A few months back I mentioned that I was going to be in a book! It seems like forever ago that this process started with a submission request for quilt blocks. I want to say it was before Labor Day, 2010. Well a couple of weeks ago I finally received my copies of the book and I must say, seeing my name actually *in* a book was pretty exciting.

The book is called Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favorite Designers. Here is a picture of my block in the book, called Boxed In.

You can use this pattern to make something similar to my Echino Squared quilt, simply by incorporating white into each quadrant.

I really think this book has something for everyone. I brought it home to show my family over Thanksgiving. My mom (who is more of a traditional quilter) found lots of blocks she liked and so did my sister (who is a modern quilter).

It is available on Amazon and maybe even at your local quilt shop. If you make any blocks from this book, be sure to post them in the Flickr group!

This morning I was looking around at the unfinished projects in my sewing room, trying to figure out what to work on next. Then my eyes settled on the Kaffe Fassett stripes I bought at the quilt show in Cincinnati and I thought, why not start something new? They are really so beautiful, it’s amazing I haven’t cut into them until now.

I thought I would share my process for making the above block. It is improvisational and hopefully you will find it quite simple to make. I am using fat quarters for this project, but really this would work using strips of scraps as well. Just make sure your scrap strips are at least 12.5″ long.

Step 1. Select your fabric and cut it into strips of random widths. I cut 2″ to 3.5″ stripes.

Step 2. Randomly sew 2 to 3 strips together lengthwise. The resulting rectangles should be at least 5″ wide.

Step 3. Cut a 3.5″ x 3.5″ square for the center of your block. Select 4 strips from Step 2. From these strips, cut 2 pieces 3.5″ x 5″ and 2 pieces 5″ x 12.5″.

Step 4. Sew the 3.5″ x 5″ rectangles to the top and bottom of the center square.

Step 5. Sew the 5″ x 12.5″ rectangles to the left and right of the block.

May was Terri’s month in the Twice Around the Block VQB. She sent us a set of solid and textured fabrics and asked us to make straight lined modern blocks with squares and rectangles. I knew I wanted to use the off-white to make the 3 strips, but the rest was just improvised as I sewed along. I like how it turned out!

A bit of new fabric arrived this week as well. I have plans in my head for at least one of these sets. Both are from Cloud 9 Organics. Cut Out and Keep is above, Nature Walk is below. The two collections actually look really nice together, so now I’m thinking about combining them in a fall quilt.

I also received a couple new prints for my sewing room over the weekend. They come from Kajsa Wikman’s Syko Shop.

You might recognize her from her book Scandinavian Stitches (which is amazing). The prints arrived extremely quickly, even from overseas and are very high quality. I’m thinking it might be cute to decorate my daughter’s room with a few more.

We spent last weekend in northern Michigan so I didn’t have a chance to sew, but I have two quilt sandwiches up in the sewing room and plan to focus on them this week. Hopefully I will have them finished to share soon!

I have been waiting to write this post for months and today is finally the day I can spill the beans! I am going to be in a book!

Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favorite Designers, published by Stash Books, is set for release this November and I designed one of the 99 modern quilt block patterns inside. I’m not entirely sure if I can share a picture of the block…but here’s a hint: if you liked my Echino Squared quilt, you will like the block. How’s that? There will be complete instructions for my quilt block, as well as the other 98. That’s a lot of quilt-square-bang-for-your-buck!

You can even already pre-order your copy on Amazon. I should have an early copy sometime in August and will post more then. Thanks for letting me share my excitement!