Modern Quilts, More on Leaders & Enders, and Some Beautiful Quilts

April 15, 2015

Modern Quilts, More on Leaders & Enders, and Some Beautiful Quilts

Modern Quilts...Yay or Nay?
I've recently come out of my traditional quilt closet and announced that, "I'm really starting to like modern quilts." Last year at the International Quilt Festival in Rosemont I stuck my toes in the shallow end of the modern quilt pool when I bought my first modern quilt pattern. I have since kicked my butt around the block six ways from Sunday for not buying the whole kit that included the perfect yummy modern fabric to go with the pattern. But as we know, change can start with little steps so maybe simply by owning the pattern and studying fabrics that might work with it has been part of my learning process.

Here is the pattern. It's called Party of Four. It consists of four patches with floral-ish and geometric-y fabric broken up with a 1/2 inch grid of white. When I purchased the pattern I thought I would use my beloved 30s repro fabric...boom, slam dunk, done! It didn't take long after I got home that buyers remorse had set in and I wished I would have bought the whole kit. By the time I got around to investigating whether I could purchase the fabric part of the kit...it was too late...all gone...poof!

Pattern of my first venture into modern quilts purchased from Modern QuiltStudio

So the search was on. While I was vending in Decatur last week I found some modern-ish fabric that I was pleased with. Thanks to Gretchen at Main Street Quilt Company in Shelbyville, Illinois, for helping me pick out the fabrics in the photo below (Note: My lighting was poor when I shot this photo and the colors are off quite a bit, but trust me...they look great!).

So this year when I was at the International Quilt Festival at Rosemont my friend Sandy and I bought the same pattern AND fabric...yeppers, I got the whole kit this time. I'm a fast learner in a slow kind of way!!

Photo taken at Rosemont. The pattern is called Quiet on the Set and is also by Modern QuiltStudio.

More on Leaders and Enders
Last time I posted I said that I would be showing you some photos to hopefully clarify my clumsy description of a leader and ender project. Well, you can stop holding your breath because the anticipation is over...here they are!

The peachy-pink square is my leader. Following the leader are two squares on which I sewed a corner piece. With the second piece still under the pressure/walking foot I picked up two squares that needed to be sewn together for a black and red quilt that I'm also making (this will be a "bonus" block). I ran them through the machine and finished with my ender piece. I can now clip the thread between the red-black square and my yellow ender turns into a leader...ready and in position for the next piece(s) that need sewing. Pretty cool, huh? and I have one more block sewn for the black and red...even more cool! Every little bit helps.

Sit back and enjoy this small sampling of pictures from the Decatur Quilters Guild Quilt Show, Quiltfest 2015, last weekend.

Overview of part of the vendor area. The beautiful quilts on the railing were there to dress up the arena...they were not part of the quilt show itself.