Quilting with a Modern Slant: My Feature

Quilting with a Modern Slant is a book written by my friend Rachel May.  She was there with me and the others in the early days of the New England Modern Quilt Guild (which soon became the Boston MQG).  She was brave enough to host the first sew-in at her Arlington home and she was part of the excitement that we all experienced together: it was so awesome to finally meet a bunch of local people who liked the same fabrics, blogs, and quilts as I did.  

I was psyched for Rachel when the opportunity to write this book arose.  She has the perfect kind of knowledge and experience for this type of project and she loves quilts and their makers.  Her sense of community is especially refreshing and you can get a perfect feel for this throughout the book. 

The book is a collection of profiles of big names and not-so-famous names of quilters throughout the world.  Tutorials, patterns, and directions on quilting are also included.  The book is aesthetically pleasing- the photography is gorgeous and I love the cover: I really want that Lizzy House Scrappy Trips quilt!

I know I am biased because Rachel is my friend and I am in her book: but I really think there is something to be said for the value of a quilting book that is not the typical collection of patterns.  It's so nice to have material that goes beyond the "how to" and shares stories and background of the creators.  Her strong voice of inclusion and heart-felt passion for the power of creating and creativity are nothing short of inspirational and I think it's an important book for our time.  For a really nice, informative review of the book, please see this post written by Thomas Knauer.

I had the opportunity to submit a quilt for the book and I also helped Rachel recruit interviews and fabric sponsors at Quilt Market in 2011.  She surprised me by including a picture of the pincushion I made her for as a hostess gift for that first sew-in (pg. 11).

My profile is towards the end of the book and I am happy that I can finally share the quilt that I had made for the feature:

I used some fabric from my time in Uganda as the central focus of the quilt.  I used a lot of DS Joann's fabrics and other stash pieces to do the "stack and wack" technique for wonky stripey blocks that run down both sides of the quilt.

I am proud of this unique design and the unusual color combination.  It's a relatively "quick" quilt.  The most difficult aspect is probably getting the courage to make that long cut down the focus fabric and hoping it comes out straight.

I did very minimal quilting on the quilt, employing vertical wavy lines down the whole quilt.  The fabrics are so busy, anything more intricate would have been lost anyway.

It measures 80 x 90.

Rachel came to Denver this week for some publishing events and I went to her book signing at Fancy Tiger on Tuesday night.  I forgot my camera, so I can only show you the fabric I came home with (the Liberty on the far left was half off!):

(A lot of you know I professed that I would go on a fabric diet but obviously this was a big relapse- oh well, I have been through so much lately, I don't even feel bad!)

We had dinner afterwards and started to snow a bit.  I wasn't too worried- I should be used to driving in snow, right?!  Well, after white-knuckling the drive for 10 miles, I ended up meeting her at her hotel and we had even more time to chat and I came home on Wednesday morning.  It was fun and I am glad I didn't continue that crazy drive all the way to the Springs.

If you're still reading, thanks for hanging in there. If you are interested in what today's quilters are creating, I encourage you to check out Rachel's book!  (Disclaimer: I did receive a free copy of the book because I was featured, but I am not receiving any compensation for this blog post).