It's a Fiesta! Quilt Market 2014 Recap...

It was all about bright colors and a fiesta in the Michael Miller booth at Quilt Market! The inside of the booth was decorated with paper flowers, paper garland and an array of beautiful quilts made from the Fiesta Collection. (I'll post them below along with links to all of the patterns.) But first, set-up! 

 Quilt Market reminds me of a theater production- probably because I studied theater and costumes  in school but also because you start with an empty space, build your booth and then break it all down to the same empty space. There's definitely something magical about it...

The framework is starting to go up... 

 followed by colorful, Cotton Couture covered walls!

*notice Rob's most festive set-up outfit :)

Next, the paper decorations...

We also had Fiesta mood boards and quilts as inspiration around the booth.

*La Vina (above) by Swirly Girls Design

 *Solar Eclipse (above) :: pattern by Elizabeth Hartman

*Serape (above) by Rob Appell Designs

*Fiesta Strip (above) by Rob Appell

*Fiesta Forever (above) by Heidi Pridemore

*Caja de Colores (above) by Rob Appell

 *Fiesta by Tamara Kate (pattern coming soon!)

*Boho Nuevo (above) by Emily Herrick

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Stay tuned for more Quilt Market Recaps next week!

Adiós for now! 

xo, kait

*Mike, Lindsay and Ben in the booth

P.S. Be sure to check out Rob's Quilt Market video so you can see a little behind-the-scenes action!

Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill :: MMF & MQG Winner!

Hello everyone! I am incredibly honored to both be a guest blogger today and one of three winners of the recent Modern Quilt Guild/Michael Miller Fabric Challenge using the Petal Pinwheels collection.

*Me and my partner-in-crime (my dog, Whitney) in my studio

Having majored in graphic design in college, I have always been drawn to all things design. I remember first seeing quilts by Gee’s Bend and Denyse Schmidt in publications about 10 years ago. I purchased modern quilting books and always told myself “one day I’ll make a quilt”. At the time, I was really intimidated to just dive in. Fortunately, the books didn’t just collect dust on the bookshelf. An interactive children’s exhibit I designed about five years ago was heavily influenced by the patterns and stitching in many modern quilts. Those books were a major source of inspiration.

About two years ago I had a strong urge to find something to focus my energy on outside of my full-time job. I decided one day, after a co-worker showed me a quilt he just finished, that it was time to dive in. That night, I went home, cracked open a quilting book and made a list of materials I needed to purchase the next day so I could get started. After that, I was hooked.

My full-time hobby is now quilting and I try to spend at least an hour each day in my studio (one of the converted bedrooms in my home). Quilting is a source of therapy and mindfulness for me. It keeps me in the present moment and quiets my mind. I am grateful to have discovered it and the modern quilting community. 

*Me sewing at a recent quilting workshop 
*Photo credit: Parthena Wollen

What’s next? As a designer at heart, I’ve always been drawn to patterns and color. I have started to design and create my own quilt and fabric patterns. I always carry a sketchbook with me and then finalize designs in Adobe Illustrator. 

*Picnic Petals Quilt

*front: detail

*back: detail

The inspiration for my quilt, Picnic Petals, was the Petal Pinwheels fabric collection as a whole, but specifically the Tile Pile pattern. Going into the challenge, I looked at a lot of photos of pinwheels, flowers and sketched elements of these objects to study how I could convey organic shapes and movement in my quilt. As a relatively new quilter, this was the first time I worked with curved elements. This challenge encouraged me to work with fabric patterns and techniques I might not normally work with. Many thanks to MichaelMiller Fabrics and The Modern Quilt Guild.

~Sheri

 BrainCraftDesign