Modern Block Monday - Rainbow Brights

Usually I show you blocks that I'm making for my Modern Block Sampler, however, I'm going to show you some modern blocks that I've made for other purposes today.

Here are my first three blocks from the Something New Sampler. They measure 7.5 by 14.5" unfinished.

Bargello

Fabric Folding

Scrappy Strips

Anybody else thinking Rainbow Bright here? ;) I'm loving this project so far. It's always fun to try a new technique in a small, easily-managed block or project. Two more blocks are up this week -- Sashiko with Jess @ The Elven Garden and Reverse Appliqué with Lindsay @ Lindsay Sews.

I'm also going to give you a sneak peek of the trapunto block that I designed for the sampler. I'll be providing a tutorial on trapunto for this block on next Monday, February 4th. Yes, trapunto isn't just for traditional heirloom quilts. It can give great punch to a modern design too.

And last but not least, is this fun block that I made for Katie, the Queen Bee genius behind our Don't Worry {Bee} Happy gang. She sent us the fabric (LOVE the fabric, especially the print!) and told us to design as we pleased along this style. So this is what I did. I want to do this block for my modern block sampler too.

Hope you are having a great Monday! It's snowing here, but at least it's no longer - 25 C!

Colour My World White

For those that are new to my blog, welcome to this month's link up for Colour My World Challenge. In a nutshell, each month we do a small project (e.g. your choice of block, mugrug, mini quilt) focussing on a different colour. Check out my Colour My World Challenge page for more info, if this is something that interests you. You can join in or pop out any month, and/or go back and do previous months' challenges.

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I've stated before that I'm not a fan of white. After What the FMQAYGQAL?, I can safely say that I no longer fear white though. I also love all the modern quilts with white in them, but wasn't sure how a piece with just white could work.

As with my black challenge piece, I thought doing something with texture and folding, as Ellen had suggested (Thanks Ellen!), would be a good idea. There's a fabulous folded flap quilt in Contemporary Quilts that I've been wanting to try for ages. Perfect!

The quilt in the book is much bigger than what I needed so I read through the instructions and then designed a much smaller version for my mini.

Here's a quick rundown of what I did: I used a 14 white prints cut in 1.5" strips by 15" (the background) and 12 2.5" by 15" solid white strips cut on the bias and folded in half lengthwise (the folds). I then sewed the solid strips between the print strips and ironed them all upwards. I layered the top on batting and backing. Next, I sewed up the middle with a decorative stitch, securing the folds to the background prints, the batting and the backing. I also straight-stitched up the sides, right at the edges, securing the folds on those sides. Next up was folding down the solid white strips (the bias is what made it possible to stretch the flaps down) and pinning them in place. I then lightly marked the sewing line in pencil and did a decorative stitch along the line, pulling out the pins as I went. Clear as mud, right?

I like how the background whites pop through with the flaps folded down. I wasn't sure how well the different whites would show in the photos, but it's not too bad. The solid white flaps actually look a little gray/blue in the photo -- white balance is off on my camera, I guess. How fun would this technique be with black flaps and brightly coloured background strips?

As with my other challenge pieces, this mini is 14.5" by 14"5", with a zig zag stitch finish along the edge. 

I'm so curious to what others have done with this colour. Frankly, I'll be amazed if anyone else links up this month -- this might be the toughest colour yet! 

September's Colour My World Challenge is orange. I might have done that on purpose in anticipation of October...think pumpkins, Fall foliage, Thanksgiving (Canadian), Halloween, oranges, cats...

I'm also linking up with TGIFF!, which is at Missy Mac Creations this week. For those new to my blog, TGIFF! is a touring linky party to celebrate quilty finishes. If you have a recent finish, link up, tour and enjoy the eye candy!

Colour My World Black

This month's colour was quite the challenge...at least, I thought so. The low expectations are probably why I'm so happy with the result. ;)

For the black challenge, I thought I'd use solid black fabric and focus on texture. I decided to try two new-to-me techniques for adding texture -- trapunto and fabric folding.


On Wednesday, I showed you my progress on the trapunto. This motif is called Biotribe Logo 1 from Alex Sherman's Contemporary Celtic Motifs book and CD. I really wanted to do a circular celtic knot, but I thought it was probably too complex for my second try at trapunto (the first unsuccessful attempt was on the dots on the red challenge). Wednesday's photo still has the water soluble thread and white clover pen marks. The trapunto technique I used this time is the one taught by Phillipa Naylor on The Quilt Show, when it was free a couple of weekends ago. It worked a LOT better this time.

I saw also saw the fabric folding technique from Rami Kim on The Quilt Show and knew I had to give that a try too. Clearly it was an illuminating weekend!

Here is my finished black challenge.

Front - Black Velvet Band

It kind of reminds of the song, Black Velvet Band. Well, except for the velvet part. I don't think there's a version of the song that I don't like, but I especially love this punk/indie version by the Dropkick Murphys:

Fabric folding - "Her eyes that shone like diamonds"

Trapunto

Back - Black Velvet Band

As with my other challenge pieces, this one is 14.5" by 14.5" unfinished. Part of why I'm so thrilled that the trapunto worked is because I want to do trapunto on another project that's been on hold for a couple of years now. Now I can do it and maybe even finish that project.

I'm linking up with TGIFF!, which is being hosted by the fabulous Fiona at Finding Fifth. She's got a yummy Gelato Log Cabin to share today so check it out when you get a chance. As always, you are also welcome to link up a recent finish of your own.

To see some of the ways other people have used this colour in their quilts, I put together a board on Pinterest. There's quite a variety of styles, which shows black's versatility.

Now it's your turn! I can't wait to see what you did with this colour!

The colour for April is yellow. I'll do a post about this vibrant colour in the next few days.