Quilt As You Go, Simply Done

Simply Done

Marguerita’s Blog

Lori’s Modern Log Cabin

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This is a quilt after my own heart! The combination of modern fabrics and styling with the traditional Log Cabin block, brought together with quilt-as-you-go techniques, in colors that just sing!

Lori sent this to me a while ago and I somehow misplaced it as I was preparing for my drive down the AlCan in September.

Take a good look at the pic – can you see the different quilting she did on each block? Check out the heart in the lower left, the pink square. This is just fantastic!! I actually didn’t think it would be possible to use quilt-as-you-go on a Log Cabin and Lori proved that it can be done, and stunningly at that! Thank you Lori 🙂

Here’s her note

Hi Marguerita,

I bought your book, “How to Finish Almost Any Quilt” and just finshed a crib sized quilt using your instructions. I’ll be donating it to my local “Bags of Love” chapter.

I love to recycle things and and the quilt is about 50% recycled cloth. (In this quilt, I used mostly recycled medical “scrubs”)

Attached is a pic.

Can’t wait to start the next quilt!

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Kim’s Quilt and Custom Table

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Kim sent me a pic of her very first quilt-as-you-go quilt, and her custom sewing table! What a great way to start the new year – a really happy email from a comfortable quilter!

She sent this note:

I just wanted to share my very first ‘quilt as you go’ quilt. I could have never made this Queen Size without your technique! I purchased your book about a year ago and just never had the nerve to try it. This quilt is for a close set of friends. The husband asked me to make it as a surprise for his wife for Christmas. I panicked when he picked out that pattern! The pattern was for a full size and their bed is a queen. And the pattern had an error with a cutting measurement. And I purchased every bit of the blue on the bolt- and had only a tiny scrap left! So it was a little rough start 🙁 But, now I’m glad he picked that one out. I will definitely feel more comfortable next time knowing that I can use your wonderful technique!

And, please keep the You Tube videos coming- I love my table! My mother helped me sew a slip cover for it. And the thread video was amazing! A design wall is next!

Thank you again-
Sincerely, Kim

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Linda Patzer Teaches Quilt-As-You-Go

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Linda is a quilt teacher at The Sewing Studio in Normal, Illinois. She sent me this pic of her student Sandy’s quilt, which they adapted to be quilt-as-you-go.

This one was made by Sandy Way. The quilt block is a drunkards path. Sandy is a new quilter but has sewing clothes and home dec for many years. She recently retired from teaching. I am so proud!

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I love that Linda is teaching how to adapt a patterns her students like, to make them quilt-as-you-go. That is what my book Finish (almost) Any Quilt is about. You can read more about the book here – or buy it on Amazon here.

Click to see Pam’s finished quilt. She’s another one of Linda’s students!

Marilyn’s Finished Quilt

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Oh, I’m in LOVE!

Marilyn (from the UK) sent me this photo of her quilt and the message below:

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Dear Marguerita,

I bought your book Crazy Shortcut Quilts some time ago, and I love it. I have made several quilts using the ideas in it. I now also have your other books Quilt as you go (Reimagined) and Finish almost any quilt (the day before yesterday was my birthday!), and can’t wait to get going.

However, about two years ago after learning your techniques for quilt as you go, I made the quilt in the attached photo. I used a basic block pattern that I saw in a magazine, and adapted the sashing to your methods. I am pleased with it, and recently I posted a photo on a Ravelry forum, and several people there said how much they liked it. As you will see, it is simple, but I think simple quilts can be the most effective sometimes. I hope that you like it.

I found the pattern in a magazine I bought some time ago, called Quilt Mania (no 60). As far as I can judge the magazine is French, although the version I have is in English. All it says about the design I based my quilt on is that it is called “Aussie”, comes straight from Australia, and is a Patchwork Studio design. Their version is not “quilt as you go” of course, I adapted that bit as I said before.

I have no idea where I bought the magazine – sorry! and it is quite old, I think 2007.

Marilyn

First of all, I love the big squares of fabric – it really lets the fabric be the center focus of the quilt (green – my favorite colour!). Second, I love, love, love the dropped shadow effect that the black fabric makes. Most of all, I love that Marilyn figured out how to adapt a pattern she liked to make it quilt-as-you-go. THAT is what the book Finish (almost) Any Quilt is about. You can read more about the book here – or buy it on Amazon here.

Hurray Marilyn and thank you for sharing your gorgeous quilt!!

Nina’s Custom Sewing Table

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Nina sent me her adaptation of my “Cheap Custom Sewing Table” along with this note:

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I recently saw your fantastic video on making your own sewing table. I was all set to do as you suggest, the sturdy insulation, etc., when I hit upon another idea.

My son had a set of Enclycopedia Brittannica many moons ago and they were just on a shelf collecting dust. I worked out that stacking them in twos was just the right height for my Bernina.

Who knew??!

I then found some old travel books that work perfectly in front of the machine….. very easy to pull out when changing a bobbin.

So I followed the rest of your tutorial and bought clear vinyl, I believe it is 7mm thick, very sturdy, and
I have my sewing table! I am so thrilled with it.

Thank you so much for your tutorial. It is much better figuring out a workable table rather than wishing for a Koala table that is way$$$$ up there.

If you haven’t seen it, I made myself a custom sewing table for about $100. I did this about six years ago, and I even made a series of videos about it. You can watch them by clicking here.

The benefits of having a table like this is the large, flat surface that holds your quilt, yet lets it glide like melted butter. No more struggling as it falls off the edge of your sewing machine bed or small table surface. Every quilter I know who has tried this has raved about it and about how much easier it is to handle their quilt for free motion quilting.

The fun thing is, I take it to quilt shows and it stops people in their tracks:

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Pam’s Finished Quilt!

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Quilt Teacher Linda Patzer, of The Sewing Studio in Normal, Illinois, taught a Finish (almost) Any Quilt class a few months ago and she just sent me this pic of her student Pam’s quilt, along with this note from Pam

“Hi Linda
I finished my quilt on Tuesday evening and showed it to the Knot a Stitch Quilt group this AM.
Thank you for teaching this fun technique. I am looking forward to taking your Christmas tree skirt class.
Pam”

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Whooooo Hooooooooooo! Pam, and teacher Linda, get a BIG GOLD STAR for being finishers!! Linda is still teaching the class and if you are anywhere in the Normal/Bloomington area of Illinois, be sure to stop in The Sewing Studio and check out the store and her classes!

A New Quilt From Cyndi in Texas

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Cyndi sent me her quilt photos with these notes – aren’t they both gorgeous!

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Using the book Shortcuts Crazy Quilts I made this quilt for my mother in law for her birthday.



A year ago she sent me this note along with the photos below. Her color choices are just beautiful and I really like her cut designs in both quilts. Thank you Cyndi for sharing your quilts with me!







This is my first try at making a crazy quilt. I love this technique. I made this for my son for christmas last year. He loved it. I’m currently working on one for my mother in law. I have made several and everyone loves them.

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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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Lori’s Quilt for Her Sister

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I posted Lori’s sister’s video in this post, but I wanted to show you pics of the quilt too! Here’s the story Lori sent me

I just wanted to drop a quick note to include some photos of the quilt I just finished for my sister’s 40th birthday using your quilt as you go method!. She loves tie dyed….so I got the idea to do it in a quilt. Took on a pretty huge bite…..don’t know what I was thinking…..no pattern, no real vision….just started cutting, then I started sewing!! In the end, I quilted each block with words that had meaning from her life and then put it all together in the nick of time! Her birthday is today. The first photo is the individual squares (or should say rectangles) laid out on the table. The second one is the finished product. Kinda proud of myself!! Thanks for being the voice on my computer that convinced me I could do it!!

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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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