Quilt Camp in the Pines, 2000

Monday, July 19, Nancy Brennan Daniel--Mission Lodge Quilt

Left: One of Nancy's Mission Lodge style quilts
Right: The Mission Lodge quilt top I made in class. The colors are red, grey, tan, and chocolate brown, with black accent strips

Tuesday, July 18, elinor peace bailey--Dollmaker's Choice

Wednesday, July 19, Marti Michell--Scrappy Sedona Stars

Left: One of Marti's Sedona stars quilts
Right: A Sedona stars quilt designed by Mary Gray Hart using alternate courthouse steps blocks

Left: My Sedona stars blocks laid out straight
Right: Instead I chose to set my Sedona stars on point and this is my completed quilt

Here's Marti holding the block of the month quilt I made in 1999 from her pattern, using template set L

Thursday, July 20, Lynn Kough--Stretching Tradition

Lynn with the quilt which is featured on the covers of her book Stretching Tradition

Here's my quilt top, 24 x 30"

Friday, July 21, Lyn Mann--No Such Thing as an Ugly Fabric

One of Lyn's quilts using the "Birds in the Air" block and ugly fabrics paired with non-ugly fabrics


My first 80 blocks arranged in two different ways

• Value--make sure there's a contrast in value between the ugly and the pretty fabric
• Texture--make sure there's a contrast in texture (this is maybe why a quilt made of nothing but Moda marbles can be pretty boring)
• Scale--there also needs to be contrast in scale, pair a big print with a much smaller print
• Pull the lesser of the colors--for instance, if the ugly has lots of muddy browns & oranges and just a touch of yellow, try putting yellow with it to make it look prettier
• Stand back to observe--this lets you ignore the little details and concentrate on the contrasts
• Without contrast there is no pattern--you can cut and piece until you're blue, but it will all look like one fabric
• Cutting smaller pieces will blend the fabrics better
• Color is not the most important aspect of pairing fabrics
• There really IS no such thing as an ugly fabric--virtually any fabric can be paired with another that will make it look better

Saturday, July 22, Marti Michell--I Spy

Here's Marti with two of her I spy quilts.
Left: a quilt for a teddy bear, using hexagons 3/4" on a side.
Right: the largest size, using hexagons 3" on a side.

My I spy quilt is all cat fabrics using leopard spotted triangles interspersed with gold and black stars. My quilt's hexagons are 2" on a side

An "up close and purrsonal" look at the quilt top, the pieced back, and a closeup of the back featuring a sun dyed cat from Finland

• One side of the setting triangles will be straight grain and the other two sides are bias. When cutting the setting triangles, keep them lined up so that the straight grain is always in the same position. Then when sewing the triangles to the hexes, stitch so that the straight grain runs horizontally on the row, continuing the straight grain of the top and bottom of the hex. This assumes, of course, that the hex is cut on the straight grain as well.
• Many motifs are not printed on the straight grain. It's better to cut the hex so that the motif stands or sits straight even if this means all six sides of the hex are bias.
• Use small, all-over prints for the half hexes that appear at the beginning and end of alternate rows. This way you don't need to have so many special motifs to complete the quilt and you won't end up with a half motif at the edge of the quilt.
• You don't need to cut half hexes. It's easier to cut full hexes and then trim the edge of the quilt with a long ruler before adding the borders.
• There are two advantages to using Marti's templates for this quilt. The triangle and the hexagon shapes line up perfectly for sewing together and the hexagon template is clear to make it easy to center the motif for cutting. You can also carry the hex template to the store for selecting your fabrics.