March Block Exchange

March is my month for the Bee's Knees block exchange that I belong to. I have always loved house quilts, but the blocks have too many pieces -- so I simplified mine to just six pieces.

My blocks will be black and white prints. Some will be black houses with a white sky and some will be white houses with a black sky. They will all have brightly colored doors. I am asking the members of the block exchange to use a bit of their fabric stashes for the doors. I love the idea that a little piece of their stashes will be in the finished quilt.

I made this table runner to try out the block idea. I think it turned out well and I am looking forward to seeing a whole quilt from these blocks! (The runner really does have square edges - blame it on a camera/photographer issue!).

Bee's Knees

These are the February blocks for the Bee's Knees block exchange that I joined this year. Claire, who lives in Oklahoma, chose the Dutchman's Puzzle block. I haven't made this block before, but it was a lot of fun.

I love the solid fabrics she chose. I am using solids more and more in my own work too.

March is my month and I am excited about the block I have designed. I'll be doing a post about that very soon!

Modern Quilting

Modern quilt guilds are popping up all over the country and the world! The Modern Quilt Guild blog (http://themodernquiltguild.com/) is conducting a discussion about what modern quilting means. My contribution is as follows:

What does modern quilting mean to me?

I see modern quilting as the third leg of a stool that includes traditional quilting and art quilting. Modern quilting seems to encompass the basic materials of traditional quiltmaking with the bend and break the rules approach of art quilting.

For me, modern quilting often has a somewhat minimalist approach to design. The designs are graphic and bold. They often look simple to make, but are not necessarily so. In addition, many modern quilters use negative space in a way that neither traditional or art quilters usually do.

While many of us "modern quilters" appreciate and value the workmanship and detail that may comprise an award winning traditional or art quilt, these are not the quilts we want to make.

What do you think? Are you a modern quilter?