See How We Sew

August 8, 2013

I've just traveled 3,000 miles across the country and 7,000 miles up to quilt with girlfriends at two retreats. While away, I found myself included in See How We Sew's blog.  As for me its time to unpack as I'm only just home, at sea level no less.  By the way,  the reader I adopted to follow See How We Sew is Feedly

Anita

Anita's Arrowhead Quilt Block in Alternate Sizes

July 20, 2013

Q:  Do you see anything 'wrong' in this 1-2-3 picture?

A:  Well, in 2008 Frances and Connie were spied simultaneously trimming an Arrowhead

block at Riverbank State Park. They were efficient, in-synch, and it was a happy time.

My block, Anita's Arrowhead,  was first published in  Rotary Cutting Revolution from C&T Publishing, subsequently in Quiltmaker Magazine and is always available online in my extensive Craftsy class, Traditional Blocks Made Simple

I intentionally designed the block to use quarter yards of fabric.  As I'm often asked to re-size the block, I'm sharing my document, Anita's Arrowhead Alternate Sizes  should you wish to proportionately scale your blocks.

You may download my document for your personal use and are welcome to link to it. You may not sell it or republish it in any print or electronic form, without my written permission.

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Store-bought Stripes

May 17, 2013
I am crazy for concentric stripe quilts and always wanted to make a quilt similar to this red one:

When Faye Burgos designed Strip-IT ™ yardage in black and white for Marcus Fabrics I immediately made a two-sided quilt  from it in 2009. The entire quilt (front and back) took me 5 seams (yes, FIVE) and 9 yards of fabrics. It's a simple techniques which I included in my book, Rotary Cutting Revolution

My reversible Xcentric quilt:

The black and white Strip-It  I used is no longer available but these two pastels, suited for baby quilts can be had:

 

These are pre-printed lengthwise stripes, (parallel to the selvege)  which measure approximately 2½" wide. These brights "Dots Right!" will be available next month:

 

I checked into this because when I presented my work to the Pieces and Patches Guild earlier this week, quilters asked if Strip-It fabric was still available. It is J An online search for Strip-It will turn up assorted yardage too. This Marcus fabrics video shows other ways to take advantage of  Strip-It

Make It Simpler

The Hundred

May 3, 2013
Fabric Cuts

Giveaway Winners Announced Below

I cut  patches from one square of fabric and used wide sashing. These blocks were meant to float. The quilt is pictured in the magazine and  will be on view this summer at Quiltmaker

I cut into this bright Liberty floral.  After all, what am I saving it for?

I'd like to give a 14" square of this fabric with someone who'd like to piece the Quadrangle block

Giveaway #1

Please comment below by 12:01 AM , Monday, May 6th, New York time, telling me where you live and what you're sewing these days. A winner will be randomly selected. I'll send the fabric square to you while Quiltmaker will send volume 7 to you.

I learned this morning that today is George Clooney's 52nd birthday so Celeste of Wausaukee who posted the 52nd comment  is awarded  Giveaway #1. Celeste please get in touch with me  by Wednesday at noon with your address otherwise this giveaway must go to the runner up, Margaret, of Arkansas, who made the 53rd comment. I'm thinking +1 for the extra birthday candle. I've enjoyed the comments and hope you have as well. Thank you for sharing yourselves.

Giveaway #2

I create my favorite blocks from squares (only) of fabric.  If  I make two blocks, I need two squares of fabric. 100 blocks calls for 100 squares of fabric. I teach this method and so much more in my online Craftsy class. Traditional Blocks Made Simple. One extended lesson is Anita's Arrowhead, previously patterned in Quiltmaker  Included in the class is my Rotary Cutting Revolution eBook, a $14.99 value in itself.

Craftsy is providing my class and eBook as a giveaway to celebrate the 100 Blocks Blog Tour.  They're in Colorado. Quiltmaker is in Colorado. Both too cool for words.

Billie in Austin won the Craftsy class with the included eBook. I'd be remiss if I didn't direct you to another site to win my Craftsy class.  C&T Publishing's blog has that and more in a giveaway to be awarded on May 9th.  I'm off  to Michigan later this week to teach, after the winners have been chosen. And I'm working on a new-to-me tessellated block made from... squares of fabric.

Good Luck to you,
Anita
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Reversible Hexies II

April 24, 2013
My reversible hexagonal quilt,  Vice Versa, debuted in 2002 at the Empire Quilters guild show

I put the quilt away until the 2005 gallery exhibition below

Above: detail of front of Vice Versa quilt

Above: detail of  back of  Vice Versa quilt

Now, over more than a decade later, Quiltmaker Magazine has published my Reversible Hexagon method with their perfect instructions for a reversible table runner in current fabric

I ought to pull out a few other hexagon  projects from the Make It Simpler archives for publication and teaching. I've left some interesting techniques for one-patches sitting around for far too long
Anita

Reversible Hexies

April 22, 2013
The Vice Versa Quilt

Once upon a time, in my charmed life, our quilt group at Riverbank State Park undertook one-patches at my behest. Diamonds, tumblers, triangles, squares; you name it.  By hand, by machine, English paper pieced, foundation pieced, whatever method suited each quilter.

I endeavored to make this manageable for all skill levels. It's one thing to sew hundreds of one-patches together but another to complete a quilt with angular edges.  My thought was to make self-contained diamond one-patches. There'd be a front and a back sewn together and batting enclosed.  Each unit would be individually quilted and joined to others.  I envisioned a sort of quilt-as-you go charm quilt.

I clearly remember the disappointing experimental diamond units I made. They were awful  misshapen little pieces with nary a sharp corner. I stared at them on the counter top completely bummed out until I saw three sad units formed a hexagon. OMG. Rather than continue to pre-quilt individual 60 degree diamonds I sewed hexagons from three diamonds and then pre-quilted that hexagonal unit. From there I went on to make a reversible quilt, my Vice Versa quilt.

Today I opened my project box of spare parts which I'd socked away in 2002

The quilt has been stored with another fragile quilt on top of a dresser 

My telling of this quilt will be continued, but I can tell you now it will end with Peg's table runner in the May/June 2013 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine

Anita

About Time

April 5, 2013

Tempus fugit; Fabric stashes grow and my last blog post was in November 2012. My intention was always for this blog to feature my quilt work, mostly pattern and related information*. I joined Blogger in 2005 to share text and images with my C&T book editor. Since then I've treated the ensuing pages as a manuscript in draft.

Between November and now I have managed occasional Facebook posts about my quilt life.  Please make my day - "like" my page.  I've even managed some newsletters which are archived here.

Last December I spent three days in Denver recording video in a studio at Craftsy.  Earlier in the year a Denver nephew brought me to their headquarters after I'd taught at Quilt Colorado.

The taping yielded over three hours of instruction by yours truly of original technique-based blocks. Craftsy is an interactive online learning platform where crafters around the world can learn on their own schedules. I've been enjoying the platform, answering student questions and watching for their blocks and quilts to be posted and shared.

I've also been taking Craftsy classes. I'm the girl smiling on the Manhattan M57 crosstown bus watching The Quilt Show and Craftsy on her iPhone.

Sample the sixty second intro to my class Traditional Blocks Made Simple 

I've repeatedly heard quilters say "I'm a visual learner."

I'm proud of the content in my class, Traditional Blocks Made Simple, it includes the newly digitized version of my C&T Publishing book Rotary Cutting Revolution (112 pages!) as well as the high definition version of Ms Made Simpler herself:  Me, Myself & I

* I iron fabric patches to the shiny side of freezer paper. These unconventionally cut patches will be conventionally sewn by machine, they won't be paper pieced. But the reusable freezer paper will keep them in order, ready to be sewn at any hour of the day or night and I won't be picking fallen patches off the ground. 

Anita