Remember this quilt top? Well, it got quilted, bound and named “Gossip Girls”. It was then dropped off a few weeks ago as a submission to the fair.

Here it is on display at the LA County Fair:

The funny thing is, my ONLY intention was to have a modern quilt at the fair but, it looks like she has a little ribbon pinned to her!

Next year, I’m going to see if we can get the LAMQG to enter a whole bunch of quilts. Maybe we can get our own section. . . Hmm. . . I think we should get MQG’s all across the world to enter quilts in their County or Local Fairs!

How fun!

Then, the pattern I picked (Simplicity 2668, see below) had the cutest coat that I wanted to make as a lightweight coat for Cici – so perfect for Los Angeles nights. So, I searched for a light to medium weight suiting that would coordinate with the two prints that I had already chosen. No major name brand, just suiting fabric that I found at Michael Levine’s in downtown Los Angeles. I think it’s a wool blend but, I’m not 100% sure. Don’t you just LOVE IT though?

As I mentioned this whole set was was made using Simplicity Pattern 2668.

A few detail shots. . .

The fun thing about sewing patterns is making them your own. I made the dress as is but, I changed a couple things on the coat. For one, I added a lining. Linings make things like coats and jackets hang a lot better and I thought it would feel better on Cici’s skin.

Also, I changed the sleeves. The ruffle at the bottom of the sleeves were actually gathered and not pleated but, I thought a pleated sleeve would look a lot classier.

We all knew the baby’s name and nickname before she was born and I knew that i wanted to somehow incorporate that into the quilt. So, here’s my version of Cici (CC). Kinda reminds you of the Chanel logo but, this wasn’t the idea when I sketched it out! I wanted to make it personalized but, not make it super obvious and cheesy. I think I achieved that!

When I design a quilt for someone in particular like this and have an idea I brainstorm first by just doing rough sketches on paper. I ran across one of these pages recently and thought it was fun to share! This is obviously very far into the brainstorm process because it looks very similar to the final project BUT, there were many, many iterations on paper before the decision was made. And the multi-colored markings on the center of the page are bleed through from other brainstorm pages!

I didn’t get great shots of the back because it was starting to get dark when I was taking these photos BUT, here’s a close up of the back.  As some of you know, I’m a bit obsessive about baby gifts and I almost ALWAYS make more than a quilt. There’s a dress and coat set that I’ll share with you soon. But, I used the leftovers of the two main fabrics I used for the dress on the back.

And, here’s a really dark shot of the whole thing.

More detail. . .

And, yes for those of you that might ask, this is sort of an iteration of the Huckleberry Quilt. The big circle is just cut in half!

So, when I showed this at the LAMQG meeting this month, I mentioned that I was sure this was a specific style of a Log Cabin. I decided to do a little research. And guess what, this happens to be a rectangular version of just a plain ‘ole Basic Log Cabin block. Who woulda thunk? Of course, this is a massive version at around 53″ x 60″! The balance of the light on one side and the color on another side is what is important in the Basic Log Cabin Block design. Traditionally it is not just one block in a quilt like this one but, it is combined with a series of other similar blocks and the contrast in colors on both sides can be used to create many interesting designs.

A not so great picture of "Stairway to Heaven" Quilt top

A few days ago I was in the bookstore and ran across this awesome book by Susan Beal called Modern Log Cabin Quilting. Perfect Timing. I had seen this book on the internet but, hadn’t gotten a chance to flip through it yet. Now, in a seemingly futile effort to keep the secret (or not so secret) hoarder in me at bay I don’t buy too many books but for those of you that don’t have this issue this is a good book to look at. I was fascinated by the history that it told and the fresh modern projects that are great even for beginners!

Off to do the quilting! (I’m definitely thinking very linear quilting with white on the white side and maybe some contrasting colors on the colorful side!)

I’m representing the Modern Quilt Guild so tune in and call in to represent! Go MQG!

XOXO
Latifah

Of course her main color is the brown, her feature color is blue, and her pop is a pink. I love that just by changing the colors it changes the whole personality of the quilt. I also love the light blue binding color which she also used for part of the backing which really helps to soften the look of the quilt.

Love those detail shots – this one shows the quilting lines of one of my favorite blocks – the zig zag block.

And, don’t you love that spiderweb quilting? I do!

I think Monica did a stellar job! And to think this is just her second quilt!

Great job Monica! Love it!

Alissa Haight Carlton will be signing copies of her newly released book, Block Party this Friday night, the 17th of June. The festivities will be held at Sew Modern in Los Angeles! If you’re around, you have to come out to share in the fun! Alissa co-wrote Block Party with Kristen Lejnieks and it was just released on the Stash Imprint!

Come get your copy of Block Party signed, enjoy a glass of wine and lets toast to this wonderful news. I heard ALL the quilts from the book will be there as well – it’s going to be amazing to see them all in person! If you don’t have a copy, don’t worry, there will be plenty there.

Hope to see you on Friday! Congrats Alissa and Kristen!

I actually designed and completed this quilt a while ago. It’s a fun version of a circle quilt because it’s a Sampler Quilt with a different piecing method in each of the nine circles. I call it Perfect Puddles. I wanted to create interest in this quilt using a fairly restrained color scheme. The main color is gray, the feature color is green and the “pop” color is pink (in two shades). The two feature fabrics that the quilt was designed around are the Gray “Go By Bike” by Erin McMorris and “Retro Umbrella” in the Rainy Days and Mondays line by Melimba and Beccabury. Each block has each of the feature fabrics and one piece of the “pop” color of pink. Then of course I framed each circle in a white ring using the Six Minute Circle Method. The background fabric is Kona Ash.

One of the fun things about this quilt is the Machine Quilting lines. Each circle has a different quilting design that compliments the piecing of the circle. I wanted to make each design using the walking foot to eliminate the need of free motion quilting in this quilt. I love looking at the back of this quilt. Even though it is just one piece of fabric, it is very interesting because of the different straight line quilting techniques that are shown. The backing fabric is a very pink Kona Cotton – I think it’s Bubble Gum.

Here is a view of the front laid out flat.

And a detail shot.

Enjoy!