Denyse Schmidt and the SCMQG at Christie's Quilting Boutique

We were so excited to come together at Christie's Quilting Boutique for the viewing of all the quilts made by our guild using  Denyse Schmidt's Hadley Fabrics. 

Denyse Schmidt graciously donated ten fat quarter bundles and we played.  Her fabrics and patterns inspired us to come up with the following designs whose behind-the-scene stories you can find here--  July, August, September.

 

It was quite a night. We conversed.  

 

 

We enjoyed delicious treats.

 We delighted in Denyse's company. We shared. We asked questions. We inquired about future fabric lines and lucked out with a sneak peek.  (Sorry, no pics of those.  Just take our word for it.  As usual, the fabric will be amazing. )

We posed with her, her fabric line, and fabulous books. 

Hadley Challenge participants with Denyse Schmidt

Some of us even won patterns and a signed copy of her latest book, Denyse Schmidt Modern Quilts Traditional Inspiration .

Sharon wins Denyse's latest autographed book.

We created key fobs for this Hadley event. Michelle, on the left, even created a dress.
 We love to create!   

Overall, a wonderful, crafty night with a fun group!

 Thanks again to Denyse Schmidt for the fabulous opportunity and to Christie's Quilt Boutique for hosting this event! 

Hadley Challenge Spotlight: Garen Brien Sherwood

“Today is the day!!”

I will admit, as the lovely fat quarter bundles of Hadley were passed out at our Guild’s meeting earlier this summer, I was gutted that there was not one for me to play with and join the Hadley Challenge by Denyse. Utterly gutted, but as I was a new member – my second meeting - I totally understood.

Still . . .

When Terrie offered up her extras I was over the moon!! I get to play too!!! And then Jennifer offered up hers! Score! Between these two lovely ladies my quilt was good to go - just needed a pattern.

I was searching through my archives of “quilts I someday want to make and other important (?) quilt papers “ for something else when I found it! Nestled in a binder from 2005/6/7 was my pattern.  Free Spirit had a free pattern for Flea Market Fancy!! And I had the print out! After reading the directions I realized why I had not already made it – templates. Just not a fan – this is a plastic sheet free house and cereal boxes are few and far between around here. So someday. Once I found it –it became today is the day I will make this quilt – grant it my way. I love it! It totally makes me happy and the colors rock!

I channeled my inner Denyse, and had bags of strips. I will admit to a small amount of editing – I really tried not too but....

Oh yeah and the quilting – well I thought I would listen to the quilt and quilt it that way – perhaps never again – it was rather verbose in its needs. Love it but massively time consuming!

Thanks for letting me play!

Hadley Spotlight Challenge: Parthena Wollen

I had a really hard time picking out my inspiration because I wanted to try many different patterns.  The curves, the blocks, the pops.....just so many new techniques and shapes to try. I finally decided to focus on  Denyse Schmidt's pattern Flock of Triangles. It was the orange that drew me. I figured I would use  the orange and browns in Hadley to make my quilt. Well, my vision did not turn out like I thought it would so I changed the color scheme.

Still sticking with the Flock of Triangles, I decided to use all the beautiful Hadley fabrics. After cutting out the triangles and putting them together, I realized that the quilt looked too busy.  I wanted to throw in solids but didn't have enough of a variety of solids to throw in there.  (Did I mention that I was trying to use the fabric stash I had, and not buy any more fabric to complete this quilt? A self-imposed challenge for which my husband is probably very thankful!)

Anyway, I split the triangles, or birds, as I saw them, into pairs. I had them going in one direction like Denyse's quilt but then  moved them up, down, and around. I wanted the triangles (or birds as I lovingly call them) to show movement in different directions so I came up with this. Not exactly the Flock of Triangles pattern but definitely inspired by it and a multi-directional life.

 My family and I are constantly in motion, whether it is moving to a new house (this summer), getting new jobs, and/or trying new things. Our pathways seem to always be changing and pointing to or following different directions. Whichever way you hold up the quilt, triangles are flying off in all four directions. I like that. This is going to be my quilt and I'm calling it Pathways.

The back..love gray and brown

Hadley Spotlight Challenge: Jessica Nunn Daniele

My quilt is named "Hadley Hides the Ice Pops". I was inspired by two of Denyse Schmidt's patterns from her "Denyse Schmidt Quilts" book - Ice Pops and What a Bunch of Squares. Neither patterns was followed exactly, but both were used for inspiration while I drafted my own version. The name is three fold - obviously Hadley is the name of Denyse's new fabric line that we were given to play around with. The Ice Pops part is a direct reference to the Ice Pops pattern. The "hidden" part is a reference to the brown squares hidden in the Ice Pop rectangles. The name makes me think of a impish little girl named Hadley, hiding ice pops in the freezer on a hot summer's day so she doesn't have to share them with her siblings. It makes me think of a simpler, carefree time, which is also what the fabric line made me think of when I first saw it.

I joined the guild after the yummy fabric bundles were handed up. I saw the challenge on the Facebook page and Sharon so kindly offered me her leftovers. Since she was so generous to share, I wanted to make the most of the fabrics. I chose my favorite prints to feature on the front. I then took all remaining fabric and cut it up into "bricks" to piece together a back. I used Denyse's paper bag method to piece together the back. I'm usually very neurotic about arrangement, so I made myself be more random for this. The last little bits went into a scrappy binding. All fabric put to good use!

This challenge was a lot of fun for me! I'm very happy I joined the guild and get to participate in fun challenges like this.

Hadley Challenge Spotlight- Kathy Reale

This summer I enjoyed reading "Quilting With A Modern Slant" by Rachel May and was inspired by Denise Schmidt's quilt called "Hope as the Anchor of the Soul (Mount Lebanon
Series #3). 

 I love its simplicity, texture, and colors. For my quilt, I changed the design quite a bit and used all the patterned Hadley fabrics to make the 'spin wheel' which was seamed and appliqued with raw edges.  I used Kona cotton color #91 Steel for my background.  The quilting in the round was a challenge and my circles are a bit wonky but it was fun to make. This is the 4th quilt I have ever made and the largest (87"x 97").  I can't wait to use it on my bed this winter!  Special thanks to Denise for the fabrics and inviting us to the challenge, my family for all their help along the way, and to the SCMQG for all your support!

Note: At our last meeting, Kathy named this quilt "Bedspins", which we all thought was great. I hope that is what she is calling it, as it seems fitting! 

Hadley Spotlight Challenge: Suzanne Thivierge McGovern

In July, I began mapping out a project for the Hadley Challenge. In early August , I started to doubt my timing and questioned whether I could finish on time.  I returned to Denyse Schmidt's books for new inspiration. I decided to whip-up a doll-size "Postage Stamp" quilt . I wanted to be sure I had something to submit  and I happen to like working small-scale.

It  was fun making this spontaneous little quilt.  It worked up quickly and I was happy with the finished product.  So, I stuck with it and just kept going.  I made four and sewed them together.  

I added one light and dark solid fabric from the generous stack of Hadley fabrics.  Using Denyse's bag method, I separated the fabric into lights and darks. This eliminated any tendency to obsess over color and placement. I promised myself I would not edit any of my pulls---no matter what! 

Hadley Challenge Spotlight- Michelle Lieberson

Everywhere I turn lately, I see the Orange Peel pattern. It's in clothing, wallpaper, rugs, even on a paper coffee cup that I used at a hotel recently. I am in love with it, and the way it makes your eye see different patterns, sort of an optical illusion.

I’d been thinking of making Denyse’s version from her latest book, Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration, but I didn't want to do needle turn appliqué.  I wanted to try a technique that I haven’t tried before and I’d been doing a lot of curved piecing lately. I opted for raw edge appliqué after I found a ruler called Leaves Galore which made it super easy to cut out the petals.

Deciding on which fabrics to use wasn’t easy, I love all of them. Back in June, I attended one of Denyse’s workshops, so I decided to improvise and just started cutting some of them, putting them together as I went. The result is an Orange Peel pattern that starts off in the center then starts to go crazy, mixing up the fabrics, and even the pattern.

I'm calling my quilt "Petal Play" since I spent so much time playing and arranging the petals. 

I have only fused the petals so far, and will sew the appliqué on as I quilt it. The back is finished, I just have to quilt it. I'm planning to continue the quilting pattern into the border. 

I want to thank Denyse for giving us not only this challenge, but also for sharing the Hadley collection with us. It was very generous of her. It has been so much fun seeing what everyone else in the group is coming up with. Each one has been so different from the other. Our guild has only been together for less than a year, but everyone is so enthusiastic, and happy to share their ideas. It's very inspirational. I can't wait to see everyone's projects all in one place this coming September. Keep your eyes out for details!