I am excited to bring you my review of
Inspired
Modern Quilts by Elizabeth Hartman on Craftsy for Sew Sweetness. Please check out her blog for a review every weekday of Craftsy classes to choose from to expand your learning!
This class is comprised of 7 small
projects designed for the person who has knowledge of basic quilting
skills. However, the Craftsy platform is designed to ask the
instructor questions and you own the course forever so you have
access any time at your own pace. There is also a projects page so
you can share your projects with everyone else enrolled. There is
access to a download of your course materials.
Lesson# 1 Is an introduction to the
course and all about Elizabeth’s background and quilting
accomplishments. She also discusses the reasons she considers
herself a ‘modern quilter’. She has a very pleasing voice and
explains instructions in a clear and concise manner. One thing I
love about the Craftsy platform is the ability to take ‘notes’
electronically as you’re watching a lessons that will remain in the
lesson for reference!
Lesson# 2 is creating two simple design
tools you can use in your quilting, a Design Board and a Pressing
Board. These are fantastic tools that I don't think everyone realizes how helpful they are. I didn't have any idea about them for years and I can't imagine getting by quilting successfully without them now!
I already had made both but discovered that it was best to cover my pressing board with Canvas fabric rather than quilting cotton (I had scorched it before), so I took some grey canvas from my stash and re-covered my board and I like it so much better!
Lesson # 3 is Selecting Fabrics. She
reviewed elements of solid and print fabrics with tips about
complementing your print fabrics with solids to prevent a mish-mash
of prints in your design.
Lessons #4 - #10 are modern patterns
where Elizabeth walks you through the whole process from beginning to
end. She displays her sample quilt on the wall for reference and
starts with suggestions for fabric selections, progressing to
cutting, pressing instructions and finishing with placement on the
design board and finally assembly.
I chose to make the Modern Crosses
quilt pattern. The improvisation appealed to me (and is also the
best pattern to create a new quilt for my middle sister as a
Christmas gift!). Improvisation can be defined in different ways for
quilters; above is Elizabeth’s definition. I like that you are
actively involved in the process as you work instead of planning
everything in advance. It’s quite fun and freeing, but doesn’t
appeal to everyone! I was able to cut my squares in a few hours and
started assembling my squares the same afternoon and was having fun
with it from the beginning! Now her quilt is a wall (or small baby)
quilt so I am making mine 4 times as large to make a lap quilt. In
the course materials, Elizabeth gives dimensions and fabric
requirements for her smaller version as well as the lap size
version. That in itself adds value to the class in my opinion!
Here are pictures of some of the blocks I made; 3 versions that I was able to play around with on my design board. One aspect of modern quilting is the use of negative space, something the modern crosses design lacks. So I decided to keep some of my solid black squares without the cross bars to audition them with the design and I am so happy I did!
Here is what the original design would look like as Elizabeth's instructions. I like it but think it is a tad bit too busy for me.
Here is the addition of black squares to rest the eyes. I like it much better.
This is the design I am going with. My sister's favorite colors are pink, purple and black so I am adding a total of 3 Kona Gumdrop crosses in the design. This was at the suggestion of a friend of mine who I value her opionion. She said it would give it visual interest and I agree wholeheartedly and love it!! This is a big benefit of the design board! You can step back and see if anything is askew more readily than placing your squares on the floor which I used to do.
In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed the
class and look forward to making some of the other patterns in her
class. Needless to say, I highly recommend Inspired
Modern Quilts class if the modern quilting aesthetic appeals to
you. I love that although I’ve been
quilting for nearly 5 years (link
to my first quilt here), there were still a few tips and tricks I
learned in this class!
Additionally, I know a lot of Sara’s readers are bag makers.
I too started out making bags (a few years longer than quilting), but
when I felt it was time to broaden my sewing skills, I took an online
quilting class to learn and I never regret it. Making quilts to
enjoy and give has been very gratifying to me!
Thank you for stopping by today!!
