Quilt As You Go, Simply Done

Simply Done

Classes

Her First Quilt

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My friend Rena taught her friends how to make a Crazy Shortcut Quilt. Here’s the note she sent me:

I showed it to a couple of ladies at work & they tried it too! Better news- neither one of them had ever quilted!!!!
Here is her creation. She is Russian and never did anything like this before. She loved it! She plans to make more! I’m thinking about getting her the Quilt As You Go {reimagined} to help encourage her. Thanks for teaching this in Valdez!

Isn’t it just lovely? Thanks, Rena, for teaching her and for sharing her success with me.

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A Happy Quilt and Happy Quilter!

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What better way to start the new year than with a huge smile! Rena took a class with me and oh, did we have some laughs. She decided, like so many quilters who use our techniques, to add her own spin to her quilt. She chose to use Minke brand fabric, which is a super soft polyester fabric that is just perfect for baby blankets. Unfortunately the very softness that makes it so delightful to hold also makes it a nightmare to cut straight, especially if you’re trying to cut multiple layers, as our techniques call for.

Rena was up to the challenge though, with a great attitude and staunch determination to succeed. She did, just beautifully! Here’s her note to me and photo of her quilt. I hope you enjoy both just as much as I did. My next blog post, in about a week, will have a pic of the quilt her protege made. Thank you Rena!

You will remember me, I tried to do the quilt in all minky…
Well, I finished.
My first mistake was to use all minky, my second was to keep working on it instead of throwing it in the scrap pile. It looks great from a distance, but don’t get too close. Trying again.
Good news! I showed it to a couple of ladies at work & they tried it too! Better news- neither one of them had ever quilted!!!!
I’ll send a picture in the next email.

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Sarah’s Quilty Bit

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When I teach my quilt classes, and write a new quilt-as-you-go book, I start with a little helper that I call a “Quilty Bit”. I make them from several 5″ squares of fabric and batting. I make two “crazy cuts” similar to those in our book Crazy Shortcut Quilts, and then layer those squares with batting and backing, and quilt them with decorative stitches and pretty rayon threads. Then I join two squares, leaving out only the last seam, so that my students can see how the squares are joined. In my books I suggest making one of these Quilty Bits if a reader feels unsure of how to do the joining and wants to have a small sample to play with before starting a big quilt.

My friend Sarah (Sadie_J on YouTube) sent me pics of her “Quilty Bit” and I wanted to share them with you. The purples are her squares and the center pink strip is the joining strip of fabric. Doesn’t the gold thread look gorgeous against her fabrics? Thank you Sarah!

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Quilt As You Go in Alaska

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Hi Quilters, I’m freezing my toes off in Anchorage, planning some quilting classes and events for the summer – from Anchorage to Valdez, and maybe even Cordova! If you’ve quilted with Sarah or I in the past, and would like to see the new quilts in person or take an updated techniques class, drop me a note at MMQuilts @ gmail.com (remove spaces) or leave a comment to this post and I’ll get back to you.

I don’t have specific dates/places yet, but I’m looking at trunk shows, demos, classes and retreats, in Anchorage in June; Valdez in August; July and September are open to your suggestions.

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Introducing The Quilter’s Calendar

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… a new website to help connect quilters, guilds and quilting teachers. It’s a searchable calendar of quilting events (mostly guild hosted) that all quilters will find useful.

Quilters can easily find events happening in their own (or nearby) states.

Quilters who travel can find events in the locations that they are going to – shows, retreats, guild hosted classes and shop hosted classes.

Quilt guilds will find teachers who are already booked in their states, making it easier to arrange “piggy back” bookings with that teacher and sharing the travel expenses between guilds – saving both guilds money!

Quilt Teachers will have greater exposure for their teaching events, increasing attendance.

It’s a win-win situation for all quilters!

Here’s a short video on how to use the site. Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions to make it better.



Quilt As You Go Quilt Retreat!

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If you are in (or coming to) Alaska and want to take an exclusive class with me, here’s your chance! Only 10 people will be able to sign up for this weekend retreat, which is a fundraiser for a friend. I’ll be bringing quilts from my first 2 books plus quilts I have made for the next two books – a little exclusive sneak peek!

We’ll spend the weekend making a Shortcake Quilt – 36″ x 45″ – and covering the basics of quilt-as-you-go and then jump into adapting the QAYG techniques to work for other quilt blocks – not just the Crazy Shortcut Quilt style.

It will be a little bit of everything 🙂 June 8, 9, 10th, 2012 in Palmer, Alaska — $100 per person — email me to sign up — MMQuilts @ gmail.com

If you are (or know of) a quilt shop owner in the area of Anchorage to Palmer, and you want to host the Trunk Show, please let me know. I am looking for either Thursday June 7th or Friday, June 8th, from about 7-9pm.

Crazy Shortcut Quilt Retreat

Quilt Class in Palmer, Alaska

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Do any of my local friends have a building space or know of a building space that could be used for a weekend quilt class? My friend and fellow Crazy Shortcut Quilting teacher Joanna Stokinger and I are fundraising for her daughter Tessah get to Japan. We will be teaching a multi-day t-shirt quilt class (bring your t-shirts and leave with a fully finished quilt). We just need to find a free space that could accommodate 10-12 quilters – tables ironing boards etc… in or near Palmer, Alaska and any help at all would be greatly appreciated!

Here’s a pic of my newest tee quilt, at the layout stage….

Marilyn's Tee Shirt Quilt - marathon Race Tees!!

First Place!

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Our dear friend Kathy Harte mentors young girls in their sewing. Here’s her email to me from just a few minutes ago:

Hi Marguerita and Sarah – I’m so excited about some great – exciting fantastic news ! ! ! I had 5 students last school year who completed their wildly beautiful “Crazy Shortcut Quilts.” Two of my girls just called to let me know….

Tyanna Baker took First Place, and Grand Champion in her age group (12 years old) for the king size quilt she made ! ! ! ! !

Christina Baker took 2nd place in the 9 year old category for her lap size quilt ! ! ! !

The girls’ Mom will e-mail pictures of the girls with their masterpieces, and I’ll forward those on to you….

AND….. I’ve got everything documented from start to finish on my computer… if you like, I’ll burn CDs for you so you can see what all the girls did using your book as our guide.

I’m soooooo proud of them and am doing the happy dance ! Just thought you’d like to know 🙂 YAY YAY YAY

Love to you both,
Kath

I am so excited for these girls – to have won recognition for their hard work really is so wonderful and for Kathy to see their success, well, that is the highest reward for a wonderful teacher!