Now Touring: Sew a Modern Home by Melissa Lunden

by teri on August 20, 2014

I know you hear us say this a lot, but this book is way cool. Really! Sew a Modern Home stitched and written by Melissa Lunden, and published by Martingale, is literally a quilty home reno plan between two covers. From crib sheets to pillows, play mats to place mats, quilts for the front porch (picnic) and quilts for the bedroom, Melissa gives us ideas to cover our homes in quilts with a modern, fresh flair. She helps us cover our homes in quilterly color, texture and technique, and her patterns are easily tweaked with fabrics and textures to fit our personal home style. (So, yes, your significant other can keep that wrecked lounger a little longer if you can drape a cool, new quilt over it.)

Picnic Quilt

Sure, we’ll share a few images from Melissa’s book, but we’re doing our homework a little differently from other stops on this book tour. We wanted to involve Melissa, as well as these pages she’s labored over.

GenQ: What’s the strangest home you’ve ever lived in?

ML: I lived for a couple of years in a funky A-frame house that was not my style at all. It was cool in its own way, but it wasn’t my first choice in architectural design. I tried really hard to appreciate the best things about it like focusing on the high ceilings and the decks and pretending the other stuff didn’t bother me.

Melissa Lunden Sew a Modern Home play room

Playroom Plushies

Gen Q: What’s the first thing you ever sewed for your home?

ML: Of course, I started sewing pillows for my home, but the first big project I did was to make a quilt for my now-husband. He had a beautiful Japanese men’s kimono and pajama set that was given to him as a present. He never wore them so we decided that using the material for a quilt that would get used all the time was the best way to honor the intention of the gift. I mixed in a charm pack of gorgeous traditional Japanese prints and white sashing. It was early on in my quilting days and I quilted it on my tiny Brother sewing machine and could barely quilt it because it was so big. Even though it is super simple and the quilting leaves something to be desired, it is still a favorite.

Boys’ Room quilt

Gen Q: So do you have a home dec story gone awry?

ML: About six years ago, I up and decided that I was going to make a slip clover for my couch along with new cushion covers. I had absolutely no experience doing such a big project, but I just went for it! It looked pretty good from a distance, but let’s just say, it wasn’t my finest work.

Bedroom Quilt

Gen Q: Would you have any tips and hints for the Chevron Starburst Pillow? (Readers, see the book cover at the top of this post. This pillow is at the left.)

ML: I use a clear square ruler to cut fussy cut triangles, rather than cutting squares (and then cutting them in half) as called for in the pattern. The square technique absolutely works but if you are using a tricky print like the chevrons I used for the pillow and want everything to match up exactly, cutting triangles really helps. It is a little more labor intensive, but you will get the exact look you want. You don’t need to do this with most fabrics, but if you are working with a print that has a very specific repeat, it might help.

Want to learn more? (And win this book?)

Get on board the rest of the book tour (and go back to the previous posts to catch up)! At each stop, you have a chance to win a copy of Sew A Modern Home.