Cherry House Quilts

What does modern quilting mean to me?

Have you popped over to the Modern Quilt Headquarters in the last few days?  Opinions are being sought, and the question being asked is "What does modern quilting mean to me?" I've read a few of the responses, which are quite varied and interesting.  As I read the responses, I wasn't quite sure where I fit into the mix, but then I thought, "Maybe that's okay, maybe that is what the whole movement is about".  It's about doing our own thing, about not conforming to any particular set of rules.  The funny thing is, in some respects I am very traditional, in terms of the whole 1/4'' seam allowance thing, pressing, etc. Often my quilts are based on traditional, public domain patterns that I've colored to suit my fancy, I'll change the block size, I'll get rid of sashing, I'll do whatever I want, because I can.  I feel quite strongly that quilters should have a knowledge and foundation of piecing, and sewing techniques.  I feel that if you have that knowledge base, you can do anything within a particular framework.  But that is my opinion, and I'm sure in some ways it is inhibiting to freedom in regards to improv piecing, cutting, and designing.  So that's me...how do you feel about the whole modern movement?  Does it appeal to you?  Is it a good fit, or are you happy in the traditional guild setting? 

Inquiring quilters want to know!

Here's a look at some of my quilts...modern to you???

Cheers,

Cherri

I love color!!!

I'm only afraid of about a million things, but there is one thing that I have no fear of; and that is COLOR!

Beautiful, glorious color...beautiful colors can bring me to tears, whether it is fabric, flowers, the sky, I just cannot contain my love for it!  I used to drag my children out of the house after a storm to come look at the colors in the sky; sweet little things would come outside, and say "yeah Mom, that is beautiful", "No Mom, we've never seen the sky that color before".  As easily as it comes to me, I know some quilters get stuck on the subject, probably the same way I get stuck when it comes to drawing, or knitting - sadly, neither is my friend.

In my book City Quilts, I spend lots of time talking about color...my editor said it is the heart of the book; I love that she said that. 

Here's a peek at City Play, this quilt uses over 60 fabrics...in little 3 1/2" squares.

 
I've been doing some reading about design aesthetics, and I came across this great information and classroom exercise in regards to color.  I thought I would pass it on for a personal type of study in case any one has color issues and anxieties.

In this paper there is a section that talks about color associations, how we have mood/emotional attachments to particular colors.  They also talk about product brands, how they are colored, and the impact that it creates for us.

All very fascinating stuff...something every quilter could use!

Download DESIGN AESTHETIC CONSIDERATIONS

I hope you find this helpful!

Cherri

Calling all future fabric designers

 Lizzy has written the most helpful, most informative, and most beautiful book on the subject of becoming a fabric designer in the quilting industry.  She hopes this book will be a helpful answer to all of those wanting to break into the industry, but have found so little guidance. This book has been a labor of love for fellow artists and quilters, and an acknowledgement and thanks to all of those that have helped her, on her journey. 

This comprehensive book will remove the mystery that seems to shroud fabric manufacturers, designers, and quilt market.

If being a fabric designer is your dream, your journey should begin here...

 

Cherri

Lizzy says, "I hope that you love it, and that it will help enable you to get where you are going."

How to Enter the World of Textiles: for the Quilting Industry can be purchased for $25 USD, and accepts  paypal.

The book is 98 pages, full color, pdf.

Fabric time is here (sung to the tune of Christmas time is here)

Keeping with the Christmas theme, it was like Christmas time for me today!  When I got home, on my door step was a big box of fabric from my dearest friends at Robert Kaufman with Amy Schimler's newest fabric line On A Whim 2.  I'll tell you a little secret that Amy doesn't know; at our house we call her 'little Amy Shim Shim'.  Become friends with us, and your name is definitely in danger of being strangely modified. 

So here's a little peek, actually it's not a peek at all, it's the whole freaking quilt, who am I kidding here?  Hope you like it...the pattern will be out as soon as the quilt is done...I gotta get to work!

cheers,

Cherri

Modern Quilt Guild Phenomenon

Have you seen all of the Modern Quilt groups popping up all over the place?  It is something that I have been watching gain momentum for several months.  I first noticed it on the Flickr Fresh Modern Quilt Group, quilters asking other like minded quilters if anyone else in their areas were interested in getting together to quilt.  Alissa @ Handmade by Alissa seems to be the godmother of this marvelous occurence, with little baby groups sprouting up, not only all over the country; but around the world!

Just today over on Elizabeth's blog I saw her calling for quilters in Portland, and she had a link to the Modern Quilt Guild's website.  On the right hand side of the page, all of the set up guilds were listed, but no HOUSTON.  So, I did it; I bit the bullet and started one for Houston.  The thought of a new kind of supportive, do your own thing guild appeals to me; no quilt police allowed!!!

Here is the link to our Houston Group, we are brand new; just hours old.  If you are in Houston, or the surrounding area, please feel to sign up!  Any information regarding the group will be posted on this page.

Cherri

The best day by far

So far I have talked about the emotional, mental, and logistical trials of writing the book; but I have yet to talk about the very best day by far!  It was the day I shipped my quilts to C&T; May 16th to be exact.  Two days before the quilts had to be shipped, I still had 11 quilts to bind...can you believe it?  It wasn't a matter of procrastination, it was just a matter or not having enough time.  So each night I stayed up until about 2 in the morning sewing on bindings - is that terrible?  I've gotten very good at it.   At first I was horrified with the thought of sewn bindings, but I'll tell you what - I got over it quick!  Sewing on bindings is still a time consuming event, and I will never know how I got it all done.  I told my Mom that I thought sewing angels were helping me along the way.  She is convinced that it was all of my dearly departed sewing grandmothers were coming to my aid.  Either way, miraculously it got done. 

On the morning of the 16th my Mom arrived early, bring breakfast (thank you Mom), along with little scissors for snipping last minute threads and lint roller brushes.  I had cleared the living room of the furniture, and made sure the carpet was freshly vacuumed, laid down a clean sheet for extra protection, I threw the cats outside (gently), and banished Mickey to his little bed.  Even on the morning of the 16th I still had the last quilt to bind; that quilt is called City Play - I can't wait to show it to you, but it is definitely the pièce de résistance so I don't want to spoil the surprise.  By this time I was so brain dead I couldn't decide which color binding to use, so I let my Mom decide. 

As I brought each quilt downstairs, it went through the process of being gone over with the roller brush, and checked for loose threads...isn't it amazing, no matter how many times you check, you still miss threads?  As each quilt was finished it was laid in the center of the room.  Soon the process began of labeling, numbering and measuring each quilt.  As soon as this was done, each quilt was added to a master packing list for C&T's receiving process.  My best friend, Rich soon joined us in this packing task.  The two people I love best in the world (besides my children) were by my side, helping to make this dream a reality.  As I sat printing out photos, forms, packing lists, and everything else required, I looked up to see everyone working so hard on my behalf, and I was filled with gratitude, and pride for what had been accomplished.  Soon the quilts were being bagged, and packed into a huge cardboard box.  It was so big, we had to measure the car to make sure it would fit.  Soon we were on our way to FedEx to send this labor of love on it's way to California.  Rich wouldn't let me drive, he thought I was too giddy, and too sleep deprived to be trusted.  What an incredible relief it was to hand off those quilts.  I was beside myself for days after that...all I could think was, "I did it, it's done!".  What had seemed an enormous, impossible task, was now done.  In reality it was far from being done, there was still a long way to go before it was finished; actually it's still not quite finished - but close. 

It was such a good day, the best day ever I'm sure, until I actually get a copy of my book - I can't even imagine how that will feel.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me now, it was so hard to not be able to talk about the process, during the process; but I'm glad to be able to share it now!

This is bit of City Lot!

This time last year

Vacation is over, and it's time to get back to real life...I'm not ready, but it is time nevertheless.  Normally I do a end of the year review, but the end of the year got here so fast, I was hardly prepared.  If I had a chapter for each year in the book of my life, the title for 2009 would be called THE BOOK.  Writing CITY QUILTS  was an all consuming project...I could write a book, about writing the book.  I'm not sure how the process works for other people but for myself, for the most part it was a very solitary, isolated time. 

As soon as the girls headed back after Christmas to their respective lives in other states, the work began.  This time last year boxes began arriving from all over the country - fabric and batting filled my living room.  I remember the day 2 huge boxes arrived from Robert Kaufman, well over a 100 yards of Kona Solids in every color imaginable.  There are 12 quilts in the book, so I set up 12 cardboard boxes, labeled every box with the name of the quilt, and divided the fabric according to a master fabric list.  All around the living room boxes labeled with CITY names such as CITY SWEETS, CITY CIRCLE, CITY HARBOR; on and on they went.  I thought, "how will I ever make 12 quilts in 5 months?"  To this day, I still don't know how I did it, plus work a full time job, run Cherry House Quilts, as well writing the book on top of everything else.  It was a crazy intense time, I can hardly talk about my book without crying, not out of any particular emotion other than I poured my whole soul into making that book - it truly is the essence of me. 

My days began to have a regular pattern, I would go to work, come home, take care of the dog, get a bite to eat, and come up stairs to sew.  Pinecone would lie on my bed, Mickey would lie in his little bed near the ironing board, and Stella would lay on the fabric shelves.  My room, which at the time was my sewing room as well, was covered in fabric, quilts, plans, little plastic project folders for each quilt. The design wall was forever changing with each new quilt.

Here's a peek at City Aviation, one of the quilts in the book.  This is only half of the quilt, I can't wait for your to see it in it's full glory, the quilting by DeLoa Jones is incredible. 

As I said, it's time to get moving again, today I shipped off a quilt to Fon's and Porter for some issue of Easy Quilts magazine, look for the quilt called Bonneville, with beautiful batiks by Robert Kaufman.  Lots of new quilts and patterns due out soon!

May 2010 be wonderful for everyone of you!  I am so grateful for your kindness, support, and friendship.

love,

Cherri

Merry Christmas, and a winner!

A special thanks to everyone who left a comment in our drawing. I was so very touched by all of your sincere Christmas wishes!  So many of them were wishes for others safety, health, happiness, wellbeing, and goodwill towards others! The hearts of quilters are warm and kind indeed! 

Since Luke is here, I asked if he would like to select the winner of our drawing, and he picked Patty, who's comment was this...

My Christmas wish is for my brother,who has kidney disease, and is suffering from depression will ove come the depression which will allow him to get the next step to recieve a new kidney. I also wish for peace and prosperity(spiritual as well as monetary)for all.
Merry Christmas

Well my friends, I'll be taking a few days break to enjoy some special time with my family while we are all together!!! 

In honor of this special time of year, Cherry House Quilts is having a sell!  10% off all patterns in our store.  To receive the discount, enter the code FAMILY.  The sell will be in effect through January 1st.

Merry Christmas everyone!

much love,

Cherri

 

A Christmas Wish and giveaway!

First, and foremost - Thank you so much for your kind thoughts, and prayers for Melissa and our family during her medical ordeal.  She is getting stronger daily which is wonderful!  She read all of your messages and comments, and was very touched by your kindness ♥♥♥

Is everyone ready for Christmas, just one week away?  I am so excited, because for the first time, in a long time my entire family will be together.  There is nothing more important to me than my family, and I am so grateful we will have this time together.  This Christmas will be a little bittersweet, as I've mentioned before, Luke is leaving in February for one year, and I'm having such a hard time with this.  When he was 19 he went on a mission for our church; he was gone for 2 years, but it was something that I had prepared for since his birth, so it was very different.  But he is going to serve our country, and I am very proud of him for the choices he is making. 

In honor of Christmas, and all of holidays celebrated this time of year I thought we needed a giveaway; most Mom's I know do lots of giving, and not as much receiving; so this is a gift just for YOU! 

The prize?  A bundle of Amy Schimler's fat quarters, a bundle of Kona Cotton Fat Quarter Solids, and some other goodies I've gathered throughout the year! 

The drawing?  December 24th...just in time for Christmas

How to enter?  Leave a comment, and share your Christmas Wish...I'll start:  My Christmas wish is that my son will return safe from serving overseas.  

May all of your Christmas wishes come true,

xoxo,

Cherri

From this to this

 
This is a portion of my quilt City Lights while on the design wall; this quilt is on the cover of my book City Quilts, shown here:

The idea behind the quilt is downtown buildings at night, when the city is dark, and buildings are lit from within.  The Kona pale pastel solids used throughout the quilt create a glowing effect.

It is my personal policy to not wish time away, but I can't wait for May 17th...the day my book releases!!!

Cheers,

Cherri
 

away and back again

As you may have read over here my little Melissa was involved in a freak medical accident, one worthy of a freakish medical show on TLC.  Poor little thing required emergency surgery, and her souvenir was a 6'' vertical incision on her tummy.  She is home in Houston now; I went to care for her for a few days before she was well enough to travel, I did her laundry, shipped home a 100 lbs of school books (she missed her finals, and will now have to make them up).  I was finally able to bring her & her little cat Minkee home...is she a quilters' daughter or what?

That is why I have been away, and have been unable to post :-(   Consequently no post, and no update on the Scrap Quilt Along.  How are all of you coming on your project?  I hope you will start adding photos to the Flickr group.

This trauma with Melissa has been so difficult, and upsetting...there is no way to make sense of the whole event.  All I can do is try to take care of her, and help her move forward.  Each day has been getting better, and that is a blessing.  Last night Lizzy and I were at JoAnn's picking up something that she needed, and I'm thinking to myself, "okay, things are returning to normal; this is good, I can keep going".  Shortly after thinking this comical thought, I get a call from Ashlee, who had just been in an car accident on black ice; she will be okay...only a banged up knee.  I thought to myself, if my children don't stay safe I'm going to have a nervous breakdown.  Lizzy's on her way back to Idaho, everyone think good thoughts for her please, and consequently for me too!  Luke is going to Iraq in February, but I'm not even going to start focusing on that.  Being a mother is hard work; long distance or not.

Alright, I've cried on your collective shoulders, and I thank you!  I'm going to try to gather what remains of my sanity, and do what always helps me find my way.  Pray and sew...often, praying while sewing! 

Thank you my friends,

Cherri

Fruit Sliced Gum quilt layout options

Hey quilty friends,

How are you coming with your quilt? Are your blocks ready to sew together?  I'll show four layout options here for quilt tops using 30 blocks.  Feel free to use one of these, or create your own!  There is no right or wrong, just whatever looks best to you.  I like these all so much, I want to make one of each...what cheery scraps!

Option 1 
Option 2
Option 3
Option 4
   
Here's last weeks instructions to print Download Fruit Stripe Gum Part 3

Okay...time to sew!  Next, quilting our quilts - the best part maybe?  What is your favorite part?

Happy Sewing,

Cherri 

A quilt for Hayden

This long weekend has a been a good time to wrap up a bunch of unfinished projects, because the little lull that I've had since finishing the book is about over. 

The quilt that I'm finishing currently is for my BFF's little grandson named Hayden.  I'm using some of Amy Schimler's adorable frogs, and lots of Kona Solids!

I've scattered colored dots across the surface of the quilt...a frog needs somewhere to jump to right?

I'll finish it up in the next few days, and send it on it's merry way!

How is everyone coming on your Fruit Stripe Gum quilt along?  Let me know how you are doing, and if you have any questions.  Remember, Thursday, putting our top together.

Have a good week,

Cherri

Fruit Strip Gum Quilt Part 3

Before we begin, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!  Though an American holiday, I think many countries have a day of thanks. What a wonderful way to spend a day; giving thanks for all that we are blessed with.  There is so much that I am thankful for, my family first and foremost, they are more precious to me than gold, and I love them without measure.  I am thankful for all of you, and I am thankful for quilting...it is so much more than the sum of its parts!

Okay...onto our scrappy quilt along

Here is the pdf of last weeks' instructions Download Fsgum part 2

This is what your completed block should look like prior to trimming.  Try not to be anxious about the excess fabric, remember this is a scrap project, and the goal is to use up our fabric!

This is the block from the back, trim the block from the back, to loosely align with the NFNW interfacing, in order to steer clear of those pesky bias edges.

 Line up your 9.5'' ruler on the diagonal, with the longest white strip in the center

Trim away the excess

Ta Da...a finished block!  29 more to go!

Trim those blocks, next week, making the top!

Remember, keep the white strips in the center of the blocks...this will give unity to your scrap quilt.

Can't wait for everyone to start adding your blocks to our Flickr group! 

See you next week!

Cherri

Take a peek!

Here's a peek at City Green, one of the quilts in my new book City Quilts.  This photo was taken of the quilt on the design wall, pre borders, pre quilting, pre being finished, but I had to capture these clear, beautiful colors.  I can't say enough about the beauty of solids, I think they almost have the appearance of colored glass.  Yesterday, I was searching around on the internet for something, and found a link to the work of Josef Albers...whose work I was a little acquainted with, but not very well.  I found this, which I thought incredible, and a little like my quilt.  It made me happy, and made me think that my work was on the right track.

I'd like to tell you a little about this quilt, if you would indulge me.  The quilt has 100's of small blocks, with very narrow sashing.  The colors are meant to shimmer, like sun and shadow through the branches on the ground, in the woods.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to arrange the blocks, or explain the concept in a pattern.  I was truly struggling, trying to convey what I had envisioned, without much success.  So I did what I have taught my children to do, from their youngest days...I prayed.  I pleaded with God to know how to do what I was trying to do.  In an instant, I knew.  I was shown how to arrange the blocks, how to sew it together, everything.  I was, and am so grateful for answered prayers. 

The entire book from concept, to the quilts, and all the work involved was a journey that I felt compelled to take, pushed a little even. 

My sincerest thanks to everyone for your kind words, and good wishes about my book.  I hope you will love it as I do; and of course I hope you will make lots and lots of quilts.

Cherri