Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe

My friend Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts recently sent me a review copy of the book Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe. She has a quilt included in the book, along with some other great quilting bloggers!

This book has 19 quilts from different contributors, which means it is wonderfully diverse. Some quilts are minimalistic in design and others use many blocks. Some quilts show off solids and others are heavy with prints. What ties them all together is the love of quilting and blogging that is shared by each of the designers.

“Everything’s Coming Up Rainbows” is a quilt by Krista Fleckenstein of Spotted Stones. I got the chance to meet Krista briefly at QuiltCon, and she is lovely! I love her modern take on a bento box quilt block.

Heather Jones of Olive and Ollie shares the pattern for her “Silo” quilt in this book, which offers a really beautiful use of solids and repetition across the quilt. What a lovely project!

Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced is the designer behind “Candy Necklace,” a pattern that would look really beautiful in solids or monochromatic prints. I’m really drawn to the vertical orientation of this quilt, and how it appears to be not really “blocks” but strips.

I’m a huge fan of collaborative sewing and quilting books, because they allow a group of contributors to join forces and share their very best work! If you follow many quilting blogs, you may have seen some of these quilts already on the Web; however, I don’t believe I’ve seen them with the full patterns. There are several quilts in this book I would consider making.

In fact, my only real criticism of the book is that it reminded me of something. It made me realize how prone we all are (myself included) to view and refer to well-known quilting bloggers “stars.” I certainly respect the hard work it takes to design a quilt, write the pattern and maintain a regular blog presence in the midst of the rest of life! Quilting and blogging have become two of my greatest passions in life, and I can let hours and hours go by without noticing what time it is when I become lost in a project.

However, one thing I’ve learned from meeting some blog friends in real life is that people are just people! They are real… they have struggles. They have joys. There are some incredibly talented designers that have never had their pattern published in a book or magazine. They have never displayed their quilt in a show. I’d love to challenge the idea that having a popular blog with lots of comments makes someone a star.

Quilters are some of the nicest, most genuine people on the planet! I don’t wish to take away any joy from the quilters featured in this book or those who put it together, because I myself love the feeling of sending a project off the be published. It’s exhilarating! However, I was recently reminded how beautiful life can be when we realize that there is room at the table for all of us. You are right where you are supposed to be. It’s not about competition, or who is “in” and who is out.

If quilting becomes about winning a ribbon, what is it good for? If making becomes about seeking attention or watching the “Likes” build up, what is the point?

What brings us together, creative bloggers, is a shared love for creating. That’s it. That is why I love this online community! I hope to be reminded of these things when I forget them myself.

Thank you to Martingale & Company for putting together this beautiful collection of quilts. With 19 patterns in versatile designs, Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe is a welcome addition to my bookshelf!

Giveaway!

Want to win a copy of Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe?

Head over to Ellison Lane Quilts (that’s her quilt in the book, above!) by Sunday, 3/17 for your chance to win a hard copy of the book. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.