Sometimes it pays off to listen to the teacher.

Last night I was working on the most fabulous quilt, Emily's {Modern} Robin, and at this point in our projects (the last round we'll do on each other's quilt) it means we have to add some pretty long borders and still keep things square/not wavy.

(Note to self - take straighter pictures!)
Top border = wavy
Bottom border = not wavy
(the rest = bad picture taking/wind)

Can you guess who doesn't like to measure and pin her borders?

Well, last night I realized (for real) that I really need to measure and attach those borders properly! I was halfway through the first of three pieced borders I'm adding on this turn. And... they weren't at the level of flatness that I was expecting - a little wavy, no biggie... well yes it could end up bad. And there's still quite a bit of piecing going onto this quilt - so it's time to do it right! 

What? You don't know what I'm talking about? Go on over to my friend Ebony's page - she talks about trying to long-arm quilt a quilt with wavy borders. What a hassle! As a matter of fact this (crazy) experience with wavy borders inspired Ebony to post some basics for adding non-wavy borders. Go read about it there. No really, go read it. Someday you'll need to know. 

I went back and did a little fixing. I left two sides as is -- I'll perfect it the next border. 

Ugh I hate to pin though! :) 

It's worth it. Someone hold me accountable - if it's over 25" on each side of the piece, then I need to use pins to add a border. 

The end. 

PS: Please feel free to ignore the teacher and the quilt police too on most everything else.  

{Modern} Robin

Here we are, swapping again! Can you believe how much our quilts have grown?? If you're new here, or don't remember, Emily and I each created a quilt block, then swapped - we each added a border (or two) to the other's piece, then we swapped again, and then again. We've got one more border to go then they'll return to the original maker to be finished.

This has been a really fun project. I can't believe how well they've come together so far! And... it gives Emily and I an excuse to get together to sew once a month!

Today we sewed for just a couple hours... er... we talked through most of the time, but I got most of a bee block finished. lol. It's a wonder that we get anything done when we sew together! 

So for the next and final round - I don't know what I'm going to add... but I'll do a tiny friendship star in one of the corners... (it is a friendship quilt right? - that was actually Emily's idea, I can't pretend it was mine). I'm thinking teeny -- 3" or so... embedded in a border. 

I'm really happy with how this is turning out - so much fun! But, the only really challenging part? Blogging about a project shared with someone who has my same name. lol. In my head I'm imagining my readers thinking "which Emily was that?" lol.

Thanks for following our little journey here. :) 

{Modern} Robin - sewing at the retreat!

A few months ago Emily and I decided to start a little quilting swaping project. It's a different take on a Round Robin. We've been sewing and swapping for a couple months now, and we've got one more round to go before we're finished!

As if that wasn't cool enough, we both got to work on ours simultaneously at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild spring retreat! There sure was a lot of color going on at that table!!

I can't wait to see what our projects look like when they're finished - just one more round!! I'm thinking a bold off-center border of a light aqua solid will be the finishing touch - we'll see what Emily adds to it first though! 

Below here is photo of Emily's piece. Pretty awesome if you ask me! Do you think she's finished adding that border yet? I've got a list of ideas for the last bit! 

Finding a sewing community: Chicago Modern Quilt Guild Retreat.

This weekend was the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild's spring retreat in Racine, WI. We had a blast, stayed up late, slept in, ate yummy food, and yes, we sewed!

Thread catcher made using this tutorial

I'm going to break this up into a couple different blog posts - so please check back this week - I worked on some major ongoing projects that deserve their own space. :)

Emily and Elaine

Friday we arrived at the Dominican convent in Racine for our retreat - we had 24 (?) people attend and it was a crazy good time! Sara brought her scarf dying for us to try, Donna brought her masseuse (!!), and Ebony brought her AccuQuilt Studio die cutter. We all had a great time sewing up a storm and chatting along the way!

Some zip pouches for my sister and mom.

I feel like the weekend just flew by! I stayed up late (3am!) both nights, and slept in in the mornings. It was really refreshing to have a chance to really connect with some of the other CMQG members!

Beth's awesome stack of awesomeness!

I really accomplished a lot of things. I worked on my Bella Bella Quilt, some zip pouches, and free motion quilted a quilt that's been in the closet for years. I also added another border to my {Modern} Robin quilt, made a mini quilt, finished my doll quilt, and sewed up a thread catcher! Whew! 

Emily and I working simultaneously on our {Modern} Robin project!

Emily and I shared a table, and were next to Trisha, Elaine, Ebony and Beth. We had a great time in our little area! So much wild color around us! 

Trisha's fantastic quilt - she used some corduroy too! I love it!!

Oh and I'll bet you wouldn't expect that this happened --

haha. I walked into the kitchen of our retreat space Saturday night to find this collection of half empty alcohol bottles! lol. Remember though, there were 24 of us so there was enough to go around!

Some borders on my {Modern} Robin

We had a great time - and made it home in record timing! What a weekend!! I'll leave you with a picture of all the things I worked on this weekend - a crazy amount of projects! 

How fabulous is that'? I'm in love with all of those projects!!

CMQG and {Modern} Robin

{modern} robins swapped! Now we'll each add another border to our own!

Yesterday was the February meeting of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild. We worked on a project making mini quilts to donate to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. But truthfully? I didn't sew much at all... it was too much catching up with everyone. :) Thankfully I have gotten a good start on my AAQI quilt already.

Highlights of the CMQG meeting for me? Meeting Sally (finally!). We've been following each other's blogs and chatting back and forth for .... forever! This was her first meeting and it was great to finally meet her in real life! I hope she'll come back to more meetings too!

Another highlight of the meeting was .... Seeing a copy of Jacquie's new book!!!!!!! It was so sweet to see how excited and proud of it she is. And it's always inspiring to see the work of an artist who I really respect, but also is so much in the style that I'd love to achieve so seamlessly. I always fret over being too simplistic in my quilts but don't seem to find the balance always. Jacquie's quilts have that balance. I'll be buying that book when it's available!

And.... Emily and I swapped our {Modern} Robin quilts again! I'm so excited about the borders she added to mine! These are coming along really nicely! I am loving them so far! I have no idea what I'm going to add to it next though! ... maybe some Kona Curry? lol... Always curry.

I must be growing...

I remember a time where all my sewing projects looked the same - not the same - but the same because my fabric choices were so predictable. I have never been a "use only this line of fabric" kind of quilter, but I've come a long way since the early days of playing it safe.

Last night I was working on adding a border to Emily's {Modern} Robin block. She had generously sent a wide variety of fabrics (mostly solids) that were impeccably matched and chosen with the skill of an art student graduate (which she is). Now I have never taken color theory or anything of the sort... I go with my heart and that's where I am in color design.

So as I was saying, I was adding a border to her block and I'm proud to say that I didn't take the predictable route of adding a grey border around my added pieced border... instead I used this pinkish - Kona Mellon that she'd sent with the block. My point is, I spent half the time worrying if it was going to look ok, and if it would be "Emily" enough (her Emily, not me Emily lol). With the morning came clarity that I do indeed like the melon borders. (I'll still wait Emily's reply though - it may not be her liking).

Now looking at my design board, I'm seeing how I've grown. No more singular color palate for every project! On that wall alone I have:

Emily's {modern} Robin (light blue, salmon, purples, and oranges),

My Pillow Talk Swap piece (scrappy blue, white, light green, and grey),

My swoon quilt for Linda (pinks and purples with a shot of orange backed in white),

My tiny scrappy project (bright bold red, blue, green, yellow, orange - everything bold minus pink and purple),

And a random Harry Potter block (yellow and dark grey).

On second thought, maybe I just have a lot of WIP's laying around! lol.

DQS 12 Starting Soon!!

DQS12 inspiration mosaic

The time has come, the Doll Quilt Swap is about to start! This will be my fourth round (wow!) and I can't wait! I really think that this is the best swap on flickr! For the first time this round I'll be a Swap Mama (oh the power!) lol. :) I'm really excited and it's looking like we've got an awesome group of ladies swapping!

Sign-ups are over, and partner emails will be going out this weekend -- which means I get to stalk my partner (another Mama is pairing me up so I won't know who has me). I have so many exciting ideas already! The cool thing about being a mama, is that I've already stalked through everyone's flickr pages so I've seen all the talent out there! Pretty awesome!!

Haha...my hair looks awesome. I can't wait to shave it again!

Also, Emily and I met up today to swap our {Modern} Robin blocks! This is our first round and I've been thinking about what sort of border I should add to her mini swoon block! :) Her brother took a picture of us together with our starting blocks - so that'll be added here whenever she posts it!

Hm here are some things I want to do tonight... to get my sewing fix before company comes over!

• Sew an ipod case and earphones case... just because I can.
• Refashion some pj's of mine into pants for allie.
• Plan my border for the Modern Robin.

{Modern} Robin

Imagine grouping up in pairs. A designated amount of time per round. And two pieces that get swapped back and forth.

The {Modern} Robin

Goals: To share quilty friendships and create together. To inspire each other and learn new techniques. To work with a partner with similar tastes/styles (which doesn't always happen in swaps and bees).

First. Find a partner.

Next. Pick a basic color palate.

Make a center block (8"?)

Throw the block + a FQ or two of fabrics to be used into an envelope.

Pass it to your partner.

If you like you and your partner can decide on a theme or block type each round. This is very free form.

Each round you'll alternate between your quilt and your partner's quilt. You'll have a lot of ability to guide the direction of your quilt, and yet a lot of creative ideas coming from your partner too.

Here's our tentative schedule:

Jan: make center block

Feb: work on partner's quilt

March: work on own quilt

April: work on partner's quilt

After April each pair of partners can chose to keep going if they want (depending on size of quilt etc). With rotations starting every four months give or take.

Will you come join us? Bring a partner, or find a partner on our discussion page! I hope to see you there!! 

Also, for those of you with commitment issues, although it'll be a four month commitment, you'll be committed to only as much as you and your partner decide. So don't fret!