Shannon Brinkley - Scrappy Bits Appliqué: Fast & Easy Fusible Quilt, 8 Projects, Foolproof Technique

Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Art Director: Kristy Zacharias

Editors: Lynn Koolish and Deb Rowden

Technical Editors: Debbie Rodgers and Gailen Runge

Cover/Book Designer: April Mostek

Production Coordinator: Rue Flaherty

Production Editor: Joanna Burgarino

Illustrator: Kirstie L. Petterson

Photo Assistant: Mary Peyton Peppo

Dedication

To Matthew.

Acknowledgments

A tremendous thank-you to my husband, Mattwithout your unflinching support and encouragement, this book would not have been written. Thank you, Davin, for patiently occupying yourself with Legos and the like during my many hours of sewing and writing.

Thank you, Mom, from whom I inherited any artistic talent I have: You bought me my first sewing machine and supported, encouraged, and often commissioned the myriad of creative hobbies Ive had over the years. It was your random idea to go to a quilt festival one year that started this whole thing. I love you.

I am hugely grateful to Stash Books and the whole C&T Publishing staff. Thank you especially to Lynn Koolish, Debbie Rodgers, Roxane Cerda, and everyone else who was involved in making this book a reality. Your suggestions, ideas, and direction made this book what it is. Thank you all so much. And thank you Kristy Zacharias and April Mostek for making this book so beautiful.

Thank you also to Timeless Treasures, Michael Miller Fabrics, Robert Kaufman Fabrics, The Warm Company, Prym Consumer USA, Pellon, and all the other companies who generously provided the incredible materials for the quilts in this book. It was a pleasure to work with your wonderful products.

Since I was a young girl, I have loved creating things with my handsfrom the paper snowflake stand in my front yard to friendship bracelet club in first grade to my junior high dream catcher phase (the evidence of this phase is still all over my parents house).

I began quilting and working with collage fiber art many years ago after visiting the International Quilt Festival in Houston, where I fell in lovewildly in love.

If youve been to the Quilt Festival, you know that it has an enormous quilt show, filled with beautiful, quilted perfection. As I was meandering through, stopping here and there for closer looks, I saw ita large, breathtaking scene. It was a simple scene: a wooden chair in a garden, stream running below, fiery sun above, but I could not tear myself away from it. Looking closer, I noticed it was not pieced, but rather it was raw-edge appliqud. My patient mother finally tore me away from it, but I could not get that quilt out of my head. It had more impact on me than any painting ever hadthe textures; the incredible, vibrant colors; the movement the stitches created. I was smitten. Since then, fabric has been an obsession of mine: I love blending a variety of fabrics, vintage and new, with different colors, tones, and patterns, to create interesting and unique pieces. Sadly, I dont remember who the quilter was to thank her (or him) for the life-changing inspiration.

The modern quilt movement is an amazing thing. It has perpetuated this centuries-old tradition while making it relevant and accessible. Modern quilters, like modern artists, are constantly pushing boundaries, breaking rules, and trying new things. I find it so exciting that raw-edge appliqu can be translated into the modern quilting realm, opening up many possibilities for the modern quiltmaker.

I love traditional piecing techniques. I love seeing a plan slowly unfolding and coming together on my design board. But piecing does take time, and I sometimes miss the instant gratification painters can get from slathering and dragging paint on a canvasthat immediate, tactile gratification. That is what I love most about the techniques in this booktaking gorgeous pieces of fabric (works of art in themselves) and moving them around to create an image or texture.

The other thing I love about this quiltmaking technique is that the quilts can be made as simple or as complicated as you like. Maybe you have been interested in quilting for a while, but you are overwhelmed with all the different books and techniques out there and with the amount of time and precision you think quilting requires. Are you an artist looking for a new medium of expression? Have you been quilting for years and find yourself looking for another technique to add to your repertoire? Whether you are a professional sewist or one who just bought your first sewing machine, you can make the quilts in this book. If you can sew in a straight line, you can make the quilts in this booksome of them took me as little as eight hours to make! Well go step by step through my simplified, efficient process, and by the end of the book, you will have all the tools you need to make one of the quilts in this book or create one of your own!

The Basics

In the first part of this book, youll learn about the raw-edge appliqu technique I call Scrappy Bits Appliquits the perfect appliqu technique for modern quilters. Youll find several different options for each step, so that you will be able to modify and choose the techniques that best suit your preferences and design choices. Youll find out about these considerations and more:

How to plan or design your quilt

Color theory basics and how to choose a color palette for your quilt

The materials needed and recommended for this style of quilting

How to make the quilt, including different collage techniques and approaches as well as quiltmaking basics

Several different methods for finishing a quilt

The Projects

In the second section of the book are eight quilt projectsyou can put your new appliqu and collage quilting skills to work! Included are charts that will help you make each quilt in a variety of sizes as well as patterns for each collaged design.

For even more quilts and patterns, visit my website: thebottletree.net.

Some quiltmakers like to follow patterns, some like to completely design their own quilts, and some are in betweenthey like using patterns but always want to change things up a bit. No matter where you are in this quiltmaking spectrum, you can make a collage quilt.

Projects

For the eight projects in this book, you can use fabric and colors similar to those pictured or you can change up the colors and fabrics any way you like. Full-size patterns for the projects are included on the pattern pullout at the back of the bookthey are ready to use to make the pictured quilts. Depending on the size quilt you are making, you may need to enlarge or reduce the patterns.

Creating a Design

If you want to create your own design and pattern, some of you may have no trouble drawing a design the exact size you need. If you dont want to draw your own large pattern or are creating a particularly complex design, I have some simple solutions for you! You can make your own full-size pattern using a copy service that does large-scale enlargements, or you can use graph paper and Tru-Grid material to scale the image to the needed size.