Simply Done
Hi Quilters, I was giving a trunk show a couple of weeks ago and the topic of fabric cutting came up. So, when I started cutting my fabric for a new quilt I thought I’d video it and share the process that I use for cutting my binding and all of my joining-sashing strips from the same length of fabric and, most importantly, why I do it this way. It’s a little on the long side but I hope it has a few tips that might help you.
4 New Quilts – Endless Possibilities
I found a way to hide the joining strips – sashing, in our first book – and I played with the concept until I had 4 quilts made.
Of course, my idea is that there are LOTS of quilts we can make using this new innovation, but I wanted to get it to you now! So, we wrote and published a smaller book {only 78 pages} with just 4 quilts in it, but I’m pretty sure that when you see the quilts, you’ll imagine how you would make yours, using some of our techniques and your own adaptations.
Each of the 4 quilts has options for changing it and I hope you’ll give them a try.
Meanwhile, we have several more in the works – watch for pics of them here as they are finished.
The new book is available on Amazon, in print (on white paper, not glossy) for $18.95 and for the Kindle Fire for $8.95 (which you can read on any device with their Kindle-for-devices app). I must say, I like the look of the Kindle version (on my PC) best 🙂 You can read more about the book here, and see the quilts that are in it.
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
Red & White Crazy Shortcut Quilt
Hi Quilters, we found some quilt inspiration on YouTube! This quilt was inspired by a video that I watched on YouTube and that I talked my daughter Sarah into making. She loved it so much that she made about five different tops! Check back here regularly because I’ll be playing with new designs on the rest of her tops all summer 🙂
Below are all the videos – mine on how I made this quilt, and Heirloom Creation’s “Jelly Roll Quilt Race” video and link to their pattern. If you can’t watch video on your computer, give me a few days and I’ll have a pattern for download on our “New CSCQ Patterns” page.
Here’s the link to the Jelly Roll Quilt Race Pattern -it’s important to follow the instructions to cut off the first 18″ and sew as instructed.
For this quilt, you’ll need 20 Fabric Strips – 42″ long & sewn using the Jelly Roll Race Method”
51″ of complementary fabric (or buy 1 & half yds) – this is the white fabric portion of our quilt
3 yards of backing
50″ of 90″ wide batting
1 yard of complementary fabric (this is the extra red fabric that I mentioned for sashing and binding)
Ok, I had some setbacks and I didn’t finish a quilt, but I have a list of quilters who did!! Hurray for them!
Judy of KS sent this one, Derek’s Quilt made with Teenage Ninja Turtle Fabric!
Judy of KS made Derek's Quilt
Amanda made these two as Christmas presents:
Amanda's Quilt #1
Amanda's Quilt #2
Sara from Abu Dhabi made a RolyPoly
Sara's Roly Poly
Sara's Roly Poly Quilt
Sara's Roly Poly
and Marie Bartels from the Netherlands made this lovely blue and white quilt:
Marie and her Crazy Shortcut Quilt
Cheryl in Texas made a Christmas Quilt
I learn so much on the internet, and the tutorial and tips from Holly Knott really helped me a lot. I modified some of her hints, using things I had at home and I continue to work on my quilt photography skills every time I take a pic.
For the book I flew to Wisconsin to work with the staff photographers at Krause and what an experience! Those photographers must have had several hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment, excellent professional training and the creative nature to do so many photos justice. I was in awe.
Because I wanted to submit a few of my own photos for the book I tried to learn as much as possible. So, here’s a little tour of my quiltroom/bunny room/photography studio.
The wall has a piece of rough textured fleece stapled to it; there’s a photography grey card pinned to that and all I usually do (for small scale photos – not full sized bed quilts) is smooth the fabric onto the fleece, or put it on with 3-4 pins. The poles that you see are from a rolling closet rack purchased at WalMart for about $11. I like this a lot because I can use it for storage too, when it’s not being used for lighting. Suspended from the ceiling are 2 cheap florescent lamp fixtures with daylight rated bulbs. Clamped to the rolling closet rack are 2 cheap clamp lamps with expensive daylight rated florescent bulbs. All this is connected to a power strip with an on/off switch so it’s only turned on right when I take a photo.
When I’m done with the pic, I unplug the clamp lamps and drape their cords over the top of the rack (remember, this is also the bunny room and bunnies chew cords) and roll it aside. You can see my Quilting Table in there too. The bins against the wall store my threads and the shelves on the wall have a few scrap bins.
