BEST TEACHER EVER!

When Vickie S. brought this quilt to show-n-tell at one of the Happy Scrapper’s meetings last year at the Attic Window Quilt Shop, we all gasped in awe!  What a stunning quilt.  We begged her to tell us about it and cried that we wanted to make one too.  We finally wore her down and she agreed to help us make our own Swirl Lone Star Quilt.

She told us that this (above) was the first Swirl quilt she made and that she learned a lot while making that quilt.  She said she was not happy with her first quilt and made another, which is the first picture above.  Vickie must be a born teacher.  I think she is one of the best teachers I’ve ever heard.  She came prepared with all the tips and tricks we needed to know to make this quilt.  

 We are using the book Loan Star Quilts And Beyond by Jane Ann Jan Krentz.  This book is filled with wonderful designs and Vickie pointed out that you needn’t make a swirl quilt and if you would rather, the book has lots of instructions for other more traditional quilts. 

Vickie said when she made her first quilt that she was not happy with it because she did not get enough contrast in her colors and lost her points in the background.  She said when making a swirl quilt you must think about contrast.  She said she found that is why it is important to first make a mock up of your quilt.  This will help you decide on colors so you won’t lose your points in your background fabric and also help keep you from getting confused and lose your swirl when you put your quilt together.  The above mock-up is made using Japanese fabrics from her stash.

Talk about preparation!  Vickie made several mock-ups to help us see how the quilt would look using different colors and different fabrics.  

This is another mock-up using reds and blue greens.

This one uses Christmas fabrics.

This one is in earth tone fabrics.

Vickie distributed her tips and techniques that she learned when making three of these quilts.  

Vickie has a wonderful color sense too and showed us how she designed her quilt and why she chose certain colors. 

Vickie spent all day with us helping us choose fabrics and helping us prepare our mock-up.  Above she helps Judi A. with her layout.

This is Judi’s mock-up.  Vickie is a wonderful teacher, informative and inspiring.  I went to Happy Scrappers that morning thinking I was not going to make this quilt. It required way too much piecing for me.  Besides, I did not need to start another project.  I did not need to buy any more fabric.  By the end of the day I was so inspired that I purchased new fabrics and hope to get my mock-up made ASAP.  

Vickie will be at the Wednesday Happy Scrappers meeting and repeat her instructions for those who could not attend on Saturday and help those interested in choosing fabrics and making your mockup.  We can’t thank Vickie enough for her generosity! 

ON ANOTHER NOTE: My Quilt Infatuation has a tutorial for a simple tablet sleeve.
 

Until next time,
♥
Stay Calm! Stay Kind! Stay Positive!
Caroll