Weeks Ringle at KCMQG

I've been a fan of Weeks Ringle and her husband, Bill Kerr, for some time now...often drawn to their designs published by Better Homes and Gardens. I bought The Modern Quilt Workshop in 2008 and have earmarked several quilts within it's pages for my "Someday List". It's one of my favorites, which is saying a lot, because I have oodles of quilting books. I learned last night that it was actually the first quilting book published with the word "modern" in the title.

 "Once Upon a Time" is, sadly, the only pattern that I have made so far from the book, but how I love it! The twin size quilt was made for my grand son, Ezra, when he turned three. The idea behind the design is to make up a storyline using the connectors between each novelty square. It would be a great quilt for a classroom or library, as well. Ezra loaned me back the quilt so that I could take it to the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild meeting last night for a special show and tell presentation because Weeks Ringle was our guest speaker. And what a great program it was!

I was especially excited about hearing Weeks tell about her patterns, books and quilts after meeting her in person at the Spring Quilt Market last week here in KC. We enjoyed a nice conversation about her beginning days as a "modern" quilter before the quilting market was as open-armed as it is today to non-traditional designs. She and her husband really are pioneers in the modern quilting movement, I think.

 After a short and interesting slide show showcasing their quilt philosophy and some favorite quilts, Weeks wowed us with an assortment of quilts made by her and her husband. I thought that you might enjoy seeing some of my favorites among the dozen or so  presented. The colors in this one drew me in right away....

 The mosaic 'orderliness" of this one is fascinating. I'd like to make one like it someday.

 Somehow, I feel like this one, though, is the most "me" of all the ones she showed last night. It's a genius design, I think!

 This transparency quilt brought lots of "oohs" and "ahhs" from the large crowd!

 One thing that impressed me was that Weeks was not afraid to let us touch her quilts and, in fact, passed them around for us all to handle. Bill quilts the quilts himself on a long arm machine adding another dimension to the design with the overall close quilting.

 Weeks and Bill wash all of their quilts often, giving them a crinkly appearance and a cuddly feel. They often decide on the quilting at the beginning of the design process.

Another interesting fact is that the bindings on their quilts are completely attached by machine. Weeks described their method in detail to us (It involves a two inch strip and a Clover brand bias tape maker.) but I'm guessing it takes a lot of practice for the bindings to be as perfect as theirs! I think I'll try their method though, sometime.

Okay, on another note, if you haven't entered my Give-Away yet, you can find it here.

Later, gater.