Issue Ten
improv quilting how and why
quilting on a budget
yes, it can be done! quilts to delight... from doll to mini to full size
kristy daum
meet modern quilting1 make modern make modern & design 1
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inspiring projects issue four issue ten
meet the makers
Alyce Blyth
Kristy Daum
@blossomheartquilts
@kristydaum
blog
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Lori Hartman @lorihartmandesigns
Melissa Gottliebsen @msmidge blog
Jane Kelly
Kathy Koch
Anita LaHay
@wherejanecreates
blog
blog
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meet the makers
Kristy Lea @quietplay
@hillscass
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Lara Motta
Jenn Nevitt
@luellabella
Tricia Mathis
Cassie Madge
@mommysew
make
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@quiltbugcreations
@fairlymerry
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blog
Vicki Ruebel @orchidowlquilts
blog
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Mary Menzer
Julie Zaichuk-Ryan @juliezryan blog
issue ten
we just think it’s cool
softies jodie carleton by Jane Kelly elieve it all not, not everyone who is obsessed with fabric and sewing is all about quilting – for Jodie of Ric Rac, soft toys are her absolute passion. What started as making toys to sell on Etsy soon turned into a pattern business and now fabric design for Ella Blue. Jodie shares her passion for making softies with us – and the beauty of making softies is that you likely have all the materials you need in your quilting stash, so maybe she’ll prompt you to try making a soft toy or two as well.
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“I began making softies in about 2007 although I had always been able to whip up a sock monkey for birthday parties before that. I began by making and selling toys on Etsy but the demand far outstripped the amount of toys I could produce. I was invited to attend the then re-vamped and I knew I couldn’t possibly make enough toys for such a big show so that is when I started writing patterns,” Jodie says of how her business began. Just like many of us love designing quilts and the challenge of making it all work together, Jodie adores toy making. “I love making toys – like obsessively love it. I often joke that I have two brains, one is used to guide me through life and everyday things and the other is constantly thinking about toys and shapes. I love the problem solving of design, making things fit and creating shapes. The characters always come alive for me and in my mind they are fully realised with back stories and thoughts and opinions. I love seeing people create toys from my patterns. Toys make people happy and that is pretty nice way to spend most of my time.”
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piece and love
backstreet by Kristy Daum
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imple geometry will always be a winner in quilting. This quilt uses a single block, in two colourways and rotated, to create a design with great impact.
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practicalities
quilting on
a budget
by Jane Kelly
es, the whole concept of quilting being a budget activity sounds contradictory, but it is possible to keep costs down on what can be an expensive hobby. We’ve come up with a heap of ideas to help you quilt on a budget – you may want to apply some of these to save some quilting bucks.
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When piecing, white and a couple of shades of grey will work with almost all fabrics. Keep it simple by only buying a few shades for everyday piecing, then invest in other colours as you need them for quilting or top stitching. Buy fabric because you really love it, not because it’s on sale. If you never use it, it’s still wasted money. Oh yes, even the precious fabrics. Make a habit of always shopping your stash first. Generally speaking, solids are cheaper than prints. Even if you don’t want to make quilts completely from solids, add some to prints to bulk out a quilt. You can save even more by buying bolts of neutrals like white, grey and black when it’s on deep discount. Items like rotary cutter blades, bobbins, sewing machine needles and safety pins can be found at great prices on sites like eBay. You can often get threads in bulk too and save by buying batting by the roll. Scout the clearance shelves for backing fabric and vow never to pay full price for backings. If you find really great sales, stock up on four to six metre cuts for backings. Backings can be a big expense, so a pieced backing from scraps can be more economical. Yes, technically this may not be a quilt, but you can always back a quilt top with minky or fleece, eliminating the need for backing altogether. If you sew the right sides together and inside out it to finish, you’ll eliminate the need for binding too.
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improve your improv
improv medallion by Cassie Madge
mprov quilting is a fabulously freeing creative process, where you literally just sew scraps of fabric together and see what happens. Surprisingly, it’s also somewhat daunting – as freeing as not having a pattern is, it makes it hard to know where to start. So this quilt uses improv techniques combined with guidelines to step you through the process.
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ask the makers
the quilty process
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ach issue, we ask our contributors a very important question about some aspect of quilting. Regardless of how long we’ve been quilting and sewing, there is always something to learn or a tip to make or do something slightly differently. Or it’s just fun to get to know a little more about other quilters! So this issue we asked our makers to tell us which part of the quilting process they most enjoyed.
Jane of Where Jane Creates & MM Editor “My favourite part is the designing – coming up with a concept, then a colour palette and choosing the fabrics. I love seeing whether I can get that abstract concept in my head to actually work on paper and then in fabric.”
Lara, MM Business Manager
“My favourite part of the quilt process is getting excited about a pattern and then diving into my stash to choose the perfect fabrics. Unfortunately I only usually get a few blocks done before something new comes along and, like an excited puppy, I jump into a new project. I am a serial non-finisher with a WIP list that's now busting out of my project notebook, so I should really start actually finishing things...or just buy a pretty new notebook.”
Kristy of Quiet Play & MM Creative Director “My favourite part of quilting is the planning and making part. I love coming up with the design, finding the right fabrics, and then seeing the quilt come together piece by piece. It’s especially satisfying when the end product matches what I envisaged in the design stage.”
Jenn of Mommysews
“I would have to say that my favourite part is a close tie between choosing the fabric for the quilt, and hand sewing the binding!”
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Julie of Button Button
“My favourite parts are building a fabric pile and hand-stitching the binding: the very beginning and the very end! I love watching the fabrics come together, they hold endless possibilities! And stitching binding means seeing all of your hard work come together - it's so satisfying!”
Vicki of Orchid Owl Quilting "My favourite part of the quilting process is the actual quilting! I love looking at each quilt top and figuring out the perfect quilting design. I would spend every day behind my machine if I could."
Lori of Lori Hartman Designs “My favourite part of the quilting process is definitely picking out fabrics. I love auditioning fabrics to find that perfect combination.”
Anita of Daydreams of Quilts “I enjoy all parts of the quilting process but my favourite parts are the beginning and the end. I love planning and choosing/buying the fabrics and I love when the quilt is all finished and I am snuggled up under it.”
Mary of Fairly Merry “My favourite part must be pulling fabrics. Building a colour palette from a single fabric pull is a fun designer challenge. The possibilities of what you can make from a particular fabric are wide open when it is just that first fabric you are building from! If the selvedge is attached to the one fabric you have pulled, you will see all the colours used in the printing of that fabric in the little colour dots on the selvedge, you can use these dots to help you pull more colours for your quilts! I used to think that I needed to keep all the fabrics from one line in a quilt, not add other lines or designers. Now I mix everything up, adding solids, dots, other prints, and other lines. This opens up so many more possibilities for a fabric pull, your entire stash is available. If the colours work well together I say use up your stash! For a long time I would keep my 'good' fabrics put away for special projects that never seemed to materialize. While I admit there are still a few fabrics that are stashed away for 'one day' I try to use fabrics that I would previously consider just keeping. Fabrics should be used, not hoarded, and I want to see them in my projects. You bought it because you loved it, and loving it means using the fabric. I love fabric, quilting is a way to be able to play with all the fabrics and purchase favourites to use one day!”
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make it mini
bobble by Vicki Ruebel
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his sweet mini is a great way to showcase a few special prints, with a complimentary solid in the background. The shape of the piecing adds movement without fiddling with curves and dense quilting finishes it perfectly.
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meet the maker
mary menzer by Jane Kelly
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hile many quilters fall in love with the craft at the first exposure, this wasn’t the case for Mary Menzer, of Fairly Merry. Thankfully, she got a second chance to experience quilting… and from that moment on was hooked. Mary, the child of a creative mother, first took up sewing in the early 1990s. “When my two youngest were toddlers I needed something to do at home to occupy my time and my mind, so I started making Christmas gifts, finding crafts in the craft store. I didn't start sewing until I wanted to make Halloween costumes for the kids. I purchased my first sewing machine used out of the classified ads and sewed on the dining table,” she explains. That sewing machine on the dining table led to Mary’s first experience with quilting. She explains: “A neighbour had seen my sewing machine set up on the dining room table and asked me to join her in a quilting class. I went with her, this was a very traditional styled quilting class, making a Bear's Paw quilt. The instructor had us the squares to cut out. I disliked the class immediately, and didn't think again about quilting. I think I still have the beginnings of this quilt somewhere.” Fortunately, her neighbour was persistent. “A few months later the same neighbour asked me to go to another class, this time she promised it would be different. It was! A fun instructor who laughed and joked, black background, bold colours – I loved the class, finished the top, and never looked back. All the difference was made by the instructor and the style. I stopped making clothing, I will now occasionally make costumes. I don't even like sewing on buttons now.”
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