Last night I had the great pleasure of attending the inaugural meeting of the Long Beach Modern Quilt Guild. A neighbor and fellow quilter told me about the meeting just a few days ago but I did not realize until we arrived at the Sew Vac store that it was the first meeting.  What fun and what luck! I have long wished to attend either the Los Angeles or Orange County Quilt Guild meetings, but at roughly 30 miles away in each direction, neither one was all that convenient. What a wonderful boost this new guild will be to our quilting world here in Long Beach.


Guild meeting fun: I won a little bag of organic batting that was donated from Birch Fabrics, the brick-n-mortar store of Fabricworm.com.  Also we were given a brown lunch bag for "homework" as we are to bring a completed modern style Mug Rug to the next meeting and a "brown bag swap" will occur with all finished Mug Rugs. Can't wait for next month!  **Note to Zina - you must join us! :)

Hot off the sewing machine:  This is a long term WIP and with Jaye's (Artquiltmaker.com) visit last month, she inspired me to get moving on it, among other things.  This is the Parisian Star from the Modern Blocks Bee I participated in 2013. The top is a mixture of Voile and Osnaburg (think a softer burlap) fabrics. I'll have more details once I quilt and bind it.

Photo bomb courtesy of younger son

It's been a wonderful quilty day!
Ciao~
Susan 

Parisian Star from Modern Blocks by Susanne Woods My October Block

Go visit Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP  Wednesday

Ciao,

Today was the first time I have mailed a full size quilt to it's recipient.  In the past I have sent off fat quarters, blocks, mug rugs and pouches but today was the first time sending a full size quilt and I have learned through swapping that sending anything made with fabric should be sent in a Ziploc bag.

Is there a Ziploc bag big enough bag to enclose a XL Twin size quilt?  YES!
Ziploc makes a "Big Bag" as you can see by the photo below which is plenty big to house a XL twin size quilt.  You might think they would be expensive, but at $6.99 for a box of 5, I think they are a very good value.  Check them out here.

So now the T-Shirt is on it's way to North Carolina.  A big thank you to Zina for helping me with the label - she has the BEST handwriting!  After a nervous wash and dry, checking for stray threads and a quick iron, I was ready to send this baby off to it's new home.  Wonderful to have this project complete.
I went "Stargazing" today for the Modern Blocks Bee I participate in.  Marci asked us to make her a "Stargazing" block from Modern Blocks (pages 189-179 by Angela Pingel) and it was fun.  First time up for this block for me and I really enjoyed making these three different sized stars which incorporated the block.

Stargazing by Angela Pingel for Modern Blocks pg 178-179   12 1/2 x 12 1/2

Buona Sera,
Susan

If you are looking for my giveaway in honor of Sandy from the Quilting For The Rest of Us 2nd Podcastaversary, please go here.  The giveaway will be open until Friday, April 6th at 6pm pacific time.

I need a little help with a block I worked on yesterday for the Modern Blocks Bee I am participating in. This is called Box Kite by Angela Pingel and you can see the original block here on her website.  First go check out what the block should look like and then compare it with mine.

Box Kite block by Angela Pingel from Modern Blocks by C&T Publishing

My questions for you:


1.  In the original block all four points of each individual "box kite" should come to a point, not cut off like mine are.  What could I have done wrong to have these points cut off when I cut all of the fabric out correctly?

2. The "box kites" should continue all the way to the end of the 12.5 x 12.5 inch block - I added a black border to increase my block size to that dimension.  Again, what did I do wrong?

I am looking for perfection but I want to understand what I did wrong so I can either make another block for my partner and/or learn for the next time.  Any input you have would be appreciated.

I'm linking up with Sew Modern Monday and Manic Monday today. Please visit them both!



Thanks everyone! Have a safe and productive Monday,
Susan

If you saw me on Twitter yesterday you saw that it was the day of tests for me..the CSET for Preliminary Technology (that was a fun two+ hours of writing along with mind-numbing multiple choice questions) and three online quizzes for my Teaching the Exceptional Individual online class I am taking now.  This class is moving along so quickly  - seems impossible that I'm already a 1/3 of the way through.  All of the studying has kept me away from blog reading and blog posting but that will be remedied once my boys go back to school - tomorrow.

Before I jump into the episode notes let me show you my first sewing finish for 2012 - the Quatrefoil (meaning: four leaves) block for the Modern Blocks Bee for January 2012.  I just love this block and although spooked when I first cut into Alisha's fabric that she sent me (did not want to mess up), I pushed through and was happy with my result.  It's my very first Bee block!

Modern Blocks Bee - Quatrefoil 12"x 12"

In Episode 19 I talked about Bargello Quilts with my inspiration for the episode coming from Katie of Katie's Quilting Corner.  She is currently hosting a Bargello Placemat/Tablerunner Quilt Along on her blog which I will be participating in soon.  Katie has been posting a few photos up on Twitter this past week of her prototype Bargello Table Runner and it caught my eye for its flowing “wave” design.   I was curious about both how the design is created and where the original design originated from so I went searching and what I found surprised me.   
I'll start with the original needlework that possibly began in Florence, Italy (with Hungarian influences) and then was brought to other parts of Europe through trade and travel.  

Flame Stitch Pattern which began the Bargello  Movement Chastleton House, Oxfordshire England Walls are decorated with a flame stitch textile. 17th Century.

Lindahl, Signe. Bargello. 1994.  From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project.

Bargello Windows Quilt - Briana Arlene of Briana-Arlene.blogspot.com

Lastly, I am participating in the Sew Happy Geek Quilt Along hosted by Jenna that began last week.