We have a winner!

Hi everyone! 

Leanne you won!!! I hope you love it!

Thank you everyone for all of your comments and love on this purse. This purse is NOT that hard to make! Hell, I made it using Vinyl! The pattern is from Alexia's book Liberty Love   ALL ZIPPED UP BAG of awesomeness..

Thanks for stopping by for the Micro Mod Sew ALong!!

xoxo

 

Micro Mod

Happy Sunday and Welcome to my stop on the Micro Mod Sew Along!

I had the pleasure of meeting Alexia at Quilt Con and was thrilled to find out she would be teaching a class from her book Liberty Love at Drygoods Design here in Seattle. In her class we whipped up some Around town Tote bags and I got to see her All Zipped Up bag in class as well as the ever popular Marcelle Medallion Quilt. When Alexia invited me to be a part of this sew along I was thrilled.

Putting on my thinking cap I quickly resolved to making yet another (yes this is my third) All Zipped Up Bag from Liberty Love. I think that it's a perfect merge of this amazing husband/wife team. Alexia's pattern, Rob's fabric...a match made in Heaven? Well.....yes!
 

I just returned from a family road trip to California where I picked up some metallic vinyl. Not your typical quilting cotton mind you, a bit different, maybe even a bit odd (think your favorite diners seat cover).  More than either of those two adjectives a  bit delicious and retro especially paired with Rob's awesomely retro and funky line!
It all started with the triangles, I mixed the micro mod with what I believe I have identified as a green essex linen (not 100% sure on this) I added in some field study, a bit of Echino and the marvelous Melody Miller Telephone.

 I added a front panel with a zipped pocket because I love a front zipper on a purse.

 This is the bag almost done just waiting for a handle and some hardware. I lined the purse with what might be my favorite from the Micro mod line: Tick Tock in white!

And Voila!

 The All Zipped Up bag all done!All metallic, all funky all Micro Mod fun!

All Zipped Up is right and ready to go!!!

WIN THIS BAG!!!
If you would love this bag I would love to give it to you.
 I ask three simple things of you: do something kind for yourself, do something kind for someone else and comment here with any reason you would love this bag. I will choose a winner on Tuesday evening. 

I hope you have enjoyed this stop, and be sure to follow along with the rest of  the His and Hers microMod sew along! If you make a project from the sew along be sure to tag it on Instagram with #microMod , and add itto the microMod flickr group.

There will be prizes at each stop, and at the end of the month you can enter to win an amazing grand prize: A fat quarter stack of microMod by Rob Bancroft from Cloud9 fabrics, the entire Green Bee Patterns collection, a microMod sewing bag, and a Singer Heavy Duty Sewing Machine! (Open to contiguous US residents only.)

April 2 - Alexia & Rob Green Bee
April 3 - Kelly at Kelbysews
April 5 - Amanda at the Craft Junky
April 6 - Rachael at Imagine Gnats
April 8 - Heather at alamode
April 10 - Holly at Bijou lovely
April 13 - Alexia, Michelle & Rob Green Bee  
April 17 - Faith at Fresh Lemons
April 18 - Katie at Swim Bike Quilt
April 19 - Deborah at Whipstitch
April 20 - Jacey at Jaceycraft
April 24 - Jenny at the Southern Institute
April 25 - Amy from sukie don't ya know
April 26 - Jen from Betty Crocker Ass
April 27 - Sara from Sew Sweetness
April 22 - Krista at Krista Withers Quilting
April 29 - Katy from I'm a Ginger Monkey
April 30 - Amber from One Shabby Chick
May 1 - Alexia & Rob Green Bee GRAND PRIZE

Modern Maze

 I love spiral quilting,  I mean REALLY love it. Love to do it, love to draw it, love to look at it. Mixed with a maze, some pebbles and it may be my favorite quilting design. The following quilts are customer quilts that I have freehand quilted this modern maze on and I am super proud to share that Modern Maze is available for computerized quilting systems,  paper patterns are available as well.
I work with Jessica from digitech designs, her patterns are fabulous and her digitizing is amazing. One of my favorite patterns is her baptist fan pattern which is one of my go to digital patterns for any quilt from modern to traditional.
I hope to be coming out with many more allover designs for modern quilts to share with you. Modern Maze will be on sale for half off until Jan. 31st!! Hope you are all enjoying the start of 2013!

 Thanks for stopping by!!

Customer Quilt

Quilt by Suzie

Quilt by Melody Crust

Digi-Tech

The Show

The show at Island Quilter was a huge success! The opening was well attended and despite my last minute panic, the show was cohesive, hung well (thanks to Anja) and a lot of fun! For all of you who are over seas and far far away I hope this will give you a closer look! For those of you in the area, the show is open through November 1st.

As promised here are some pictures all courtesy of my very good friend Sue Tamcsin: Thanks Sue!#iloveher.

 View of the middle of the room

Vintage quilts, machine quilted from far left, far right by Irene Campbell

 Frankenquilt with quilts by Katie, Maggie, and Krista

Frankenquilt

Quilted by Krista Withers

Pieced and Designed by Krista Withers

2012

Where to begin? On a dark stormy night …......in the Frankenquilt Lair.

Ha ha, no it’s not quite that dramatic.

 I started this quilt with all good intentions of it becoming a traditional flower garden using Anna Maria Horner’s Good Folks Voile. Hugely inspired by Katy’s (aka Imagingermonkey) Hexie MF,  I envisioned a delicious soft Hexie quilt made just for me.

Seven million hours later and a huge pile of hand stitched hexagons I unknowingly began piecing improv flowers which would merge with the hexies to become what you see here.

Who knew that you could improv English Paper piece? Who knew that using safety pins to keep hexagons in order was a horrible idea? Who knew WTH I was doing? Not me. Who knew I was creating a monster? Who knew at 3a.m.when I was frantically hand sewing hexies and turned on the television to the original 1931 Frankenstein movie, that this quilt had to be called Frankenquilt?

 I knew.

And Frankenquilt grew. A traditional flower garden grew and from it grew flowers that were not traditional at all and from those grew more traditional flowers. And somehow I pieced them all together and tried my best to get it in square, and then tried some more.

I quilted it and quilted it and quilted it, then I quilted it some more.

I even had to quilt a pleat into it because my haphazard piecing is enough to make any judge cry.

 I made it work.

 It was recommended I change its name for show purposes... you see that I could not.

 I present to you, Frankenquilt.

I love Frankenquilt with all my heart.

From far left:  Katie's Seattle Stars, Alison Robins's Extreme fabric diary. Joanne Roth's Running in circles, doll quilts by me, and yet another opposing triangle by Katie

Rainbow wall makes me smile. Quilts by Katie, Maggie Downing, me and my alter ego, Krista.

The third opposing triangles quilt by Katie

Sun quilt by Maggie Downing

And here's Me! 

I am not a huge fan of being photographed, but there I am. 

Quilter’s Statement

I come from a very traditional place in quilting and piecing. As I have evolved as an artist and quilter my work has changed. I have grown and found a place where I can express myself through fabric. Painting is my first love and always will be, but I am thankful to finally see my ideas translated in quilts. I love the modern quilt movement, it has such a vibrant energy and bright future. I feel honored to be part of this movement and thankful to have such talented friends and customers to collaborate with.  This show would have been impossible to put together without the vision of these friends and their gorgeous quilts. Quilts, that have been my privilege to quilt, created by friends who have generously allowed me to share in this exhibit.

Opening Tonight!

Opening tonight at the Island Quilter on Vashon 6-9.

This is how I left the quilts the other night,I was tired and in great need of a good night sleep. Anja stayed up until 3am hanging the show and last I talked to her she was still finishing hanging quilts in the space.

 Something about taking a ferry seems like a vacation to me.

 Boxes and bolts of fabric had arrived the day of hanging in preparation for the Kaffe Fassett workshops. I scurried around trying to help where I could.

 Stack of Quilts!

By some miracle I did finish this quilt.

Please stop by if you are in the area. Have a wonderful weekend!

Where have I been???

It's been too long I know. I am not the best about keeping up with a consistent blogging schedule. I have been busy though, very busy!
I am honored (and terrified) to announce that I will be having a show coming up in October at the Island Quilter on Vashon Island. This is truly one of the loveliest quilt shops I have ever been to, amazing fabric, fantastic customer service and a HUGE gallery space what more could you ask for?
So, what have I been up to you ask?  Aside from washing and ironing my entire fabric collection.(procrastinators have no limits)

 I have been trying to put together a hopefully wonderful show to open on Friday, October 5th from 6-9. If you happen to be in the area please stop by and say hello, I will be there!
I will have approx 25 quilts in the show, many I have made, and many have been made by some of the best friends/customers a girl could be lucky enough to have. All of the quilts were quilted by me.
Here is a sneak peak of what will be hanging:

 "Hot and Cold" Quilt made by my fabulously talented and wonderful friend Krista 

 My circles Bee quilt, blocks made by the talented ladies from Fresh Modern bee 2

 You may recognize these triangles from Katie's blog, I have been lucky enough to collaborate with this lovely lady and in the process make a treasured friend...and we both have the same inclination towards drinking good beer and spending money we don't have on fabric, it was meant to be.

That is just the cup that says BUD LIGHT. The beer is actually real beer.

 Another one of Katie's lovely creations!

 Hey! This doesn't look finished OR quilted, truth be told it is neither, but with any luck it will be hanging in the show.

Another view of Krista's lovely quilt.

 And last but certainly not least I had the privilege of quilting this amazingly insane quilt made by Alison Robins

Other quilts in the show made by these talented women:
Sonja Callaghan

Joanne Roth
Maggie Downing
Gail Witt

and Irene Campbell who must have sores on her precious fingers from all of the sleeves and bindings she has sewn on for me...for whom I would not have been able to do this without.  


Please bear with me and my pitiful blogging habits, thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read this. Please stop by the show if you can and although I'm horrible about replying  to comments I do read each one and love that you have taken the time to leave one.
xoxok