published

Every Last Piece

I have been waiting on pins and needles for the day that I could share this news with you!

Here it is, all of that frantic and late night sewing last year was for this. A BOOK! I can hardly believe this is really almost a reality. My love of using scraps led me to write a whole book on scrap quilting!A huge thank you to all of you who encourage me to do what I love and try to use Every Last Piece of fabric in my scrap pile. There are scrap quilt designs in the book that you can use no matter how big your scrap pile is. The first quilts in the book are full on all scrap quilts. As you work your way through the book, the designs use fewer scraps the idea being that if you make all of the quilts in the book you can actually use up your scraps. The book will be released next May. 

Minimal Quiltmaking

Look, last week my copy of Gwen Marston's new book, Minimal Quiltmaking, arrived in the mail.

It's a good one - and I'm not saying that just because two of my quilts are in here.

The book is written in the style of Gwen's classes, workshops, and retreats. She talks about her design process and gives techniques but there are no patterns or specific directions for any of the quilts in the book.

She writes: "In this book you will notice that instead of patterns, I offer a process. I will tell you how I constructed the various parts of my quilts so you can make your own parts, and because you are using a process instead of a pattern, your quilt will be your own original design. There is power in that. It's rewarding and affirming. My roots are very much from the tradition of quiltmaking and a time when many quilters were working in this same process-focused way."

The book is broken down into sections of different aspects of the idea of minimal design. In addition to the other design aspects, Gwen discusses the importance of the actual quilting stitches as part of the overall design of a minimal quilt. The photos are excellent and show the quilting stitches well.She shares her inspiration and thoughts during the design and construction of her quilts. A number of contributors also share their views on minimal quilting as applied to their own quilts that are included in the book.

If you have never had the opportunity to attend one of Gwen's retreats or take a class or workshop from her, this book will give you a taste of what that is like. If you have been to one of her retreats or taken a class from her then you already KNOW you want this book. Yeah, you probably already have it!

Instagram Photos

I started this sweater on our car trip last week. I had chosen a different yarn for the horses but it was thinner and didn’t work well with the blue. I frogged the few rows I had knit and subbed in some yarn from my stash when I got home. The y
Narrow hand appliquéd bias strips. 1/16” quilting lines not going over the appliqué. I’m about a month in on the quilting and ALMOST finished. Whoop! Quilted with Invisalign on top and Decobob in the bobbin. Threads by @wo
This summer we watched my two oldest grand kids one day a week. Towards the end of the summer they started making projects on their own in the sewing room. They made lots of little projects from my scrap basket including pillow cases and tiny quilts
Here’s the layout with all but one block done. I’ll finish that last block when I get more of the baby poop green/mustard fabric. I put out the call and the internet provided! This top will be finished soon! This is a remake of an 1870s