Laudable Labels
By Camie Roper How’s that quilt entry coming along? By this point, we hope you have at least chosen a design and fabric. Take a step outdoors, breathe in that almost-spring air, and use the earlier-sunrise and later-sunset hours to make progress on your creation. Quick quiz: How many creators of the following works of […]
Binding as a Counterbalance to Your Quilt
By Camie Roper Counterbalance: a weight that balances another weight. Each quilt has a certain substance or weight. Binding helps balance that weight. Keep this in mind when planning your quilt entry. A quiet binding can calm down a very colorful quilt. Other quilts very clearly incorporate their design into the binding. Yet others add […]
Quintessential Quilting: “A Thing of Beauty is a Joy for Ever”
By Camie Roper John Keats must have had quilts in mind when composing the romantic poem Endymion. A quilt is the perfect combination of art and function. Its quilting holds three layers together, and adds beauty, motion and texture. First-timers entering the 2022 GAAQG Quilt Show have many options when it comes to quilting. Aesthetically, […]
Out-of-the Blue Quilt Backs
By Camie Roper Are you entering your first quilt in a quilt show or your hundred-and-first? Did you know that you can get double exposure by adding an alluring back? Think about it and get stitching! Consider the back of your quilt a blank canvas for even more creativity. Use extra blocks from the front, […]
Planning for a Different Kind of Perfection
By Camie Roper The expert quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama are remarkable. Their sense of dignity is palpable and their unusual quilts are not what many expect. They are quite self-sufficient, raise their own food and enjoy a tight-knit community. Their quilts reflect their spirituality, resourcefulness, pride and grace. Maris Curran’s brief online video about […]
Taming Your Textiles
By Camie Roper “I made the quilt on my bed with paper I got from the craft store! It was a breeze to cut and the pieces went together perfectly,” said no quilter ever. That first wash would be a doozie! Bias edges and even cross-grain edges can stretch out of shape. How do […]
Being Choosy with Color
By Camie Roper For a long time, I used too many colors in my quilts. I just loved color and wanted to use as much as possible. Then I learned about the value of a color scheme. How did I learn this? I viewed thousands of quilts: from friends, lecturers, online, in books, magazines and […]
QAAQG Quilt Along Week 9 – Butterflies
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” […]