Finish Up Friday: August Edition

If you're like many of our guild members, the kids are back in school and it's time to get back on a regular schedule. Ever since my son graduated high school a year ago, it perpetually feels like summer. But, there's something about back-to-school season that puts me in the mood to reorganize my time and ramp up my creativity. And this month, we have several members with some very inspiring projects!

A is for Adorable!
Amanda made these adorable "A is for Apple" mug rugs as end of summer gifts for her daughter's Children's Day Out teachers. Inspired by apple coasters in Kajsa Wikman's book, "Scandinavian Stitches", Amanda used scraps from a previous project, which when you think about it, makes this a freebie project! I love mug rugs and not only are they a great scrap project, I also think they make a great gift for those people you need to give "just a little something" to.

B is for Baby!

I love this baby quilt that Crys made. That solid aqua just makes everything pop! I'm seeing some Flea Market Fancy on the front and the back is Michael Miller's Backyard Baby. Crys used the curved lines in the fabric on the back as her guide for the quilting. Such smart thinking! I think her quilting adds so much to this quilt's modern flair.

C is for Color!
Robin says she had a lot of fun putting these color groupings together. The fabric is Alien Invasion by Amy Butler and the pattern was inspired by this turning corners table runner at Moda Bake Shop. This quilt was a gift for her first nephew, born August 14th of this year. Congratulations, Aunt Robin! And how fun, Robin is expecting her first baby and I'm betting these two little cousins will have a lot of fun together.

D is for Darn! I wish I thought of that!
In the guild, we often tease Agnes about being so awesome. But it's no joke, just check out these greeting cards she made with fabric! Wow, I love that vase in front of the window. And, this is another great idea for using up those tiny scraps.

E is for Egads!

Andrea is not only new to the guild, but she is also new to quilting. As in, THIS is her first quilt! Egads! If you're familiar with this Avalon pattern, you know it's not just a whip it together pattern. Andrea's done such an amazing job! The fabric is from Lotta Jansdotter's Echo line and I, for one,  can't wait to see what else Andrea creates.

F is for Fun!
We have a really fun group of women in our guild. Yesterday, while waiting for QuiltCon registration to begin, we were discussing our excitement and ideas for future projects on Facebook and just being ridiculous. If you're interested in quilting and want to be a part of this fun group think about joining our our guild. Check out the FAQ section on our main menu and feel free to email us with any additional questions you may have. We'll also be at the Oklahoma State Fair on September 23rd with quilts and guild information, so come on out and see us!

Coffee Talk Tuesday: Amanda Lipscomb

Until now, Amanda has been doing our Coffee Talk interviews. This month, we're turning the tables on her to find out her quilting point-of-view and to get a glimpse of what inspires her. I had only attend one guild meeting before Amanda joined. She came in with such energy and enthusiasm I immediately liked her. And I think we all instantly knew she'd be a great asset to the guild.

I like that it's your turn to be interviewed, Amanda, and it's fun for me to be the one to do it.

Thanks for making me not be all weird by interviewing myself...haha!

Yes, that would be weird! Okay, I'm already a follower of your blog so I'm just going to tell everyone that you blog at The Cozy Pumpkin. You recently had a beginner's sew-along that was really great. So, how did you get into sewing? What was YOUR beginner project?

I had an introduction to sewing back in high school with my mom. We decided to make some shorts as our first project. The back of the legs were supposed to be just a hair shorter than the front, but we ended up sewing the fronts together and the backs together so one leg was shorter than the other. Oops! We had a good laugh, and I still used them for band practice. Yes, I was a band geek.

Me too!

And y'all wish you were as cool as us in high school!

But, I didn't really enjoy the sewing process. Then, years later, my Mother-in-Law introduced me to the idea of quilting, bought me my first sewing machine, and I was hooked. I began sewing small projects shortly after my son was born. I was hooked for life!

Wait a sec...I'm still laughing at the thought of you in wonky shorts marching around a football field... Ahem, I know you're son is pretty young, so that means you've been quilting for how long?

While it was my Mother-in-Law's quilts that got me interested, it actually took me until I was pregnant with my daughter (9 months after my son was born) to decide I wanted to begin my first ever quilt. It was a rocky start. I had sciatic nerve issues and it made it impossible to baste my quilt. So my Mother-in-Law did a lot of the down on the floor work for me. Bless her heart. Sitting at the machine was excruciating, but my personality is to finish what I start and despite my discomfort, I finished that darned thing. I have no idea how I powered through that and still kept a love for the art of quilting, but I'm so glad I did. And that's my really long-winded way of saying I've been quilting for about two-and-a-half years.

So, it's safe to say that your Mother-in-Law inspired you to get into quilting?

Seeing as how I've mentioned her about 80 times already? I kid you not, she was so supportive of my interest and peaked my curiosity. Up to that point I'd only seen Amish quilts when my family would visit Lancaster, and hearing about their process made it sound so overwhelmingly tedious. But, when my Mother-in-Law explained how she went about making a quilt, I fell in love with the idea of creating something that provided comfort, warmth, and beauty in a home.

And I think it's great that you both have something creative to share. So from seeing Amish quilts and being inspired by your Mother-in-Law, what drew you to modern quilting?

I would say that the majority of the quilt patterns I make are very traditional in nature, but my modern aesthetic lies more in the fabric choices I make. I don't feel one way is better than the other. I will say that I like the freedom of modern quilting more. My Mother-in-Law lives by a very strict set of quilting rules that don't appeal to me. It seemed to deflate the fun for me a bit. But, once I started researching quilting online to learn more about the process, I found this whole world of young quilt bloggers who understood what I wanted to make, how I wanted to make it, and it opened up a door for me into the world of "modern quilting."

My "Newbie Quilt-along Quilt" wasn't the pattern I envisioned for teaching my far-away pals,
but I'm so glad I did it. I love the vibrant colors!

I've found so much information online to help me as well. It's amazing what is out there! Is there someone specific in the modern quilting world who inspires you?

This is sort of a cop out answer, but I wouldn't say it's one particular individual. I think anyone that puts themselves out there with their style of "modern" quilting is an inspiration. The blogging ladies inspire me every time I open up their blogs. I may not enjoy a particular pattern, but I may love the use of color, or vice versa. The ladies in the Oklahoma City Modern Quilt Guild are always pushing me to try new things and inspiring me with their work. I love that about the modern quilting movement. People are out to inspire.

I definitely have to agree with you about the quilt guild ladies. They ARE inspiring and encouraging. It's kind of a "there's enough creativity to go around" attitude and everyone is willing to share ideas. It's also interesting, in a group, to learn each other's fabric tastes. Is there a certain style or fabric designer you gravitate toward?

I have a VERY wide range of fabrics that I like. It really depends on the project at hand. Some projects call for sweet vintage inspired prints and some are crying out for bold color. If I'm making something for my kids a novelty print is often in order. But, if I had to pick one person...I promise I won't totally cop out again...it would be Tula Pink. Not only does she have a unique color vision, but her style is subtle and bold all at the same time. There are so many layers to her prints that you can look at them over and over again and keep finding new little treasures. I also love that she's so out of the box. She doesn't let the mainstream design influence her vision. And, I also really adore Aneela Hoey. Not because I have to have her fabric, but I enjoy that I can look at her fabric and know that it is hers. I think it speaks to who she is as a designer and lover of textiles.

"Ms. Red, If You Please" is a dresden doll quilt I made for my daughter's 2nd birthday...in 9 days!

I like Tula Pink too, but I'm going to do a search on Aneela Hoey later...

As you've told us, you have two young kids close in age. How/when/where do you get any sewing done?! And when do you get your ideas?

I'm most productive when the kids are sleeping and my husband is occupied elsewhere! With little ones running around there just isn't time during most of my day to sit down. They won't let me! Darn kids always wanting to be entertained. I kid, I kid! Seriously though, I do wish I had more daylight hours to work. With that said, I am a night owl and I find that that's when I get the most sewing accomplished or when the most ideas arise. Shockingly, most of my ideas hit me in the shower just before bed. I try to draw them with my finger on the wet tile so I can remember them until I can write them on paper when I'm done. I think I drive my husband a bit batty when I run out of the room to jot my idea down before it leaves my brain.

Gee, I hadn't thought of the shower wall... 

What quilt creation are you most proud of?

Oh my gosh! About a week ago this would have been a really easy question to answer, but one of the quilts I'm working on completing right now is a real contender to replace it. But, since I can't show you that one, we'll stick with my original. It is, currently, "A Porthole With a View." I made it for my dad for Christmas last year. It was a battle to the finish with my old quilting machine, but I got it done. It was my first attempt at curved piecing, and the fabrics just screamed my dad. I even made a giant appliqué of an anchor on the back. He sent it back to me for the guild's quilt show, and it was so hard to pack it up and send it back again. But, I think part of what I love about it is that it is my dad's. That's the magic in a quilt...the heart and soul you pour into creating it.

"Porthole With a View" was a good lesson in persistence.

I know your dad treasures it too. Is there a pattern or project you're hoping to tackle in the near future?

I try not to pigeonhole myself too much. I like to work on a project that is inspiring to me. I want to improve at doing half-square triangles and I have a stack of patterns and books calling my name. I think I get too wrapped up sometimes in needing to create my own thing. I forget that sometimes the wheel need not always be reinvented, if you catch my drift. OH! And I want to work more on my Farmer's Wife quilt!!!

Oh man, half-square triangles...love the look, but I totally need to improve that skill too. Your workmanship is really good. I mean, REALLY good. Please tell me you've had projects go wrong...?

Ummm...not really a quilt project. I mean...I've had little flubs, but somehow the complicated things usually turn out fairly well for me. It's the easy things that I always seem to mess up. I once had a custom order for a nursery set. Full set...bumpers, crib skirt, curtains, quilt... I was making the crib skirt, literally sewing rectangles together and I kept messing up. I messed up so much that I finally tore the base fabric ripping out the seams. Ugh. It didn't help that it was late at night and I refused to stop. Sometimes, my tenacity is a good thing. Sometimes, it just makes me dig a deeper hole. That whole project was a disaster. I flubbed up the curtains too. Luckily, I was able to fix it all and she was none the wiser, but I was so flustered after that project.

Oh good, I feel so much better now. It's always nice to know others have bad sewing days too.

Let's go back to the Internet, specifically blogs. I follow a bunch. If you had to choose one blog to visit and also one book to buy, what would they be?

I know I'm supposed to say Elizabeth Hartman's "newest" book here, right? And while I have both of her books, I just have to say that it was Allison over at Cluck Cluck Sew that got me hooked on this quilting without so many rules stuff. She was self-taught, just like I was, and she was the first person (other than my Mother-in-Law) that I reached out to for advice. She is as sweet as can be and has lots of great ideas and patterns that are perfect for the novice quilter.

What advice would you give to someone just discovering the world of modern quilting?

Quilt with your heart and soul. If you're choosing the fabrics and projects that speak to you...every quilt you make will be lovely and uniquely yours. And that is a beautiful thing.

"Sweet Home Chalet" made with English paper piecing and hand quilting.

Indeed it is, Amanda. Creativity is a very personal thing, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us today. We can't wait to see what other beautiful projects you have in store!

August Meeting 2012

If I had to title this meeting it would be "The QuiltCon Meeting."  HA!  We are all so pumped about signing up at the end of August, and this was the meeting in which everyone turned in their blocks for our group quilt submission.  Let me tell you.  Fab.u.lous!  (Imagine me doing that while snapping for each syllable.  That's how great they are!)  We can't wait to show them to you.  Many pictures were taken...but, you'll have to wait for that one.  That deserves a special post all to itself me thinks.

Along the same lines, the BIG news of the meeting was that we are a GOLD Pin Status Guild for QuiltCon!  So, a gigantic thanks to all of our members who chipped in to make that happen.  I think it will mean great things for our guild not only now, but in the future.

We are also expanding our committee list.  Members were asked to sign up for one of the following committees:  social media, promotional publicity, charity, and hospitality.  So, if you missed out on the meeting, but would like to sign up for a committee or need more info please head over to the groups private facebook page and let us know! :)

Other miscellaneous items that were discussed are fabric collections for quilters who lost their stash in the local Oklahoma fires.  Losing your home and your stash in one day?!  I can't imagine the horror.  Not to mention your machine too?  Talk about stressful.  And then you can't even sew to take your mind off of it.  So, if you are in the OKC area and want to contribute some fabric or notions please e-mail us to let us know.  We'd love to collect it from you!  I believe there is a box set up at Oklahoma Quiltworks for fabric collections as well.

Want to see the OKC MQG?  We will be at the Oklahoma State Fair on Sunday, September 23 from 2:00-5:00, and it looks like we are scheduling a talk with the Cimarron Valley Quilt Guild as well.  We'll keep you posted on that for sure.

We sort of did Show and Tell very rushed this time.  So I missed out on some of the details while focusing on taking pictures, but we had some beautiful quilts to peruse.

First up we have Andrea stunning us with her first and second quilts respectively.  She tackled the Avalon pattern with Echo fabrics for her first quilt...MUCHO IMPRESSIVE!

And then she whipped out this sweet (read that suh-weeeeeet) zig zag quilt sandwich. (Which is actually a back from Elizabeth Hartman's latest book "Modern Patchwork.")

This is "Other Amanda."  She's a really good sport about her new nickname.  ;)  Some ladies in the guild are attempting to get rid of the "other" for her and make her "New Amanda."  Thus making me "Old Amanda."  Yeah...that ain't gunna fly!  Not to mention we have added yet a "Newer" Amanda.  This could get confusing.  So, for now..."Other Amanda" shared her kick butt madras quilt.  I think it's Queen size?  I could be wrong.  So don't hook me up to a lie detector or anything.  Regardless...it kicks butt right?

And then Robin had this little cutie quilt to share for her soon to be born nephew.  Story goes...she has challenged her nephew to a race.  Who will arrive first?  Baby or completed quilt?  For the sake of the pregnant mommy...I hope the baby.  ;)  But, it would be nice to be able to cuddle him up in this darling finished quilt wouldn't it?  That's a tough one.

Well, that's all for this meeting people.  A good time was had by all, and we hope that you'll join us at our next meeting in September!  :)  

Sew long for now,

-Amanda-

WIP Wednesday

The buzz among modern quilters across the country is QuiltCon and the OKC Modern Quilt Guild quilters are no exception. Presented by The Modern Quilt Guild, QuiltCon is looking to be as exciting to quilters as ComicCon was to Twilight fans. The who's who of modern quilting will be there and I, for one, am beyond excited!

Several of us Guild Gals are in the process of making individual modern blocks to combine into one quilt for submission to the QuiltCon show. They're all due at this Saturday's meeting, so I suspect there may be a little frenzied experimentation going on right now. We're going to save the blocks and show them to you down the road. But for today, we have some other quilty eye-candy from three of our members.

Andrea is relatively new to the group. In fact, I haven't even met her yet! Stay tuned for next week's guild meeting recap, because she's bringing a quilt for Show & Tell that we all can't wait to see! She's currently sandwiching this quilt below, that will be a wedding gift for her cousin. Orange, aqua, gray is totally my color scheme...love it! And get this, THIS is only her second quilt. Ev-er. It's going to be awesome!

Agnes just tried trapunto for the first time. Yeah, this is her first time, pretty awesome, right? In trapunto, there's a little bit of stuffing tucked in to give dimension. The orange-pink batik was her focus fabric and then she dyed another piece to go with it. The raised design she placed on a tile and then rubbed it with a gold Shiva stick. The gold stippled quilting then enhances the entire design. This is going to be used as a guestbook cover for her friend in Michigan. What a great gift that will be treasured!

Finally, we have Robin who is expecting her first baby in October. As you can imagine, she has a lot going on right now and most of her projects have been less quilty and more nursery related. But, her husband is a BIG Halloween buff and since the baby is due early October, a Halloween quilt seemed fitting. I love her choice of fabrics and how she's quilted cute figures and words onto the blocks. She's finished it off with a striped print binding and in her words, is "hand stitching the binding like a madwoman every time I gets 5 minutes in front of the TV!"

So there you have it! A little peak into what our guild members have been making. For myself, I'm involved in a non-sewing, non-creative and tedious project that I can't wait to complete so that I can start a 50th wedding anniversary photo quilt for a friend's parents. Yikes, no pressure there.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, back-to-school is quickly approaching!

Finish Up Friday: July Edition

Finish Up Friday is a favorite feature. Say that three times fast...

As I write this, my own finished quilts are in the dryer. I love the moment I pull them out and they are warm and crinkly. I'm giving them to two girls who are getting ready to leave for college in a couple of weeks, but need to give them to them today in just under two hours. I may sneak my photos in later, so check back.

Okay, now on to those who were on the ball and got their projects completed AND photographed!

Hexagons! They are all over quilting blogs. Our Stephanie made this one, below. And if it's the same one she was working on at one of our previous sew days, I couldn't believe how quickly she put this one together. She just about had me convinced that I wanted to do one too! Almost.

Have you ever had a fabric that you loved so much that you were afraid to cut into it? Well, Robin says she's been hoarding (her words) this lovely floral, Eclectic Garden by Jason Yenter, for well over two years! She finally gathered up the courage to cut into and and I'm glad she did. It's beautiful! She pieced it last September, but shelved it for awhile to do a few baby quilts. And 100 degree Oklahoma heat or no, she's going to cuddle under it! That's why we all have air-conditioning, Robin, so we can use our quilts year-round.

Amanda, on her blog The Cozy Pumpkin, just finished a new quilter quilt-along. This is the finished quilt. Yes, you too can make a quilt for the first time like this! And don't let those tiny red squares scare you, there's a little magic that happens when making this quilt. I love the cheery colors and patterns of her fabrics.

Erin made a quilt that, well, I'm not afraid to admit I'm a little jealous of. This fabulous plaid quilt is what's known as a transparency quilt. It's pieced in a way that gives you the illusion that the fabrics are layered over one another, as if the blue is transparent when it overlaps the white. My first foray into transparency didn't work out as planned, but after seeing Erin's plaid, I'm going to have to give it another try.

I hope you've seen something here to inspire you today. I know I have. We have a guild meeting coming up on August 11th and that means...Show and Tell....(giddy clapping). Subscribe to this blog, if you haven't already, so you can continue to see what our members are creating. We have an interesting group project coming up that I can't wait to see!

Later that day...
Sneaking in one my finished quilts. She loved it!

Coffee Talk Tuesday: Leslie Lamb

I think that the ladies in the OKC MQG would agree that if any one of us was to write a book about modern quilting, full of gorgeous patterns, it would be Leslie Lamb.  This gal is bursting with fabulous ideas in quilt design, graphic design, t-shirt design....  You name it this girl can do it.  And to top it off she's a sweetheart.  It almost makes you sick to your stomach doesn't it?!  ;)  Seriously though...we love her and I know you will too!

Leslie Lamb

Hi, Leslie!  Thanks for being our July CTT interview.  Just to start off I want you to share your blog and shop address with everyone.


My blog is LeslieUnfinished, and my shop is Tangerine Bloom.


Your blog is full of great tutorials and "quilty" eye candy.   You have an eye for color that is either raw talent or comes from experience.   So, I'm curious...how long have you been sewing?


I think I learned how to sew a straight line at about 9 years old. My mom made a lot of our clothes, so I just grew up around sewing. My sister and I used to make pillows for our Barbie dolls. My mom's machine was a heavy, metal Singer that was really loud. I always felt like it was sewing out of control, so I didn't like sewing very much. I tried again as a teenager, but didn't have the patience. If one thing went wrong, that was it. Project over! I had a little more patience after I got married and sewed a lot of my own clothes since we were still poor college students.


I hear ya.  I think many young people find themselves lacking in patience with sewing.  But, quilting...that certainly takes a lot of patience.  So how long have you been quilting?


I've been serious about quilting for about 3 years. Until then, I'd only made two quilts. One of which, was the king-sized quilt that is still on my bed. My piecing isn't that great, and my mom and I hand-quilted it. We calculated about 100 hours just in hand-quilting! I then made a couple of quilts for friends and it was just so time consuming that it kind of took the fun out of it. But, at that time, I was a real quilt snob. Quilts could only be hand-quilted, otherwise, it wasn't a "real" quilt. I quickly got over that the first time I tried free motion quilting. I absolutely loved it and the quilt was completed in a fraction of the time!


HA!!!  "Quilt Snob."  I love it!  But, if you weren't super into sewing in general at first, and quilting was a bit of a chore in the beginning, what or who inspired you to learn quilting?


The women in my family always quilted and I have several memories of my sister and I playing under the quilts as they were stretched on the quilt frame. My great-grandmother was the piecer in the family. I still have a wonderful quilt she made with small hand-pieced hexagons. My grandmother's quilts always won the blue ribbon at the county fair each year. She had wonderfully, perfect stitches! She liked to do the hand-quilting more than the piecing, so most of the quilts my family has from her are whole cloth quilts. She couldn't see the point in cutting up perfectly good fabric just to sew it back together again! When my mother would quilt with grandma, grandma would unpick my mom's stitches because they weren't up to par. So, my mom tied quilts when I was a child. When I got into quilting a few years ago, she did too. It's great to share this hobby her and we probably go to some sort of fabric store together every week and enable each other's fabric addiction.


One of the things that we love about your quilts is that they are quite often very bold and graphic in nature, which is often a reflection of the modern quilting "movement".  So what drew you towards the modern side of things, since you grew up surrounded by the more "traditional"?


I consider myself a border-line modern quilter. I think traditional quilting says; I need so many light, medium and dark fabrics with so many small, medium and large designs. Modern quilting seems to be less about that. I do a lot of baby quilts and they tend to use classic patterns with bold, modern fabrics. For me, it's all about the fabrics and less about the pattern. I have a Fashion Merchandising degree and I've always loved the mix of patterns in clothing...a stripe with a polka-dot, a plaid with a floral...combining fabrics into a quilt seemed a natural extension of that thought process. I also have the idea that you can't have too many prints (which, yes, in reality you really can have too many) but, quilting feeds that desire to add one more polka-dot to the mix. I'm really drawn to the boldness of modern quilting, just like I'm drawn to the modern art section at an art museum.

Pinwheel baby quilt made from a collection of various fabrics. I can make this quilt in my sleep, I've done so many!

I love doing these interviews because I had no idea your degree was in Fashion Merchandising!  How neat!  

So who do you find inspirational in the world of modern quilting?

I have a lot of blogs on my reader. If I had to pick a couple that really inspire and speak to me I'd say first, Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson!  She has some fabulous original patterns and I love the way she often uses multiple prints in the same color to create blocks. There's just something very refreshing about her work. Second, would be Cynthia at Ahhh...Quilting.  Her bold patterns and contrasting colors just speak to me.

Do you have any certain fabric designers or manufacturers that speak to you the most?

I don't pay that much attention to who designs or manufacturers the fabric I buy. Again, it's just about how the fabric hits me. If you are choosey, you can find good fabric almost anywhere. But, you have to be very selective. Fabric needs to have a certain "feel" for me to buy it.

Do you find that there is a time of day when you are the most productive or when the best ideas strike you?

I tend to be most productive in the afternoon. Maybe that's because my ideas seem to strike at night when I'm going to bed and I can't get to sleep because I'm thinking about them. Since my son graduated high school a year ago, it seems to take me a little longer to get dressed in the morning. In fact, it's 12:30 right now and I haven't even showered!

HA!  I think many of us can relate.  I know I'm not a morning person, although my kids are desperately trying to make me one.  So, what quilts or techniques are you looking forward to tackling in the future?

I'd like to get a little more variety in my free motion quilting. I actually don't like a lot of fancy quilt stitches. For me, the quilting just holds it all together. I use the meandering stitch a lot because it's fun to do and because I love the look of the quilt when it's completed and washed. The randomness of the stitch really facilitates that old-fashioned crinkly look that I love. I'd also like to work with more solids and become a little more abstract and random. I can do planned random, but I have a hard time being truly random. I'd like to break out of that.

Now out of the quilts you have completed which one is your favorite?

I'm most proud of my Plaid Houndstooth quilt. The pattern was just a basic houndstooth, but I had some crazy inspiration during an episode of Top Chef to make it plaid. I couldn't be happier with the results and I've had a lot of great responses to it, which I really appreciate.

Plaid Houndstooth using Michael Miller solids

Of course, now that we know what your favorite is we need to know if you've ever had a project go terribly wrong.  It will help to boost our self esteem after seeing that Plaid Houndstooth of yours.  

Boy have I! I always seem to do things the hard way first and I hadn't really figured out the best way to piece the blocks in my Seaside Avocados quilt. The piecing of each block was painful at times and I unpicked a lot. Then, when all 40 blocks were sewn together, I realized I hadn't flipped every other row like I wanted. So, I unpicked it all and sewed it back together again. This was also my first time doing straight line quilting, which isn't as easy as everyone makes you believe. Or maybe it was just me? There were several rows of quilting I had to unpick as well. With a little patience, though, it all turned out in the end.

Seaside Avocados using Kona Cotton solids.

Phew!  That makes me feel better.  

While your blog is super inspiring in it's own right, do you have a blog or book that you recommend for the modern quilter?

I'm not sure there's just one site I'd suggest, but Oh, Fransson! would be at the top of my list. She has a section with tips on the basics and that's where I learned the essentials of free motion quilting. I don't buy many quilt books for some reason.

And, one last question.  What words of advice do you have for someone just diving into the world of modern quilting?

I have two pieces of advice. First, you can only learn by jumping in and doing it. There are a lot of great tutorials online and they can give you the basics of what you need to know. Find a free tutorial of a pattern you like and just do it. When it comes to free motion quilting, practice a lot on samples about the size of a placemat so you get the rhythm and the feel for the motion and speed. It'll feel completely different when you get to the actual quilt, but you need to practice. Just put on your favorite music and take your time. 

Second, it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. There's that moment at a baby shower when the quilt gets passed around and everyone starts inspecting it and all I think is, "Don't look too close, it isn't perfect!" My quilts will never be perfect. But, I've discovered that when that quilt is on a bed or on the floor with a baby and spit up all over it, it doesn't need to be. It's beautiful just the way it is.

AMEN!!!  Thanks for your time, Leslie!  Your approach to quilting from beginning to end is refreshing, and we look forward to seeing you tackle some of those items on your "to do" list.  

Sew long for now,

-Amanda-

July 2012 Meeting

Hi you fabulous quilty people!  :)

I've missed you.  But, my shoulder/arm/wrist is in "physical therapy" of the massage nature.  Jealous?!

Don't be.  The massage is super painful.  Like tears in my eyes painful.  Seriously.  My therapist is really sweet and does some relaxation techniques for me at the end b/c she can tell I'm uncomfortable.  With that said...2 days after the massage I feel AMAZING!  Seriously, AMAZING.  So, for the time being, the stupendous Leslie is going to continue helping me out with our WIP and Finish Friday posts.  BIG thank you to her for that.

Now on to our July meeting.  There was a lot of business to discuss, but it was super fun.  I don't have my agenda in front of me so we'll wing this by highlighting some things.  We talked about future blog ideas and next years show.  Look forward to a Q&A post with our show coordinator for 2012, Crys, and myself regarding how our show worked in late July/August.  

Oh, and a shout out to our new members!  You know who you are!  We are SO excited to see our Guild continuing to grow and thrive!!!!!  So many new super cool peeps.

We discussed our plans for attending QuiltCon...and then we talked about our Michael Miller Quilt that we're making to submit for the QuiltCon Show.  The fabulous LQS Oklahoma Quiltworks talked us up to the Michael Miller people, at Market, and through a little quilty magic the OKC MQG is creating a group quilt to enter in to QuiltCon using all Michael Miller solids.  And, (I wish I had snapped a picture of this) to inspire us all, Michael Miller sent every guild member participating in the quilt a Swatch Card of their fabulous solids.  Be jealous.  Be VERY jealous.  It's an AMAZING card.  The fabrics are soft, luxurious, GREAT to work with (I already have on several occasions myself), and the colors are radiant!!!

So a HUGE thank you to the people over at Michael Miller.  We are most definitely feeling inspired!!!  Stay tuned for pictures of that quilt as it comes together.  I can't wait to see how everyone's blocks turn out!!!

Of course we had our standard show and tell segment as well.

Top L - R:  Anges' Linen Quilt, Andrea's zig zag piecing (awesome new member who has NO FEAR!
This is only her second quilt.  Her first one was Avalon!!!  I kid you not, Crys continues on her quest to
complete her "Quilt as you Go" quilt.

Middle L - R:  Betty's quilter accidentally attached a cheater to her backing.  Oops!,  Jemellia made this
zipper pouch for one of the kiddos she knows attending the Oklahoma Quiltworks Kids Kamp.,  
Agnes created this amazing little mini for an Alzheimer's Charity Auction.

Bottom L - R:  Robin (our cutie preggo member) finished the binding on this lovely quilt while at the
 meeting, I shared this little doll quilt I finished up for my daughter, and
Erin made this AMAZING plaid transparency quilt for a customer.
 I seriously plan to have her do an entire post about this quilt as it is stunning.  :)

I hope you all are having a fabulous summer!!!  Now...who else is going to QuiltCon?!  We want to meet ALL of you!!!!!!!!!!  :)

Sew long for now,

-Amanda-