Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Color Rebel

The Modern Quilt Guild recently hosted an essay contest where folks wrote up why they love fabric designer Kaffe Fassett  to celebrate his new autobiography coming out - thought you all would enjoy Karen's entry - you can see some of Karen's work on her blog~ 

Color Rebel

by: Karen Hall Calhoun

Age 3:  “No, sweetie, redheads cannot wear pink or red.”
                                “Why, Mommie?  I so pretty!”
Age 5:  “Blue and green fingerpaints do not belong together.”
                                “Skies blue, trees green, and they       together.”
Age 16:  “No, only one print, and the rest have to be solids”
                                “But why?  These prints sing together.”
Age 20:  “Don’t put black and brown in the same piece!”
                                “Um, but this tobacco brown and coal black look great.”
Age 27:  “You can’t have gold and silver in the same item”
                                “Bummer.  Are there Metal Police out there now?”
Age 31:  You simply cannot put a plaid and floral print next to each other.”
                                “Dang if I know who made up all these color rules, but I’m not sure I believe them.”

So, how did Kaffe help me grow as a quilter?

I started my first quilt in college.  It was horrible, and I never finished it.  A few years later, my next quilt was a rainbow of two inch squares.  I hand-pieced this postage stamp pattern in campgrounds as we  back-packed through Europe between medical school and internships.  I did finish this one, and still have it.:)  Then we dove into our careers, and my quilting shrank to collecting a yard of fabric here, a yard there, for a quilt ‘someday’.

A few years later, I wanted some fancy flower pots for our garden, so made a brief foray into mosaics, first looking for a few books to get me started.  It was then that I first ‘met’ Kaffe, in his ‘Mosaics’.  I was astounded.  Here were shapes, textures, colors- that I’d dreamed of.  Almost as though he’d peeked at my dreams and made them solid!  But it was actually in a BOOK!  Nobody was harassing him for ‘illegal’ color choices!

And so, the beginning of my Color Rebellion.

My next meeting was Kaffe’s Glorious Needlepoint.  Another visceral response:  Big wonderous flowers, ethnic prints, all sorts of geometric variations- it really could be done!

I then realized that Kaffe had also designed some quilt books.  I felt almost involved in some torrid romance as I paged through these books, again and again.  I loved seeing the objects Kaffe collected, that inspired and informed his designs.

As my children got older and I had more time, I tip-toed back into quilting.  For a while, art quilts and surface design delighted me, but I never lost my love for commercial fabrics.  I mixed colors, shapes and patterns with abandon.  Some were dismal, well deserving of their place in the ‘round file’, but I gradually developed a surer eye for mixing and designing. 

Now I’m enjoying the Modern Quilt movement, the play of solid colors with patterned cloth, and negative spaces showcasing imaginative quilting designs.  Kaffe’s books, compositions and designs were a passport to Color Freedom.  Thanks so much!  Just thinking of these brings a happy smile to my face!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Quilt Con Charity Quilt

As part of the QuiltCon Block Challenge hosted by the Modern Quilt Guild - Columbus Modern Quilt Guild received a set of blocks made across the country to turn into a charity quilt for the Austin Children's Shelter. Thanks to Kathy and Barb for coordinating all the efforts and to everyone who pitched in on the quilt (especially Catie's amazing quilting!) Here are a few shots of the finished quilt, bound and washed and ready to be shipped to Austin!
  Quiltcon Charity Quilt for Austin Children's Shelter
 More pictures in our Flickr Group. The quilt will be displayed at QuiltCon - maybe we'll get a picture of it there!
Quiltcon Charity Quilt for Austin Children's Shelter

Friday, January 25, 2013

Rainbow Jelly Roll Swap Rules!

As promised, here is the info on our jelly roll swap. Bring your strips to the February meeting and you'll have your jelly rolls at the March meeting.

The purpose of this swap - for those who want to join - is to exchange jelly roll strips so that we all end up with a roll of rainbow colors. You only have to bring one color of fabric and you'll come home with the full rainbow! Sound fun?

 If you weren't at the January meeting you can still participate! Just bring your 20 fabric strips to the February meeting. We signed up for colors just to make sure that everyone didn't bring red fabric (or pink, etc.) but now that we have the whole rainbow covered, if you want to join in, just pick a color and go for it!

The Rules:
  • Fabric should be 100% high quality quilter's cotton (from a Local Quilt Shop or reputable online quilt fabric store - Please no JoAnn or Hobby Lobby fabric allowed)
  • Your fabric should "read" the color you signed up for, but it can have small flecks of other colors if you choose.  Please no solids, it should have a pattern to it. If you have any questions please just email Jaclyn
  • Do NOT pre-wash your fabric.  
  • Fabric should be pre-cut into 2 1/2 inch strips totaling 20 strips per sign up.
  • You can sign up twice and bring 40 strips of fabric if you want to receive extra strips.
  • Bring strips in a ziplock bag labeled with your name and email address and/or phone number.
  • Fabric is to be brought to the Feb. meeting or if you can't make the meeting you are more than welcome to drop it off at my house in Westerville by March 1st.
  • If you didn't sign up at the January meeting and want to participate it's not too late. 
Below are the colors folks have already signed up for - 


Red-
Ann
Stacey V

Orange-
Dana
Jordyn

Yellow-
Kathy F
Karen C

Green-
Katie P
Jordyn
Ann

Blue-
Stacey V
Janna
Joyce

Purple -
Maria
Kathy F

Pink -
Bryan
Sheila

Teal-
Dana

Monday, January 14, 2013

See You Thursday~

See you this Thursday at 7 pm at Quilt Trends for our first meeting of 2013! It should be a fun time. We'll be making plans for 2013 so please bring your ideas for special classes we should do as a guild and other events you'd like to do! We'll also be handing out the fabric for our Madrona Road challenge - don't forget to fill out this form if you're interested (and haven't already).

Friday, January 4, 2013

2013 Meeting Schedule!

Hope everyone had a safe, healthy and happy New Year's! We're looking forward to a busy 2013 at the Columbus Modern Quilt Guild!

A few people have asked, so here is our 2013 schedule - this is also now available on our website.

All 2013 Meetings Thursday 7-9 pm at Quilt Trends 
January 17
February 21
March 21
April 18
May 16
June - No Meeting
July 18
August 15
September 19
October 17
November 21
December 19

Sew Ins: We're planning quarterly sew-in days at Quilt Trends, a chance for us to get together and sew all day. Dates announced soon!

Special Classes: We're also planning some special classes with Sue at Quilt Trends - including a binding class and likely a class on increasing precision in quilting and other subjects - think about your quilty learning goals for 2013 and bring ideas to the January meeting!

Our First Challenge of 2013: Madrona Road: Lastly, we'll be handing out fabric for our quilt challenge at the January 17th meeting - Please sign up via this form so we can guarantee you fabric for the challenge!