Thursday, November 29, 2012

Westside Modern Club November Gathering

The Westside Modern Club gathered last night at The Pine Needle Quilt Shop. 
This was our second gathering.  We plan on meeting monthly (except for December)
We are about learning, sharing and challenging each other in this new quilting trend.
In this blog, you can find links to many of the resources that we shared and learned about.




Geri shared her impressions from the Houston International Quilt Show.  
Modern Quilting is HOT.  
It is about color and solids, and the feeling is "enthusiasm" and the attitude is "possible."  

She shared some trends in Modern Quilting.
Look for words and numbers on fabric, lots of empty space, 
solids, chevrons, ikats, black-white and a bright, and themed prints.
See them for yourself at C&T Publishing.  


Other resources that were shared are two new Magazines
Click on the Magazine cover to be taken to subscription information.

Modern Quilts Illustrated
Modern Quilts Unlimited


In October we were given this fabric and challenged to come up with a 12" block.



Here's what we came up with.








Here are the links to some great Blogs 
about Modern Quilting.


Announcements of newest releases of patterns and fabric collections



Color inspiration:  a photograph-inspired palette is posted daily. 
Beautiful!    Designer:  Jessica Colaluca



Fabric manufacturer Dear Stella. 
Announcements of new fabric lines and their inspiration.




Alissa Haight Carlton, author of Modern Minimal
and co-author of Block Party, The Modern Quilting Bee 



Julie Herman, pattern designer, author of Skip the Borders
designed Creative Grids Hex’n More ruler



Cherri House, author of City Quilts




Kathy Miller, co-owner and creative director of Michael Miller Fabrics. 
Announcements of new fabric lines and their inspiration.




Online recipes using pre-cuts (charm packs, fat quarters, layer cakes and jelly rolls) 




Local artist Elizabeth Hartman, author of Modern Patchwork 
and The Practical Guide to PatchworkExcellent online tutorials.




Information on guild meetings, special events and activities



Angela Walters, professional longarm quilter, fabric designer and author of 
Free-Motion Quilting and In the Studio with Angela Walters
Angela’s first fabric line (Art Gallery) is Textures, inspired by her quilting designs.




Pam Raby's Blog


Rita Hodge, quilter from Melbourne, Australia




Katie Pedersen, co-author of Quilting Modern



Jacquie Gering, co-author of Quilting Modern



Tula Pink, fabric designer for Free Spirit Fabrics, 
author of Quilts from the House of Tula Pink




And here are just a few of our favorite books 
about Modern Quilting.


Modern Blocks
Modern Minimal
Make it Sew Modern
Modern Mix









Friday, November 16, 2012

Christmas Gift Ideas at The Pine Needle

Here are some fabulous and easy gift ideas for you to make this season.

We have great patterns for:

  • Bags - big and small
  • Table decor - table runners, placemats, napkins, stuffed trees
  • Felted wool friends and wall hangings
  • Iron caddy
  • Pajamas
  • and more.


AND.... if you come into the Shop this weekend, 
Everything is 18% off and Christmas is 25% off!

Here are some of our favorites.

"A Bag for All Reasons" or as we like to call it - our Potato Chip Bag...
because you can't make just one!
Thanksgiving Table - runners, placemats, napkins... 
Christmas Table Decor - placemats, table runners, and stuffed trees

More Christmas Table Decor and kits!


Felted Wool friends and gifts and kits!

Kay Rockwood Christmas Dolls

Team Spirit - scarves, bags, aprons, napkins.... you name it.
Easy Pajamas - for children and women - we have loads of flannels to choose from.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Westside Modern Club at The Pine Needle


    Modern Quilting - What is it?  
The newly forming WestSide Modern Club 
at The Pine Needle Quilt Shop explores this quilting trend.  


On October 24th, about 40 quilters gathered at The Pine Needle 
to explore what the Modern Quilt Movement is all about.  
How is it different from Contemporary or Art Quilting? What defines it? 

We were encouraged to know that "Modern Quilting" is not an age, but a mindset. 

 It's breaking some of the rules.  It's asymmetrical.  It uses lots of solids and bold fabrics.  

We explored the color gray, looked at lots of Modern Quilting books, heard about some of Pam's favorite blogs, and viewed a slide show of examples of modern quilts.


The next meeting of the Westside Modern Club
will be on November 28th.  
We'll begin with a social hour at 5:30 
and start our meeting with show and tell at 6:00.  
This is a brand new club and we are open to all sorts of ideas.  



As our challenge, Geri gave us each a piece of this gray fabric and asked us to come up with a 12x12 modern quilt block incorporating this fabric for our next meeting. 


All grays are not created equally.  
Some are cool with yellow undertones and some are warm with blue undertones.  



Pam Raby, one of our fabulous instructors, presented "What is the Modern Quilter?"  



Pam Raby

These are the Characteristics of the Modern Quilt:

  • Simplified and/or improvisational forms
  • Large-scale patchwork
  • Use of negative space
  • Whites, grays or other solid fabric
  • Interpretation of traditional quilting
  • Simple, straight lines of quilting
  • Utility (functional quilts)
  • Pieced backs


Here are highlights from the slide show 
that showed lots of examples of modern quilts.