A Simply Wonder Full Quilt

Sometime last year I responded to a Instagram request from Deane of Sweet Bee Designs. She was looking for people that would be able to help fabric designers out by making projects for Quilt Market. I applied and forgot about it. Then I received an email letting me know I would be put on a list for Sweet Bee Designers to contact. Then I received an email from Lizzie Clark wanting to know if I could make a pillow and a quilt for Spring Quilt Market using her beautiful new Alexandria line. I. Was. Ecstatic.

I was even more excited when Lizzie contacted me again to to see if I'd like to participate in a blog hop using her new fabric line, Wonder Full. I soon had 14 beautiful fat quarters from her new collection to create with. (Now, this is where most bloggers would show you a pretty, artfully-aranged stack of the fabrics. I, however, get pretty excited to sew and start cutting up fabric as soon as I receive it.)

I decided I wanted to feature large pieces of these fabrics, so I decided to make the Spectacle Quilt using a free pattern by Faith of  Fresh Lemons Quilts. She designed the quilt for Project Linus, and if you're looking for a great but beginner-friendly quilt to comfort someone, this pattern is perfect. (My do. Good Stitches charity bee circle makes quilts for Project Linus, and we have two quilts in the works using this pattern.) I made 30 of the 10" (finished) blocks which makes a nice-sized lap quilt measuring 50" x 60".

You may have noticed that the quilt is  currently without its binding. (It's kind of my thing. I've been known to give binding-less quilts as gifts then take them back to finish!) I'm still adjusting to my son being out of school for the summer and not being able to quilt uninterrupted on my days off. Very soon it will have a lovely berry-colored binding.

I quilted it on my longarm using the Unwind pantograph from Urban Elementz.

Thank you, Lizzie, for letting me be part of your blog hop and create a quilt with your pretty new line of Wonder Full fabric. The quilting community is full of such wonderful, supportive people. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the other beautiful creations with Wonder Full by Lizzie Clark at these blogs:

6/25 Sarah at Sarah Goer Quilts

6/26 Becky at Be So Crafty
6/27 Becca at Sunflower Seams
6/28 Stephanie at Steph Jacobsons Designs
6/29 Allison at Allison Sews
6/30 Andy at A Bright Corner
7/1 Lissa at Lovingly Lissa
7/2 Jennifer at Dizzy Quilter
7/3 Sherry at Powered by Quilting

Island Batik June Challenge {Modern Batik Challenge}

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik.

One of my favorite things about being an Island Batik Ambassador is the challenge each month to try something new and step outside my comfort zone. That being said, I was pretty excited to see that July's challenge was to make a modern quilt that is crib size or larger. I can do modern! I've been a member of the Omaha Modern Quilt Guild since it started in August 2012,and my guild joined under The Modern Quilt Guild four years ago. I am well-versed on the characteristics of modern quilts:

• the use of bold colors and prints
• high contrast and graphic areas of solid color
• improvisational piecing
• minimalism
• expansive negative space
• alternate grid work

I started by choosing my fabrics. This was the first month we could share the "surprise" bundles we had received that debuted at Spring Quilt Market. I received the Spirit Rhythm collection. These are not fabrics I would have chosen on my own, but I'm growing to love the deep, rich colors. I selected five blue/green fabrics to use, and I used every last bit of the 3 yards of neutral fabric I had been sent.

I think my fabric choices definitely meet the modern characteristic of bold colors and prints.

I wanted to try a variation of my HST Building Blocks quilt, so I used my AccuQuilt Go! and the 6-inch half-square triangle, 6-inch quarter-square triangle die, and 3-inch half-square triangle die from the 12-inch Qube.

Finished quilt measures 36" x 48".

While most of my quilts aren't completely improv, I do enjoy putting blocks together randomly without overthinking it. (I like to call my process quilting with a plan, not a pattern.) I made 6-inch blocks with at least half of most blocks being the neutral background color to achieve the modern characteristic of negative space. I rarely lay my blocks out to decide on a layout. I just start by sewing two blocks together then sets of two into four patch blocks, and the quilt just seems to grow on its own. It's not a true improvisational piecing but more improv with intent...still modern in my book!

I'm fortunate Country Sampler, one of my local quilt shops, carries a great supply of Island Batik fabrics. I was able to find the perfect backing and binding for my quilt.

In May, one of the Omaha Modern Quilt Guild members gave a wonderful presentation on the importance of taking pictures of our quilts. I've been taking a little extra time to have photo documentation of everything I make. Here are a few of my "artistic" photos...

I haven't quite mastered the "quilt swirl."

Ready for a picnic!

Personalized quilt label made on Spoonflower.

I'm pretty proud of my flowers this year.

Do you have a go-to baby quilt or other handmade baby gift that you like to make? Thanks for stopping by!