31 May The Satsuma Quilt
Modern Traditionalism in Quilting
The Modern Quilt Guild hired me to create a series of educational resources on the topic of Modern Traditionalism in Quilting. The resources were presented to members over the course of 3 months. Members of the MQG can access the free resource library on the MQG website here. The first part of the series was a webinar about Modern Traditionalism. It explored what it means and how to achieve it in your own quilt making practice. Part 2 was a pattern for a small project that incorporated the idea of Modern Traditionalism and part 3 was a full quilt pattern exploring the design further.
The Satsuma Mini Quilt
The mini quilt is a 28″ x 28″ wall hanging size. The purpose of the small project was to introduce members into the concept of modern traditionalism with a smaller time commitment. The design is a cropped version of the full quilt pattern (shown below). The small size gave me an opportunity to do some fun custom walking foot quilting.
The Satsuma Quilt
This quilt was inspired by the Modern Traditionalist practice of taking a time-honoured quilt design and updating it with modern aesthetics to create a new design that feels fresh, but familiar. In this case, a traditional Irish Chain quilt layout was updated by substituting most of the squares with curved Orange Peel blocks. The background is made up of three tones of the same colour, which help create a unique shape when combined with the curves. The name Satsuma is a subtle nod to the orange from which the curved block takes its name.
The MQG Annual Sew Along
The full quilt pattern will be available indefinitely in the MQG resource library. But the best part was that the team at MQG requested to use the pattern as their 2024 Sew Along pattern! I was thrilled that the pattern was selected and blown away when I learned that over 900 members signed up to participate in the Sew Along. The event takes place over the course of eight weeks with weekly email prompts, videos, tips, and photographs. Participants can use the hashtag #mqgsewalong2024 to post photos on Instagram and follow along to see the progress of other participants. It is so exciting for me to see so many variations of this pattern being made simultaneously by quilters all over the world!
I couldn’t miss out on the fun so I am making a second version of the pattern in juicy citrus colours (to honour the name of the quilt) and I’ve been posting my progress on Instagram too. The photos below show my progress:
I got ahead of myself and started piecing some of the 9‑patch blocks (shown in the photo above).
Thanks for following along with my Satsuma sew along project. If you missed the sew along, remember that the pattern is available on the MQG website for members. Make sure to check out the hashtag on Instagram to see all the incredible variations of this quilt. Many participants challenged themselves to use fabrics from their stashes, resulting in some very creative interpretations of the design.
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