Excerpts from the Introduction

Where have the years gone? They say when you are having fun, time flies. I guess that explains my patchwork life. So many quilts, so many students, so many travels, so many stitches, so much fabric, and so little time. Each class and every mistake, each trip and every new piece of fabric, has presented me with new opportunities. It has been my privilege and pleasure to teach quilting for twenty-five years; yet when asked what my profession is, I always answer, "professional quiltmaker." However, what I really mean is "quiltmaking promoter," since I advocate quilting as a creative outlet that rewards you in the end with not only a wonderful product but a feeling of true accomplishment. For many of us, it's difficult to believe everyone has not joined our bandwagon. Those who do not sew are just missing out on a lot of fun.

Why do we quilt? Sometimes I wonder. What possesses us to drive miles out of our way to investigate a new fabric shop? Why do grown women cry before a quilt that has won the blue ribbon? Who else spends countless hours planning, cutting, accepting, and rejecting small bits of fabric? I have concluded it's for one main reason: control! We might not be able to control taxes, the dentist bill, or the price of ground beef, but in our little world we can control the pattern, the fabric, the thread, the size, and most important, how soon we want to finish. Then, when we get all done, we have something to show for our efforts. If we are not completely satisfied, we can make it again in another color. Enjoy the process. Yes, as quilters we get frustrated sometimes, because it does take time to connect those three layers by hand, and it can be even more challenging to do it by machine. But look what we have when it's completed. That must be why we respect those blue ribbons at quilt shows. We know the energy and thought that go into every stitch.

The incentives for making a quilt are as varied as all the fabric that's ever been printed. To suggest that it's to keep warm doesn't begin to touch on the really serious motivation. Planning and executing every step along the way becomes the real challenge. Only you determine the outcome. This sense of self-satisfaction is best displayed at our quilt shows. The culmination of years of stitching is truly glorified on display for all to see. I have seen people's self-confidence and egos boosted and fulfilled at such events.



My approach to quilting has changed over the years. I used to be filled with guilt if projects did not get done. The more I learned, the more unfinished objects accumulated on my shelves. Then one day I went to an exhibit of Monet's London Bridge paintings. It dawned on me that Monet worked on different canvases to correspond to various times of the day. As the light changed, he moved to another setting. My mother has told me that we are related to Claude Monet--many genes back--so I now feel quite justified jumping from one project to the next. I practice this Monet Method of gradually finishing my projects, never bored by the same color or pattern for too long. My sewing time is my production period at the sewing machine, and my quiet, quilting time is in the evening.

As I assembled this book and developed my new series on lap quilting for PBS television, I determined that I had a little bit of this and a lot of that--a mixed bag, of sorts. It soon became a potpourri of patchwork that includes techniques newly acquired, "tried and true" tips gathered over many years, "quilt math" developed for quick methods, and creative applique procedures.



Choose a favorite project to make geared to your sewing level--beginner, intermediate, or advanced. I would never expect you to make every quilt in this book, but pick a favorite. Mine is the Seminole Skies. Seminole piecework takes on a new character when turned into mountains. This design did not come easy. I struggled with wrong cuts and colors before I finally got it right. It takes advantage of new angles and combines some familiar techniques, yet pushes one to explore many new possibilities--perhaps a beach scene with sand dune colors, or a mirror image with a lake in between. Join me, step by step, as I give you a choice of three sizes for this wall hanging.



I trust you will gain some new ideas from reading my tips and hints. Keeping an open-door policy to changes and fabric opportunities allows us to grow. I treasure an old letter that came my way from Kentucky; it was written in 1931. The quilter is so proud of her feather quilting designs made with her tiny needles and the fact that her quilts are always so clean. She concludes her letter by saying, "I hope we are beginning a work that will last and that others may see my work and it may spread from one to another." Certainly that has been the role of all quilting teachers--spreading the good quilt word. So often, students underestimate their own powers. With gentle coaxing, encouragement, learning from mistakes, and perseverance, students soon exclaim, "Look, I did it myself." Those are magic words for a teacher.

There is a resource index for products featured on my latest 900 series, produced by the University of North Carolina Center for Public Television. I always feel that the quilts come to life when I can come into your home via the television screen to unfurl each one. Your attention when you tune in to our shows is appreciated.

Thank you for buying this book. Good luck with all of your patchwork endeavors. Support your local public television station, your local quilt guild, and that cherished hometown landmark--your quilt shop full of fabric and "goodies." Thank heavens for yesterday's and today's quiltmakers.


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