While I have been somewhat absent from my blog and Facebook the last month, it does not mean things have not been happening over here. One of the projects I had the pleasure to work on was “B is for Blue” quilt and write-up a pattern for Curated Quilts Minimalistic Edition.

Photo Credit: Curated Quilts

I love minimalism and have been inspired by the works of Josef Albers, Ellsworth Kelly, Donald Judd and Carmen Herrera. Minimalism is not as easy as folks think. Yes, making the quilts are quick but designing requires a lot of editing and eliminating elements, and quilting needs to be added to complement the minimal aspects as well.

For “B is for Blue” I was inspired by a photo I had taken of an old typeset shop. They had these typeset furnishings to store the blocks. As I played with the inspiration elements, I saw the core outlines of the shelving units and the gaps between them. Through eliminating some of the lines from the shelves and the blocks this is the design I came up with.

The color palette for this quilt was a challenge for me as these blues are just not my usual combination. I usually go for a navy or a bright darker blue. Living in Cary NC, it feels very University of NC inspired while I prefer the blue of Duke University. It was fun to see how the palette worked together.

Quilting was added, currently just the vertical lines at approximately 1.5 to 2″ width but I plan to add some horizontal lines to the quilt as well. These lines will pull out the idea of a typeset tray.

Lastly, I used a Tula Pink light blue stripe print from the Elizabeth line. I felt that the stripe broke up the blue and added interest to the quilt.

Details

Name : B is for Blue
Design: Design by myself
Fabric: Kona Cotton (Torch, Stratosphere, Sky, Prairie Sky)
Binding: Tula Pink, Elizabeth, Tent Stripe in Sky
Dimensions:  60 x 60″
Quilted: Straight Lines ~ 2 inches apart (domestic sewing machine)

If you are interested in submitting work and participating in curated quilts, take a look at their submission guidelines page. They have a great mini quilt challenge each quarter that you can take part in.

A couple of weeks ago now was the Modern Quilt Guild’s QuiltCon. This year, I decided to participate in the MQG Mini Quilt Swap (#MQGSwap). I decided to use a WiP to make it easier. As you may know, I leave everything to the last-minute so starting with a finished top I thought would be more likely that I would complete it on time.

This top consists of nested triangles. I used all Alison Glass fabrics. A mix of Alison Glass text print, and blue Handcrafted fabrics.

I really wanted to try something new with this mini, so right up front I wanted to try faced binding. This is the tutorial I used. It was easy enough but I would fine tune the corners and work out how to finish these a little better.

I quilted it using my walking foot for straight lines. I created a focal point using the tip of the triangle as the pointer. For interest, I varied the widths. Also,  I stitched in the ditch for the actual Handcrafted triangle, keeping with the minimalistic look.

I managed to finish it up in the Carolyn Friedlander lecture, 10 minutes before swapping. Nothing like finishing at the last-minute, though I was able to capture a quick pic outside the convention center.