More Circles! This time for Lucky Spool's Essential Guide to Modern Quiltmaking

Do you know what these are? Just some of my favourite tools in an arsenal of circle making things. Front and centre is my compass and elementary school geometry set. School supply nerds take note! You can find out about these and how I use them in the new book from Lucky Spool,

The Essential Guide to Modern Quiltmaking

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This great book is like taking a workshop from each of your dream teachers - Jacquie Gering, Denyse Schmidt, Penny Layman, Angela Walters, and more. If you can't be in the classroom with us, this might be the next best thing! Each teacher has a chapter devoted to a specific concept or technique. You get the benefit of their experience and all their Quilter to Quilter tips. And then you get a pattern that uses those techniques.

At the end of the book is a phenomenal gallery of modern quilts. Some serious eye candy there.

My quilt in the book might be a new top favourite of mine. It comes with my chapter on Circles and Curves. You could probably call it a sampler of the techniques, but it is more than that. Inspired by two favourite fabrics it takes geometric block design to a really fun place. You could make the pattern as is or you could change up the layout to suit your own preference. Or maybe make repeats of your favourite blocks for a completely different look.

I debated long and hard about the colour selection for this quilt. It needs high contrast and I really wanted to keep it to two colours. But it is me and where one fabric will do I will pick 10! You could say this is a pretty masculine colour combo with just navy and gray, but I call it calming. Despite the bold geometry of the quilt, it has a very serene quality. Keeping the background fabric to a single choice really helps with that. 

To check out the other contributors and see what they are saying about the quilt, you can follow along with them.

Kari Vojtechovsky

teaches on The Principles of Color

Alissa Haight Carlton

teaches on Working with Solids

Dan Rouse

teaches on Working with Prints

Denyse Schmidt

teaches on Improvisational Patchwork

Jacquie Gering

teaches on The Alternate Grid

Penny Layman

, of course, teaches on Paper Piecing

Heather Jones

teaches Large Scale Piecing

Angela Walters

teaches Modern Machine Quilting

Heather Grant

then takes us on a Study of Modern Quilts.

Lucky Spool

is a new publisher on the book scene for quilting. Led by Susanne Woods (formerly of Stash Books and Craftsy) they are bringing a number of exciting books to the market. Their Essential Guide for Modern Quiltmaking looks like it is going to leave its mark for quilters everywhere.

Right now you can get the book on a great discount from Taunton Press (Lucky Spool's distributor). If you buy it from them get a 20% discount between now and July 21.

Click here. Use the discount code EGMQ20

UPDATE: the correct code is EGQM20. My apologies for the typo.

Long Weekend Craftsy Sale

It's only been a few weeks since the last Craftsy sale, but there is another last minute one starting today. And since I last posted I've watched two more classes. Seriously, these are great for inspiration, not to mention technique!

My latest watch has been Sarah Fielke's

Big Techniques from Small Scraps

. Wow, Sarah is a great teacher! She breaks down seemingly scary concepts into very manageable skill building. I'm so happy to have watched this class. Her lesson on hand appliqué is perfect for me and my Alturas blocks. (I have a feeling you will really be able to tell the most recent ones from the earlier ones, thanks to Sarah!)

This particular sale in

Pick Your Price

. Choose from this tiered selection of popular online classes today and get better at what you do without breaking the bank! Enroll today to enjoy learning anytime, anywhere, forever.

Click here for the details and all the deals

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Sale runs until the end of the day Monday, June 30.

Don't forget, this means you can enroll in my

Inset and Applique Circles by Machine

during the sale as well.

It's Over?

Yes, it is a question. But my slump may be over. And I have to give all the credit to my students at the recent Quilt Canada workshops.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending Quilt Canada in St. Catherines, Ontario. This is the annual big deal in Canada, hosted by the Canadian Quilters' Association and put on by a different local organizing committee. It includes the National Juried Show (which had a modern category this year) and 4 days of workshops, on top of the fun things like banquets, merchant malls, and challenges. I had three days of classes, two days being an Improv workshop.

In our small, ridiculously hot classroom we played and played with fabric. When I teach Improv I like to teach a series of basic techniques via blocks. For an audience used to more traditional piecing I find it to be a good foray into the world of Improv. When I get multi-day workshops we then get more time to play.

And oh, did the ladies in this class play. They all embraced improv with open hearts and sharp rotary cutters. As we taped blocks to the wall, brainstormed possibilities, drew out more and more inspiration, and laughed a lot the excitement grew. I was completely caught up in the energy and inspiration. I'm not going to lie, I may have even jumped up and down a little.

At the end of it I was desperate to sew myself. But I had to rush off on a plane to be home for The Monster's 8th birthday. So I found some time in the following week to play. And when I did play I felt all the same excitement in my own little basement studio that I felt in that room. I felt grounded, I felt energized, I felt creative again.

Thank-you so much ladies, I owe you so much.

Here is what I played with. In the class we covered how to take an idea, and image, and translate it into an improv pieced block. Houses, letters, numbers, mountains, diamonds, they all came out that day. We also brainstormed other shapes and one of them happened to be a sewing machine. That idea planted itself into my head.

I think I may turn this into a full pattern as my mind is spinning with possibilities. And if it wasn't the last day of school I could tell you for sure that I would be sewing more of these every day. Yup, the slump just may be over.

Just One Slab 1 Year Later

The last of the Just One Slab quilts are making piles in my little studio. That is 15 finished quilts right there. Handfuls are in various states of completion - waiting for binding, quilting, or still assembly. This is not to dismiss the probably 50 or so that were assembled by volunteers through

Traditional Pastimes

, a local store, then paired with a backing and sent out to long armers. Those quilts, as finished, have been donated to flood victims.

So, if you sent a slab, or twenty, know that they are all either in a finished quilt or already giving a big  hug to those who need it. Anything in this last group will get photographed by me and posted here. Not all the quilts assembled and quilted by other volunteers got a snapshot, so you may not see your block. But, again, I assure you that they've all been used and made into quilts for donation.

This past weekend marked the 1 year anniversary of the flood. In the week leading up to it we had rain, rain, and more rain. Here in Calgary it didn't amount to much, thankfully. Many communities in Southern Alberta, however, did have overland flooding, sewage issues, and washouts. No one needs that. And when nerves were already raw too.

One of the local stores,

My Sewing Room

, has been working all year on gathering, finishing, and giving out quilts for flood victims. The focus of their giving has been on the community of High River. So, on Saturday, they had a volunteer appreciation day for the quilters who worked on donations. I went out to meet more quilters (and sign books). But one of the things I loved about the day was the scrolling images of recipients on the store's 3 TVs. The huge grins on the kids' faces, the shy smile of some men, the look of relief on others. Anne, the store owner, told me of all the tears shed by volunteers, staff, and recipients.

As quilters we know the value of a homemade quilt. And it isn't just the time. Think about the excitement you feel as you create, the giddiness of looking at the finally finished project, the anticipation of the recipient's reaction. Knowing all that, think about a moment, if you've been lucky to have it, where someone gave you a quilt. Because you know what that feels like you know how much love you immediately feel.

For the recipients of the Just One Slab quilts, and all other thousands donated after the flood, this is the feeling they get. I remember from the donation day back in September and from stories I still hear about people feeling they don't deserve the quilt, or that it should go to someone who needs it more than they do. Well, I say that everyone deserves to feel loved, and that's what these quilts do.

With the help of more volunteers - many of my friends in the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild are helping out - the last of the Just One Slab quilts will be done shortly. The plan is to donate them to seniors still displaced from their homes in High River. I will share pictures of all the quilts I've got before then, as well as donation details.

Thank you so much to absolutely everyone who donated fabric, time, slabs, and extra hands to get these quilts to the people who deserve to feel that love.