Category: Beautiful Quilts

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Drumroll Please! Announcing the Grand Champion Prize Winner of the Accuquilt Block Design Contest.

I entered several blocks in the 2017 Accuquilt Block Design Contest. By popular vote, these two entries were the most popular.

Here were my other entries:

 

 

But the Grand Champion was my Purple Rose. It will be unveiled on the billboard outside the Accuquilt headquarters in Interstate 80 for an entire year. I am in the process of designing a quilt and a pattern for this block, which will be available in our shop.

 

I also entered this contest in 2016 and here were my entries from that year.

 

But the one that won Fan Favorite was Not Your Grandmother’s Flower Garden a.k.a. What Happens When Grandpa Tells Grandma No More Trips to the Fabric Store.It was designed with the Accuquilt Dresden Plate Die and Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

As a result of winning Fan Favorite, I was honored with a trip to Julien California to spend a week with Eleanor Burns, from Quilt in a Day, at her Fall quilt retreat at Camp Cedar Glen in the mountains. It was a wonderful time for which I am forever grateful.

Here are some photos from that trip. 

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Greek Isles Modern Quilt

For the 2017 Blogger’s Quilt Festival, I thought I would share Blue Bear’s most popular pattern, Greek Isles Modern. 

This pattern is much easier than it looks. It is made with 2.5″ strips of white and 2.5″ strips of light, medium and dark batiks, that you may obtain from jelly rolls, or cut on your 2.5″ strip die with your Accuquilt Go! Cutter. The blocks are all constructed the same way, and placement is what determines the pattern. At 70 x 90,” it is the perfect quilt to curl up with on the couch for binge watching your favorite Netflix shows.

Here is a picture of Kim at Keep Me in Stitches in Largo, Florida, quilting this beauty; followed by a close up of her fantastic quilting.

 

Here are several more photos of the quilt out and about.

 

 

I have taught this class several times and here are some of my students interpretations of the quilt. Click on the links for short videos. They did a fantastic job!

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If you would like to purchase this pattern, it is available on our website here, www.bluebearquilts.com, or on Craftsy here- https://www.craftsy.com/quilting/patterns/greek-isles-modern-quilt/490532

Greek Isles Modern Quilt Cover

Sharing at the Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy’s Creative Side.

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Swedish Barn Quilt Trail

When I was teaching at Bear Patch Quilt Company in White Bear Lake, MN, this August, I came across a Swedish Barn Quilt Trail when sightseeing with my sister. This trail is located on Highway 8  and goes through the cities of Chisago City, Lindstrom, Center City and Shafer. How fun it was to see all of these beautiful quilt blocks decorating buildings. A barn quilt is a quilt block pattern that is painted on a large wood square and hung on a barn, or on the front of a business. They are designed to last 6-8 years by using several coats of paint and then applying a clear coat.  The first barn quilt trails were created in 2001 in Ohio.  Scroll down to see the photo of the patriotic home that has tons of antique auto memorabilia surrounding it.

Whirling Star
Tulips in the Corner
Interdependence
Patriotic house in Lindstrom with lots of antique auto memorabilia.
Swedish Rubics Cube
Dr. Pete’s Patchwork Pets
Swedish Summer Night with Dala Horse in center
Star of Bethlehem
Table for Four
Cross and Darts
Goldstar
Tulips in Town
Swing in the Center
Fantasia
Star Burst
There’s no place like Dome
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Quiltcon 2017

Since becoming a certified Quilt in a Day instructor things have gotten very busy with the trip to California with Quilt in a Day, teaching quilt classes, the holidays, family weddings, colds caught at family weddings and a trip to Quiltcon. Quiltcon 2017, in Savannah, was very exciting as I went exploring to learn all about the world of modern quilting. Modern quilters are just as passionate about their craft as traditional quilters, and they love to share their thoughts and ideas with other quilters. I was trying to get a definition for modern quilting and what I came up with was use of lots of solid colors, like Kona Cottons, lots of negative space for beautiful quilting, think Angela Waters, quilts are more utilitarian, taking traditional blocks and incorporating them into modern quilts or blowing the traditional blocks up to a much larger size so there is more negative space for quilting. Here are some photos of the exquisite work that I saw in Savannah. I hope you enjoy!