Design Inspiration

Abby — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:02:10 +0000

Quilting has many levels of creativity. A couple of years ago I picked up a pattern at a quilt show in Loveland. They were being sold for $5, and every vendor at the show had made a quilt with that pattern. It was amazing how different the pattern looked with the various fabric choices. When I decided to make the quilt, I did something I’d never done before. I picked out fabrics from a collection. I felt like it was cheating, that someone else had done all the work. But there are still choices to be made when picking fabrics from a collection. When I started putting the quilt together, I realized that one of my choices did not have enough contrast, and I had to change things around a bit. Even if you’re purchasing a kit with the fabric included, designing is involved. You still have to choose how it’s going to be quilted.

On the other end, some people have no use for patterns or prefer to create their own. Where do they think this stuff up? I find challenges or contests to be a great kick in the butt. Even if someone’s telling me what to make, what pops into my head is not what anyone else will dream up. Take the Spoonflower weekly fabric design contests for example. I entered the sailing fabric contest, and was given a limited color palette. It was fun to push myself with something I wouldn’t have done otherwise.

Another contest I’m going to enter is the Alliance for American Quilts Twenty Contest. I found this when I was doing some work with Allie Aller for Craftsy. The quilts are 20″ square, and have to mean something to you with regard to the number 20. I’m having fun with it. It’s a last minute thing for me, but it’s a great opportunity to do something different.

Another avenue for inspiration are guilds and classes. You can find some great free classes at Craftsy, and if you weren’t able to make QuiltCon in Austin, be sure to check out the FREE QuiltCon Lecture Series 2013. I haven’t been able to watch it all yet, but the class is set up so you can jump around and watch the lectures in any order you wish. Have fun!

Quilt Backing and Quilt Sizes

Abby — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:18:03 +0000

Quilt backing can be an afterthought for quilters. It makes sense; most of your time and focus is on the pieced top of your quilt. To me, it’s a lot like cooking Thanksgiving dinner. By the time you get to the end of cooking, you’re sick of dealing with it. It’s also exciting to get to the end of the project and see the fruits of your labor. Sometimes you’ve thought ahead and purchased the backing when you picked up the fabric for the top. I don’t often do that. Maybe it’s because I love fabric buying excursions, and I can make the backing a separate trip. Sometimes I think I’ll have fabric in my stash, although how likely is it that I have a 5-yard matching print lying around?

All that being said, I’d like to talk about a few quilt backing related things:

Quilt sizes
Determining the amount of fabric needed for backing
Craftsy’s free class, Creative Quilt Backs

Quilt Sizes

Quilt sizes are arbitrary. It is whatever you want it to be. I’ll give you the standard mattress sizes for the USA and Canada (in inches), and you can decide how much you want the quilt to hang over the sides.

Twin/Single	39 x 75
Twin/Single – extra long	39 x 80
Double/Full	54 x 75
Double/Full – extra long	54 x 80
Queen	60 x 80
Olympic/Expanded Queen (who knew?)	66 x 80
Queen – extra long	60 x 84
King	76 x 80
California King	72 x 84

Quilt Backing Yardage

This is also easy, but it’s a little tougher to explain. Most fabric is around 42” to 44” wide. I estimate on the side of caution, calculating as though the fabric 40” wide. Some people insist on piecing the back either vertically or horizontally; I choose based on the best fit and the least amount of scrap. If your quilt is longer than 80” on one side and 80” or less on the other side, then you’ll want the width of the fabric to span the side that’s <= 80”.

For example, you’re making a queen size quilt that’s going to be 90” wide by 80” long. Because the length is 80”, the strips of backing fabric are going to run horizontally as in the image below. Now that you know you are going to need two strips of fabric, you just need to know how long to make those strips. Let’s do the math: 90” + 6” (3” on each side) = 96 inches. 96” times 2 strips equals 192”. 192” divided by 36” equals 5 1/3 yard – let’s say 5 ½ yards for a little wiggle room. Let’s do that in another format:

90” + 6” = 96” (The width of the quilt plus 3 inches on each end)

96” X 2 = 192” (The measurement above multiplied by the two strips required)

192” / 36” = 5.33 yards, or round up to 5 ½ yards (The amount of fabric determined above divided by the number of inches in a yard)

It’s going to change based on your quilt, especially since you really do want to try to make the backing at least 3” larger than the top, all the way around. If you can only make it a couple of inches larger to keep from having to buy and piece a lot more fabric, that’ll work. But remember, there’s nothing wrong with having extra fabric lying around. Also, I can’t tell you how many quilts I’ve made, but when it comes to determining the yardage for backing, I always draw a little picture like the one below to help figure it out. It may not be necessary, but it gives me comfort. 

Craftsy Classes

All that being said, I urge you to check out Craftsy’s FREE class on Creative Quilt Backs before embarking on your next backing adventure. Check out all of the other free Craftsy mini-courses by clicking here. Another good free quilting class is the QuiltCon Lecture Series 2013.

The Next Chapter of Bad Girl Quilting

Abby — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:50:40 +0000

Yeah, the plan was to hit the ground running at my new business location when I got back from Vietnam. In one of my last few days in Vietnam, I came across a job opportunity that was too good to ignore. I applied, I interviewed, and I took the job. I love Craftsy. I love the community, I love the people who work there, and the classes are amazing. I’m mostly self-taught on everything, and while that works, I feel like a newly enlightened (quilting) soul. Unfortunately, working full time and continuing to teach motorcycle riding on the weekends didn’t leave me any time for putting my new skills to work.

I’m back at the shop full time, starting on Tuesday, April 30th. While I’m not at Craftsy full time anymore, I’m still associated in many ways. One of those is as a Craftsy affiliate. I love Craftsy, and I want you to love Craftsy too. If you follow the link on my home page or any of the banners on my website, you can sign up as a member of the community for free. While you’re there, look around for classes of interest or patterns for your next project.

Craftsy isn’t just quilting. Before I worked there, I purchased a workshop to make my own lip balms, salves and body butters and another to make cheese. Perfect Pizza at Home is a free class (there are several great free classes) Craftsy has some amazing cake decorating classes as well. Some are for the home hobbyist; others require steel rods and band saws (yeah, cake decorating).

So please, if you aren’t already a fan of Craftsy, follow the link below and check it out. You’ll love it. I promise.