Quilt As You Go, Simply Done

Simply Done

Quilts in the works

Quilt Question from Carol Crites

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I received a question from Carol and have tried everything I know to get back in touch with her, but emails bounce and Google searches are just not helping, so I’m posting both her question and my reply here in the hopes that she’ll see it. If you have any ideas on her quilt dilemma please chime in!

Carol's-Top

I just finished your quilt as you go re- imagined, LOVED IT!!! This top is one of three similar quilts I’ve been working on. Obviously, I’m nearly done with this one, have you got a suggestion for converting the other two? This top is a variation of one called Any Which Way developed by Vicki Thomas in To Stitch A Child’s Quilt. She used a single set of arrows, I’ve used a bi- directional set of arrows. It was a challenge adjusting the amount of fabric I needed. I feel like I should finish these before I moved on to the next so the boys can get some use out of them. My next project is a king size square patch that I think lends itself nicely to your method. My husband has no imagination, he wants just red, blue and neon green squares joined with black joining strips, all solid colors. As I understand your method, you quilt the blocks and then use the joining strips to butt the quilted blocks together, using the strips to make the edges pretty. I would welcome your advice on the quilts for the boys. They range in age from 9 to 7, and the oldest is trying to be more mature than other boys his age. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks in advance for your advice and wisdom. Carol Crites.

Here’s my reply: Hi Carol,

Thanks for your note and your quilt pic. I’ve been thinking about it and the best that I can think of is to unstitch it into 3 or 4 rows and add white fabric to the long sides of those rows, so that you won’t lose your arrow points when you join the quilted rows. Layer and quilt the rows with the added fabric and then trim them to about 1″ wider than the points. Join with white fabric. Your arrows won’t touch like they do in the top, but it will be much easier to quilt. The quilt process would be a lot like the Aloha Strips in the book, which is a row quilt. You should only have to add about 2-3 inches of fabric onto each row edge to allow for the quilting and joining. I’d love to see your other quilt projects to see what the blocks look like.

Let me know what you think, okay?

Marguerita

Cutting Fabric for a New Quilt

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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.





Quilt As You Go {reimagined}

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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.



Please Sign Up for Our Newsletter

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I’ll start off by saying that I have only the barest idea of what I am doing here, but I’ve created an account at MailChimp to begin sending out newsletters.

As a blog reader, web surfer and email addict, the one thing that I like most is content that I’ve asked to receive, right in my in-box. I don’t have to remember to visit anyone’s blog or website, and email newsletters are getting prettier and prettier all the time! So, I thought I’d set one up for you, if you’d like, and I’ll use it to show you new quilts, new projects, and of course, our newest books.

My intent isn’t to send one out very regularly, or to push any products, but more to let you know if there’s an update to a technique that we use and to show you, or link to, pictures of quilts we make and pictures of quilts that YOU send us!

I’d love it if you would sign up – you can click here –

Sign up for our free newsletter!

But you don’t have to sign up. You will still find pics and updates here, but if you life is getting busier and you want to be sure that you don’t miss out on anything important, please sign up 🙂

I find that I am very much enjoying writing and designing books, for print and for the Kindle Fire, and I’d like to try designing a pretty newsletter too.

I am in Seward, Alaska (freezing, as usual) working on some new quilt designs and a new book, and Sarah is in Anchorage, busily settling into her new home, a house that she and her husband have wanted to buy for years. They have just moved in and are still unpacking and getting their old house ready to go on the market. Tom’s busy modifying a boat, and the saddest of news is that our sweet bunny is no longer with us. I miss his companionship a lot, so Sarah let me borrow her bun (Maizy) while their home is being sorted out.

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

A New Quilt Design

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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)

My Design Wall

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***UPDATE*** I have been getting a LOT of requests for specific information on the design wall fabric that I buy. Here’s the label from the bolt of my most recent purchase:

Rainbow Classicfelt by the KUNIN Group

Just a Few Projects

I started digging through some unfinished projects recently and put some on my design wall, then I thought I’d make a video about the design wall and share it 🙂

My Design Wall Trinkets

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I watched a video that made me start thinking about all the things that I keep up on my walls in my quilting area. As a response to the video I watched, I made this video which thanks the original artist, Margaret Fabrizio, and shows some of my cherished bits and tells their story. The more I think about it, the more I want to turn those “bits” into a quilt that I can keep forever. Here’s the vid and if you have a “design wall” story, I’d love to hear it! Also, if you go to YouTube you can see the comments (and the channels of the commenters)….I just had a super time exploring channels and blogs!

UPDATE – My friend Margie Wallace posted a video response to MY video! This is like a chain reaction! If you post a video response would you let me know?

Selecting Fabrics for a Quilt

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I just discovered that I choose fabrics based on the mood I am in, which is often affected by the weather! It’s been raining for about two years here and I long for spring or summer.

These fabrics remind me of summer and warmth

Soft, summery colors is what I went for when I checked my fabric stash for this quilt. I first had pulled out a pile of retro-reprints, but I found that I could not make myself even take a picture of them, never mind envision what type of quilt I wanted. I puzzled over this for a while and then went back to the stash and found these!

Those retro reprints went back into the stash bucket so fast that I’m surprised they didn’t catch fire.

I have 12 Fat Quarters to work with, and I want to use the cutting design (four cuts) that Sarah used on her “Bright Idea” quilt.

It’s Quilting Time! How are you doing on your quilt?

Want to Make a Quilt With Me?

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I’ve been thinking about making another “Shortcake” quilt or else the “Easy To Go Crazy” quilt from our book. A quick and easy design. Anyone want to make a quilt with me? A quilt-a-long where we all quilt together?

I have a free week coming up soon and I’m itching to cut some fabric! Let me know, okay? I could post video updates or something like that, and lots of pics to the blog 🙂