WIP Wednesday - June 20

Happy summer solstice day! Here in Alberta, we'll see the daylight until late in the evening, but its also the season of late afternoon and evening thunder showers, so we'll enjoy the extra daylight indoors!

It's been a few weeks since my last WIP post, so let me show you what we've been up to. We live on an acreage, so that translates into lots of yardwork. Somebody decided to fertilize the lawn, so it's growing great with the rain and sunshine we've been getting and that means at least once a week mowing. The stonework is done in the backyard and the garden is growing (alongside the weeds!)

And we've started the training on the 2-year old colt we have. Here he's getting his first taste of a saddle. He'll get lots of ground work done before any of us attempt to get on and ride, so hopefully, he'll get adjusted quickly!

Sewing has just about ground to a standstill. It's hard to be inside sewing when there's green growing things outside. But I do have a custom order that I've been working on - a set of two twin bed quilts plus a baby quilt for a family that's expecting a new baby in the fall. The little girl's quilt is the first one I've been working on and the little boy's quilt is not far behind.

--Ann

Linking up with Quiltsy WIP Wednesday
and The Needle and Thread Network

It all starts with. . .

The idea for a quilt design can come from a number of different sources, a photo of a quilt, colours in nature, sketches in a notebook or a published pattern to name a few. I rarely follow a published pattern, but am very inspired by traditional patchwork patterns. And although my home is decorated in very country cabin colours (think earthy tones), I love the new colours and fabrics I find at my local quilt shop and online.

It's always exciting then, when I get a request for a custom quilt. It allows me a chance to play with colours that I may not normally use and maybe a quilt pattern that I haven't done before.  I have 3 custom quilts to make for a family. One baby quilt for the new baby expected in the fall, and two twin bed quilts for the little boy and girl who will be moving into the same room to make room for the baby.

Here's a few of the colours I am working with right now:

for the baby's quilt

for the little girl's quilt

for the little boy's quilt

Some of the fabrics selected will stay right through to the end of the process, but some will not. When working with a custom design long distance, paint chips are a great way to communicate what colours are desired.

I'll be sharing photos of this quilting project over the next few weeks, so you can feel like you are in my sewing room with me!

--Ann

Grey is the new Black

Grey seems to be the shade of choice when working with some of the hot new colours that are being seen on the home decor scene. Here's some great examples of this hard-working neutral being used in some modern quilts:

Owl Eyes

Elizabeth Hartman's blog "Oh, Fransson!" has a great example of grey with some pops of golden yellow. This quilt is from her new book "Modern Patchwork". Her blog is filled with gorgeous modern quilts - go check it out now!

Green and Grey Pillow

Cristin at "Sew This Is My Life" made an adorable pillow with green and grey fabrics - it's bright, cheerful and the green just pops with the grey fabric.

Sedimentary

Esch House Quilts has a great quilt with orange and grey. Debbie Grifka made this as a submission for the Modern Quilt Guild Exhibit in Houston this fall. Wouldn't it be awesome to go there in person and see some of these lovelies! 

Edited to add Marie-Eve's quilt from Blue Square Quilting. Catherine made great use of different shades of grey and a sweet lime-green!

Marie-Eve's Lime Green Quilt

 
I've been slowly adding a few grey fabrics to my stash and it's been fun to use them in place of the standard traditional whites, beiges and blacks normally found in traditional quilts. What colour neutrals do you tend to use most?

--Ann

Different Colours, Same Quilt Pattern

One of the things I like about going to a quilt show or to a quilt class is to see how different quilters interpret a quilt pattern with different colours. Here's a couple examples from the recent Festival of Quilts at Heritage Park in Calgary:

Florals with Black Paths

 Here in this floral quilt, the multi-coloured flowers blend together and the black paths stand out.

Pastel ladders

 The clean, clear white background on this pastel version makes the ladders stand out.

A modern pattern done in blue, yellow and gray

 This great pattern has lots of movement, both from the blocks and the secondary pattern when those blocks are joined together.

Traditional colours, modern pattern

Again, a totally different look to this quilt with different colour choices!

--Ann

Festival of Quilts at Heritage Park

The last weekend of May is an important one for quilters in Southern Alberta - Calgary in particular. It's when Heritage Park hosts the Festival of Quilts and Gathering of the Guilds and hangs quilts everywhere in the Park for everyone to enjoy. Quilts are hung outside on clotheslines and fences, inside tents on the grounds, and inside the heritage buildings throughout the park.

As a quilter, it is always inspiring to go and see what other quilters are working on and finishing! This year was no exception and I found lots of quilty eye candy!

Scrappy Stars

 I am continually drawn to scrappy quilts and there were many to see this year at Heritage Park. I think this scrappy star quilt was one of my favourites.

Stormy Bow

With the Bow River flowing through the center of Calgary, this was an interesting play on a couple traditional patterns. The storm at sea block is a perennial favourite and bow tie centers were a unique twist.

Yo yo diamonds

 Yo yo quilts are making a come back and I'm seeing them more often than at any time since I started quilting many years ago. I think this was a vintage quilt, but the fresh orange colours are very in fashion these days.

Quilts on the railing of the Hotel

 Oh, for a second story railing to hang quilts off of! This is always an impressive view as quilts are hung from 2 sides of the hotel building. Unfortunately, my phone was not up to taking a decent picture of a full side, so you're only getting a peek at a small section!

Underwater Art Quilt

I think there were more art quilts displayed than I've seen in the past. This underwater art quilt was a beautiful interpretation of ocean blues and I wanted to show the awesome thread work. Just click on the picture to enlarge!

I came home inspired to create and to plan to enter one or more of my own quilts in this non-juried show for 2013.

--Ann