Quilt As You Go, Simply Done

Simply Done

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Deb W

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There’s nothing more rewarding to someone like me, who puts everything in their work, to receive a note like this one:

Hi Marguerita,
I have been wanting to thank you for writing Crazy Shortcut Quilts. I bought your book years ago before I learned to quilt. Because of your book I have a passion for quilting. I am so blessed to have found something that brings me so much joy. It is an excellent book for beginners. Since then I have advanced to longarm quilting. I still use your method for baby blankets and t-shirt quilts for family and friends. The only difference is that the center panel is a large animal applique with the baby’s name. I digitize my applique using embroidery software. I attached examples. They are not my best work, but you get the idea. My best ones are on another computer.
Anyway I want you to know you have made a significant difference for the good in my life.
Best regards,
Deb W

I LOVE the idea of the embroidered center block! Thank you so much Deb, for your wonderful note and photos of your lovely quilts!

Lynn H

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I recently received this note, and pics of TWO of her quilts! Thank you Lynn for thinking of me and sharing your quilts 🙂

I emailed you a year ago January asking for guidance on this quilt. Just thought I would share the finished project pictures. I learned so much doing this quilt! Thank you so much.

Lynn

Simply Charming from Quilts As You Go {reimagined}
The top block
Simply Charming!

Thought I would share another that I made using your book. This was a memorial quilt for a dog that died in January. I made it using his bandanas. He had 35 bandannas!, one of which he wore every day.  It was really fun to make.

Thank you again for your great book.

Lynn

Bandana Quilt

Nancy’s Quilt

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Nancy just sent me a photo of her finished quilt! Here’s what she wrote:

Hi Marguerita,
A few months back you helped me when I was in a panic over having made my blocks too large. After much thinking, figuring and praying, I took a deep breath and did some trimming. Everything turned out to my liking.

We are in AK right now and have given this to our grandson for graduation from Colony High School in Palmer.

Your books were a tremendous help and I followed the directions so carefully. I added arrows to the tags to further clarify whether the block was a center or side, top or bottom edge block.

Thank you.
Nancy Ballantyne
Gilbertsville, PA

Here are Nancy’s blocks before adding the borders to each block. She had these blocks left over from another project and wanted to make them into a quilt. She was working from my book Finish (almost) Any Quilt with Quilt As You Go. I think she made an outstanding, unique quilt!

Gloria’s Quilts

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Gloria graciously sent me pics of three of her quilts, made using our quilt-as-you-go techniques. Thank you so much for sharing your quilts Gloria!

Here are her pics and notes:

I made this quilt for my grandson’s 8th birthday. The appliqued blocks are all of the things my grandson loves; fishing, his dog and cat, legos, feeding a calf, tapping a maple tree for syrup, etc. The block with the crooked house is a copy of his artwork that was on display at our K thru 12 art show. I love the black strips I used for joining sections.

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This was my first Crazy Short Cut quilt, the first time making a dresdan plate and the first free motion quilting. The result has been on my bed since completion in 2012.

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I bought the fabric in Minnesota. It reminded me of summer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

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Sharon Nadeau’s Owl Quilt QAYG Adaptation

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IMG_0214-ASharon sent me a pic of her Owls Quilt – called Look Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed, by Susie C Shore Designs – that she adapted to be quilt-as-you-go, as shown in my book “Finish (almost) Any Quilt“.

Here’s the note Sharon sent:
Hi Marguerita,

I am attaching a photo of my recently finished project … using a pattern call “Look Who’s Sleeping in my Bed!”
I put my own flair on it by individually appliqueing each of the blocks and then using the CSCQing methods for sashing & binding.
I free-motion quilted the borders, then attached also using the CSCQing method.

I was very happy, indeed, with the end result. Loved working on smaller blocks … then tying them altogether.
I purchased your book “Crazy Shortcut Quilts” a few years ago; the Owl Quilt is the 4th quilt I’ve made following your methods.
By a far cry from perfect but each one gets easier! Many thanks!!

That was such a fun quilt to make … Emoji
I sure was happy to have the benefit of the knowledge of the quilting techniques from your book (CSCQ) to bring it all together.

Sincerely,
Sharon (Nadeau)

PS … a birthday gift for my Grandson!

Meet Susan Wilcox Ingersoll

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We live at opposite ends of the North American continent. She’s from New Brunswick, Canada and she’s an organic soapmaker and entrepreneur.

We’ve emailed a few times, starting with this conversation about the decorative stitch quilting process:

I received Crazy Shortcut Quilts for Christmas and am enjoying the book greatly so far. I am working on my first quilt with this technique. At the first when you start to do the quilting and it tells you on page 93 to bring up the bobbin thread I understand and can do. What I am asking about is what do you do with the two threads afterwards. Do you have to know them together or do you just clip them off.

I love the technique very much and can see become addicted very quickly.

I replied to her that if I am using the decorative stitches, usually that will secure the threads enough that they don’t need to be knotted. Two cotton threads rarely need to be knotted, just clipped but, if I am using a rayon or slick polyester on top AND in the bobbin, I’ll check the line of stitching first (after all the quilting is done to the block) and see if they look like they are going to stay secure. Sometimes if I’ve used a simple stitch then I’ll knot the threads before clipping. I hope that makes sense. I just leave the long tails hanging while doing all the stitching because if you sew over the ends of one line of stitching with another line, that also secures the ends. After all the stitching on the blocks is done, then I go back and clip thread ends. I have a lot of videos on YouTube if you want to check some of them out – especially the one on using a “fat quarter inch seam” when joining/sashing your blocks together.

She also asked about using heavier than cotton fabrics, and we chatted about those options, with each of us deciding that a quilt made out of ANY fabric is better than no quilt at all. We are both frugal experimenters at heart. Then she told me about herself a little more

I live on a small island off of New Brunswick , only 2500 people live here, and no fabric store. So all my trips away to the mainland are usually used up taking family to doctor visits and not much time left to shop for fabric. I have lots of other interests as well as sewing, card making, jewelry making and soap making and stay at home mother, so when I get a hankering to sew I will use what I have on hand and lately that is not much.

We both love writing and quilting! Here are two of Susan’s quilts with her note

I would like to show you my first two quilts using your method. I love it!!!!!!! Thank you.

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One of These Things Doesn’t Belong Here….

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Which thing doesn't belong?

I love Sesame Street! My youngest sister, Nicole, used to watch it when it first came out and my daughter Sarah watched it 27 years ago and now my granddaughter Audrey watches it. Hurray for PBS!

They used to have this song, about one of these things not belonging….I can’t get it out of my head! You see, this room, with the big, useless, unused pool table, was supposed to be my studio. How a freaking pool table stole my studio space is a very, very long story but today I had had enough of being crammed into a too small working space and I took the master bedroom. By force. The pics are of my things, piled in “my studio” while I wait for the bed and clothes to come out of the master. We are now sleeping in the guest room and I am much happier.

Here is the Sesame Street Song if you want to hear it.

Is it spring yet?

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This is the second halibut boat I’ve seen leaving the bay today. It’s warm (for Seward) 37 degrees or so.


The snow is melting and the bunnies are usually waiting for me on the doorstep when I get home from work.

I am working on moving things around (spring fever?) and cleaning and sorting stuff.

Your Way

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I just watched a video of a quilter who insisted a quilting technique is bad and wrong and doesn’t make any sense.

BLEH. This “video quilt show wanna-be” has been quilting for just a couple of years, at best. I’ve been machine quilting, teaching, professionally quilting and been published for fifteen years – and I teach the technique that she disparages.

I sure wish the world were less filled with people who insist that their way is the only way and that everyone else is wrong.

I hope that you do things YOUR way and I know that I will be happy as I continue to do things MY way.