make modern magazine | Night Quilter

Today I’m so excited to share that my magazine debut (as the covergirl, no less!) is here. My pattern Unlocked appears in this month’s edition of Make Modern magazine, and even graces the cover (can you say excited!?!).

Make Modern is a digital modern quilting magazine, full of great patterns for quilts and smaller sewn items, articles, tips, and features. This issue (Issue 7) has a lovely meet and greet with none other than the most glittery quilter around: Molli Sparkles. Based in Australia, Make Modern was the brainchild of three quilting friends: Jane, Lara, and Kristy. You can read about their philosophy HERE, which I definitely recommend. From the sustainability and accessibility of a digital magazine, to being a positive driving force in the modern quilting world, they’ve got it going on.

You can purchase single issues of the magazine or can choose 3 issue (6 month) or 6 issue (yearly) digital subscriptions. I’m honored to be a part of this publication.

I’ve shown you tiny peeks at my quilt Unlocked, but really nothing that gave away more than the obvious: it features the full Mercury and Grove lines from Alison Glass’s 2015 Sun Prints, on a gorgeous Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Charcoal background. I used my go-to thread panacea Aurifil Dove #2600 for piecing. It’s very scrap-friendly, since each key only needs a fat eighth of fabric. Unlocked is also super versatile since a simple adjustment of the number of keys made and surrounding background results in any sized quilt you want.

While I really wanted a castle door or giant gate in which to photograph this quilt, a trip to Ireland was not in the budget, so Belfast, Maine had to suffice. I have the world’s best quilt holding husband, who schlepped our kids and a quilt all over town at the whim of me, his crazy quilt-making photo-crazed wife. We got some great shots, though, so I’d say it was well worth it! He really should start a blog “Behind the Quilts”.

Unlocked was longarm quilted by my ever-talented friend Stephanie at Late Night Quilter and it looks amazing. She used the Cityscape Path straight line quilting style designed by Krista Withers and photos don’t even come close to doing it justice. I’m so grateful to Stephanie for quilting this, since I was able to finish the quilt top and mail it off to Stephanie right before giving birth to Finn. Then, she was able to quilt it and get it back to me a couple weeks postpartum so that I could bind it and photograph it in time for the publication deadline. Teamwork at its best!

Head on over to Make Modern and grab your copy of this fabulous modern quilting publication.

July came in with a literal bang, and here we are already a week into it! I’m squeaking by with my July goal setting post for A Lovely Year of Finishes (ALYoF) just in the nick of time. This month I have a super fun but secret project to finish. I have a pattern coming out in the September issue of Make Modern eMagazine, and my goal for July is to finish it all up! I need to trim, bind, and photograph the quilt, and need to finish proofreading the pattern write up.

I can only show you tiny peeks until the issue comes out, but you can count on a full reveal come September.

alison glass ex libris — I plan to bind the quilt with this Alison Glass Geometry print from her Ex Libris line. The fabric designer aficionados among you probably noticed that the quilt includes the 2015 Sun Prints by Alison Glass… surprised? 🙂

I’m confident that I’ll meet this goal, since, well, I have to! The deadline is a week away. For this reason, I considered choosing a different project as my July goal, but ultimately opted not to. ALYoF emphasizes the selection of ONE goal per month, which really helps me prioritize my project progress. Finishing this quilt submission is my biggest goal, so it is a perfect choice for ALYoF.

As a mom of a newborn, and newly a mom of three, my progress is made in very small bits. I have learned that if I set lofty, time consuming goals, I set myself up for failure or at the very least, a stressful anxious push to complete the goals in time. On the other hand, when I set small, attainable goals, I’m motivated to complete them without stress, and then feel good that I’ve actually accomplished something, which then motivates me to create more. Just because I complete my ALYoF goal before the end of the month doesn’t mean I can’t then work on other projects. It’s a win-win of positive, fun quilty progress without stress.

I’m linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes July Goal Setting party with Fiber of All Sorts and Sew BitterSweet Designs. When I complete this month’s goal, you’ll get another sneak peek or two to hold you over until September!