Tag Archives: Moda Fabrics

Boho Ottoman

VMQ-boho-ottoman-1

Well, this long-running project is finally complete! I started this quilted ottoman after seeing a similar patchwork one without quilting in a boutique here in Dallas (it was $300). I balked at the price but considering how long it took me to quilt it and assemble this, that price tag is looking a little more reasonable.

I’d planned this as a Moda Bake Shop tutorial but I think it’s a bit too difficult and the materials would be quite pricey, as well.  I may do a smaller version that uses only one jelly roll, though.

I combined three Moda lines – Lush Uptown by Erin Michael, Collections for a Cause – Historical Blenders and Collections for a Cause – Love. There are some very traditional fabrics in there with pops of modern prints. I had three jelly rolls to start and there’s probably enough left to make a nice throw quilt for my sofa.

VMQ-boho-ottoman-10

I added piping to my version  – and a zipper. There’s an inner cushion that’s filled with fabric scraps and polyfil. I wanted to be able to at least machine wash the outside since I do live with dogs and kids.

VMQ-boho-ottoman-3

It’s a really large ottoman – 20″ square top/bottom and 13″ high. It’s quite hefty filled with all of those fabric scraps. I’ve left the inner cushion seam open so I can add a bit more filler as I cut fabric for some more quilts this year.

Sewing layers of quilted fabric, piping, and especially that zippered edge was not fun (the zipper is tucked between two rows of piping). And of course now that I’ve put it together I want to serge the seams inside so it’s nice and tidy. But in spite of the two broken needles and sore shoulder, this was a fun project. I love the colors and it’s an unusual but useful piece for my living room. Plus, it feels really good to have finished it!

XYZ

VMQ-alphabet-quilt-6

Earlier this year I started Moda’s “Spell It With Fabric” quilt. You can download the free patterns for each letter {here}. Instead of beginning at the beginning with ABC, I started at the end with XYZ. I figured this was a good way to force myself to actually finish it, It worked! Well, almost. I still have to make the borders.

VMQ-sweet-by-urban-chiks

I’m using Sweet by Urban Chiks, which is a darling 1930s-inspired line. The colors are soft and so feminine and candy-like. It’s an older line (2009ish) so very hard to find now (one of the benefits of hoarding fabric.)

VMQ-alphabet-quilt-1

I finished the letters and filler blocks this weekend at a retreat.  My plan is to continue the scrappy look with the borders, though I am a bit nervous how they will look since they are uneven borders meant to square up the quilt. We shall see…

VMQ-alphabet-quilt-4{

The filler blocks are a combination of Lori Holt’s crops and sunflower block patterns. These patterns are both in her {Farm Girl Vintage} book. I adore adore adore that entire book. Filled with cuteness.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Christmas Wreath

Yes, it really is December already. My door says so.

And he’s going to be here very soon. It seems like Thanksgiving stole a little bit of Christmas thunder waiting until three days before December to make an appearance. I still have pumpkins on my front porch (but there’s a wreath on the door!) I’m actually hoping the squirrels will polish off the pumpkins as they’ve been slowly eating them up since October.

Tree lighting at Casa Linda

Tree lighting at Casa Linda

I have been pretty consumed with projects. I’m actually a little bit panicky that 2014 is so close because I could use a bit more of 2013, please. Just two or ten more weeks.

Christmas Lights

Two very fun things are happening this week that will be a nice distraction – First, the Dallas MQG monthly meeting + ornament swap + cookie exchange. That is always such a fun meeting and um, cookies! Second, there is a Moda Holiday “Pin” Party tomorrow. There’s a party here in Dallas plus an online event for everyone else. We are all going to bring a yummy recipe from Pinterest and chat and share holiday pretty/tasty/fun ideas. I’m sure I’ll blog about it but you can definitely see what we’re doing on my Instagram feed. I need to Pinterest some hair and outfit ideas!

Pattern 1303 – Lucky Strike

Lucky Strike pattern

Today is reveal day for my third quilt pattern. It’s another mod inspired look called Lucky Strike. The blocks are a stylized version of bowling pins.

Lucky Strike pattern

I quilted this one using my new favorite stem quilting design. It takes a bit more effort because you have to mark the quilt top if your piecing isn’t in blocks but it’s worth it. I love the finished product.

This quilt pattern uses templates but don’t let that discourage you. It’s actually the easiest of the three patterns. The templates were designed to allow for a margin of error, which makes it a great pattern for the first-time template user.

Lucky Strike pattern

The pattern calls for half yards to replicate the version on the cover but you can use fat quarters for a great stash-busting project,

Digital download for sale here.

Dimensions: 63″ x  80″

Fabrics:  Bella Solids from Moda Fabrics

Pattern: Lisa Calle/Vintage Modern Quilts Pattern Co. original design

Quilting Thread:  Aurifil #2600, 50 wt

Quilting Design: Mod leaves

Quilting Thread:  Aurifil #2600

Started: October 2013

Completed: October 2013

Pattern 1302 – Midcentury

Midcentury Quilt pattern

Pattern reveal number two today! Midcentury is a graphic quilt that is perfect for highlighting your favorite prints and colors. It can be made with yardage or jelly rolls and the pattern gives details for using both.

Midcentury Quilt pattern

This one was pieced by my friend Sarah Huechteman who does amazing and perfect work! It was quilted  by Michelle Kitto of Urban Spools with a very appropriate mod quilting pattern.

Midcentury Quilt pattern

Digital download for sale here.

Dimensions: 63″ x  74″

Fabrics:  Bella Solids from Moda Fabrics

Pattern: Lisa Calle/Vintage Modern Quilts Pattern Co. original design

Quilting Design: Quilted by Michelle Kitto of Urban Spools

Quilting Thread:  Superior Threads

Started: October 2013

Completed: October 2013

Pattern 1301 – Turkish Delight

Turkish Delight pattern
Buy Now

You saw a sneak peek of my new patterns earlier this week and now I’m ready to share all the details! First up is Turkish Delight.  This quilt was inspired by Turkish kilim rugs.

Turkish Delight pattern

The color palette came from a vintage (maybe?) paper plate that someone left at the retreat house where I go with my small group. The colors are sort of retro and bright – just what I’d been looking for to make this quilt.

Turkish Delight color palette

Turkish Delight pattern

The pattern is available now as a digital download in my pattern shop or look for it to pop up at your favorite LQS after Quilt Market. In fact, you can ask them to order it! :)

Dimensions: 82″ x  82″

Fabrics:  Bella Solids from Moda Fabrics

Pattern: Lisa Calle/Vintage Modern Quilts Pattern Co. original design

Quilting Thread:  Superior Threads

Quilting Design: Quilted by Michelle Kitto of Urban Spools

Started: September 2013

Completed: October 2013

Cool Charms Quilt

Cool Charms Quilt

This quilt is one of a pair (the other is not yet quilted). They started as an effort to make use of leftover charm squares and orphan charm square packs (You know when you buy just one charm pack because you have to have some of the fabric line but you don’t have any plan? I seem to end up with lots of those.)

Cool Charms Quilt

I pulled the low value prints from each charm pack. Then I sorted them into warm and cool colors. This is the cool version, obvs.

Cool Charms Quilt

I’m all about big quilts at the moment so I did the math for a full/double quilt and added some more cool fat quarters from my stash to make enough charm squares.  There are 19 squares in 20 rows – a total of 380 charm squares. {To make your own quilt this size, you’d need 9 charm packs plus 2 charm squares OR 32 fat quarters cut into 5″ squares.}

Cool Charms Quilt

I quilted it with my current favorite design – mod stems. It was tricky quilting it on such a large quilt but definitely worth the effort. I love the way it looks. I only wish I’d gone with a completely solid backing so the quilting were more visible.

Cool Charms Quilt

I had an informal poll here on my blog and on Instagram to help me choose a binding. The DS Quilts one I used and a navy polka dot were the overwhelming favorites. A light gray would have been my first choice but I wanted to use a binding I already had made.

There are so many different fabrics in this quilt that I had trouble listing them out below. Let me know if you spot any I missed.

Dimensions: 86″ x  90″

Fabrics:  Bella by Lotta Jansdotter; Road 15 and Noteworthy by Sweetwater;, Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey, Ruby by Bonnie and Camille; Simply Color by V and Co,; Punctuation by American Jane; It’s a Hoot, Freebird, and Wonderland by Momo; Flea Market Fancy and Greenfield Hill by Denyse Schmidt; Honey Honey by Kate Spain; Wild Thyme by Carolyn Gavin; Gypsy Girl and Tradewinds by Lily Ashbury; Circa 60 by Monaluna; Minny Muu by Lecien; Love and Midwest Modern by Amy Butler; Nest by Tula Pink; City Weekend by Oliver and S; Woodland Delight by Paula Prass; Cream & Sugar by Ampersand Studio; Goodnight Monkey by Erin Michael; Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey; Wheels by My Mind’s Eye; various 1930s repros

Pattern: Lisa Calle/Vintage Modern Quilts original design/It’s just squares!

Quilting Design: Mod leaves

Quilting Thread:  Aurifil #2600

Started: July 2013

Completed: September 2013

Fabric Stack: Lucky Strike

You may have noticed a theme of solids lately. I have several all solids quilts in the works at the moment and this stack is for a quilt called Lucky Strike. It’s inspired by a print I saw in a shop. I loved the combination of fun colors with a lot of layered neutrals.

Lucky Strike

From top to bottom:

9900-129 | Weathered Teak
9900-245 | Latte
9900-241 | Flax
9900-12 | Natural
9900-235 | Blue Chill
9900-263 | Spray
9900-51 | Buttercup
9900-209 | Clementine
9900-27 | 30s Pink

Weathered Teak (along with 9900-128 | Stone) is one of my favorite neutrals. It goes with everything and is a nice change from the ever-so-popular gray that’s been a modern quilting staple for years.

A Tied Quilt

A Tied Quilt

This quilt is the perfect example of how to get WIPs finished. It languished in a box for nearly a year until I took it on retreat in the spring. My goal was to create a couple of intricate borders to make it larger but I decided it wasn’t worth so much extra effort for something that was cute as is. I even skipped the batting and basting, opting instead for a simple turned edge with rounded corners. Lesson learned: instead of always trying to make something unique, just finish it!

A Tied Quilt

It’s the perfect size for a stroller quilt, which is something we need now that fall is finally (kinda sorta) here (it was in the 90s all week). It  will be nice to have on trips to the Arboretum later in the fall.

The pieced blocks are disappearing nine-patches made from one charm pack (minus all of the pink prints in the line). I mixed in patches of solids – crossweaves, shot cotton, and a white swiss dot – to add texture. There’s no rhyme or reason to the layout since I had odd numbers of things.

Now I’m the first to admit that I never thought I’d make a tied quilt. But this one just seemed to need something extra. I had two skeins of vintage wool in my crewel stash that were pretty close to a perfect match. The ties are more like tassels than a traditional tied quilt.

A Tied Quilt

Something this simple and this small would be a perfect baby gift. Instead of doing such long ties on the quilt top, I’d probably do just French knots and then make tassels to go all around the quilt edge. Next time!

Dimensions:  33″ x  39″

Fabrics: Lucy’s Crab Shack by Sweetwater, Crossweaves by Moda Fabrics, shot cotton by Kaffe Fassett, swiss dot from Michael Miller, flannel backing from JoAnn’s.

Pattern: Disappearing 9-patch with plain blocks

Quilting Design: Tied with wool thread

Quilting Thread:  Aurifil 2600 for top-stitching

Started: May 2012

Completed: September 2013

Ambassador of Fabric

Ambassador of Fabric

I’ve given myself the unofficial title of Ambassador of Fabric. I love fabric with  my whole heart. And I feel compelled to share this love with others.

Ambassador of Fabric

My friends have other, less flattering terms for it. Fabric pusher is probably the nicest. 😉

Confession: Years before I worked for Moda. I decoded their file-naming system so that I could download swatch files of upcoming lines before the links were visible on their website.

Ambassador of Fabric

I’m constantly telling someone about a new or upcoming fabric line.

Bella Solids Color Card

The perfect solid.

Ambassador of Fabric

Something that is on sale and must be added to the stash.

Ambassador of Fabric

Something that is not on sale but can’t be resisted because profound regret will surely ensue.

It’s my duty and I take it seriously. We are weeks away from what is the fabric lover’s version of Christmas/heaven – QUILT MARKET. I feel like putting up a tree and decorating it with fabric bundles and a jelly roll on top. I could celebrate by buying more fabric and wrapping it with a big (fabric)  bow and then opening it in my pajamas! Who’s with me?