Inspirational Sunday (28) - via the 2013 International Quilt Festival in Long Beach

After finishing my modern baby quilt this week, I feel like continuing with the modern vibe for this week's inspirational post.  There are several modern quilts from the show that I haven't shared yet, so here are half.  I will share the last few next week.

This first one is called "Cantilevers" by Jessica Levitt of Bridgewater, New Jersey.  It is machine pieced and free-motion machine quilted.  The design source was a trio of windows on a building.

Jessica says, "I wanted to repeat the design elements of the windows in a structured way, but not in a traditional block format.  A longer element originates off the edges of the quilt.  Thus they are cantilevers that extend onto the quilt surface.  I chose to use vibrant solid fabrics in crisp, modern colors to echo a sparse modern building element.  I also used slight variations in the shades of both the background and the bars to add interest.  The background quilting adds movement and contrast to the straight-lined piecing."

And look!  She used my favorite swirl design for the quilting!

The next quilt is called "Zinnia" by Lynn Harris of Chelsea, Michigan.  It is machine quilted.

Lynn says, "The quilt (design and colors) was inspired by a photo I took of zinnias growing in our garden a few years ago.  The quilting is a bit "organic" in nature.  It is made up of many rows of parallel wavy lines.  With its simple, asymmetrical design on a solid gray [back]ground, this quilt fits with the modern quilt theme."

This design sure would be a great way to use up some orphan HST's!  And I like the wavy quilting.

The next quilt is called "Tilework" by Elizabeth Harvatine of Toluca Lake, California.  It is pieced.  (Don't you just love some of these descriptions?).  The design was inspired by her fabric selection.

She says, "The fabric colors have a calming, soothing feel to them and I wanted to design something clean and precise to balance that feeling.   The color scheme is modern and unusual but still pleasing to the eye."

This last one is called "Broken Plaid" by Alissa Carlton of Los Angeles, California.  It is pieced and machine quilted.  The design was inspired by her ongoing exploration of non-block based quilt design and the look of weaving with piecing.

She says, "Broken Plaid reflects the modern quilting movement in its use of negative space, color choices and bold graphic design.  The impact given by the piecing design is enhanced with the straight line quilting that maintains the plaid concept of the piecing."

I like how the quilting lines make a plaid-like texture on the quilt.

I just finished Jacquie Gerings new Craftsy class "Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot".  It was pretty darn good!  I'm anxious to try out some of the methods she discusses to get these more modern looks in my quilting.  You would think they would be rather simple, but there is actually a bunch of preparation and accuracy needed.  Jacquie does a great job teaching you what it takes, and she is a fun/funny instructor too.

Have you tried any of the "straight-line" quilting techniques on your quilts?

Thanks for reading today,

Jen