May IB Modern Challenge

It's May!  The challenge this month is a Modern Challenge.  When I think of modern quilts I first think of quilts with a lot of open background - or negative space like in the logo above.  Other definitions of modern quilting are to use bold colors and prints, and to have high contrast and/or  to update classic quilt designs.

I decided to use the River's Edge fabric I was sent because I liked the contrast in the light and dark fabrics.  I had the strip package and two background colors.

The challenge to myself was to make a modern quilt using the 2 1/2" strips and the two background fabrics. The quilt I made is 36" x 36".  It has a more traditional block, with the light background fabric used as the outside strips on half of each block and the dark background used as strips on the other side of each block.  This made a strong light/dark look to each square. I call this quilt Shadow Land.

I used two different Superior Threads for this quilt- Masterpiece 159 in the piecing and King Tut 983 for the quilting.  They worked great.

I actually used parts of the background and strip package of River's Edge for the March Island Batik Applique Challenge.  This is the Nighttime at the Nest I made in March.

I debated whether to use the same fabrics for two challenges, but I thought it might be interesting for everyone to see how much you can do with just one strip pack.  Strip packs come with 40 strips- two of each design.  That's 100 " of fabric- over 2 yards of fabric in a wide variety of prints!

My first quilt Nighttime at the Nest measures 20" x 15" and the Shadow Land quilt measures 36" x 36".  I did use some of the two background fabrics also, but this shows you that you can do a lot with just one strip package!

I was surprised at how many strips and part of strips I had left after making two projects!  Quite a bit actually.

Anyone want my leftover strips?  I'm sure there's another quilt in there somewhere...

Just leave a comment and I'll draw a name next week.