instagram, including @RJRFabrics, @QuiltyBox,  and @MellyTesta to increase your chances to win! RJR Fabrics will post chances to win Florabunda Swag daily (June 11 through 16). Don't forget to check out Melanie Testa’s blog each day too. You will get highlights and interesting info about each participant!

Tiffany Hayes http://needleinahayesstack.blogspot.com June 7

Deborah Boschert http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/ June 8

Sara Mika http://www.mockpiestudio.blogspot.com/ June 9

Lyric Kinard http://lyrickinard.com/lyric-kinard-blog/  June 10

Kathy York http://aquamoonartquilts.blogspot.com   June 11

Teri Lucas https://terificreations.com June 11
Susan Brusker Knapp http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com June 12

Leslie Tucker Jenison http://leslietuckerjenison.com              June 12

Tiffany Hayes http://needleinahayesstack.blogspot.com June 13
Jamie Fingal http://jamiefingaldesigns.blogspot.com/            June 13

Debby Brown https://www.debbybrownquilts.com                June 14

Heidi Kelly http://www.hkellydesigns.com June 14
David Gilleland  https://www.facebook.com/VectorQuilts/                June 15

Melanie Testa http://www.melanietesta.com June 15

Blue

Blue

I thought it might be fun to have a little on-line exhibit of my quilts while I am working on my secret projects that I can't post about yet!  Blue is a predominant color in many of my quilts, so here is a collection of ten of them!

Synchronized Swimming  51" x 51"

Synchronized Swimming, detail

Floating in a Sea of Symbols 40" x 40"

Floating in a Sea of Symbols, detail

Double Bind

Double Bind, detail

Reflections 24" x 60"

Reflections, detail

Just Around the Corner 24" x 24" x 6"

Just Around the Corner, detail

Blue Towers 36" x 48"

Fifty, Female, and Fearless 36" x 48"

Seventy

Blue Cross 95" x 95"

Blue Corner 87" x 87"

Quilts on Exhibit

Quilts on Exhibit

I just thought it would be fun to give you a glimpse of what is currently showing and what is coming soon!

Currently I have the following pieces exhibiting:

The Long Necked Cats and the Long Necked Bird

Wild Fabrications, SAQA, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI, Dec 17, 2017 - Feb 25, 2018

The Women's March

Threads of Resistance, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, Dec 9, 2017 - Feb 18, 2018














Coming Soon:

Wedding Rings and Crossroads

QuiltCon 2018: Pasadena, CA: Feb 22-25, 2018

Development

Concrete and Grasslands, SAQA, The Spring Knitting & Stitching Show, London, UK: March 1- 4, 2018

the Deep End

Tranquility, SAQA, Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC), Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton Gardens, Melbourne, Australia: Apr 5 - 8, 2018 

Floating in a Sea of Symbols

Personal Iconographies, Dinner@Eight, International Quilt Festival, Chicago, IL: Apr 12 - 14, 2018

i Quilt

Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century, MQG, The Dairy Barn, Athens, OH, Apr 29 - Jun 17, 2018

Modern Quilts the book!

Modern Quilts
the book!

see page 86!

I have finally received my copy of Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century by Riane Menardi, Alissa Haight Carlton, and Heather Grant.  The book is fantastic! And, I'm not just saying that because my quilt is in it!

It is a delightful visual feast full of incredible modern quilts.  Eye candy for the image junky! I love this book, and please don't laugh at the reason why, it doesn't have too many words.  I do love to read, but for quilts, I like looking at the pictures.  And this is one of those books that is full of fabulous pictures. I have been pouring over the pages, and adding new quilt artists to follow on Instagram, and then repeating.  Plus, all proceeds from the sales go towards helping the Modern Quilt Guild.  The authors did a wonderful job of curating images for this very special collection!  Kudos!

As for my quilt? I am incredibly honored and humbled to be included in this collection of talented artists.  You can read more about i Quilt here (when it won best in show)

or here, when I blogged about how it was made.

Mostly, I am just so excited to be part of the Modern Quilt movement.  The book discusses how the Modern Quilt Guild got started, which somehow escaped my radar.  I remember when I heard about the Austin Modern Quilt Guild and started attending meetings.  But the biggest impetus for me was when QuiltCon began in Austin.  Since I live here, it was easy to attend, and I did. I loved, loved, loved the quilts.  And, because I am old and slow, it took one of the younger generation to tell me about Instagram.  (Thank you so much for that, Heather Grant!!!).  Instagram was where I learned about hashtags and helped me connect in a much more efficient and daily way with other modern quilters.  It changed my world.

Meanwhile, I thought it might entertain you to see some never before shots of the i Quilt.  :)

i Quilt with my favorite Marimekko mug, and green IKEA couch

i Quilt, flying on the beach

i Quilt, posing on a lovely bay front cupola

Today is my day for the blog hop to promote Modern Quilts.  If you are interested in buying a copy you can get one here. You can also find a LOT of images from the book on Instagram, #modernquilts
If you are interested in seeing some of the other artists participating in the blog hop, please see below.

12/13/2017	Amber Corcoran
12/14/2017	Heidi Parkes
12/15/2017	Melissa Cory
12/16/2017	Penny Gold
12/18/2017	Shruti Dandekar
12/19/2017	Amy Friend
12/20/2017	Paige Alexander
12/21/2017	Angela Bowman
12/22/2017	Lysa Flower
12/27/2017	Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill
12/28/2017	Jacquie Gering
12/29/2017	Christa Watson
12/30/2017	Heather Black
1/2/2018	Kristin Shields
1/3/2018	Krista Hennebury
1/4/2018	Cinzia Allocca
1/5/2018	Suzanne Paquette
1/6/2018	Yvonne Fuchs
1/9/2018	Ben Darby
1/10/2018	Nicole Daksiewicz
1/11/2018	Kristi Schroeder
1/12/2018	Kathy York
1/13/2018	Marla Varner
1/15/2018	Brigette Heitland
1/16/2018	Stacey Sharman
1/17/2018	Stacey O'Malley
1/18/2018	Kim Soper
1/19/2018	Steph Skardal
1/20/2018	Cheryl Brickey
1/22/2018	Shea Henderson
1/23/2018	Katie Larson
1/24/2018	Katie Pedersen