Modern Plus Sampler Quilt ++ My Transparency Plus Block

This month's instructions for the Modern Plus Sampler were very quick (so that quilters could finish up the small plus sign blocks from last month).

We only had to make one block this month...the Transparency Plus Block.  Here is mine:

There have been some wonderful blocks posted on the Facebook Group and on Instagram (#ModernPlusSamplerQuilt).  If you have a chance, please check them out :)

You can find the Transparency Plus Block instructions for October here and find out all about the quilt along here.

The next set of instructions will be posted on Thursday, November 1st.

Announcing the Fall 2018 Tips and Tutorials Festival

Mark your calendars! Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl and I are excited to announce that we are co-hosing the Fall 2018 Tips and Tutorials Festival in November.

The goal of the Tips and Tutorials Festival is to share and celebrate all the wonderful online tutorials that the quilting community has created recently. You can submit up to 4 tutorials during the Fall 2018 Festival, and there are going to be 2 categories:

• Block and Quilt Tutorials 
• Other Tutorials (Sewing, Other Sewn/Quilted Items, Quilting Tutorials) 

We encourage fresh, new content, so we ask that you link up posts that have been published since November 2017 (within the past year). 

We will be sharing more details about the festival and how you can participate on November 1st. If you have been thinking about sharing a tutorial, now is the time to write it!

Tips and Tutorials Schedule

• Monday, November 12 – Submissions Open 
• Friday, November 16 – Submissions Close 
• Saturday, November 17 – Voting Opens 
• Tuesday, November 20 – Voting Closes 
• ~~ Happy Thanksgiving! ~~ 
• Monday, November 26 – Winners Announced 

We look forward to learning from you and hope you will link up and visit the festival!

Testing ++ Diffraction Block

I am happy to share a block and quilt finish today that I made while testing my friend Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl's newest block tutorial.

Yvonne and I tech edit each other's patterns and I was excited to try out her newest tutorial called the Diffraction Block (and her quilt called See Right Through Me using the block).

You can find more information and pictures of the block and quilt on Yvonne's blog and the free tutorial over on the Olfa blog.

Can you believe that this block was made using just a ruler?  When Yvonne initially showed it to me, I figured that it had to have been paper pieced for those angles and accuracy.

With the instructions of using the different angle lines on the ruler and trimming the block after each addition, my block turned out great!

Once I had the block, I thought that it was too pretty to wind up in my pile of orphan blocks, so I built a simple baby-sized quilt top around the block.

The quilt finished at about 36 ½" x 36 ½" (a perfect size for a baby quilt so there is no need to piece a backing).

I added wishbone quilting in the pink border and a simple meander in the background areas.  To finish it off, I thought that the quilt needed a nice frame so I used a super wide binding cut at 5".

I hope that you enjoyed my quilt using Yvonne's Diffraction Block!  You can see more pictures of Yvonne's block and her quilt using the block (called See Right Through Me) on her blog and get the free tutorial over on the Olfa blog.

New Kittens!

I do not share too much personal stuff on my blog, but I thought that I would share the reason why I have not been in the sewing room as much lately...new kittens!

We adopted two kittens this past Friday and are having such fun with them!  They are sisters and their names are Hersey (the mostly brown one) and Reeses (the orange and brown calico).  We got them when they were 12 weeks old and about 2 1/2 lbs each.

They are doing well and the kids are beyond excited by them.

Here are some pics of the girls...

Hersey 

Reeses 

Modern Plus Sampler ++ Transparency Plus Block

Welcome to the October instructions for the Modern Plus Sampler!

This month's instructions are very quick so that you still have more time to finish up the small plus signs from September.

Modern Plus Sampler

The Modern Plus Sampler will run from July 2018 until April 2019 with a set of directions revealed the first Thursday of every month. The quilt is a large lap sized quilt finishing at about 63" x 78".

The instructions are published within this post (right after these few announcements) and are available in an easy to print pdf format:

Modern Plus Sampler - Transparency Plus Block

 Additionally, the directions and all of the other information related to the sampler quilt along can always be found on the Modern Plus Sampler Page.

Facebook Group 
I encourage you to join the Meadow Mist Designs Facebook Group (if you have not already).  We now have over 3,200 members in the group and I am so excited to see your progress!

If you want some feedback on possible fabric choices or have any questions during the quilt along, the Facebook is an excellent resource.  You can find the Facebook Group right here.  Please share your progress pics on social media with the hashtag #ModernPlusSamplerQuilt and tag me at @MeadowMistDesigns.

And now without further ado....October's instructions...

Transparency Plus Block

Note: The dimensions of the transparency plus block have been altered from the book to better fit the sampler design. 

Cutting Instructions

FABRIC B

Cut 1 strip 2 1/2" x WOF.
     1. Sub-cut the strip into 4 rectangles 2 1/2" x 5" and 4 squares 2" x 2".


   FABRIC D

Cut 1 strip 5" × WOF.
     1. Sub-cut the strip into 4 squares 5" x 5", 1 rectangle 2" x 5" and 2 squares 2" x 2".


   FABRIC E


Cut 1 strip 1 3/4" x WOF.
     1. Sub-cut the strip into 4 rectangles 1 3/4" x 5".


   FABRIC F

Cut 1 strip 1 3/4" x WOF. 

     1. Sub-cut the strip into 4 rectangles 1 3/4" x 5".


Piecing Instructions

Use the Transparency Chains pattern instructions on pages 90-95. Regular piecing (instead of strip piecing) will be used as only one block is being pieced.

1. Sew 4 fabric B squares 2" x 2", 1 fabric D rectangle 2" x 5", and 2 fabric D squares 2" x 2" together to make a plus unit 5" x 5".

2. Sew 1 fabric B rectangle 2 1/2" x 5", 1 fabric E rectangle 1 3/4" x 5", and 1 fabric F rectangle 1 3/4" x 5" together to make a striped unit 5" x 5". Repeat to make 4 striped units.

3. Sew the plus unit, 4 striped units, and 4 fabric D squares 5" x 5" to make the transparency block 14" x 14".

Note:  The original design has only one transparency plus block, but you are welcome to make additional blocks if you would like to replace some of the applique and/or paper pieced blocks in the quilt top.

Many thanks to the generous sponsors of the Modern Plus Sampler!

Honey, Bunny, and Doll | Sew Fresh Quilts | Make Modern | Aurifil

Cooking Up Quilts | Quilting Jetgirl | Quilter's Planner

Needle & Foot | Fat Quarter Shop | BackSide Fabrics | Whims and Fancies

Meadow Mist Designs | Tish's Adventures in Wonderland | Busy Hands Quilts | C&T Publishing

The next set of instructions will be published on the first Thursday of November (the 1st).