Blogger’s Quilt Festival Modern Entry – Big Blue

Posted on October 24, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged modern quilt, modern quilting, Quilt, quilter's blog festival, quilting33 Comments

For those who have not already met him I would like to introduce my submission into the Modern Category of the Fall Version of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, Big Blue. (And for the folks who have already seen this quilt on my blog thank you for bearing with me.) This quilt along with many of my recent makings is inspired by the clean hard lines of Modern Art. Specifically, the work of minimalist painter Alain Biltereyst and one of his tiny paintings highly influenced my big quilt.

Alain Biltereyst.

As I made this quilt believe it or not I did not draw up a plan but instead started cutting and sewing pieces together. Crazy as it is, that is how I make up most quilts and also likely why this quilt that was meant to be a baby quilt became much larger then expected. I used Kona Cottons on the front and Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Linen for the back and it measures 60 by 86 inches.

The quilt was beautifully quilted by Emily Sessions of Emerson Quilting.

emerson quilting | longarm quilt design.

Please check out my quilt as well as all the beautiful quilts being featured at the Blogger’s Quilt Festival via the link below.

Happy Weekend!

Hillary

I’m Done Breaking the Rules

Posted on October 13, 2014October 14, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged baby quilt, modern quilt, Quilt, quilting9 Comments

Ha, that would be a no! I am done however with my Break the Rules Baby Quilt. Like most quilts, this one started as an image in my brain that was made into fabric without much planning. There’s some magic for me cutting and sewing without putting it on paper first. I explain the origins of this quilt in a previous post here:

Let’s Break the Rules. Shall We? | Entropy Always Wins.

You might hate me if you knew how easy this quilt was. No question it is a design that could go a few different ways. This is the third quilt I’ve made with canvas which gives a definite matte look and also adds weight. I think it will hold up to the rigors of a baby/toddler well.

My recent love affair with minimalism is reinforced by the fact that I like the back as much as the front. Though the substrates may have been “low brow” (ikea canvas, remnant bin denim) it was quilted with “high brow” Aurifil thread. (Oh my, I love that stuff.)

I’m hoping to break out my newly purchased fabric dyes later this week. There are a few projects in my brain that “need” hand dyed fabric.

Hillary

A Palate Cleanse

Posted on July 26, 2014July 26, 2014 Posted in Knitting, QuiltingTagged Knitting, modernquilt, Quilt, quilting14 Comments

Bold, Graphic, Black, White – These themes have been calling me this week, perhaps in reaction to the color overload of our recent vacation. I’ve ditched the small needles and delicate lace weight yarn for some lovely worsted weight hand dyed yarn in dark gray by Neighborhood Fiber Company. I also finished up a quilt top this morning in black and white linen/cotton by Rober Kaufman that is all bold and graphic. These have provided quite the palate cleanse.

My quilt top was heavily inspired by the work of Mark Grotjahn. You can find some of his paintings here:

PHILLIPS : Art Auctions | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions | Private Sales | Private Collections.

I’m calling it “Queuing Theory” which per the Wikipedia definition means “the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues”.

I’m not quite sure how to quilt this bold beauty up. A big package of Aurifil thread came into by possesion recently. Here’s hoping it lives up to it’s amazing reputation.

in other news, the challenge of working with lace weight yarn paid off and a picture of my Windspiel shawl was picked up by Flickr Explore. My husband is happy to remind me that it is actually HIS picture. 🙂

Windspiel Lace Shawl- Explore | Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

I have about 4 more quilt designs and several bag designs percolating but the next few weeks are full of work and family.

Cheers,

Hillary

Big Blue Complete

Posted on July 1, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged modernquilt, Quilt, quilting13 Comments

I came home from vacation to a wonderful surprise. My Big Blue quilt top had been shipped to me from Emily Sessions. I quilt most of my quilts but when I am looking for something special I have turned to Emily to do custom quilting for me.

emerson quilting | longarm quilt design.

Emily does a wonderful job. You can see her work on another quilt of mine here:

Life in the ER Quilt | Entropy Always Wins.

Loving how this quilt has turned out. It was heavily inspired by a painting of Alain Bilteryest.

Alain Biltereyst – Minimalist Geometric Paintings / Aqua-Velvet.

I think it looks a little like a flag while one of my friends says it looks like “two sergeants getting married”. That comment had me investigating military badges and medals. . . I may have found a new fount of inspiration.

Happy creating everyone.

Hillary

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Modern Entry – Striped City Quilt

Posted on May 20, 2014May 25, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged blogger's quilt festival, Quilt49 Comments

My second and last entry into the Blogger’s Quilt Festival is a quilt design by the amazing Kaffe Fassett using his fabrics. It is the Striped City Quilt from his book Quilts in Sweden. I have made several, what I consider modern quilts over the last year but this one has special significance for me. It was made and raffled off to generate money for a friend’s 6 year old stepson who has advance cancer. I raised $2000 and the winner of the raffle was a friend with cancer who has defied all the odds having survived 10 years after getting the diagnosis of metastatic melanoma. Those things alone make this quilt one of my favorites ever.

A Quilt Finish

Posted on April 12, 2014April 12, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged jeans, Linen, Quilt, quilting, repurposed, repurposing, upcycled6 Comments

Woot! Woot! I finished a quilt top and oh my I love this quilt. It is a quilt of my own design made from repurposed jeans of ours and new and vintage linen with a touch of corduroy. The fabrics make this quilt heavier then my other quilts and it feels reassuring somehow to cuddle up with a retake on my favorite old jeans.

I tried to partially echo the Plus design from the front on the back and quilted this up on the diagonals.

In other news, I came up with a design for the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Challenge (Umbrella Prints: Golden Ticket) and I’m super psyched to share it with you. Hope it comes out as I envision. Happy crafting!

The Backstory Quilt Completed

Posted on February 26, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged baby gift, baby quilt, fireplace mantel, Kaffe Fassett, Quilt10 Comments

I quilted up The Backstory Quilt today. It is on it’s way to one of the only girl babies (and her mama) in my sphere. I loved using the back of the Kaffe Fassett fabric so much for parts of the front that I flipped the fabric over for the back and the binding. It is so soft and girlie. I quilted it in straight lines following the rectangular shape of the quilt.

This quilt was small enough I was able to display it from the mantel in our bedroom. My husband has designed and made most of the wood furniture in our house as well as both our fireplace mantels and the vanity in our bathroom. A few years ago when we were remodeling part of the house I drew a picture of the mantel that I wanted and he constructed this for me. So grateful for my guy.

The Backstory Quilt Top

Posted on February 4, 2014February 4, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged courthouse steps, Kaffe Fassett, Quilt, quilting, sewing6 Comments

I like to think of myself as a modern girl. For the most part I like bold designs and bright colors but sometimes I like some softness. There’s nothing like a traditional design quilt made of pinks and blues that you can wrap yourself up in with a cup of tea by the fire to bring the blood pressure down a few points. With that desire in mind I pulled out some favorite Kaffe Fassett fabrics from my stash and started making up a new quilt top. I decided to go with a traditional courthouse steps design but again since I am a modern woman I had to break the rules a bit. 😉 I flipped the fabrics to the wrong side for the sides of the pattern which brought even more softness to the quilt.

I got the idea of flipping the fabrics over from the first quilt I ever made. I bought a quilt kit off of ebay several years ago and loved the effect Kaffe suggested of flipping the fabric for a more washed out effect.

Baby and Mom Gift Trio in the Mail

Posted on January 22, 2014January 22, 2014 Posted in Bags, QuiltingTagged baby gift, baby quilt, Bag, handmade, Quilt1 Comment

I think I’m done with red for a bit.

I finished quilting up my simple triangle baby quilt (https://entropyalwayswinsblog.com/2014/01/16/a-modern-baby-quilt-top/) and have packaged it up along with a bag for mom (https://entropyalwayswinsblog.com/2014/01/18/a-momma-bag/) and Rufus the dog (https://entropyalwayswinsblog.com/2014/01/10/introducing-rufus/) for baby. I did some simple geometric quilting for the quilt and used a vintage cotton/linen fabric for the back.

PASTELS, HERE I COME!

A Modern Baby Quilt Top

Posted on January 16, 2014January 16, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged baby quilt, modern, Quilt, quilting1 Comment

I’m continuing to work on a group of handmade goodies for a baby boy. Today I made a simple Quilt top. To add some interest to this simple design I added texture by using Denim and corduroy to the Kona cotton. Next up, a bag for momma.