Courthouse Squares – 2014

I belong to the Rochester Modern Quilt Guild, where we love challenges. The challenge I’m working on now is to make any project using only black, white, and one bright color.

2014 Courthouse Squares – Black-and-Whites

My first thought was my favorite color – red – but that seemed too easy a choice. (What’s black and white and red all over?) I went to my stash for inspiration and found three fat quarters of bright turquoise. This classic block is called Courthouse Square. I like recasting an old pattern with modern fabrics and attitude.

Courthouse Square Block

With my stash, I picked a wide variety of fabrics, using my design wall to combine them in a “random” plan. The color sequence was intentionally varied in four blocks to give the eye some focal points.

Courthouse Squares Being Planned on the Design Wall

The top has now been sewn together; the quilting is underway.

Courthouse Square Quilt Top

Neo-Baltimore Petals – 2014

Front of Neo-Baltimore Petals, 16 X 16.

Spring of 2014, Michael Miller Fabrics conducted a challenge through the Modern Quilt Guild, based on their new designs. Each member received 6 free fat eighths and could enter anything quilted. This was my entry, heavily influenced by the Baltimore album quilts I had been reading about. It was a great chance to try out some 3-dimensional techniques and free-motion quilting.

Detail of quilting and 3-D elements on Neo-Baltimore Petals

More quilting and 3-D elements on Neo-Baltimore Petals

Some of the quilting is easier to see on the back.

Back of Neo-Baltimore Petals.