This week I designed a triptych wall quilt made of all vertical curved piecing.  I used the same 10 fabrics in these three quilts, coordinated so the design and color coordination carries through across the three quilts.  I added another element of “curves” by curving the sides and then matching the curves of the sides to
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CURVED PIECING is one of my favorite characteristics of contemporary quilting.  Traditional quilting relies almost completely on straight edge piecing but unlimited options open up when you begin to sew curves.  Curves can be small wiggles or whole circles though often whole circles are made with four blocks of quarter circles (see quilt in photo).  Curved
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I live in rural central Pennsylvania, traditional quilting central.  We have quilt guilds in just about every county and a bounty of beautiful Amish quilts from our German heritage.  Sometimes to merely suggest designing and creating contemporary quilts feels almost sacrilegious.  But contemporary designs just speak to me! Recently I tried to communicate my passion, interest
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Many people ask where do I get my inspiration for the quilts I make.  The simple answer is EVERYWHERE! One of my first and continuing sources of inspiration are the awesome sunsets we enjoy from our west facing deck.  The layers of color, the linear yet slightly curved strips of color, it all scream “This could
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My oldest daughter recently asked me to make wall quilt with a mandala design. I cautiously agreed but after researching mandala designs, I was having second thoughts. My design style is anything but the precise and exact lines of a mandala. I’ve seen some beautiful mandala patterns and designs and I knew I could not
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This was one of those crazy weeks of disruption, extra work, but good results in the end.  The day finally arrived when my sewing studio was getting new carpet and new wall paint.  Dismantling everything in the room and completely emptying it was a daunting task.  But…the painting was finished last weekend and the new
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I am a fairly free form art quilt designer and often don’t know what size wall quilt I will end up with until it is finished.  This is a challenge I have mastered with custom quilts where I more carefully plan the dimensions and proportions.  But when I am experimenting with a new design or
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I want to write about this topic because visitors to my booth or my informal shop in my home often ask “How long does it take to make this quilt?”. Now is a good time to tackle this topic as recently I spent about 90 minutes sorting out fabrics to use for Sunset quilt # 26.  The
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