Quiltfest 2019
Modern Quilts Exhibition
Want to know more about this amazing new specialist group of The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles? Then look no further - click on this link:   https://modern-quilt.quiltersguild.org.uk/​

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​A Very Modern Christmas
I didn’t particularly want another lap quilt but I liked the look of the challenge quilt. As I feel you cannot have enough Christmas comfort I decided to make this using scrap fabrics, but had to buy the cream for the background.

​Diane Evans - Conwy

​Magenta Pop
Improv patchwork really isn’t my thing but having worked with Helen Howes (the Original Designer) for several years I wasn’t going to get away with not entering this particular challenge! Made it very much my own by my choice of colours, adding miniature blocks and combining blocks.
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AitchBee - Norfolk
 
​Lladd Dau Dderyn! Killing Two Birds!
​Dyffryn Clwyd Quilters challenge for 2019 is to create anything from donated or recycled fabric offered to members in September meeting. I opted for a red/cream pack and saw it as an opportunity to try the Modern Sampler. The colours are an homage to traditional red and white quilts.

​Angharad Rhys - Denbighshire

​Baby Blues
Sampler quilt using a mixture of traditional improv raw edge appliqué blocks. The “modern” look comes from the design using sashing on two sides only of each block and arranging them randomly to create areas of negative space. Matchstick quilting completes the look.

Lucy Poloniecka -  London

​Black, White and Pink
Working on this alongside my colleague Helen Butcher who was working on hers, taught us both a lot about just how different these quilts can be…

Helen Howes - Norfolk

​Cwilt Cyfoes
It’s good to try out different methods of doing things. I’ve had a lovely time trying out the different blocks and putting them together. My comfort zone has now expanded to include modern quilts.

​Brenda Otter - Conwy

​The Cloning of Ms Howes
Helen Howes’ concise instructions were a doddle to follow each time ‘The Quilter’ dropped on my door mat. Did try rearranging the blocks but it all got too confusing.
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by Debbie Woolley - Cumbria

​Development
I followed Helen Howes’ tutorials in The Quilter magazine to create the individual blocks then pieced them together my own way so that my finished quilt was unique to me. I enjoyed making modern-style blocks and used a very ‘me’ colourway.

by Kira Withers-Jones - Rhondda Cynon Taff

​​Fragments
Myself and two other friends decided we would do this sampler in order to practice some new techniques. I thoroughly enjoyed doing the wonky stars and I’m now hooked on curved piecing.

Dianne Moore - Liverpool

​Flash
After a long time the idea of how to make this quilt came in a flash.

Jennifer Roberts - Anglesey

​A Little Blue
Knowing I like a challenge, my friend Margaret gifted me some solid fat quarters to complete this challenge, so with a deadline looming I had to come up with the goods.

Glynne Blaik - West Lothian

​The Yellow One
Further experimentation with modern blocks.
​Long Arm quilted.

Heather Hasthorpe - Norfolk


Purple Haze

This quilt started with five fat quarters and a demonstration at our local show of improv techniques. The hand cutting and piecing without templates. Each block was then squared up to make the top. Quilted in a spiral using a walking foot.

​Janet Bevan - Kent

​Stella Moderna
Can you spot the bits that weren’t in the Helen Howes original? I’m not a great fan of following instructions when making quilts but I had to initially in this case. And after that it was all downhill or should it be, up to the stars.

Judith Davy - Stalybridge

​Striking Contrasts
I used one fat-quarter for this patterned grunge effect. Experimenting with 6.5” asymmetric blocks with improvised piecing for an interesting modern quilt sampler. Striking angles and high contrast between the blue fabric and the white fabric, which provided negative space and facings. Background was machine-quilted with straight lines.

Kathleen Moore - Birmingham

​Nothing Wasted
I attended a workshop with Helen Howes in 2017 the subject of which was the techniques for making the blocks for this quilt. Nothing was wasted hence some more unusual blocks made post-workshop from the remaining fabric.

Maria Spiller - Essex

​Dipping My Toe
I have been interested in modern quilting for a while and when I saw Helen Howes’ project in The Quilter I thought it would be a good way to “dip my toe in the water”. I have constructed mine in a rectangle shape. I pieced and stitched the work myself but had it quilted.

Marian Dann - West Sussex

​Supported Stretch
Supported: By the well written instructions in The Quilter and meeting up with stitch friends also doing the project.
Stretch: Sitting at my machine with arms above my head practicing which way the curves would face - a new skill, cutting and sewing curves that is! Used a rainbow batik for ease of ‘choosing’ the contrasts.

Michelle Barton - Liverpool

​Mod Indigo
After all the contrast of the original I wanted to reduce the palette and see if this still worked.

Helen Howes - Norfolk

​Modern Sampler
Using modern blocks: Tigers, Eccentric Crosses, Wonky Stars and Cobblestone blocks and filling the grid with pattern to make a rich magic carpet effect. Long Arm Quilted by Mandy Parks.

Heather Hasthorpe - Norfolk

​Modern Sampler Number 1
This is the original, made for The Quilter magazine, Oakshott Fabrics pieced and quilted by machine. A pattern is available for this quilt.

Helen Howes - Norfolk

​Castell Nedd
This design reminds me of Castell Nedd, built approx 1114-1130. Now with its odd shapes and angles, the colours of stones and wild flowers on a sunny day. A reminder of my very happy times there.

​Rosemary Allison - Shropshire

​Stars
Uncertain about what was expected for this challenge, I have stitched a simple and minimal design sampling different star blocks. I hope it meets the requirements.
Machine pieced and machine quilted.

Fiona Macaulay Davies - Wirral

​Stars at Night
Improvisational modern sampler based on a design by Helen Howes. I played with the idea of balance, focus and colour overcoming darkness - much like the stars in the sky at night. How wonderful it is to be lost in the dots of brightness and what might lie beyond….
Commercial and hand-dyed cotton, improvisational piecing and straight line quilting by machine.

Merrill Tanton - Nercwys

​The Modern Sampler Quilt
I followed the making of the Modern Sampler Quilt and was encouraged by my sister to have a go. As time was short I have made a small one. It includes all the shapes in various sizes which match the quilt size. This is my first attempt at a Modern Quilt.

Jill Lewis - Wrexham

​Tropical Rainforest Stars
Helen’s Modern Blocks and my Sarong Fabrics gave me ‘pops’ of pleasure whilst making this sampler and a delightful reminder of shopping in KL Central Market.
Professionally long arm quilted by Vickie Farrall.

Liz Jarvis - Cleveden

​Bubbles
Bubbles was started to explore techniques with a group I was teaching to Free-Motion Quilt however it has morphed into one of my favourite quilts.

Cecilia Slinn - Montgomery

Pink for a Pink House
Needing a distraction from impending surgery and to learn what a modern quilt is I took on this challenge. I enjoyed making all the pieces with lots of plain fabrics from my stash, background pink, as the most abundant. Quilting the pattern I finally chose proved more of a challenge.

Moragh Bradshaw -- Gwynedd

Mellow Yellow
My friend and I decided to both make the quilt when we meet on Saturdays. As the techniques were known to us we decided to follow the pattern more or less. I had a fat quarter pack and chose a vibrant yellow as the background. Very enjoyable to make and will be making the blocks again.

​Carolyn Dilloway - Essex
 
With Love For B & J
Enjoyed making star. The rest was so different to my normal quilts.

​Christine Russell - Kent