Baby Quilt Features Big Prints Mixed with a Liberated Style

A baby quilt completed in 2015 makes use of big prints.

In my life the year 2015 has been the year of the baby quilt. In the past 11 months I have completed six baby quilts. I have stood by my mantra, "Every child deserves their own quilt," but it has meant a busy year. In the quilt pictured, I wanted to feature fabric from the line Peak Hour for Riley Blake by Kellie Wulfshon. This fabric called to me because of the size of the printed cars and trucks. It would have been much easier to  back the whole piece of fabric and quilt, but I wanted to add my own touch. I love many of  the fun prints that are out on the market and like incorporating them into my designs. For this quilt I added a row of my wonky flying geese, a row of curvy sticks, some pinwheels, hour glasses and finished it off with zig zags for the top and bottom rows.

The year 2015 has been a busy year for other reasons as well. My oldest son got married and it was a fun time. The monumental event also caused me to step back and take a good look at things around me. Since my family was hosting a brunch after the wedding it was time to spruce up the patio. The picnic table deserved a new coat of paint for the event.

The cars baby quilt is displayed on my backyard picnic table that recently went from a color called Beach Blue to Garden Green. On the table sits my truck garden, an old toy truck that has been repurposed as a planter for Hen and Chicken plants. Since my new daughter-in-law  has an agriculture degree specializing in community gardens,  I thought the toy truck planter should be in the picture.

Details of my wonky flying geese row.

Secret messages are often written in my quilting. 

The next time you see a great print, baby or otherwise, think of a different way to present the print in your next quilt. Or if you see a vintage toy truck repurpose it as a planter. The possibilities are endless. 

Everyone Loves Winning a Prize

Amber Eubank was the winner of Lady Bird, a quilt from my Quilt Like a Hipster exhibit.

Everyone loves a drawing and winning a prize. That is why I gave away one of my quilts from the Quilt Like A Hipster exhibit that ended August 1 at the Danville Community Arts Center. Amber Eubank of Salvisa, Ky  entered the contest by posting a photo from my exhibit on Instagram and using the hashtag #quiltlikeahipster. Thanks Amber for coming to my show and entering the contest. And thanks to everyone else that came to my exhibit. I was shocked to learn there were 402 people that came to the opening reception on June 6. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am honored. I met so many nice people during the exhibit and really enjoyed teaching my methods of quilting during three different classes at the arts center. Now I'm off  to tackle my quilting "to do" list. I owe some family members wedding quilts and baby quilts. I'm sure they are feeling like the barefoot cobbler's children. I'll keep you posted. 

Student Art from my Workshop is an Inspiration

A student version of Wonky Stars. Thanks Carrie!

 

I love to teach because I learn so much from my students. I was fortunate to teach two classes last week at the Danville Community Arts Center. My quilts are hanging in exhibit on the walls at the center so it was fun to pull out tables, ironing boards, sewing machines and cutting mats in the midst of the quilts and teach classes. I taught two classes. One was Wonky Trees and the other was Wonky Stars. I had great students and I learned as much from them as they did from me. It is always fun to see what color combinations people are drawn to and what other elements they include that never crossed my mind. We has a great day in the bright, spacious hall. I wanted to share with you some of the student work from the workshops.
I still have one more workshop scheduled at the Community Arts Center. It is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, July 18. I will be teaching the design elements for my quilt called "Birmingham Blast." This quilt,  made as a baby quilt for my niece,  is quite dramatic but actually fairly simple to make.

Students added their own touches to Wonky Trees.

These trees have beading as an embellishment.





 

Here is a photo of Birmingham Blast under construction.



Quilt Like A Hipster. Fun Quilts by Joni Morgan exhibit set for June, July 2015

"Door Into Summer" will be on exhibit along with 33 other quilts. 

For the past six weeks I have been busy preparing what I call, "My Body of Work." I am so honored to be the featured artist for the months of June and July at the Community Arts Center in my hometown of Danville, Kentucky. I am delighted to share my style of quilting for all those interested and for those that happen to come in just to see what is hanging at the Arts Center. At last count there will be 34 of my quilts on display.

The Community Arts Center is a beautiful building with high ceilings, tall windows and marble floors that once served as the U.S. Post Office and later office to a U.S. Sixth Circuit Court Judge. My exhibit will be in the grand hall of this fabulous building that sits prominently on the corner of Main and Fourth Streets, next to the Boyle County Courthouse. Not every small town is as lucky as Danville to have such grand buildings and to house an arts center for all to enjoy.

There will be a reception for my exhibit from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, June 4. The reception is also part of  the bi-monthly Gallery Hop. The Gallery Hop features local artists within a three block area. Local businesses open their stores and offices for the evening so the artists can display their work. This is another great tradition in our active small town. And if that is not enough, June 5-7 is the Great American Brass Band Festival with fun activities all weekend, including a Brass Band parade on Saturday morning, June 6. There will be brass bands from all over the country coming to town and playing all weekend in this free outdoor concert on the grounds of Centre College. So bring your lawn chairs for this event and stop by and see my quilt exhibit on the way.

Oh and I need to make mention about the exhibit title. The Arts Center called and said the exhibit needed a title. I gave it some thought and came up with, "Quilt Like a Hipster, Fun Quilts by Joni Morgan." I'm really not of full fledged hipster, but I do enjoy hipster activities such as riding my bike to work, gardening, canning and quilting. My  sons often tease me about being a hipster. I thought the hipster title was appropriate for my unique quilting style and the exhibit.

Snowbound Quilters are Never Bored

The view of my latest quilt project from a vintage Kodak Duaflex camera.




 

With the recent snows in February and March I was able to work on projects that had moved to the top of my "to do" list. Continuing my mantra, "Every baby deserves their own quilt," I completed two projects that have upcoming deadlines. The projects included starting and finishing two baby quilts because the babies are due at the end of  March. I was able to shop my stash and use some of the fabric I already had to complete these projects. I will post those completed projects later because I like the quilts to be a surprise for the new parents.

I also completed a quilt top with liberated stars and log cabin blocks. That quilt is pictured through the viewfinder of the Kodak Duaflex camera. It was my son Sam who came up with the idea of taking photos of the viewfinder of the antique camera by using an iphone. We had a lot of fun taking various photos this way so I wanted to share. The quilt top is now being quilted and I will share when that top is completed.

Although we are in the third month of the year, I have made a vow to use more of my stash for 2015. One of my quilting friends created a challenge. When making a quilt  at least 70 percent of the fabrics should come from your stash. I thought that was great idea because it gives you the opportunity to still shop for new fabrics. Just pair a bit of  the newly purchased fabrics with what is in your stash.  This is a great challenge and a great opportunity to do a bit of destashing. With the 70 percent rule I hope to post photos of some great quilts created in 2015 with this challenge in mind.

Happy Quilting!

Deadlines set the tone, keep us moving in a positive direction

The front of the Ed Emberley inspired baby quilt.

If it wasn't for deadlines I might not ever get anything finished. So with the deadline of babies being born I completed two baby quilts in December. Welcome to the world little ones. And along with baby quilts comes an opportunity to give a new quilting technique or fabric a try. For my first new arrival I made a quilt with none other than Ed Emberley fabric. When explaining this fabric to others I was surprised that not everyone has heard of this fantastic artist that taught my own children to draw with his "how to draw" series of books for children.
Along with this fun quilt for the new little girl, I gave her older brothers, ages 5 and 7, the books along with drawing supplies. I hope everyone enjoys their Ed Emberley experience.

The back of the quilt includes a panel with large drawings I could not cut.

There was a great panel, sort of, that went with the line of Ed Emberley fabrics. The panel shows with dotted lines how to cut around the large drawing and how they can be used. It was such a great panel that I left it whole and added it to the back of the baby quilt. I even left the selvage showing on purpose because it too added a special element to the quilt.

On to my next deadline. I have a name to add to the next baby quilt and need to get it delivered. Then I may make a list of things I want to accomplish for 2015. I'm not much of a list maker but there are things I really want to finish.................. Are you a list maker?

Teaching "Liberated Basics"

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Detail of  "Fireworks over Millennium Park."

 "Fireworks over Millennium Park" is the quilt I will be using to teach "Liberated Basics."

In 2015 I will be teaching a series of classes I am calling "Liberated Basics." In this series of three classes I hope to address some of the elements of Liberated quilting. Liberated quilting is very improvisational quilting and a pattern is not needed. The only thing needed is thread, fabric and imagination. I will teach the techniques by  using my quilt, " Fireworks over Millennium Park" as an example for this class. This quilt was a semi-finalist in the 2013 American Quilters Society Show in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I will address how I created each of the elements of this quilt and will help the students in the class create their own one-of -a kind liberated quilts.  Quilters Square, a quilt shop in Lexington, Ky has graciously allowed me to use their shop to teach this series of classes. The shop will be providing the students with  a fat quarter pack of fabrics that "reads as solids."  I picked these fabrics because I think the end results will be fantastic. Some of  the fabrics in the fat quarter bundle include the line from Moda called Grunge. My goal is to inspire others to give liberated quilting a try. I will provide the students with my list of favorite inspirational quilt books. My favorite being books by Gwen Marston, the mother of Liberated quilting.  I have been quilting using elements of  this method for about five years and love the results.

Oh yes.... The classes are on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. January 10, February 14 and March 21. There is a price break if signing up for all three classes. You can sign up by calling Quilters Square.Call quilter's Square at 859 278-5010 to sign up.