Quilting Magazine Round-Up

I splurged on three quilt magazines in Barnes & Noble recently and thought I'd do short reviews.

First, the August 2016 (issue 141) of American Patchwork & Quilting.  I don't buy every issue, only those that have a project that I particularly like.  I was looking for this one because I had seen a couple of photos online that intrigued me.

One of the articles, by Joanna Figueroa (of Fig Tree & Co.), is about using your own photos as inspiration for a quilt project.  Her design contribution is this orange and gray quilt, inspired by a photo she took at Alhambra in Granada, Spain.  I like the design; the blocks are almost 13" square.

Another of Joanna's photos inspired Just Rosy, by Laurie Simpson.   A quilt with a floral applique border is on my lifetime quilts-to-make list and I like the simplicity of this design.  It reminds me a bit of Mary Engelbreit designs.

My supply of Fig Tree fabric is still robust but I will eventually be down to scraps and have been looking for a scrap quilt design to keep in mind for that day.  I like this one, called Stairsteps , by Jo Kramer.  The magazine version is in Civil War reproduction fabric but the design lends itself to other fabric genres and I think it could work well for Fig Tree.  I will need to select a color to use in place of the red, though the right red could work.

This issue of APQ also has an interesting article about Missouri Star Quilt Company, the result of a Type A woman getting a new hobby in retirement!  I can't let my husband read it or he will start to worry about what I might have planned for "his" retirement.

Modern Quilts Unlimited is a new-to-me magazine.  The cover design by Emily Herrick caught my eye.  It is supposed to be a rose rendered in cross stitch, much magnified, but I just like the X block and may have another use for it. 

A second project, Orbit Chain (by Lisa Burmann), also caught my eye.

I had resisted buying this other new-to-me publication, Our Quilting, because of the high price ($17.99), but having sighed over the cover quilt on several different trips through the store, I gave in.  This magazine is published in Germany and appears to cover all aesthetic bases - art, modern, traditional, and primitive.  The cover quilt, called Gloria's Flowers (by Evelyn Zuber), is similar to hexagon flowers but uses an octagon shape for the outer petals.  It was constructed using English paper piecing.

After finishing La Passacaglia, I'd like to make another EPP project, though probably not immediately.

This bag also caught my eye.  It sort of looks like it was made out of a table runner, but I like the look and think it could work for a laptop sleeve.  Because a quilter shouldn't be using a solid black neoprene laptop sleeve; too boring!

Ocean View - A Finished Flimsy

My version of Simply Woven is finished and I think I will call it Ocean View.  The cool, breezy colors are almost like having a fan on this hot day.

Please excuse the poor quality of the photo - Mr. Main Street's wingspan isn't quite as wide as the quilt (72") nor is he as tall (96"), it was an overcast day, and Dillie insisted on being included.  I'll try for a better one after quilting.  

By the way, making this quilt made me a convert to heavy starch.  If you recall, I starched the jelly roll strips with spray starch (saturated them really) before cutting.  No stretching or pulling out of shape and the blocks went together so easily.  I'll be doing this now whenever appropriate.  To make it easier, our local supermarket, McCaffrey's, is stocking spray starch in the laundry section again.  Do you think the buyer reads my blog, lol?

Can you Hear The Waves?

I've been working on the blocks for my Simply Woven quilt and now have 48 finished blocks like the one above.  I've got the blocks laid out on the "design bed" and am tryiing not to obsess over block placement.  I am rotating the blocks 180 degrees in alternate rows.

The Moda Bakeshop instructions are quite detailed, with lots of helpful photos of the block construction process. But the instructions don't include pressing directions.  I quickly realized that if I pressed to the dark, I'd wind up with lots of bulk at the seams when it came time to join the blocks.  So I pressed my seams open instead.  That has worked out well as the blocks are nice and flat and the woven strips are lining up very nicely.  You can see the joining seam running horizontally in the middle of the photo below.

I'll be back with the finished flimsy soon.

Slice, Dice, 'n' Sew

About six weeks ago, I showed you the batik strips I planned to use in my next quilt project.  I'm making a pattern from the Moda Bakeshop called Simply Woven.  It is one of those blocks that comes together by sewing fabric pieces together, cutting, sewing again, cutting again, sewing some more...and after a few steps, you have your block.

You sew your background fabric on both sides of one strip....

Cut it in half...

 Sew the halves to either side of another strip...

Repeat until you have used all six strips and you have a finished 12" block.

The directions for this quilt on Moda Bakeshop are very good, with lots of color photos to illustrate each step.  The sewing is easy and fast; you just have to pay attention to where you are cutting.  I recommend cutting fabric for a few extra blocks, just in case you flub up once or twice (or more often!) like I did.

I've already made 22 of the 48 blocks required fir a 72" by 96" quilt.