Pease Pat - Creative quilt challenges : take the challenge to discover your style & improve your design skills

Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Editor: Lynn Koolish

Technical Editors: Julie Waldman and Debbie Rodgers

Cover Designer: April Mostek

Book Designer: Christina Jarumay Fox

Production Coordinator: Freesia Pearson Blizard

Production Editors: Alice Mace Nakanishi and Jennifer Warren

Illustrator: Aliza Shalit

Photo Assistant: Sarah Frost

Style photography by Nissa Brehmer and instructional photography by Diane Pedersen, unless otherwise noted

Published by C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549

To creative people everywhere: If you want to think outside the box, first you have to believe there is no box! Keep making stuff!

~Wendy Hill

This book is dedicated to the two men in my life. First, to my father, John W. James, for all his encouragement and support when I wanted to study art in college. He believed you should get the best tools and supplies you can, and then go for it. He loved my art and quilts, and I wish he were still around to see this book. And second, to my husband, Jim Pease. Your many adventures with the dogs leave me plenty of time to make quilts and experiment in my studio. I appreciate your support and understanding of my many deadlines and commitments, and your growing tolerance of pins on the floor.

And last, to all the teachers and other quilters I have learned from. I started quilting after my husband and I retired to central Oregon. I think it is difficult to live here and not be a quilter of some sort. The inspiration is everywhere.

~Pat Pease

It takes more than a village to write a book, and Pat and I couldnt have done it without the support of our families and friends, the larger quilting community, and the folks at C&T Publishing. You know who you are: Thank you!

Of course, the companies that make all the wonderful products we use to make quilts are very supportive of authors. Wed like to thank the following companies who supported us in the making of our first book together:

American & Efird

Aurifil

C&T Publishing

Dear Stella

Fiber on a Whim

Kreinik

Oakshott Fabrics

Quilters Dream Batting

Ranger Industries

Sulky of America

Superior Threads

Timeless Treasures

Thank you, Pat. In 2008, when we created our first challenge together, we had no idea how the idea of challenge quilts would unfold in our future. The creative process is like a rollercoaster ride, with twists, turns, and surprises. The ride comes to an end, but new rides are always starting: Lets get started on those new challenge ideas!

Thank you, Wendy. I value your friendship more than you know, and it is so nice to have someone around who can finish my sentences and laugh at my jokes. Our next project together sounds like so much fun. We need to get it started.

Like most quilters, we live and make quilts in the world of imagination and creativity. When we look through our fabrics at home or go fabric shopping, we dont see yards of whole cloth. Instead, we imagine finished quilts. When we go about our day, we dont only see the world around uswe see potential patterns, colors, and ideas for future quilts. When nonquilters say it must take patience to make a quilt, we give our secret smile. Quilters know that doing what you love is an indulgence, not a chore.

The idea to explore our shared affinity for friendship, fabric, and design came naturally to us. We devised a series of challenge themes for the two of us, and we each made a quilt inspired by the theme topic. In addition to our having a lot of fun doing it, one thing led to another and soon we had a special exhibit of our challenge quilts at the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California, in October 2013. Our exhibit, A Natural Affinity , led to this book about our challenge themes, our quilts, and our own exploration of the design process, color, and principles of design.

While we have a lot in common, the way we process information and approach the design process is quite different. Pat is very spontaneous and fearless when it comes to sewing fabric together and cutting it apart again on the way to making a quilt. Wendy takes her ideas and uses structure and organization to get from the beginning to the end. Wendy hates being boxed in by a problem, while Pat sees problems as opportunities to go in another direction. Its this push and pull and give and take that makes it fun for us to share our love of fabric as we develop our individual ideas into finished quilts.

Every time we make a quilt, we have been inspired by something to go from idea to finished quilt. When the inspiration is a challenge theme, ideas get focused toward the parameters of the theme while remaining open endedthere are as many ways to respond to a theme as there are quilters. While exploring the themes, we found ourselves more consciously exploring our own personal design process and our own understanding of color and design. When we revealed our quilts side by side, it astonished us how much of our personal style and point of view could be seen in them. At the same time, we each drew upon the same universal considerations of color, value, and design principles common to most artistic adventures.

This book is an invitation to take the challengeby yourself, with a friend, in a small group, or with an entire quilt guildusing our challenge themes. Were inviting you to enter the Land of Color, Design, and Imagination, but we arent giving you a map. This is not a destination book with actual step-by-step projects. Instead, were encouraging you to find your own compass using our challenges as the stepping-off points. While navigating the composition, color, and design landscape, you will continue to develop your own style and voice. Along the way, read about our favorite tips and techniques.

Anyone can make a quilt. The first quilt leads to the next quilt, and the next, and the next, until there is no going back. Making quilts becomes a form of self-expression. The more you understand the principles of color, design, and your own personal design process, the better youll be able to transform your ideas into finished quilts that speak for you.

As a bonus, in Special Techniques we share some of the tricks and techniques that weve learned over the years.