Pineapples and Easter

Pineapples have been a symbol of friendship for centuries, so it’s no wonder that quilters would create quilt blocks that represent the pineapple.

For those who celebrate Easter, have a wonderful Easter Sunday – with family, friends, watching children enjoying an Easter Egg Hunt.

And even if you don’t celebrate Easter, here’s a video showing how to sew the Pineapple Plant quilt block, and a free pattern – my gift of friendship to you:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/1362-pineapple-plant-quiltblock.php

Pineapple Plant quilt block

 

Happy Pencil Day and a Pencil Quilt

Celebrating the pencil seems like a worthy cause.

I just wonder how much longer we are going to have pencils – with technology seemingly taking over everything.

I certainly hope pencils are here to stay, though, because I love using them to create my quilt blocks.

And, as long as there are pencils in schools, wouldn’t a teacher love a quilt featuring pencils?

Each year my kids were in elementary school, I made a quilt for their teacher as an end of the year gift.

Quilting daughter, Stephanie, and engineer son, Bubba, were involved in the design of the quilt.

And when engineer son, Bubba, was in 3rd grade, the theme was pencils.

You’ll see the quilt and get a general description of how to make it when you visit:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/1476-teacher-quilt-pencil.php

 

Sergers and Quilting

With all the machines and gadgets out there for quilters, sometimes you just have to stop and ask yourself, “Do I need this for quilting?”

They may be nifty to have, but if space or money are tight, you need to know what the machine or gadget is, what it does, and if it is really instrumental or not. Take for instance, the serger.

A serger is a machine that gives seams a professional look while making them more secure.

A serger has either one or two needles and generally uses up to four threads. They generally don’t take up much space, so quilters want to know if they can use them in lieu of a traditional sewing machine.

Depending on the types of quilts you make, having a serger may be helpful.

To discover why and whether you might need one, visit:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/6094-serger.php

 

Happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you haven’t already created a heart quilt for your Valentine, how about making a flower quilt and enjoy it through the end of the month when we’ll celebrate National Floral Designer Day.

While we are quilters, not floral designers, we do use many of the same design principles. Have you ever given any thought into the design principles you use in your quilting?

If you follow a quilt pattern or work from a quilt kit, you may not have considered the design principles involved in quilting. Unless you use a pattern, you have had to consider the designs of fabrics that you choose for your quilting projects.

Color is a big part of design in both flowers and in quilts.

Just like in quilting, flower arrangements may be tonal, multicolored, single colored, etc. Floral designers mix and match designs using complimentary and contrasting elements, just like we do with our quilt patterns.

To enjoy more of the comparisons and see some ideas for flower quilts, visit:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/1420-flower-quilts.php

Folded Flowers quilt

 

Quilts of Illusion

The first few quilts I made were simple, simple.  That is, if any quilt can really be simple.

I just followed the store-bought pattern.

Not that the quilts were poorly designed or anything.

But after a few years, I decided it would be fun to see if I could create a quilt that replicated a photograph I took on vacation.

It took several months and a great deal of frustration, but I did finish the quilt.

I was quite disappointed in the results, but at least it was done.

Years later I discovered what the problem was, and it had to do with the value of the fabrics I put together.

Karen Combs is a professional quilter who specializes in quilts of illusion (those beautiful quilts that look like they are 3 dimensional), and she shared her journey with us.

In this article, you’ll get some of her insights into how she creates one of these beautiful and interesting quilts:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/1474-quilts-of-illusion.php

Disappointing and frustrating – my first attempt at a quilt of illusion

 

Appreciate a Dragon Day

This seems to be a week of celebrations!

And today is a wonderful day to celebrate – and appreciate – dragons.

Now, you might think that appreciating a dragon or two is a rather unusual thing to do.

And, before I really thought about it, I did, too.

But, really, there is magic in dragons.

Just think about the movie “Pete’s Dragon.”

My kids learned lots about people and attitudes watching that movie and talking about the various characters in it.

And more recently, “How to Train Your Dragon” was equally enlightening – and, just think – YOUR dragon, not just any dragon.

With all that in mind, it wasn’t too surprising that when quilting daughter, Stephanie, found a batik panel with a dragon, she immediately bought it.

What was interesting was how she turned it into a wall hanging.

Enjoy Appreciating a Dragon (or a dragon quilt) today:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/1473-dragon-quilt.php

Dragon Wall Hanging using Batik Panel

 

Memory Quilts with Comments

Memory quilts come in many different forms.

As we have learned in other emails, one popular form is with pictures printed onto fabric and then sewn into blocks in a quilt.

A different form of making memories is by creating quilts with spaces so that family and friends can write messages or sign the quilt.

You’ll see some possibilities when you visit:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/1408-memory-quilt-with-comments.php

Double Irish Chain memory quilt

 

First Quilts and How to Quilt Weekly Newsletter

It’s rather interesting to talk about quilt beginnings on the last day of the year.

On the other hand, why not?

In this week’s news, you’ll read about Pepper Cory’s first quilt – how she was inspired and her thoughts for new quilters as they decide upon their first quilt.

You’ll also see a picture of a crazy quilt Jim and I saw in Hawaii:

http://how-to-quilt.com/newsletter/first-quilts.php

 

8 Pointed Stars with Diamonds

Is it the 8 points or the diamonds that makes these beauties difficult to sew?

Once you have sewn one, the answer to that question is simple – it’s the diamonds.

I still haven’t figured out why that is, though.

You are still just sewing seams together.

But, before I knew this special technique, every time I sewed an 8 pointed star, something went wrong.

Either the center would lie flat or some of the sides were wavy.

One day, though, I ran across some instructions that completely solved the problem.

Of course, you still need to take care as you sew:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/2206-sewing-8pointed-stars.php

Blazing Star Quilt Block – an 8 pointed star with diamonds

 

Using Large Prints

Quilts have traditionally been made with calicoes, solids, and small prints.  There wasn’t much to worry about when it came to patterns or layout.

Today, quilters are using large prints to give their quilts a new, more interesting dimensional look.

In today’s how-to-quilt.com’s article, we are discussing the use of large prints in quilts.  Four types of large prints are discussed, how to use them, and how to avoid mistakes that can arise from using large prints.

Even thought it doesn’t always make sense to cut up large prints into smaller pieces, thus losing the integrity of the print, the reassembled quilt can turn out quite dramatic.  If you stack the fabric so the prints are on top of each other, you can cut them into identical pieces that can then be made into a kaleidoscope quilt.

The best way to decide the colors in the print is to back away from the fabric and look at what colors you see.  A bold, high contrast print will not work as well in a quilt as one with an overall color scheme where the colors all blend.  A reducing glass is useful in this case when trying to determine the colors that will result when the fabric is cut up.

Using large prints is a great way to give your quilts interest and make them more dynamic.  Continue reading about large prints at:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/6525-using-large-prints.php