If you contribute $10 to the cause, you are automatically entered to win this package of prizes. I’m so thankful to Stitch and Pendleton Woolen Mills for generously adding their contributions to make it really special!

One donor will win:
• a signed copy of Modern Log Cabin Quilting
• the new Winter issue of Stitch, with a nice feature on wool sewing, donated by Stitch, and
• a brand-new set of 8 wool fat quarters, and a baby quilt kit (which includes 2 FQs and 1 full yard of wool), donated by Pendleton Woolen Mills.

If a friend or a blog reader wins I’ll add an extra prize, too!

This blog entry from Pendleton shares more about what makes this winter issue of Stitch so special – I’m so proud to have my feature article on the history of wool in America included alongside some amazing sewing projects, including Michelle‘s midcentury-inspired quilt and Daniela‘s Northwest Modern laptop case!

You can find out much more about Action Kivu and donate here.

To celebrate, I wanted to share a new pattern extra that a few readers have asked about: making a Modern Crosses block with pre-cut jelly roll strips (which are 2.5″ wide) instead of the 2″ strips called for in the original pattern. I wanted to use my PMQG-mate Monica Solario-Snow‘s Happy Mochi Yum Yum fabric – she kindly gave me a jelly roll with all her beautiful prints last year.

So when I whipped up two jelly roll Modern Crosses blocks, they were perfect for making another one of the simple 12″-block patchwork kids’ tote bags I’ve been sewing for Craft Hope. Yay!

For each modified jelly roll Modern Crosses block, you’ll need:
Four 2.5″ square pieces of fabric A (solid or patterned fabric of your choice*)
One 29″ strip of 2.5″-wide contrast fabric, B, for the cross
One 44″ strip of 2.5″-wide fabric A (to match squares) for the surrounding background of the block

Chain-piece the same way as described in the book to create blocks that are approximately 12″ across instead of 9.75″/10″ like the originals. Arrange the cross blocks as shown in the book, or in the order you prefer, to form a quilt top. If you are making a smaller project like a pillow cover or tote, I outline-quilted my crosses and outer squares with a flannel backing, then sewed a button in the center of each cross – to finish as a tote, follow the instructions in the tutorial right over here!

*I have always used solid background and patterned cross fabrics in my blocks, but you can see some lovely, inspiring Modern Crosses that mix prints or reverse the solid/patterned arrangement to beautiful effect. I love this one from Jeni of In Color Order using vintage sheets! Thanks to everyone who’s added project photos to the Modern Log Cabin Quilting and Modern Crosses Get-Together pools – I love seeing them. Happy National Quilting Day, everyone!

I have a new patchwork project to share that I’ll write up and post this week – a little companion/sequel to the Sunshine and Sock Monkeys Quilt.

Everett really loves this one! It was kind of hard to get even a quick snapshot of it.

Last, I just posted a new correction for the Market Tote (page 141) from Modern Log Cabin Quilting.

The seam allowance is incorrect on the first page (says 3/8″, should be 1/4″) – lots more details here on the corrections page. I’m so sorry about the error, but you can make a beautiful, sturdy, slightly smaller bag with the 3/8″ seam allowance, like Mary‘s here on the right (approximately 14″ blocks instead of 16″).

I’ll see you soon with the new project and some of my favorite photos of reader-made projects from the book – thank you to everyone who has added theirs to the MLCQ flickr pool!

By the way – my class (#S300 in the booklet) still has 3 spots open out of 20, so if you happen to be interested you can register at the front desk there. This is the project (above), a very simple elongated coin quilt made from three Pendleton wools, and the class fees include a kit with all the fabrics in either pink or blue color families. I can’t believe I’ll be teaching 17 (possibly more!) students on Saturday and I am super looking forward to it.

Back to the Expo… Michelle and I saw this amazing quilt and both stopped in our tracks to love and admire it. I adored the kids’ book The Hundred Dresses and these beautiful rows of vintage-fabric-pieced dress blocks, each with tiny hand-stitched coat hangers, amazed me. Renee Newstrum (who I would love to meet!) designed, pieced and quilted it:

Oh, the little dresses!!!

We also stopped by the Pendleton booth and among many awesome things, they had a nice display of my books and my Winter Woolens Quilt (made with their wool, I bought everything for it at the Woolen Mill Store). So cool.

And the tempting pick-any-8 wool FQ sets were going fast.

I also saw Diane‘s marvelous book with the Clover Kanzashi kits at the Fabric Depot booth. (She’ll be there Friday from 11-2 demoing the Kanzashi makers!)

Speaking of books, I was happy to see all three of Terri Thayer‘s quilting mysteries at the Expo! She came to my event at the Bobbin’s Nest in May and brought me a signed copy of her first one in the series, Wild Goose Chase.

I’ve bought the other two at Murder By The Book, my favorite mystery bookstore (right in my neighborhood here in SE Portland). By the way, if you are interested, they have a new Crafty Crimes section with all the knitting, sewing, needlework, and scrapbooking mysteries in one place, which I personally love. I’m going to bring some vintage craft supplies by so they can decorate the shelf, actually!

Anyway, Jean at MBTB recommended a mystery called Quilt as Desired, which is at the top of my stack of books to read next, and I met the author, Arlene Sachitano at Expo this morning! So I bought the second one in the series, Quilter’s Knot, and she signed it to me.

Ok, see you super-early Saturday morning if you’d like to make a wool baby quilt, and if you’re in Seattle please save the date for Saturday, October 22 from 1-3 pm – I’m so happy that we’ve just set up a MLCQ book event at The Quilting Loft in Ballard! More details soon…

Jaime picked me up from the airport and we started off with a trip to Urban Arts + Crafts as the first stop on my own personal Holiday Shop Hop (two months early in my case – but if you are anywhere near there, mark your calendars for November 5 and 6!).

Urban Arts + Crafts is a super cute and colorful store with beads, yarn, fabric and many other craft treasures (plus lots of books). I love shops like this, since I like to do so many different things myself… but my heart belonged to fabric on this trip.

I ended up with this nice zig-zag print and some Denyse Schmidt Katie Jump Rope and County Fair! Loved seeing these again and getting a second chance to buy some.

Then Jaime took us to lunch at the Bluebird which was lovely, and downtown to visit Hammer Press (no photos of my finds, since there is a secret Father’s Day gift for Andrew in there that has to stay hidden til next June… but I did find this for a certain 3-year-old I know). Loved seeing the TWA building – so beautiful!

She showed us some other beautiful neighborhoods and we crossed from Missouri into Kansas for the first of many times. I hadn’t realized, with my total ignorance of KC geography, that we’d get to hang out on both sides of the state line, a bunch of times even! Very cool and now Everett has been to five states total. After some time to chill at Jaime’s gorgeous 1950 house (same year as mine!), we headed over to Eden’s Alley for dinner with Jacquie and Jenny. It was so great to get to hang out and chat, and Jacquie and I even found out we are both UNC grads (plus, she and my dad went to the same high school – !). Then it was time to head over to the KCMQG meeting…

I was so excited to see my dear friend Rhonda, who came from Lawrence to see me!! We’ve known each other for ten or eleven years through crafty things online and it was awesome to get to give her a hug in person. The meeting was amazing – KCMQG got their 100th and 101st paid members (!!), and the show and tell ended with a teary surprise – Shea organized a beautiful collective gift for beloved outgoing president Jacquie, a quilt called Windy City.

photo by KCMQG

Then I gave my log cabin quilting presentation and showed book projects, and people were really wonderful about it – I got a lot of great compliments, and signed some books, thanks to Elaine from Harper’s, who sponsored the meeting with a fantastic mini-shop in the back! What a great evening.

After a lovely end of the night back at Jaime’s, she took me over to the KC Bernina store in the morning and we had to say goodbye. I snapped up this Betz White hat pattern and some handy pre-wound bobbins,

and got to admire their beautiful collection of vintage and antique Bernina sewing machines.

Jenny picked me up (with her adorable 7-week-old son, Carter, who Everett was fascinated with!) and we headed over to Harper’s. I loved seeing the Kaffe Fassett shot cottons in person, and how cute is this orange sewing machine?!

I picked out two of the shot cottons, plus this cute deer print and a tiny rotary cutter I’ve been wanting forever. (The quilting ruler was a gift from Elaine!)

Then we headed to the Nelson-Atkins art museum to meet Kim. I absolutely loved the museum and I wish I could have spent a whole day there (next time for sure). Everett let me see most of a photography exhibit before his baby-timer went off, and then we went outside for a more mellow visit to the completely amazing sculpture garden.

We dodged a hailstorm nicely and went back downtown for lunch with Kim, where I got to set foot on the other end of the Oregon Trail,

and then our last stop was Bon Bon. I was so excited to look through these tempting bins full of rolls of vintage and new fabrics! I picked out a nice selection, including this blue and brown colorway of my favorite vintage sheet pattern (!!!!),

and I got some half-yard cuts of two Cloud 9 fabrics I’ve been wanting.

Here we are at Bon Bon with Jenny and a sleepy little Carter. Jaime and Jenny were the sweetest tour guides ever.

Then we had to head out to the airport again and say goodbye to Missouri (and Kansas)…

and Everett and I were on the way home with a suitcase full of awesome souvenirs! Here is everything I found on my mini-shop hop. Love it all.

Along with everything I bought, Jaime gave me one of Shea‘s quilt patterns (can’t wait to try it!) and Lauren gave me this beautiful stack of vintage fabrics. Thank you so much, ladies.

I just want to thank everyone in KCMQG for welcoming me so warmly and to Jenny and Jaime for showing me your beautiful city. It was a wonderful couple days and I loved it all! I was sad to leave, but I’m excited that we’re doing a log cabin potholder swap with the KC guild – I can’t wait to see what my partner has in store for me… photos of the whole swap coming in November. And if you’re here in Portland, hope to see you tomorrow night at our PMQG meeting, too.

Speaking of, I’ll see you tomorrow for my Sewing For Boys review and giveaway – I had a lot of fun with this one and will be sharing my project then!

First, Alissa’s amazing fabric fundraiser for Action Kivu has just a couple days left to go (it closes Sunday the 14th). They are hoping to raise $15,000 and are at the halfway point now. Awesome!

Action Kivu is a nonprofit that helps women who are victims of the conflict in Eastern Congo by teaching them to sew. The conflict in Congo has taken the lives of over 5.4 million people since 1998. Rape is used as a weapon of war, with estimates putting the number of rapes in the hundreds of thousands. This is truly difficult stuff to think about but together we can really make a difference for some specific women who need our help.

By donating specific amounts, from $10-100, you automatically enter to win some amazing prizes at each level, like a set of 43 fat eighths of Flea Market Fancy, donated by Jacquie and Ashley ($75), and a set of Sugar Creek fabrics (not even in stores yet!) from Denyse Schmidt Quilts ($40).

As of this morning I am so happy to announce that if you donate $20, you can win a set of books – a signed copy of Modern Log Cabin Quilting paired with Alissa’s Block Party!! The fundraiser ends Sunday (8/14) so please jump in when you can. This is such an important cause and I am thankful to be supporting it (I have my fingers crossed for the Flea Market Fancy category). Lots more info on Action Kivu here, and Alissa’s post and prize descriptions here.

Speaking of good causes, Daniela and I are winding down the Quilts for Quake Survivors project for Mercy Corps’ work in Japan with our party on Sunday! We’d love to see past and present supporters (you are so welcome to come sew with us for a bit from 4-6, then hang out and have food, drinks and music from 6-8). Thank you to everyone who has been part of this project.

I’ll be grocery shopping with Alexandra this afternoon – she has generously offered to make some lovely food especially for the QfQ party, so we’re picking out some good things. I can’t wait!

Last, there’s another crafty party next weekend! I’m teaching my Woolen Cross Pillow class at the Woolen Mill Store on Saturday, August 20, from 12-2. It’s $45 and you get all the materials to make one of these cross pillows, plus lots of extra wool to bring home for your second one!

After the class, the Woolen Mill Store is hosting a Modern Log Cabin Quilting reception and book signing from 2-4 (free!). Each person will get a special Pendleton wool kit to make a log cabin block, and there will be refreshments and other surprises (like felt comics magnets kits!) for crafters too. I’ll have all the projects I’ve made with Pendleton wool there (including the Winter Woolens Quilt from MLCQ) to show, and some of my favorite book projects, too. I would love to see you there.

Woolen Cross Pillow class, 12-2
MLCQ reception, 2-4
The Woolen Mill Store, 8500 SE McLoughlin Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97222

So, prizes, parties and quilting… I hope one of these strikes your fancy too, and that I’ll see you at the parties!

Sisters was awesome, a bit of a whirlwind but fantastic. I LOVED the Portland Modern Quilt Guild special exhibit, our area was beautiful – a calm, breezy walkway with 18 guild members’ quilts hanging on both sides. This post has some lovely photos from Michelle, too.

I had my 20-pound baby in the Beco carrier pretty much the whole time I wasn’t at my book signing, so I didn’t get any great pictures myself, but luckily lots of folks in the guild were out in full force and the group flickr pool has a lot of amazing ones! Thanks to Heather for snapping these three photos – here’s my quilt in the mix, Modern Crosses.

I met Valori Wells, Jean Wells, and Kathy Doughty when I headed over for my signing and managed to (hopefully) not be too inarticulate and star-struck. The Quilters of Gee’s Bend were there too – my second overlap with them, after my trip in 2009 (here are four of their gorgeous quilts in front of the shop – how much do I love the second one?!). It was pretty awesome.

Thank you so much to everyone who came to my event at the Stitchin Post! I met so many nice quilters and it was really lovely. I have to admit that it was a challenge co-wrangling a lively three-year-old and a laid-back baby all afternoon in a beautiful, crowded, hot place, but it was a great day.

Meanwhile, Fat Quarterly has posted the second and third installment of the Apron-a-long – the free Block Pocket Apron pattern and tutorial. Week 1 (choosing materials and tips on the pattern) is right here,

Week 2 (all the cutting and piecing the block) is here,

and Week 3 (making the pocket and apron body) went up today, right here.

There’s a giveaway this week – since so many people have mentioned that they love the patchwork pillowcase I used for my apron-along, I’m offering up the second one in the set! Just leave a comment on the FQ post this week to enter once, or add a photo of your apron in progress or finished) to the FQ flickr pool and the MLCQ flickr pool for a bonus 10 entries.

Next Wednesday is Week 4 – finishing the apron, the giveaway winner, and a new MLCQ announcement… so please stay tuned over there.

I was going to try to write every single July thing up at once, but after this much HTML-ing I’d rather save a few last things for their own special post. So next week I’ll write up the Log Cabin Quilting class I taught at PNCA this month, which was amazing. I was so inspired by my six lovely students. And then this weekend I get to take Denyse Schmidt’s Walking The Line: Working with Improvisation and Structure in Patchwork workshop. I’ve been looking forward to this one for so long.

Here are my current solid fabrics – the five on top are from Cool Cottons, the ones underneath are from my stash. I am excited to do some trading with Rachel, Michelle, Robin, and Jaime at class! I’m bringing the same red scissors as a print option, which I pieced into several of the blocks I made in the 2009 Denyse Schmidt class.

I’m hoping to find some interesting new directions for improvisation and design, but I do like the idea of “cousin” blocks that have a common fabric, a couple years apart… and well, I just love those scissors.

See you on the other side!

PS: If anyone is interested in shorter and more frequent crafty updates, I’m posting more at my FB page + I just finally (finally!) joined Twitter this week. I’m only finding time for longer blog posts here, at my main West Coast Crafty blog, or for World of Geekcraft every few weeks or so, so it’s been nice to write tiny things instantly, too.

First, I’m so thrilled that Fat Quarterly’s Block Pocket Apron-a-long kicked off today!

You can download the free updated pattern + instructions over there and get lots of ideas on choosing your materials, from a vintage or new pillowcase to a couple of favorite fabrics to pair for the block pocket. There’s lots more over in the post, and each week in July we’ll share more tips and fun details on making and customizing your apron, step by step. Thank you SO much to John and everyone at FQ for hosting our crafty party! I can’t wait to see everyone’s aprons – here’s everything I picked out for my new one… now I’m just wondering if I should make a Modern or Vintage version??

One important note: there were two typos in this project in the first edition of the book, which are now corrected in this downloadable version of the pattern! You’ll use a 3.5” x 4.5” (not 3” x 4” as it’s mentioned once) piece of pattern paper for spotlighting centers, and for the first tier of logs (fabric B) you’ll cut a 1.5” x 21” (not 1.5” x 18” as it’s mentioned in the Cutting Key) strip of Fabric B. I apologize for the confusion, and I’m so glad to have the chance to share the updates here, in the pattern, and on my corrections page.

Last, if you’re in Oregon, or nearby, I would love to see you at one of these quilt events this coming month.

On Saturday, July 9, my Modern Crosses quilt will be part of a special Portland Modern Quilt Guild exhibit at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon. We’ll be in the courtyard between Paulina Springs Books and Jennifer Lake Gallery. If you’ll be there, please come by our group show and say hi, a dozen of us from the guild are going!

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, 2009

I also just set up a Modern Log Cabin Quilting book signing at The Stitchin’ Post from 1-3 on Saturday (huge thank-you to Jean, Valori and Sally for having me) and will have some of the book projects and my sketchbook there, along with free log cabin block kits. Yay! I’d love to meet up if you’re at the festival too!

The Quilters of Gee’s Bend at The Stitchin’ Post, 2009

Then the next weekend, July 16 and 17, I’m teaching log cabin quilting at Pacific Northwest College of Art as part of the Summer of Making program. The workshop is 10-4 both days and we’ll have lots of time to design, piece, and work on projects big and small.

All the information is here (including a class syllabus) and don’t forget, if you’re a PMQG member you get a 10% discount on a PNCA class, which is so cool. If you’re interested, please let me know if you have any questions, or what you’re most excited to work on – this class will be very collaborative and very personalized, and you’ll have lots of blocks (or even some finished projects) by Sunday afternoon.

Hope you are having a wonderful summer, with plenty of time to sew!

the modern version from Modern Log Cabin Quilting

Even better, my quilting heroes at Fat Quarterly are hosting a Block Pocket Apron quilt-a-long party that will launch on their blog next Wednesday, July 6th with the full pattern, plus lots of photos, tips and extras! The quilt-a-long will last for 4 weeks (July 6, 13, 20 + 27), with a different part of the project covered each week.

the vintage version from Modern Log Cabin Quilting

See you there!

First, Alyssa of Cool Cottons wrote a whole week’s worth of posts on log cabin quilting, including some great ones about the book, like a review of my Block Pocket Apron pattern, and posted some beautiful photographs of antique log cabin quilts too.

You can also win one of two signed copies of the book by commenting on any Cool Cottons blog post from 3/21 to 3/31! From the full book review post:

The first thing that we have to say is that the book is beautiful. Exceptional photography, and crisp graphic design deeply enhance the content of the book–and what wonderful content it is. Susan covers everything from the history of log cabin quilting, to the basics of cutting and piecing fabric so that even the greenest beginner can follow along.

For the book release day, I offered up a signed copy of the book with a set of the fat quarters I chose for Bolt! You can comment there through 3/31 to enter.

On Wednesday, Daniela posted a thoughtful (and hilarious) look at the impromptu quilting bees we teamed up for to sew some of the book projects together, along with her design process for the Northwest Modern Quilt, which unbelievably was the very first quilt she ever made. I loved her kind words:

If you are an experienced quilter, you might get lots of lovely little ideas you want to whip up with some leftovers in your stash. If you are a beginner – she’ll teach you in no time. Just like she taught me.

Daniela is offering a signed book plus some specially chosen fabric from her collection – all you have to do to enter is upload a photo of some fabric or blocks you’re donating to Quilts for Quake Survivors to our flickr pool by April 1!

Melissa did a sweet mini-interview for the Bolt Neighborhood blog about stashing fabric and quilting heroes – I got to share a few fabric-organizing tips and mention a few quilters whose work really amazes me. Bolt is offering a signed copy of the book if you comment on the post saying who your quilting hero is, too.

Melissa was also nice enough to post on All Buttoned Up about the book – she is cutting strips for a Modern Crosses Quilt which I can’t wait to see! From her review there:

I love that the finished projects in this book already feel like heirlooms rich with personal meaning. That’s just how I want to look at putting a quilt together– I want them to be labours of love.

On Friday, Meredith posted a lovely interview with me over at Modern Domestic about how I learned to sew, what inspires me and what I can’t work without (among many other crafty and chatty topics). From her review:

This is a stellar compilation of quilts, projects, history, inspiration, and instruction. Certainly a little something for every quilter or sewist with a desire to explore the timeless art of quilting.

Thanks so much to MD for hosting the very first book event this coming Saturday! I’m also so thrilled that they’re generously offering up my favorite notion, a Sidewinder bobbin winder, with a signed copy of the book – just comment over there to enter and the winner will be chosen April 2.

And today, Linda wrote a really lovely post about how we met ten years ago, and worked together on many fun projects for JoAnn Crafts + Adorn magazines (those were the days!). I just love Linda’s work and was so happy to include the very first flower I ever crocheted, patiently coached by Linda herself on her Crochet Adorned book tour, as an embellishment on my Drawstring Bag. She also chose a diverse mix of favorite projects to share photos and details about:

One of my favorite projects is the cover quilt–where Susan shows us that how to rotate one simple block to create a striking cross design. I would never have guessed that the Northwest Modern Quilt, contributed by Daniela Caine, was made from log cabin blocks, but a crystal-clear layout diagram makes it easy to see just how those simple blocks form this seemingly random design. I also love the textural play of the Red Cross Bag, which employs both sides of corduroy fabric, producing an almost woven effect. This is a project that makes me want to sit at my sewing machine again!

I’m really looking forward to the posts this coming week from local friends and crafters, leading up to my Modern Domestic + Powell’s events. My fellow PMQG member (and quilting hero!) Elizabeth is posting first thing tomorrow, and I’m very excited to get to see the project she made that she’ll be sharing…

The week’s line-up is:
M 3/28 Elizabeth – Oh, Fransson!
T 3/29 Amy – Angry Chicken
W 3/30 Shelly + Karen – Patterns By Figgy’s
Th 3/31 Rachel + Natalie – CRAFT:
F 4/1 – Diane – Craftypod

Thanks to everyone who’s been so warm and supportive of the new book. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

Last thing – we’ve just added a new and super awesome Quilts for Quake Survivors back-to-back event – a long-arm quilting party! I can’t wait. It will be both April 14 + 15 at Sew On Studio, and all the details are right over here. Hope to see you for some QfQ cutting, piecing, and long-arm mega-quilting – with snacks! All our QfQ events (from this week through early May) are right here on the site if you’re interested in teaming up – we would love that.