Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Bear Claw Plus ~ Fall 2018

It's that time of the year, time for the fall 2018 edition of the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy of Amy's Creative Side. Bloggers can share two quilts of their choosing by writing a separate blog post for each quilt and linking to the festival link party.

Bear Claw Plus is the second quilt I am sharing for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Bear Claw Plus was designed by Cheryl (Meadow Mist Designs), pieced by me, and custom quilted by Johellen George.

Photo by C&T Publishing

I just love this modern take on the traditional bear claw block.  I was excited to piece this one and picked out an Elizabeth Hartman print from Rhoda Ruth in Petal and paired it with Kona Cotton in White by Robert Kaufman for high contrast.

Here's a pretty stylized shot taken outdoors by C&T.  

I also like the secondary star that is formed when the blocks are joined together.  

You'll find Bear Class Plus and 15 other plus sign designs Modern Plus Sign Quilts, co-authored with Cheryl Brickey.

And, there's still time to join in the Modern Plus Sampler Quilt Along going on now.

Please visit the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side taking place September 17 - 24, 2018 where you can post two of your quilts (new blog posts written this week) and see the other beautiful quilts entered in the festival.

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Atypical Angles ~ Fall 2018

It's that time of the year, time for the fall 2018 edition of the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy of Amy's Creative Side. Bloggers can share two quilts of their choosing by writing a separate blog post for each quilt and linking to the festival link party.

This is Atypical Angles which was the Modern Quilt Guild's July 2018 Quilt of the Month.

The isosceles triangle blocks were assembled log-cabin style using provided templates in two sizes.

I've labeled the skill level as challenging since the quilt top was pieced in diagonal rows which allows the triangles to be shifted to your liking.  Can you identify the diagonal rows?

Atypical Angles was all quilted on my Bernina 153 using the walking foot in parallel lines.  In the background, I used Aurifil cotton 40wt and inside the triangles Aurifil 50wt was used.  In the quilt stats below you will find the Aurifil weights and colors used for Atypical Angles. 

I changed the direction of the the quilting and varied the width of parallel lines in each section of the quilt for interest.

There was a lot of marking and quilt wrangling when quilting Atypical Angles.  Tying off and burying threads is not my favorite, so, many times, I traveled over previously quilted lines and turned the quilt back and forth where I could.  That way, one entire section could be quilted at a time without burying any threads.

I loved working with the Modern Batiks by Studio E Fabrics.  I was instantly drawn to the Pencil Dashes in Lime when I saw it in my local Bernina quilt shop.  The background Triangles in Light Gray.  The binding is Triangles in Peacock.

Here's another shot taken at the same industrial building.  I thought the roll-up door in three shades of gray was interesting but I ended up using the same painted wall shown in this post and this one.

I'm excited that Atypical Angles will be hanging at QuiltCon 2019 taking place in Nashville, TN.

Many thanks to Cheryl (Meadow Mist Designs) for drawing the pattern illustrations and to Cheryl and Patty (Elm Street Quilts) for reading through the pattern and offering suggestions.

If you are a member of the MQG, Atypical Angles is available here on the MQG new website.


Quilt Stats

• Finished size: 52" x 70" 
• Pattern: Atypical Angles - MQG July 2018 Quilt of the Month 
• Fabrics: Studio E Modern Batiks referenced above
• Thread: Aurifil 50wt in Medium Gray 2605 for piecing; Aurifil  40wt in Medium Gray 2605 for quilting the background; and Aurifil 50wt in Light Leaf Green 1147 and Dark Turquoise 4182 for quilting the triangles.    
• Quilting design: parallel lines in various widths  
• Batting: 100% Cotton Warm & White by the Warm Company
• Completed: July 1, 2018

Please visit the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side taking place September 17 - 24, 2018 where you can post two of your quilts (new blog posts written this week) and see the other beautiful quilts entered in the festival.

  

Modern Plus Sampler ➕ Small Plus Area

Welcome to the September instructions for the Modern Plus Sampler!

This month's instructions are the most time consuming of the entire quilt along, but next month in October we are only making one quick block.  Therefore, you really have two full months to make all of the small plus blocks.

Modern Plus Sampler

The Modern Plus Sampler will run from July 2018 until April 2019 with a set of directions revealed the first Thursday of every month. The quilt is a large lap sized quilt finishing at about 63" x 78".

The instructions are published within this post (right after these few announcements) and are available in an easy to print pdf format:

Modern Plus Sampler - Small Plus Area

 Additionally, the directions and all of the other information related to the sampler quilt can always be found on the Modern Plus Sampler Page.

Social Media 
I encourage you to join the Cheryl's  Meadow Mist Designs Facebook Group (if you have not already).  There is now have over 3,300 members in the group and we are so excited to see your progress!

If you want some feedback on possible fabric choices or have any questions during the quilt along, the Facebook is an excellent resource.  You can find the Facebook Group right here.  Please share your progress pics on social media with the hashtag #ModernPlusSamplerQuilt and tag me at @QuiltedBlooms and Cheryl @MeadowMistDesigns.

And now without further ado....August's instructions...

Small Plus Area

Cutting Instructions

Tip: These fabric cutting sizes are from “instructions for individual block makers - actual size blocks”. If you would prefer to make oversized blocks and then trim them down to size, you can use the “instructions for group block makers - oversized blocks” on page 38.

FABRIC C


Cut 9 strips 2 1/4" x WOF.
     1. Sub-cut the strips into 160 squares 2 ¼" x 2 ¼", each strip can yield 18 squares.

Cut 5 strips 1 1/2" x WOF.
     1. Sub-cut the strips into 160 rectangles 1 ½" x 1 ¼", each strip can yield 32 rectangles.

FABRIC D


Cut 7 strips 1 1/2" × WOF.
     1. Sub-cut 4 strips into 40 rectangles 1 ½" × 3 ½", each strip can yield 11 rectangles.
     2. Sub-cut 3 strips into 80 squares 1 ½" × 1 ½", each strip can yield 27 squares.


Piecing Instructions
Use the “instructions for individual block makers - actual size blocks” from the Signature Plus pattern on page 40.

Use the fabric C pieces for the “red fabric” pieces and the fabric D pieces for the “white fabric” pieces make 40 small plus blocks 5" x 5".

Cheryl and I can't wait to see your small plus signs!!

Many thanks to the generous sponsors of the Modern Plus Sampler!

Honey, Bunny, and Doll | Sew Fresh Quilts | Make Modern | Aurifil

Cooking Up Quilts | Quilting Jetgirl | Quilter's Planner

Needle & Foot | Fat Quarter Shop | BackSide Fabrics | Whims and Fancies

Meadow Mist Designs | Tish's Adventures in Wonderland | Busy Hands Quilts | C&T Publishing

The next set of instructions will be published on the first Thursday of October (the 4th).