Tasting Table Tuesday - 10 Minute Blocks

I saw a quick demo of this block at last month's meeting of the Ithaca Modern Quilt Guild and just had to give it a try before I forgot how to do it.  You need 5 squares (any size as long as they're all the same size), and with only THREE SEAMS you have a completed block in about 10 minutes!  I'm using another pack of the charm squares I won from Andover (I think it's the French Twist collection) and the center squares are silver and gold striped silk from my stash.

The center square ends up folded along the bias edges and they can either be top-stitched down to secure the diagonal edges, or you can roll them back like a cathedral window block and top-stitch them, which is what I plan on doing - like this one that I've pinned...  still needs to be top-stitched.

Fun, fast & easy!  Here's a link to a demo by Suzanne McNeill if you want to learn how to do this.

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - Modern Quilts

Are you a modern quilter?

I always considered myself a traditional quilter, but over the years, my taste has slowly been changing and I find myself more and more drawn to modern quilts.  I am attracted to simple lines, graphic shapes, artistic expression, and most importantly, color! -  as opposed to traditional quilts that are typically made up of very complex blocks.

So last Sunday, when a friend invited me to join her, I attended a meeting of the Ithaca Modern Quilt Guild.It was so inspiring to see what everyone was working on, and the sharing of information in the discussion period was great.  (Besides - the meetings are held at Quilters Corner Quilt Shop, so who can resist a little extra shopping time!)

Just to give you an example of when and how my taste in quilts started to turn, here is a picture of a quilt I made for my niece and her husband as a wedding gift in 2007.  I stepped "out of the box" a little with this quilt and did my best to blend the photo of the Eiffel Tower into the borders of this quilt.  It's not the clearest picture, but you get the idea.  My niece and her husband got engaged at the top of the Eiffel Tower, so I thought this would make a wonderful wedding gift.  It's not super-modern, but not totally traditional either - clearly my first steps into this modern quilting phase.

I was just starting to do my own machine quilting, and created a sunburst effect of straight lines radiating out from behind the Eiffel Tower.  I used monofilament thread to just add the texture without the distraction of more color.

So that's my start as a modern quilter.  I still love traditional quilts, but sometimes a little change is good.

As far as my Tasting Table goes, it's a mess today.  I've got lots of little things going, but nothing really worth sharing at this point.  Hopefully I'll have more progress to share with you next post.  If not, I'll just dig back into the archives again and share a past project like this one.

Cheers!