Jun
2017

One Monthly Goal for June

categories: Modern Making, Quilting, Sewing

I’m participating in Elm Street Quilts  OMG (One Monthly Goal).  My goal for May was to get 1/2 the blocks of this Legendary quilt by Elizabeth Hartman made, but I didn’t quite make the goal.  I did get 1/3 of them made.  I like to work on multiple projects, and am involved in a weekly sew along so I’ll only set a goal of 5 more tree blocks for the month of June.  I love signing up for the goal because it motivates me to accomplish forward progress!  I’m such a procrastinator, and that’s why I have so many UFO’s.  Hopefully as the year progresses, the list will get smaller.


May
2017

One Monthly Goal May 2017

categories: Modern Making, Quilting, Sewing

I’ve just recently discovered  Elm Street Quilts “One Monthly Goal” event.  We’re tasked with linking up a project we’ve chosen for the month and then linking up our accomplishment at the end of the month.  I’ve got several works in progress to choose from.  However, I want to start piecing a quilt that will be a gift at Christmas.  It’s a gift for a grandson, so I chose the Legendary pattern from Elizabeth Hartman.  All the pieces are cut and labeled and have been sitting in a box since January.  I just need to sit down and put the pedal to the metal and start piecing.  My goal is to finish at least 1/2 of the blocks for the quilt.     

 


Aug
2016

#QUILTSFORPEACE

categories: Quilting

When tragedy struck the city of Dallas, the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild sent out a request for heart blocks and quilts similar to the ones being made for the Pulse victims in Orlando, Florida.  At first, I was just going to make a few blocks, but then I began cutting out the blue heart blocks with the pattern created by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew.  It was sew easy, I kept going.  With the help of my quilty friend, Anna Addington, we made 42 heart blocks for a 60 x 70 quilt.  I pieced them together, quilted them, and added binding and a label.  So this is our #quiltsforpeace quilt to be given to the police officers families.  For the first time, I got out my machine embroidery manual and workbook and made a quilt label using the embroidery hoop.  Why I haven’t been doing this all these years, I’ll never know.  It turned out great!

quiltsforpeacequiltsforpeace2


Aug
2016

UnderTheSeaSwap Received

categories: Instagram Quilt Swap, Miniquilt, Quilting

undersea3 I received this adorable Preppy the Whale mini quilt yesterday, all the way from Zurich, Switzerland!  It was made by the ultra-talented @spiritedchild2014, Andrea Tomlinson, who crafts “handmade unique children’s colouring activities and accessories.”  Her website is www.spiritedchild.ch.

undersea1Close-ups of the extras and quilting on the mini.  I love seahorses, so the zipper pouch makes me sew happy!  The cute little embroidered tag has Heather Ross’s Mendocino mermaids on the back.  Those little candle flipflops are adorable!  I’m going to try the chenille needles with my pearl cotton for big-stitch quilting.  I’ve been using crewel needles but have been unhappy with them.  The chenille needles are shorter, so I think will work better.  


Jul
2016

Busy week and mini quilt swap

categories: Miniquilt, Modern Making, Quilting, Sewing

Last week was busy, busy.  Hubby took vacation, but Monday I had a doctor appt.  Tuesday, we dropped Sookie at American Pet Spa & Resort while we took a mini trip. Thursday, we had to get the car serviced. Friday morning we took 2 grandkids to McDonald’s, then I had a CT scan that afternoon. I wasn’t able to do much “making” until today.

In June, I joined the Instagram #starblockquiltswap.  We signed up to make a mini quilt for a partner assigned to us.  We receive personal info such as favorite designers, favorite colors, dislikes, etc.  My partner chose modern/wonky and said she liked the fabric designer Alison Glass, but disliked dark colors.  I had recently bought numerous Alison Glass fabrics, so it was perfect!

I decided on the “Triple Star” block designed by Elena Roscoe found in the Modern Bee book by Lindsey Conner. Today was the deadline for a progress post.  I felt I needed to actually have it completed so I could spend the rest of this week making/collecting extras to go with it. Everything needs to be ready to mail on Friday.  Here’s my completed mini for my partner.

TripleStarBlock
Triple Star Block
Starblockquiltswap2
Close up quilting

 

 

 

 


Jul
2016

Smitten Sunday

categories: English Paper Piecing, Modern Making, Quilting, Sewing

Smitten

Smitten is an English paper piecing pattern designed by Lucy Carson Kingwell, the daughter of renowned Australian quilt designer Jen Kingwell. I know EPP doesn’t sound modern,  but I’m using scraps left over from my modern quilts, purchased in scrap packs, or sent to me by an Instagram swapper. This pattern is perfect made scrappy. Jen Kingwell says  “Ten fabrics don’t work but 110 will.” I purchased the pattern from PaperPieces.com along with a complete set of papers to avoid making templates.

Since I’m new at this, I needed an EPP tutorial, and found a lovely one on YouTube.com from Sue Daley, Australian EPP expert. This is where I learned about gluing fabric to the papers instead of basting. My practice attempts at basting didn’t work out well, plus I didn’t want to remove hundreds of basting threads. Here’s a photo of the supplies I gathered for the project:  a rotating mat, sharp scissors, thimbles, Roxanne size 11 needles, the Sewline glue pen, and of course neutral colors of Aurifil thread!

smittensupplies

 

Below is my first large hexagon. I have 3 sides sewn together. By tonight, my goal is to finish the other 3 sides and sew them all to the center hexagon. I plan to post progress on this quilt every Sunday, and hopefully this work-in-progress will continue to grow quickly!

Smittenhex1

 


Jul
2016

Hello & Welcome to My Blog!

categories: Modern Making, Quilting, Sewing

Why have I started this blog?

I love reading blogs, especially quilters’ and crafters’ blogs.  Years ago, I began a blog to document my sewing, but rarely posted on it, plus the blogging site set all the rules and maintained control.  It’s been dormant for 2 years now.  Since my daughter is a prolific blogger, she guided me to WordPress, where it’s much more user friendly and I have my own website.  I hope to document what I’m working on by showing progress and completion, to help myself stay organized and finish the projects I start.  

I have a long list of UFOs (unfinished objects) that need to be completed, some even traditional designs/quilts.  I’ve been keeping a list on the computer and marking things off as I complete them, adding more items that have been started.  But that doesn’t really document progress, which is something I can show in pictures and words here.    

Why Sew Mary Modern?  

I’m not a vintage person at all.  I like modern designs, modern patterns, and modern fabrics.  I’ve “destashed” (removed from my stash) most of my older traditional fabrics (with the exception of my drawerful of batiks) so I can focus on modern.  I don’t really know how to define “modern” when it comes to designs and fabrics, but I know it when I see it.  It’s mostly bold colors, geometric designs, clean lines, and it’s not pastels, florals, or batiks!  Most manufacturers have hundreds of solids that are used to coordinate rather than blenders and fusion-type fabrics. Some of my favorite modern designers are Tula Pink, Alison Glass, and the Cotton & Steel ladies.