Looking for a Tropical Boost? We have one!

If winter has you bundled up inside and you need a little cheer in the post-holiday letdown, try out this tropical project featured in Easy Quilts magazine! Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton used the whimsical Happy Hour 3 collection from Kanvas to create a table runner and placemats. They're sure to put your in a happy hour kind of mood...just add a little lemon! 

"It's 5 O'clock Somewhere designed by Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton;
featured in Easy Quilts Winter 2018

What attracted you to the Happy Hour 3 collection?
We just thought it was so fun! Novelty prints can be more challenging to work into a pattern, but these prints are so playful that we wanted to create a project that was both accessible and useable.

Do you have a favorite fabric?

The black allover toss caught my eye. It worked out really well on the placemats. And, it has drink recipes on it!

Tell us about your design.

The drink stripe is another cool print that we really wanted to work into the project. It’s so dramatic. 

A fussy cut strip of the stripe worked perfectly running down the center of the runner, surrounded by alternating sections of the collection’s second stripe. We were also able to use the silver cocktail stripe at the top and bottom of the placemats.

 

Runner

Placemats

What was your intent with this project set?

We were thinking girls’ night in—have some friends over for a night of cocktails and conversation.

Click here to see the entire Happy Hour 3 collection.

Click here to purchase the pattern.

Click here to find Easy Quilts Winter 2018 magazine. 

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Make it Modern: Daily Zen

Inspired by the modern quilting show QuiltCon over the weekend, we're sharing projects and fabrics with a modern twist this week, as well as some photos from QuiltCon itself. 

First up is the "Daily Zen Quilts & Projects' by Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton. This 56-page book features' 11 projects made from Michele D'Amore's Daily Zen collection for Contempo Studio.

The projects keep with the Zen theme--in addition to quilts, you'll find a yoga mat, an eye mask and neck roll, and a carry-all tote that can hold sewing projects or your yoga class supplies.

Joanie and Melanie worked with Benartex and Landauer to develop the "Daily Zen" book, with the idea of showing quilters many different ways to use a fabric line, all in one resource. We asked Joanie to talk about the book and projects she and Melanie designed.

Why did you use the Daily Zen collection?
It was fresh and fun to work with--Michele had some neat colors blended together, and a lot of grays that worked with colors that pop. Her black and white prints are perfect for modern quilts. I think both quilters and quilt shops are drawn to the contemporary and modern fabrics (like Daily Zen) but aren't always sure how to use them in patterns. Our book addresses that.

Tell us about the cover quilt. 
The "Unified" quilt on the cover is an example of a traditional block we tweaked--it's an oversized snowball block. The design looks like a chain, but very oversized. 

Do you have a favorite quilt from the book?
We loved all the quilts, but I really liked the Zen Garden quilt. It's a very contemporary take on a Drunkard's Path square. Bright and modern, and not as hard as it looks. 

And how about some of the other projects?
Our theme for projects was based around the theme of the fabric. For us, sewing is very zen. When you work on a project and it all comes together, you have this lovely calming feeling. That's what we took from the fabric--where is that place in your life where you go to have that peaceful feeling?

The carryall tote was a super fun bag to make, and so cute!

 The eye mask and neck roll go with the "feeling zen" theme. 

What else do you want readers to know about your book?
The projects are easy to make--we tried hard to make them accessible to many skill levels. But most of all, we hope quilters and sewers can find the corner in their world where they can sit and relax and enjoy the projects they've made!
Watch for Melanie and Joanie's next book, debuting at Spring Quilt Market!

Melanie and Joanie even have a bonus project to share with you, thanks to Landauer!

Click here to download Melanie and Joanie's free pattern for a travel sewing wallet.


Click here to find the Daily Zen Quilts & Projects book. (You can also click on the "Look Inside" tab to see a short video with sneak peeks of some of the other projects featured in the book!)
Click here to see Daily Zen featured on the blog and here to see our Contempo booth from spring Quilt Market featuring these fabrics. 

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Interlude Three Ways

We're back with some more project inspiration to get you sewing, this time featuring Michele D'Amore's Interlude collection! 

Take-Along Tote

First up, as we approach summer, it's definitely tote season. From a tote to carry supplies to a quilting class to a beach bag, you can never have too many big bags! One of Melanie's favorite totes had seen better days, so Joanie made the bag below, a similar size but with more structure. 

"Take-Along Tote" designed by Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton;
featured in Simple Quilts Spring 2013

Find the project kit here.
Find Simple Quilts & Sewing here.

Sweet Interlude

The "Sweet Interlude" quilt, also designed by Melanie and Joanie, features six-patch rows mixed with large cuts of floral fabric. Joanie says that "though this line has a modern flavor, it also has a sweet, peaceful feel to it..." which shines through in this welcoming quilt.

"Sweet Interlude" designed by Melanie Greseth and Joanie Holton;
featured in The Quilter magazine, April/May 2013.

Find the quilt kit here.
Find The Quilter Magazine here. 

Hearth & Home

This quilt has a surprisingly modern feel for something inspired by the old brickwork in Melanie's bedroom fireplace (how cool to have a fireplace in your bedroom!). Melanie challenged Joanie to figure out the pattern, and the results are right on the pages of Quilt magazine. 

Find the project kit here.

Find Quilt magazine here.

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What's old is new...Chevrons circa 2013

From their first appearance on pottery and rock carvings in 1800 BC to coats of arms in the Middle Ages to the sleeves of letterman's jackets in the late 20th century, chevrons have been, shall we say, around the block. 

They've been popping up all over the quilt industry for the last few years, but we've never seen chevrons quite like in this quilt pattern. 

One jumbo (the quilt measures 57" x 71"!) echoing chevron, using the Manhattan Modern fabric collection. Big prints at home in a big design.

"Sketchbook" designed by Joanie Holton and Melanie Greseth,
made by Vicki Swanson and machine quilted by Naomi Polzin;
featured in McCall's Quilting May/June 2013

Joanie and Melanie gave us the inside scoop on their super-sized design.

How did you come up with the idea for this design?

We were asked to design "modern quilts" with the Manhattan Modern line… we love the modern look but are also a fan of angles.           

  

What do you like best about the quilt? 

We love that it isn’t made up of your traditional square blocks--the angles give it some attitude and flair.

What are the solid-looking prints in the quilt?

We originally designed it with Broadway Textures in the solid areas but made the quilt with Benartex Home linens….just to try something different. We liked the look of linen, but cotton worked better with the angled piecing, so the kits include cotton instead. 

See the entire Manhattan Modern collection here and Broadway Textures here.

Find the kit for this project (and learn more about designers Melanie and Joanie) here.

Find McCall's Quilting here.

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When orange is a restful color

Do you ever make the exact same quilt twice? Many quilters reuse a favorite pattern over and over, trying out different fabrics or color palettes each time.

But what about a room with twin beds? Would you make the same quilt, with the same fabric, a second time? Might get boring to sew. So jazz it up a little!

Designers Joanie Holton and Melanie Greseth avoided this situation when sewing quilts from Kanvas' Lili-fied collection—they used the same bold fabrics, but two different designs. The like fabrics tie the room together, but you won't get sucked into monotonous piecing!

Both ''Lily's Beach Party'' and ''Tangerine Sunrise'' are featured in the current issue of Simple Quilts & Sewing magazine, appropriately under the tagline of ''Double Duty."

We asked this designing duo to share what went on behind all that orange and fuchsia goodness:

How do you work as a team to come up with your designs?

Melanie: Joanie and I tend to scribble and doodle ideas and then scribble and doodle on each other's scribbles and doodles… in most cases the quilts we design go through both of us at one point or another…. if she figures out a layout, I figure out the color…. if I have an idea for structure, she figures out how to construct…  we are a team in every sense of the word.

Have you ever made an all-orange quilt before?

After creating the [Lili-fied-themed Kanvas] booth for Fall Quilt Market with all this fabulous color, we needed a ''rest'' for our eyes. So we made one more quilt—just with the orange—and called it ''Tangerine Sunrise."

(When bright orange (or tangerine) is called ''rest,'' you can tell Joanie and Melanie have been looking at Lili-fied too long!)

What attracted you to the fabric line?

It is just so bright and fun! The line has really great color, which shines in the simple designs.

           

Photo courtesy of Simple Quilts & Sewing

See the entire Lili-fied collection here. 

(Don't forget, it comes in green/blue/aqua too!)

Find the kits for both quilts here.

Find Quilt magazine here. 

Find the pattern for the coordinating throw pillows here.

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