Tag: #ModaQuiltAlong

MBH4 – Block #21 – Shiny Bauble

Happy Wednesday Blockheads! This week’s MBH4 block “Shiny Bauble“ is a block that’s aesthetically different than the others we’ve seen so far in this quilt-along. Large, obtuse triangles immediately catch your eye with small, square pieces sandwiched in the middle. “Shiny Bauble” is by Janet Clare, a Moda fabric designer known for inspirational and lively designs that combine her unique jointed appliqué templates, and free motion machine drawing techniques. Her work is often inspired by children and their purity of thought, innocence, and the joys they find in simple, everyday things. Similar in thought, “Shiny Bauble“ was designed around Christmas time and was inspired by the shape and sparkle of a shiny Christmas ornament. Can you see it?

If you’ve never tried your hand at foundation paper piecing and want to give it a try, this is the perfect block for you! The pieces are on the larger side which makes them much easier to work with compared to blocks with smaller units. Using the tried and true sew n’ flip technique gives you straight and accurate lines, making short work of the triangles involved in this block. There are a couple of different shading options for this design, loosening the reigns and opening up endless possibilities for color combinations and theme. I saw one example where it was done to look like peas in a pod. Another stitcher made the comment that she wanted to try making it to look like a stop-and-go light. Clever! What will you do with this design? Get the full instructions and pattern on Janet’s blog by clicking the button below!

For my “Shiny Bauble” blocks I stuck with the same color scheme I have been using in previous weeks, but changed up fabric lines this time around. I am still using a medium orange Bella Solid called “Ochre” as my background color and decided on a white Zen Chic with a light gray newsprint theme for the larger triangle elements. For something new, I chose a super cute black fabric adorned with tiny white hearts by Sweetwater for the center squares. I really like it!

If you’re quilting along with MBH this year, I hope you’ve been able to stay on track and are all caught up. We’re almost done with only seven more weeks to go until the end. Boy, saying that out loud is a bit of a reality check and kind of makes me sad. It’s like each block that I complete ticks another week of summer off the calendar… Just like with summer, I’m not ready to be done – I think I’m going to miss it once it’s over! Something tells me that I’ll have plenty to keep me occupied however, especially with fall and winter holidays right around the corner! 

Are you still thinking about doing this QAL? It’s not too late to start! All the information you’ll need including the previously released MBH4 blocks that I’ve done are available in the Moda Blockheads 4 Archive listed in the main menu of links at the top of my blog page. You can also visit Moda’s Inspiration+Resources Center Page for more information, along with all released bonus blocks by clicking HERE! If you’re having trouble keeping all the details straight, you can also sign-upo to receive Moda’s weekly Blockheads blog posts via e-mail at the Inspiration+Resources Center as well.

Well everyone, it’s time to get back over to the retreat house. I’m here working again on another Wednesday because it’s our Anniversary week! I’m super proud to be celebrating 19 years in business and one year here at our new Larsen, WI location. We’re honoring it with open Sit & Stitch through Friday from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM each day. The cost to participate is only $25.00 and includes lunch! It’s a great opportunity to meet new fellow stitchers and an excellent place to find advice and resources! Bring your machine and set up shop in our huge project area, complete with cutting and steaming tables, excellent lighting, and plenty of power sources!

To add to the fun we’re also featuring a different make-n’-take project each day through Friday. Today we’re working on a super cute thread spool project (participation fee = $40.00 – if you have extra old thread spools, please bring them!). I think this piece is especially cool because we are using recycled sewing items to make sewing-themed art. You can spruce up any sewing room, den or even kitchen with this charming piece as either hanging décor or a tabletop conversation piece. If you’re feeling extra ambitious and have a lot of spools to use up, I bet a set of three in different sizes would be extra adorable.

The fun continues tomorrow when my sister Lisa and I (yes you read that right!) will be demonstrating how to go about making a 12″ mini barn quilt (participation fee = $50.00). These mini barn quilts are so much fun to do, and the design possibilities are endless! If you’re a fan of colorful geometric shapes in your décor but you don’t have time for large quilting projects, mini barn quilts could be for you! There’s only one way to find out, come give it a try!I’ll be wrapping demos on Friday August 12th, 2022 with our final project, an adorable small fabric tote (participation fee = $25.00). This bag is a perfect size for running quick errands or transporting a small project. It easily could take the place of a purse if you just need something light to throw your keys and wallet into, rather than having to lug around your entire bag. I have several of these and use them for all sorts of things.

NOTE: All make-n’-take projects are available from 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM on their scheduled day only, and are located at The Gathering. SPACE IS LIMITED! Please sign up by calling 920-778-8031 if you plan to participate!

Don’t forget, on top of all the goodies we’re also offering 20% OFF store-wide, both in-store and online through this Sunday, August 14th, 2022! That’s 20% OFF your favorite patterns, kits, threads, notions, books, and sew much more (sale does NOT include sewing machines, Garden Gatherings pre-cuts or yardage, pre-ordered items, thread kits, Creative Grids Rulers, the PG 2022 Holiday Box, “Letters for Santa” QAL bundles, O’ Say Can You Sew QAL bundles, Meet Me in the Garden merchandise, or any other discounted items or fabric)!

Exciting stuff right!? If you’d like a little tour of the shop so you can get an idea of all the great things we have on sale right now you can watch the replay of “Shop Talk“ with Jess from Tuesday by clicking HERE! She walks you through section by section, giving you an excellent perspective of everything we have to offer! Check it out… I bet we have things you didn’t even know you wanted! 

I will see you all on Thursday at 1:00PM CST on “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ LIVE on my YouTube channel! I’ll be talking more about our big anniversary celebration along with some announcements and other hot topics, so don’t miss it! And while you’re there, don’t forget to comment! We love interacting with you both LIVE and here on my blog! Of course, there might be a prize in it for you… This week I want to say congratulations and THANK YOU for following my blog to Jody R! Woo hoo! You are this week’s prize winner! As usual I don’t post last names or email addresses for privacy’s sake, so if you think you’re the lucky winner-winner this time around, please check your email! You can also contact Heidi at heidin@primitivegatherings.us if you have not already received a prize confirmation letter from her. She will use your email address to confirm that you are in fact the winner!

Alright! That’s it for now. I will see you all very soon. Until then, take care and always remember to…

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BH4 Block 6 – “Spinning into Spring!”

Hey Blockheads! And so we meet again on another Moda Blockheads Wednesday! I hope you’ve been able to stay diligent with your blocks each week. With all the hustle and bustle of spring rolling in, it’s certainly easy to fall behind even when intentions are good. Things sure are moving fast – we’re up to Block 6 already! This week’s block comes to us from Linzee Kull McCray of Clark Street Quilts – a Jill of all trades gone quilt pattern and Moda fabric designer. Her career in creativity ranges from art teacher to museum curator, textile researcher, writer, public speaker, and more! Her wide range of experiences eventually lead her to designing feed-sack-inspired fabrics for Moda like “Morning Light (CLICK HERE),“ “Flowers for Freya (CLICK HERE),” and “Flour Garden (CLICK HERE)” – all three of which can be found on our website! She also formed a quilt design partnership with friend and fellow quilter, Pam Ehrhardt, which is how Clark Street Quilts came to be.

Linzee too must be feeling the pressure of the spring craze, as she fittingly named her block, “Spinning into Spring.” This block is great for all skill levels, and would be perfect for the beginner stitcher who wants a little practice with half-square triangles. Personally, I find this block especially pretty and had a lot of fun making it. I really like the variety of options it gives for fabric placement, allowing for an array of different looks for your final piece. For mine, I used a mid-gray on light-gray tiny print, and a mid-gray with black on white lattice print – both from my Urban Farmhouse II fabric line.

I’m still really liking how the Urban Farmhouse II fabrics look combined with the Orange Bella Solid I chose (“Ochre” (#9900-79). The added splash of bright orange color really gets those grayscale prints to pop! I especially like the lattice print because it reminds me of the blades on an old-time windmill. I can almost see it spinning when I look at it!

I’m sure by now you’re ready to get started on your own “Spinning into Spring“ blocks! You can find everything you need including both the pattern and project instructions by clicking the link below!

I will continue to post a link here on my blog every week for each new MBH4 block that’s released through the end of the Quilt-Along. Remember, you can also find all the MBH blocks that have already been posted by visiting the Moda Blockheads 4 Archive, which is updated every Wednesday and Friday. Don’t forget! Bonus blocks can be found on Moda’s Inspiration+Resources Center every four weeks on Fridays as well! If you’re having trouble keeping all the details straight you can also sign-up to receive Moda’s weekly Blockheads blog posts via e-mail, or by following the link below. Well everyone, that’s it for today! Just a quick reminder, I will not be appearing LIVE on “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ this week, but will be back next Thursday at 1PM CST. In the mean time, you should check out my latest tutorial video on how to get back into an old favorite – cross stitching! Kathy Decker and I take you step-by-step through what you need to bring yourself up to speed in today’s modern cross stitching world. You can watch by clicking the “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ button below!

And before I forget… It’s prize time! I want to say thank you and congratulations to Paula S. and Becky E. – you are prize winners for leaving me a comment here on my blog in the last couple weeks! As usual, I don’t want to post last names or email addresses for your privacy, so if you think you’re one of these lucky winners please check your email! You can also contact Heidi at heidin@primitivegatherings.us if you have not already received an email from her. She will use your email address to confirm that you are in fact the winner (in the case that there is someone with the same initials, she will determine the correct person with matching email credentials)! If you’re not a winner this week, don’t give up! Keep those comments coming, you could be next! See you soon! ~Lisa

 

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MBH4 – Block 5 – “Greek Cross”

Greetings and happy Blockhead Wednesday! Are you ready for Block 5? “Greek Cross” (also called “Two of Five”) comes to us from Barbara Groves of Me and My Sister Designs – a quilt pattern company started years ago by sisters Barb and Mary. Like many of us, their quilting journey started almost by accident after taking their first quilting class and falling in love with it. They noticed that the shop they took classes from was up for sale, which then got them thinking about the idea of starting their own business. Though they didn’t purchase that particular store, they eventually did decide to open a quilt shop. After years in business, Barb and Mary decided to sell their brick-and-mortar store to focus more on quilt pattern design, which is how Me and My Sister Designs came to be! After a lot of hard work and establishing a big name for themselves in the quilting world, their rising success continued when Moda invited the sisters to join them as fabric designers. The rest is history!

Barb designed “Greek Cross“ using Mary’s favorite quilt block, the Shoo Fly (or the Churn Dash as Barb likes to call it). The traditional Shoo Fly design makes this a terrific block for the beginner quilter because it requires only half square triangles and cut squares, which are pretty much the most basic units of patchwork. Traditionally, only two colors are used in a Shoo Fly block – a light for the background paired with a contrasting color – but to make it my own, I decided to add light and dark prints as well.For the center of this block, I used a mid-gray on light-gray tiny print, and a black on dark-gray floral print for the outer rectangles – both from my Urban Farmhouse II fabric line. The surrounding triangles are done with a mid-gray floral print on white (also from Urban Farmhouse II).

For the smaller block I did mostly the same thing, but used a tiny mid-gray print on black for the rectangles instead. I’m really liking how the Urban Farmhouse II fabrics look combined with the Orange Bella Solid (“Ochre” (#9900-79). The added splash of bright color really gets those grayscale prints to pop!

Ready to dive in? You can find everything you need to get started on MBH4 – Block 5 “Greek Cross“ including the pattern, instructions, and hot tips and advice from Barbara Groves by clicking the link below!

I will continue to post a link here on my blog every week for each new MBH4 block that’s released. Remember, you can also find all the MBH blocks that have already been posted by visiting the Moda Blockheads 4 Archive, which is updated every Wednesday and Friday. Don’t forget! Bonus blocks can be found on Moda’s Inspiration+Resources Center every four weeks on Fridays as well! If you’re having trouble keeping all the details straight you can also sign-up to receive Moda’s weekly Blockheads blog posts via e-mail, or by following the link below. I hope you’re able to find some time this week to get stitching on this fun and easy block! Number six will be along before we know it so don’t let yourself fall behind! If you need something to watch or listen to while you’re working on your blocks, catch me LIVE tomorrow on my YouTube channel, “Stitch with Lisa Bongean!“

I’ll be talking all about our Hogs for Heroes Auction fundraiser and how  you can get involved with our efforts to raise money toward a Harley Davidson motorcycle that will be gifted to a deserving Wisconsin Veteran Hero later this summer. If you’re not familiar with Hogs for Heroes and want to learn more, click the button below for more information. Until then, enjoy your day everyone! I will see you all tomorrow. ~Lisa

 

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Heartfelt Charity Quilt and Quilt-Along

Heartfelt Logo HeaderDo you enjoy stitching for a good cause? If so, I have just the event for you! A couple of weeks ago I talked about a Quilt-Along that I recently joined called, “Heartfelt.” This awesome project is a Make-A-Wish Foundation of America fundraising quilt, sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop. I decided I wanted to participate in this fundraiser because I love helping kids, and Make-A-Wish is a wonderful organization for kids. This stellar group of people has been making wishes come true for children with life-threatening conditions and their families for over 40 years. Granted wishes give the kids and their loved ones much-needed joy, strength, and most importantly hope. Make-A-Wish has collectively granted more than 520,000 wishes around the world since it was founded in 1980. How awesome is that?! Let’s help them make it to a million!

“Heartfelt” is a heart-themed quilt made up of six stunning sampler blocks, each featuring pieced hearts. It was designed by Corey Yoder based on her new Moda fabric line, “Beautiful Day.” I decided to stick with the heart theme and do my quilt with all Valentine’s Day fabrics that I had left over from earlier this winter. I also decided to do my blocks half the size of what’s featured on the pattern (in other words I did 6″ blocks rather than the 12″ version that the pattern shows).Red, white, and pink Heartfelt Blocks 1-3

If you follow the pattern, “Heartfelt” measures 76.5″ x 84.5″ when finished. I’m right on track with this project and have the released blocks  1 through 3 complete. I really love the way the Valentine’s Day fabrics are coming together on this one.

This quilt is turning out to be really cute – I’m not going to want to let it go! I’ll have to have to figure out a way though, because once I get done with my version of this little beauty, I will be auctioning it off to help raise even more money for Make-A-Wish Foundation!

I will be sad to give it up, but it really warms my heart knowing it is helping to contribute toward such a great cause. I guess I’ll just have to make another one to keep for myself! If you’d like to make my version of “Heartfelt,“ you can find the Valentine’s Day fabric you’ll need for it on our website!

“Heartfelt“ is currently a free Quilt-Along and download on the Fat Quarter Shop website. Blocks are released one at a time, and will be posted to Fat Quarter Shop’s blog, The Jolly Jabber on the first Friday of each month, through September, 2022. They do not require it, but highly encourage that a $5.00 donation be made for the pattern if you’re able to do so. Proceeds go to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. If you’d rather make a donation directly to Make-A-Wish, follow the link below!

I will continue to post my progress here on my blog as I make my way through “Heartfelt.” I sure hope you found some inspiration to join this Quilt-Along with a cause. There’s something extra special about giving back using your own hard work and talents. I love having the opportunity to use mine to help kids facing adversity in their lives. Want to get in on the fun ? Come join me in this awesome Quilt-A-Long! Remember, Make-A-Wish Foundation relies on donations to make wishes come true and they can’t do it without our help! Ready to sign up? Hit the link below for more information!

Corey did such a great job with the design of “Heartfelt.” I always love her style. Speaking of Corey Yoder, you might have seen her on “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ Thursday as my special guest! She joined us via Zoom call to talk about a couple of her Moda fabric lines, including her latest arrival, “Beautiful Day.” She showed off a few of her quilts done with “Beautiful Day,“ To celebrate my fellow Moda sister’s wonderful eye for design, now through Sunday April 3rd, 2022 you can take 20% OFF of all pre-cut fabric and kits in her “Cozy Up“ line, and 15% OFF of any other Corey Yoder pattern or pre-cut fabric. WOW right!? But I’m not done yet! As an additional BONUS, you’ll receive a FREE Coery Yoder pattern with any purchase of Corey’s patterns or fabric. Pretty good deal if I do say so myself! If you love Corey’s style, don’t wait! Inventory won’t last long. If you missed “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ this week and want to see all the fun we had, you can still catch the replay by hitting the link below!

As always, be sure to “like” and comment on my blog, during “Stitch with Lisa Bongean,“ and on the facebook page for a chance to win a prize!  Special thanks to all of you who have been leaving comments every week, you really make my day so Keep those comments coming! This week’s comment winners are, Patty J. and Diane W. As usual, I don’t want to post last names or email addresses for everyone’s privacy, so if you think you’re one of these lucky winners please check your email! You can also contact Heidi at heidin@primitivegatherings.us if you have not already received an email from her. She will use your email address to confirm that you are in fact the winner (in the case that there is someone with the same initials, she will determine the correct person with matching email credentials)! If you’re not a winner this week, please keep trying. You could be next! See you all very soon! ~Lisa

lisabongean10 Comments