Though I’m not really into the look of sampler quilts, my former boss’ wife Beth, whose quilts and general level of cool inspired me to finally start quilting, highly recommended the book Quilts, Quilts, Quilts by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, which features a sampler that has been completed by thousands of beginning and developing quilters. I have yet to get around to to making blocks from the book, but the idea of a sampler stuck. It’s a great way to learn a variety of techniques without investing the resources into making several of each block.

Read More

This was my second quilt. I made it in a class called “Exploring Color Choices,” taught by Annie Smith at our LQS. The workshop helped us learn more about combining colors, and the way light and dark values work against/with each other. If you’ll notice, all the blocks are made of the exact same pattern; yet they look totally different because of the placement of the light and dark fabrics. Annie helped us choose 10 fabrics based on a focus piece, and made sure we had a full spectrum of values - something most quilters don’t tend to do in one quilt.

Read More