Make Modern Issue 46

From little things, big things grow. Babies turn into children, then adults. Baby quilts turn people into quilters, then quilt-based business owners. Quite coincidentally, all three makers featured in this issue – Brooke Shankland (p 28), Lynett Muhaso (p 44), and Jo Westfoot (p 81) – began their quilting journeys when they jumped in with both feet to make quilts for new babies (in Brooke’s case it was a crocheted blanket, but it still led her to quilting). And the significance here is not necessarily the baby quilt, though they’re a great project for new quilters due to their size, it’s the willingness of all these makers to give it a go. All three of our makers had limited sewing/crafting experience, but still decided to get in there and try…

HEROIC HSTS Heroic HSTs One of our favourite types of quilts are those that are simpler than they first appear. When you look at this quilt, it’s not immediately obvious how it’s pieced together, but on closer inspection, it’s made up from humble HST units and squares, pieced into two alternating blocks. A simple colour scheme is easily altered according to your tastes, and it also means you can bulk stitch the HST units with ease. materials 1 yd blue solid fabric (1) 1 ¼ yds yellow solid fabric (2) 1 yd pink solid fabric (3) ¼ yd green solid fabric (4) 3 ¾ yds white solid fabric (background) ¾ yds binding fabric 4 ¾ yds backing fabric 82” x 82” piece of batting Block Size: 18” square Quilt Size:…

In Issue 45, we looked at simple curves, where two parts make a whole… AKA two curved pieces make one square block. Now we're upping the ante and juggling three or more balls at once and throwing in some improv while we're at it! Don't worry, there's no circus or acting skills required for these curves. COMPLEX CURVES Complex curves are those quilt blocks that require three or more curved seams to create the final square quilt block (or quilt!). They require a lot more juggling and fiddling to get to that final product – but oh wow, is the effort worth it! The good news is that the process of sewing complex curves is the same as sewing regular curves… there's just more of them to do. Just like…

CURVES AHEAD Rayne is a fun quilt using rainbow solids, a template and the corner-to-corner (C2C) curved piecing technique, which makes sewing designs like clamshells so simple! materials ½ yd each of 21 different solid fabrics in rainbow colours – see quilt photos for guide C2C template or template plastic – Leanne’s corner to corner template is available to purchase from Mount Vincent Quilts, or print out the template provided and trace onto template plastic 5 ½ yds of backing fabric 90” x 90” piece of batting ⅔ yd binding fabric Block Size: 4” Quilt Size: 80” x 80” fabric note: Solids or tone on tones work best for this quilt – each clamshell is pieced from four blocks, so patterned fabrics aren’t as effective. Choose your favourite solids range…

Last issue I wrote about taking a design brief for a quilt. Now I need to turn those scribbles into concepts and refine them until I have a finished design. First, I collect inspiration, look for colour references and let the ideas mull over in my mind. In Issue 40 I wrote about ways to find inspiration, and for a project like this I’ll be quite specific in my research, heading off to the library to look at certain design periods or art movements – in this example case my focus was on folk art. This brief started with a palette of dark green, mustard and pale pink but I’ll collect references to expand on that now too. These could be from fashion, interiors, graphic design or even a colour…

PILLOW TALK Do you remember when sweet lavender bags or pillows were found in every woman’s underwear drawer? Revisit this lovely habit with these cute little foundation paper pieced lavender pillows – they’re a great scrap project and make the perfect gift. materials 2” x 26” piece of medium green fabric 2” x 13” of light green fabric 2” x 13” of dark purple fabric 2” x 11” of light purple fabric 6½” square of lining fabric (this will be inside the cushion) 6½” square of batting 7” square of fabric for cushion back 1 cup of fragrant dried lavender buds or polyester fibre filling Cushion Size: 5” x 5” fabric note: Use any coordinating fabrics from your scrap bin or stash. The scraps don’t need to be the exact…