QuiltCon Block Challenge

QuiltCon is the first convention devoted to Modern Quilting.  It will be held in Austin, TX, February 21 through 24, 2013.  If you haven’t heard about it, please click here and read on.  It will be a fantastic opportunity to take workshops, listen to lectures and view stunning quilts on display from around the world. Oh yes, and there will be shopping!!

The folks at QuiltCon also presented us with a block challenge.  Our challenge was to use the colors of the QuiltCon logo to make a block that reflects what modern quilting means to us.

I started sketching and came up with  a number of designs.  While in the process of narrowing these down, we made a trip to the local nursery to get ideas for landscaping our patio.  I think looking at the stem structure of various plants we were considering influenced my design process.

Horsetail Reed

After that visit I became obsessed with segmenting units of color.   I decided to reinterpret the design of the horsetail reed using segmented sections of fabric + improv piecing.

Here are some segmented sections that I sewed together into strips.

Segmented Sections Strip

Segmented Sections – First Block

Above is the first block I made.  I wanted the strips to be slightly curved and really enjoyed the curved piecing.  Sorry for the dark photo.  Yes, I included the Siamese enhanced design wall in the crop.  Luckily, he didn’t attack the board while the block was on it!

Next, I decided to make my life easier and make the strips less curvy. I really liked the curved strips, but wanted to consider the feelings of the person sewing my block together with others to make a quilt top.  I didn’t want my block to be the one that misbehaved!

Segmented Sections -2

Next, I decided to use a non-white background.  😉   I decided on Buttercup.  I also wanted to have some invisible sections in the segments.  This is how that block turned out.

Segmented Sections -3

I sent in all three blocks to QuiltCon.  When I get a chance I’m going to make a few more and see how they look pieced together into a quilt top.

Thanks for stopping by!