Thursday, September 27, 2018

Modern Plus Sampler Quilt ++ My Small Plus Signs

Are you quilting along with the Modern Plus Sampler?  It is not too late to join in and the quilt along is run on a nice and slow pace.

This month's instructions were for the small plus sign blocks.  Here are mine :)


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

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


The next set of instructions will be posted on Thursday, October 4th.



Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Winter Wreath ++ Pattern Release

It's the end of September so Christmas is only about 3 months away!  If you are looking for a quick, jelly roll friendly pattern to make some holiday gifts, I would love to introduce you to Winter Wreath.

You can find the pattern in digital and print versions in my pattern shop.


The pattern contains instructions for a lap sized quilt and for my version, I made my own jelly roll by cutting strips from some of my favorite red, green, and gray prints (most of the prints are by Bonnie and Camille for Moda Fabrics).  The quilt top is super quick to piece with almost no seams to match.

Jennifer Istok of Knotted Thread (InstagramEtsy shop) quilted this quilt for me using a diamond spiral type pattern.  I love how the quilting adds texture to the background of the quilt without taking away from the design on the quilt top.  Jennifer did a wonderful job!

I finished the quilt with a red and white bias striped binding, it reminds me of candy canes :)


Amy Garro of Quilt Photography Co. worked her photography magic on Winter Wreath!  She does such a wonderful job capturing the true colors and textures in a quilt.  All of the photos in this post (including the quilt cover photo) are by Amy.  If you would like more information on the packages and prices of the Quilt Photography Co, you can find them right here.

Coupon Codes

You can find the pattern in digital and print versions in my pattern shop.

Save more in my pattern shop ... Buy 2 or more patterns for a discount! Buy 2 patterns and use the coupon code TWOPATTERNS for $2 off. Buy 3 patterns and use the coupon code THREEPATTERNS for $4 off.


Winter Wreath looks great in holiday colors, but you can easily switch up the design to a non-holiday version by using different colors like the rendering below:


Disclosure: I applied to be an ambassador of her company because I such a fan of her photographic work. Amy provided me with the photographs of Winter Wreath for free. All opinions are completely mine.

Many, many thanks to Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl and Paige @Quilted Blooms for their help with tech editing this pattern!
I would love to see what you make with the pattern! You can share your quilt: Meadow Mist Designs Facebook group and Social Media: #WinterWreathQuilt



Winter Wreath Pattern: digital and print versions






Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Isosceles Addition ++ Bloggers Quilt Festival

My second quilt in the Bloggers Quilt Festival, hosted each fall by Amy of Amy's Creative Side,is Isosceles Addition, one of my favorite finishes of 2018.  (You can see my first quilt for the festival here.)


I made the plus sign quilt  Isosceles Addition for Issue 60 of Love Patchwork & Quilting to celebrate the release of my book, Modern Plus Sigh Quilts.


I really like how the bold colors create such a strong graphic design with more simple lines in the pattern.  In my quilt, I used Kona colors honeysuckle, chartreuse, and white.  

It took me a very long time to figure out the quilting design for Isosceles Addition, I wanted something more than an allover design, but I could not think of how to custom quilting it.  Many thanks to Paige Alexander for helping me come up with the design.

Using Aurifil soft white (color 2021) in 50 wt, I quilted a series of randomly spaced straight lines between the plus signs, then filled in the areas of the plus signs with a bear claw quilting design.  I really like the contrast of the straight lines and the curved lines.


Here is a beautifully styled shot from Love, Patchwork & Quilting.

Photo by Love Patchwork & Quilting

My thanks to Robert Kaufman for the Kona Cotton Solids, Aurifil for the piecing and quilting thread, and the Warm Company for the Warm & White batting.


Thank you for stopping by through the Bloggers Quilt Festival, I hope that you stick around a bit and check out the rest of my blog :)  Here are some links...





Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Ruminate ++ Mini Quilt Finish

It's that time of the year again...each fall, Amy, who blogs over at Amy's Creative Side, hosts the Blogger's Quilt Festival on her blog.  We are allowed to link up two quilts and have the opportunity to visit and be inspired by other blogger's wonderful quilts.  

My first entry to the festival is my latest finish I have named Ruminate.  Ruminate is a verb meaning to think about seriously and I think that it fits my latest quilt finish very well.


I started this quilt back at QuiltCon 2017 (a year and a half ago) in a workshop on improv by Densye Schmidt.  In the workshop, we were supposed to start with a traditional block and after making a few regular blocks, we started playing with shape, scale, and size.

I started with the L Block which is shown below.  My L blocks become long and skinny, teeny tiny, and lopsided. I had fun at the workshop, but was totally stumped as to how to fit all of these odd sized blocks together into a quilt top.



So I left my blocks in a bag to age like fine wine for about 18 months until I was cleaning my sewing room and decided to either donate the blocks or get them sewn together.

I started by sewing pairs of like sized blocks together and then piecing the pairs together, sometimes adding an extra piece of fabric, sometimes trimming the blocks to fit.

My finished quilt top was about 24" x 30" and I wound up using almost every block I had made in the workshop.


Once I basted the quilt, I ruminated on the quilting design for a couple of weeks. Eventually I decided to use three main groupings of lines that intersected randomly across the quilt top and then added echoing lines around these groupings.



Unfortunately, because my quilt top was a little wavy (due to the blocks being cut without rulers and how the blocks were sewn together), as I quilted the straight lines, I wound up with more and more quilt top excess and was starting to get puckering of the quilt top.

I changed my quilting design after I had the initial three groups of lines and instead quilted a small bear claw design in the remaining areas. This helped to take up the excess quilt top fabric and prevented any tucks in the quilt top.


For the quilting I used a variety of Aurifil thread weights in black, white, gray, and yellow. I used 50 wt, 28 wt, and 12 wt. The 12 wt makes a bold statement on the quilt top and really stands out again the busy, print filled quilt top.

Framing the quilt with a binding did not seem like the way to go so I used a facing instead. I am thinking of hanging this quilt somewhere in my house. I am pretty happy with the way it turned and how much I learned along the way.


Thank you for stopping by through the Bloggers Quilt Festival, I hope that you stick around a bit and check out the rest of my blog :)  Here are some links...


I am also linking up with the fun new linky party that Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty is hosting called Brag About Your Beauties.





Tuesday, September 11, 2018

All About Meadow Mist Designs Mystery Quilts

I have had a number of inquires from guilds about my mystery quilts in recent weeks so I thought that I would write a post answering some frequently asked questions and highlighting all of my mystery quilts available ...

Mystery Quilt FAQ

1.  Can our guild use one of your mystery quilt patterns?  
Yes!!  I would love for your guild to use one of my mystery quilts as a quilt along for your group!  You can run the quilt along as a mystery quilt or you can share the quilt design at the start of the quilt along for a regular quilt along.


2.  Where can I find the mystery quilt patterns?
You can find all of the information and instructions about each mystery quilt in the Quilt Along tab above.


3.  What is the cost for our guild to use one of your mystery quilts?  
Free!  All of the pattern instructions for the mystery quilt are in posts that you can get to from the Quilt Along tab.  If you would instead like a more easy-to-print version of the pattern, I have a pdf of the entire pattern listed in my Etsy shop for $10.


4.  If I purchase the pdf of the mystery quilt from your Etsy shop, do I need to purchase a copy for each participant?
No :)  You only need to purchase 1 copy of the pdf version of the mystery quilt for your entire guild.  You are allowed to make as many copies of the pattern as needed and to e-mail the pattern to participants.  I only ask that the pattern is not published on a website (like a guild blog or web page).

Do you have any other questions?  You can always reach me at MeadowMistDesigns at gmail dot com or leave the question in a comment on this post.

Mystery Quilt Options

Foothills Mystery



Midnight Mystery



Meadow Mystery



Magnolia Mystery


I hope you guild decides to use one of my mystery quilts and that you send me the finished pictures :)



Thursday, September 6, 2018

Modern Plus Sampler ++ Small Plus Area

Welcome to the September instructions for the Modern Plus Sampler!



This month's instructions are the most time consuming of the entire quilt along, but next month in October we are only making one quick block.  Therefore, you really have two full months to make all of the small plus blocks.

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:


 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....August's instructions...



Small Plus Area



Cutting Instructions
Tip: These fabric cutting sizes are from “instructions for individual block makers - actual size blocks”. If you would prefer to make oversized blocks and then trim them down to size, you can use the “instructions for group block makers - oversized blocks” on page 38.

FABRIC C


Cut 9 strips 2 1/4" x WOF.
     1. Sub-cut the strips into 160 squares 2 ¼" x 2 ¼", each strip can yield 18 squares.

Cut 5 strips 1 1/2" x WOF.
     1. Sub-cut the strips into 160 rectangles 1 ½" x 1 ¼", each strip can yield 32 rectangles.



FABRIC D


Cut 7 strips 1 1/2" × WOF.
     1. Sub-cut 4 strips into 40 rectangles 1 ½" × 3 ½", each strip can yield 11 rectangles.
     2. Sub-cut 3 strips into 80 squares 1 ½" × 1 ½", each strip can yield 27 squares.


Piecing Instructions
Use the “instructions for individual block makers - actual size blocks” from the Signature Plus pattern on page 40.

Use the fabric C pieces for the “red fabric” pieces and the fabric D pieces for the “white fabric” pieces make 40 small plus blocks 5" x 5".



Paige and I can't wait to see your small plus signs!!





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


The next set of instructions will be published on the first Thursday of October (the 4th).





Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Quilters Meet & Greet

I was approached by a blogger, Benita of Victoriana Quilt Designs, to participate in a Quilter's Meet and Greet.  She assembled a bunch of designers to participate and is hosting a huge giveaway (more on that below).

I figured that this might be a good time to post a little about myself for some of the new subscribers, so without further ado … five things about myself … with some of my favorite quilt finishes sprinkled in …

1.  My name is Cheryl Brickey and I was born and raised in New Jersey, went to college in Pittsburgh, PA, and lived in Rochester, NY for 5 years before escaping the snow to move to Greenville, SC about 13 years ago.


2.  I met my husband on my first day at Eastman Kodak in Rochester, we went through new hire orientation together.

Canvas Lines - photo by Kitty of Night Quilter

3.  I have two children, a daughter in 3rd grade and a son in 6th grade.  I can't believe that I have a middle schooler! I just entered my 40's and I have a feeling that this will be a good decade :)

Taste the Rainbow

4.  My favorite parts of making a quilt are designing the pattern, cutting the fabric, making the blocks, and machine quilting.  I love quilty math and the challenge of making quilt pattern steps into clear and easy to follow instructions.

Use Your Illusion

5.  I was asked by my local quilt guild to host a mystery quilt back in 2014.  I loved hosting it and have hosted a free quilt along on my blog each year since (you can find all of the quilt alongs in the tab above).

Meadow Mystery Quilt

I hope that you enjoyed learning a bit more about me, if you would like to explore my blog some more here are some links to various parts and different ways to subscribe:





Be sure to click the links below to be taken to the main Victoriana Quilt Designs to meet other quilts and to enter for a chance to win the grand prize (jelly rolls, thread, and scissors).


https://benitaskinner.blogspot.com/2018/09/2018-online-quilters-meet-greet.html

https://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/fabric/