Issue Five Cotton + Steel: the evolution
Pop Culture
Paper Piecing
rebranding the hows and whys
make mine mini
tips for mini quilts
we meet quilt royalty:
Weeks Ringle & Bill Kerr make
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14 fresh projects
issue five
meet the makers
Anne Beier
Alyce Blyth
Ruth Bourke
Amanda Castor
@hudsonvalleyquilts
@blossomheartquilts
@cbcraftcorner
@materialgirlquilts
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blog
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Jane Davidson @quiltjane blog
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Amy Garro @13spools
Jodi Godfrey
Melissa Gottliebsen
@talesofcloth
@msmidge
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meet the makers
Nicole Greczyn
Ambra Nardi
Leanne Parsons
@wherejanecreates
@thepaperdiary
@devotedquilter
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blog
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Jane Kelly
Sandi Sawa Hazlewood Heather Seminelli
Christa Watson
Nicole Young
@craftyplanner
@QAcreations
@christaquilts
@lillyellasworld
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on the home front
squared
away
by Heather Seminelli
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othing says home like handmade, so whip up these gorgeous placemats to brighten up your table or as a housewarming gift. Bonus points for them being a great scrap-busting project you can dip into your stash for.
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ask the makers
oldest wip ach issue, we ask our contributors a very important question about some aspect of quilting – sometimes it’s technical, other times we’re just being sticky beaks and seeking solidarity in knowing our quilty quirks aren’t unique. Like having a truckload of WIPs, just saying. This issue we talked to our makers about their oldest WIP. We all have some tucked away in the cupboard – we’re making our contributors confess!
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Jane of Where Jane Creates & MM Editor quilt I started in 2002, “Shamefully, my oldest WIP is the hand-pieced when my teenagers were babies. It is still unfinished and I've recently resigned to turning what I've done into a mini and calling it finished.”
Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts “My oldest WIP is a half-square triangle sampler that I started only a few months after I began quilting. I don't think I've made the last block or two, and I used one of the blocks two years ago to try free motion quilting for the first time. So that makes two or three blocks I'd need to make to finish the twelve off, never mind piecing the top and quilting... I think maybe it's time to destash it!”
Jane Davidson of QuiltJane “I made a queen sized quilt, my first when I was 19 (1983) . It was my own design, all hand stitched and quilted. About 16 years ago I pulled it apart so I could add different sashing fabrics and it has been sitting in a box ever since. I think I have not moved on because it was done with '80s fabrics. I think I want to remake it in more contemporary fabrics.”
Ruth Bourke of Ben and Charly’s Corner “My oldest WIP is my very first piece of patchwork, made on my Lidl 59 Euro sewing machine with some gingham fat quarters I found in the sale basket. My first attempts at straight seams were not so straight. Despite its wonkiness it makes me smile and realise how much I've learned. I just need to finish it now!”
Amanda Castor of Material Girl Quilts “My oldest WIP is a king sized quilt that I started as one of my very first quilts approximately 14 years ago! I was ambitious on the king sized, but that is the size of our bed. The top is done with the exception of the borders. I kind of stopped on it knowing at the time there was no way I could quilt something so huge! I really need to get it back out and quilt it up.”
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Christa Watson of Christa Quilts “My oldest WIP is 20 years old. I started hand piecing a bunch of blocks about 20 years ago when I first took up quilting. Over the years I'd work on a block or two at a time, sewing them into rows. I finally finished enough blocks and hand-sewed the rows together a few summers ago. Now I'm trying to decide how to hand quilt it (of course). Hopefully that won't take another 20 years!”
Sandi Sawa Hazlewood of Crafty Planner "My oldest WIP is a collection of purple and grey quilt blocks from various swaps. I love, love, love purple so I often requested it for my swap blocks. I never had enough for a larger quilt so I held off sewing them together. After many swaps, I also realised I don't like the look of scrappy sampler quilts. Since this year is the year of ‘no more unfinished objects’, I will either make them into charity quilts or donate them to my local quilt guild to be made into something else."
Leanne Parsons of Devoted Quilter quilt. My husband gave “My current oldest WIP is Jinny Beyer’s me the fabric kit for my birthday three or four years ago and I was doing really well with it, making beautifully complex blocks, until I started running out of some of the fabrics. One of these days I’ll figure out how I’m going to finish it, but for now it sits waiting in a box in the cupboard with my other projects.”
Ambra Nardi of Cloudsfactory “My oldest WIP is the very first cross stitch pattern I created for myself. It is the album cover of by Tool, one of mine and my partner’s favourite bands. It has 28900 stitches in it, and I have been working on it since 2011. My partner said that he would ask me to marry him when I had finished it, but it seems he was faster than me! I am halfway through this work, and now with all the Cloudsfactory things to do, sometimes I think I will never complete it.”
Heather Seminelli of QA Creations “My oldest WIP is from one of the early quilt classes I took – Precision Piecing. We made several four inch sampler blocks, and my instructor told me to take it home and finish it right away or I never would – and she was right! Now, I’ve debated whether or not to finish it because my style has changed so much in the last five years, but I think I will add it to my short term ‘To Finish’ list because it’s a good reminder of where I started and how far I’ve come since I started quilting.”
Nicole Young of Lilyella “My oldest WIP is a quilt I began right after I learned to quilt in 2013. I knew nothing about modern fabric or designers and I only had my very traditional LQS in my very small town. I was drawn to some charm packs and began a Disappearing Nine Patch quilt. I still love the fabric and it will be a beautiful quilt, but as I quickly discovered the world of modern fabric and my skills evolved, the project felt so simple and basic that I put it aside to continue trying new things.”
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carry on
flex frame
pouch
by Nicole Young
his pattern uses a flex frame closure and is just the right size for sunglasses or a cell phone, but also makes a great pencil pouch or case for your rotary cutter! It’s the perfect project for all the fun, new cotton canvas prints we are seeing this year. Dig through your closet or check your thrift shop for old pouches or bags to deconstruct and use for the leather bottom accent.
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meet the designers
cotton +
steel
by Anne Beier otton+Steel, the new modern fabric division of RJR fabrics is celebrating its first official anniversary this May. They unofficially began in 2013, when they revealed their new brand to the world at the 2013 Fall Quilt Market. Revered for their hip, fresh, unique and personal fabric designs, their whirlwind journey has been nothing short of spectacular.
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I was lucky to catch up with Rashida Coleman-Hale at the Houston Quilt Market last October, and we had a chance to talk about Cotton+Steel, RJR, the future of C+S and what it’s like to collaborate with her teammates – Melody Miller, Alexia Abegg, Sarah Watts and Kimberly Kight. The Cotton+Steel journey began when RJR fabrics contacted Melody Miller, who was looking for a new home to continue her work as a fabric designer. At the time, Melody was considering where she wanted to position herself in the modern fabric design industry, but RJR weren’t producing modern fabric lines. Rather than dismiss them on those grounds, Melody came up with a much, much bigger idea. Melody agreed to interview with the powers-that-be at RJR. As she considered it, she realised if RJR wanted to establish a modern quilting fabric collection under their roof, it made more sense to pitch it as a whole new division to them – so she brought the idea of the Cotton+Steel collaboration to them.
precut perfect
strippy
messenger bag by Jane Kelly
f you’re looking for a fast bag that you can construct from jelly roll strips or fat quarters, this is the perfect pattern. It showcases a coordinating collection of fabric perfectly, and is a great size for books, snacks and your latest hand sewing project.
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meet the makers
weeks ringle
& bill kerr
by Jane Kelly or husband and wife team Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr, of Modern Quilt Studio, quilting has been their business since 1999 and their passion for many years longer. They are widely regarded as leaders in the modern quilting industry, taking commissions, writing books, publishing their own magazine, designing fabric and regularly travelling to speak and teach at quilting events around the globe. We chatted to Weeks to learn more about their quilting journey and Modern Quilt Studio.
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Weeks began quilting in 1987, after seeing a quilt exhibit in Japan (where she was living at the time). She met Bill in 1995 and not long after they became a couple, he joined her in the quilting studio. Both Weeks and Bill learned to sew as children and have creative backgrounds which provide great influence on their quilting. “Bill has both an undergraduate and graduate design degree and I have a graduate design degree. Both of us lived at different times in Japan and have travelled extensively so those experiences have been a major influence on our work,” Weeks explains. In 1999, they turned their passion into a business. “We began making quilts full-time for architects, interior designers and collectors and named our business FunQuilts. We were not active in the hobby quilt world because that world was so conservative that we did not think there would be a market for our work. Our work and ideas began to filter into the hobby quilt world from the design world and eventually fabric companies and publishers approached us to design and write for them. It was a long and very hard battle to get the concept of modern quilting accepted in the quilting world. After our second book, was published, it was clear that our name became synonymous with modern quilting so we changed our name to Modern Quilt Studio.” Weeks explains. “In addition to writing books and designing fabric, we publish , curate the images and patterns for a calendar and teach online and in-person classes around the world among other things.”
a good foundation
geometric
kitty
by Jane Kelly and Kristy Lea
T make
here’s something about quilts and cats, they just go together! This mini is the perfect way to proclaim your love for your fur-baby – or make the perfect gift for the crazy cat person in your life. Adjust the colours used to look like your own cat, if you’re so inclined.
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