It is common for quilters to get used to working in one style and using the same tools, so break out of your rut and try something new! If you always sew with traditional reproduction fabrics, buy a new fat quarter bundle of batiks, plaids or bold prints like Kaffe Fassett or Tula Pink fabrics.

Now is the time

Do you have a friend whose style is the polar opposite of yours? Why not do a fabric trade to challenge each of you with new fabrics? If your go-to technique is English paper piecing or foundation paper piecing, give hand applique a chance. Never tried hand quilting or hand embroidery?

Now is the time. You don’t have to start big; you can just add a little hand quilting or embroidery to embellish a machine-quilted piece. Try out fabric paint or a new cutting system. Baby steps are still steps and create growth.

Remember: the only real quilting rule is to relax and have fun!

December 2021

Covering Quilts

The quilting essential is fabric!

by Sandra Starley

 Since the 1990s, the number of cuts, now known as “pre-cuts,” have expanded greatly from the humble fat quarters into a mind-boggling array of tempting choices. From hometown shops bundling a few fat quarters, the pre-cut niche of the fabric market has become a serious money maker.

Fabric companies realized moving beyond the bolt was a wonderful way to create new interest. Most manufacturers offer fat quarter collections, and fat eight cuts to market new fabric lines. They also cut and package lines in 10-inch square groupings and cute little 5-inch stacks. These are an ideal way to buy a sampling of new fabrics without paying for yards of fabric at a time. They are also perfect for quilters who like to make small quilts or scrappy quilts.

Pre-cuts have changed the quilting industry and the way many people sew and collect fabric. Now quilting books and tutorials are written specifically to help quilters use all these different pre-cuts. Patterns often include a note that they are fat-quarter friendly or work with layer cakes (10-inch squares) or charm packs (5-inch squares). There are now many quilters who have lovely collections of fat quarter bundles that decorate their sewing rooms. After all, stamp collectors don’t use their treasures to mail letters.

Covering Quilts

Got the blues? Need a challenge?
The American Quilt Study Group Quilt Study can help!

by Sandra Starley

Around the Block Sampler by Donna Starley, 40” x40”. 2021 AQSG Medallion Quilt Study based on 1890 silk sampler in her collection. Part of the AQSG traveling exhibit. (photo courtesy of the author)

Any technique or method can be used. You can work traditionally and follow the original maker’s work closely, or you can make a modern version. You can sew and quilt all by hand or all by machine or combine a variety of techniques. Decide whether to recreate the blocks in half size or make fewer full-sized blocks to fit the size limit.

This is a great opportunity to experiment and challenge yourself to learn new quilting practices. You’ll feel a kinship with the original maker as you follow her stitches and study her process. It is fun to think about the tools and options she had available and what she would think about our modern shortcuts and time-saving methods. You also will write a statement about your investigation into the creation of the original quilt and your journey into remaking it. These statements and quilt photos are compiled and published into a Quilt Study book. You can play a vital part in producing and documenting a piece of history. You need to sign up to reserve a spot in the study and be a member of AQSG.

The 2021 Medallion Quilt Study debuted in August at the AQSG Annual Seminar. Fifty amazing quilts were displayed at Seminar and were a special highlight of the event; 25 were chosen to travel and will be touring the United States for the next two years.

They are being photographed now and will be published in a Medallion Quilt book sold on Amazon. Be sure to pick one up to support AQSG.
I hope you’ll join the American Quilt Study Group and consider the Quilt Study Challenge. You can also support AQSG by hosting the traveling exhibit at your local museum or quilt show. These exhibits have been extremely popular with the public. The 2021 Medallion Quilts will start traveling soon. Spots are available in the exhibit schedule for your event.

September 2021

A tisket, a tasket, a delightful antique basket – Antique basket quilts

​

Basket quilts

Basket quilts are a traditional and beloved quilt design. Whether full of appliqued flowers or simply standing on their own, basket quilts bring a smile to all. Baskets are useful objects in every culture and therefore are a design that everyone recognizes. This adds to their universal appeal.

Stitched in early wholecloth designs and showcased on elegant pillar print fabrics of the 1820s, baskets have been a popular quilting motif for centuries. There are two broad pattern styles. The first are applique designs commonly filled with flowers.

A C. 1860 basket quilt with applique border (detail), from New York, in the Sandra Starley quilt collection. (photo courtesy of the author)

The other are pieced patterns that are empty or with simple floral accents. The pieced patterns tend to be composed of a series of half square triangles to make the basket (pieced into a large triangle shape covering half the block). The top half of the block usually sports a hand appliqued handle. Pieced blocks are most frequently set on point to keep the baskets upright. Other patterns feature all piecing with a solid triangle base and small triangles creating the basket contents. These blocks generally do not have handles. There are a large variety of basket patterns with 121 different pieced designs shown in Barbara Brackman’s Pattern Encyclopedia.

The most elaborate applique baskets are seen on intricate Baltimore Album Quilts, circa 1850. One of the hallmarks of that style is delicate applique baskets overflowing with detailed applique flowers. These baskets were often woven of thin strips requiring very skilled needlework. This mid-century period also found many basket quilts, both pieced and appliqued, being made throughout the settled regions of the United States. This was a time when women were starting to concentrate on gardening and beautifying their homes. The cult of domesticity directed that they should be creating an Eden at home. They studied the language of flowers and not surprisingly this domestic floral focus showed up on bed quilts in addition to flower beds.

An 1890 Mennonite Basket Quilt with quilted hearts from Lancaster County, PA, in the Sandra Starley quilt collection. (photo courtesy of the author)

Mennonites and Amish Quilts

In Pennsylvania and the Midwest, Mennonites and Amish enjoyed making basket quilts. They viewed baskets as symbols of spiritual and domestic abundance. More than a just a utilitarian object, it was a symbol of optimism. Think of the basket as being half-full rather than half-empty. Remember the seemingly unfilled baskets feeding the multitudes in the Bible. A basket may appear empty until one looks more closely. An 1890s Mennonite cheddar basket quilt has hearts quilted under each handle and is literally full of love.

The Colonial Revival period (1920s-1940s) and the rise of syndicated pattern designers ushered in a wave of new basket quilt designs featuring pieced blocks garnished with applique floral and fruit motifs. Several designers created pattern series showcasing a bed-sized quilt pattern of multiple baskets. These were often published on a weekly or monthly basis.

Basket quilts made by applique, piecing, and mixed techniques continue to be popular today. Whether featuring a single basket in a medallion setting, several pieced baskets on a top, or a single basket among a variety of blocks in a sampler. Traditional, stylized, or modern, the basket motif is here to stay. There are basket designs to appeal to every level of quilter from simple geometric patterns for a new quilter to intricate applique patterns that keep an advanced quilter occupied for a year. I hope you will do an online search for antique as well as modern basket quilts. You will be surprised at all the amazing designs.

You may be inspired by them to create your own basket block or quilt.
Have fun exploring and quilting!