Curves Without Piecing
Annette Ornelas
American Quilters Society; $12.95

American Quilter’s Society recently published a series of 24 books in its new Love to Quilt series. The books, 32 pages in length, feature excerpts and patterns from earlier books. Some of the titles include Marble Your Own Quilt Fabrics by Kathy Fawcett & Carol Shoaf; Circular Quilting Designs by Helen Squire; and Curves Without Piecing by Annette Ornelas. A complete list of books is at www.lovetoquiltcreations.com. A great way to try a technique at a lower price point.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Scrappy Firework Quilts – A Blast of Strips, Scraps & Triangles

by Edyta Sitar
Landauer Books; $27.95

Quilter and fabric designer Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is sharing 19 quilt designs that use half-square triangles, strip panels, 8-pointed stars and fusible appliqué. The resulting quilts really do have a firework quality, with light popping from the quilts. While most of the projects are quilts, she does include a fun sewing box. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, with lots of step-by-step photos. I love the way she blends traditional prints with batiks. A good stash busting book.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to  Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Have you thought about a retrospective of your, your student’s or your customer’s work? It’s a great way to showcase the work. In the Fall issue of The Professional Quilter, Gloria Hansen shared what it took to create the retrospective of her work. Here are some highlights in an excerpt from her article:

Over the years that I’ve been creating quilts, I’ve kept photos, notes, sketches and various records of nearly everything I’ve made and been involved with. This summer I took the time to compile a good deal of it into a retrospective book of my work that I titled Gloria Hansen: An Evolution in Stitches, Paint & Pixels. It’s the type of project I wholeheartedly recommend that you consider doing for yourself as a way to not only document your work (your business, etc.), but to get perspective and appreciation for your personal journey.

1. First, determine what you want to include. I first created a loose outline and used a calendar to chart out what I hoped to finish by when.
2. Next, gather your images and write your story.
3. To create a professionally printed, high-quality book, I recommend using a print-on-demand (POD) service. I selected Blurb, which offers various tools for book creation. You’ll find links to a step-by-step video tutorial along with tips, tutorials and updates within a getting-started guide (all of which require you to be online), which I recommend looking at.
4. Of paramount importance to the success any type of portfolio book is the quality of the images. Besides starting with good photographs, you can take extra steps to ensure it will print the way you intend. If you have any trouble getting a printed image to closely match what you see on your monitor, you will need to calibrate your monitor.
5. Once your book is finished, and especially if you do the layout yourself, it’s extremely important to proof it. Don’t just rely on yourself. Have a couple of people read it for typos and look at the layout for anything that looks off.

To quote from the closing of my book, “…documenting my artwork gave me a deep appreciation for what I have experienced and accomplished, gratitude to those who helped me and motivation to carry on.” I invite you to my website (www.gloriahansen.com) to learn more about it, and I also again encourage you to consider writing and publishing your own story.

If you have experience creating a written retrospective, please leave your comments below.

In the Fall 2012 issue of The Professional Quilter, Mindy Wylie, our Longarm Forum columnist, shared her thoughts on purchasing templates. As a longarm instructor, she often teaches classes that are either all about templates and designs or that include some template work. Students in class always ask her which templates they should buy when starting out. Since templates can be pricey and obviously buying a lot of them at once would take quite a bite out of the budget, she suggests starting with three different tools. In this excerpt from the article, here are her three:

1. A straight edge is a necessity. You’ll need this tool to do stitch-in-the-ditch, piano keys in borders and many other designs. Straight lines are impossible to accomplish without one! You’ll find lots and lots of options on the market. I prefer a tool that just fits my hand because it’s easier to handle. Many straight edge templates also have other registration lines or markings on them. I prefer to mark my lines with chalk and stencils or rotary cutting rulers first.

2. A circle template is my next purchase, and the templates come in either solid or nested templates. Circle templates are perfect for many quilting designs such as spines for feather wreaths, egg and dart, fans and more! Solid circles are easier to work with, and they’re more expensive. Nested templates are much less expensive and they are a little trickier to work with. Markings on your templates are a personal preference.

3. My third basic purchase is an oval template. This shape is perfect of arches, simple swags, oval wreaths and continuous curves. Ovals are very similar to circles. They come in a variety of sizes, either solid or nested and with our without markings.

If you would like to read more of Mindy’s article on templates for the longarmer, it’s included in our Fall 2012 issue of The Professional Quilter and available to IAPQ members. The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

What are your favorite templates? Please share them below.

Surprise Yourself
Charlotte Angotti and Debbie Caffery
Debbie’s Creative Moments; $24.95

No Math Quilt Charts & Formulas

Landauer Publishing; $6.95

Japanese Quilting
Yoko Saito
Interweave; $26.95

Making traditional patchwork quilts left well-known Japanese quilter Yoko Saito frustrated. Her work was filled with imprecise angles and crooked seams, something uncommon for someone known for meticulous needlework. That led to her realization that if her pieces weren’t perfectly even then she should make intentionally imperfect ones. She found the pride and joy in her work that had been missing. This collection of 29 quilts and quilted projects features her use of odd-shaped pieces and improvisation. The projects are all done in her hallmark neutral/taupe color scheme. The book includes paper patterns for the projects.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Modern Patchwork
Elizabeth Hartman
Stash Books; $24.95

This follow-up to Elizabeth Hartman’s first book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, is a winner. Her book features 12 original bold and modern quilt designs geared for the intermediate quilters. In addition to the initial quilt, Elizabeth offers two additional colorways for each design. She also provides instructions for a complementary pieced back for each quilt. I found so many quilts to like in the collection and was particularly taken with “Neighborhood.” Using a log cabin construction method, she fussy cuts the center panel to feature a bird then builds around it, in the end creating houses. She includes some extra tips in the general instructions, including making a design wall and organizing your project.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Easy Grid Quilts
Karen G. FIsher
AQS Publishing; $24.95

Most traditional quilts are grid-based. Karen Fisher took the basic grid and began an exploration with mathematical progressions, e.g., 1″ squares surrounded by 2″ squares surrounded by 3″ squares and so on. Then she started looking at how she could change other grid-based blocks. The result is 14 different projects done in five simple grid formats. The options are really endless when you combine fabric scale, color and contrast in the quilts.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

100 Any-Size Star Blocks
Linda Causee
Leisure Arts; $17.95

Are you a fan of star blocks? While I know there are a lot of star blocks, I’m not sure I knew there were 100. What is nice about this collection is the included CD that features templates for all those 100 blocks. The blocks can be scaled to the size you want and then printed for either paper piecing or used to create templates. A general quilting directions section is included as are directions for 15 quilts, quilted wall hangings and smaller pieces.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.