Talbert - The quilting answer book: solutions to every problem youll ever face, answers to every question youll ever ask

Solutions to Every Problem Youll Ever Face

Answers to Every Question Youll Ever Ask

BARBARA WEILAND TALBERT

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Deborah Balmuth and Nancy D. Wood
Art direction and book design by Jessica Armstrong
Text production by Jennifer Jepson Smith

Cover photography by Mars Vilaubi
Illustration by Missy Shepler

Indexed by Nancy D. Wood

2009 by Barbara Weiland Talbert

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For additional information, please contact Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247.

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Printed in China by Regent Publishing Services
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weiland Talbert, Barbara
The quilting answer book / by Barbara Weiland Talbert.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60342-144-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Quilting. I. Title.
TT835.W446 2009
746.46dc22

2009001478

The biggest thanks goes to my best friend
and cheerleader, my husband Stan Talbert, who
supports me and my work in countless spoken
and unspoken ways. Bless you, love of my life!
This book is dedicated to you!

After a lifetime of sewing and quilting and writing about it, I find it difficult to list and thank all those who have supported me on my creative journey. My most special thanks goes to my mother, Eloise S. Weiland, a wonderful quiltmaker in her own right, who taught me to sew. She was always there to support my endeavors in 4-H, the Make It Yourself With Wool Contest, and my education in Textiles and Clothing at Colorado State University.

When Mom took up quiltmaking in the early 80s, I had finished only one quilt. She was a natural at it and I loved watching her skills mature. Im happy to say Im the proud owner of the one quilt she designed and then pieced and quilted entirely by hand. After that experience she quickly graduated to machine piecing and quilting, becoming a topper, a quilter with many finished quilt tops ready to quilt. Mom is an inspiration and certainly contributed to my love for all things sewing- and quilting-related.

In addition to my mother, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all those quilt-book authors whose work I have been privileged to edit since 1991. So many talented women from the United States and abroad have influenced my life and my quilting with their art and generous spirit. It would take pages to properly thank each one they know who they are.

When I made my first patchwork quilt in 1975, just before the renaissance of American quiltmaking took root in the midst of the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations, I knew nothing about quiltmaking. My first quilt was an adaptation of a quilt printed in black and white in a Godeys Ladys Book magazine of the 1860s.

I cut the large triangular patches for the quilt from solid red and solid white polyester/cotton gabardine (heavy) and used cotton pliss prints (lightweight and stretchy) for the two wide borders that framed the patches. The binding and backing were cut from a cotton/polyester polka-dot calico. The batting was a dense matt of polyester fleece, and the resulting quilt was a bit heavy and cumbersome but it was colorful and warm.

Not knowing how to proceed with hand quilting such a large and heavy quilt after it was assembled, I tied the layers together with navy-blue wool yarn at the corners where the blocks met, row by row. I used the finished quilt on my bed for several years; I made my next quilt about ten years later during my first quiltmaking class.

As I embarked on that first quiltmaking adventure, there were no how-to books, and there were certainly no special tools. Sewing shears, a tape measure, ruler, graph paper, and a pencil, plus my trusty sewing machine, were all I had, plus well-developed dressmaking skills. I knew I could do it after all it only required fabric and cutting and sewing straight lines and there was no fitting involved.

Looking back over the years, I wish I had had the tools, materials, and books that are available to quilters today. It would have been helpful to have a basic quiltmaking handbook like this one close to my machine to answer my questions and guide me through the basic steps of quiltmaking. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to write this handbook to help others keep the answers they need at their fingertips, so all of their quiltmaking is successful, educational, and enjoyable.

In the years that have passed since my first quilt was published in a compilation of American needlework projects (Needlework Nostalgia, Butterick Publishing), I have taken quilting classes at my local quilt shops and at large quilting venues such as Quilt Festival, held every fall in Houston, Texas (see Resources). Ive rubbed shoulders and worked with many of the best-known quilters in the country as a quilt-book editor, and Ive learned something new from each of them.

Ive made many quilts only one of them following a printed pattern designed by someone else. The others are quilts and quilted projects of my own design or adaptations of vintage quilts in my collection and some have been published as individual patterns. Like most quiltmakers, I have at least one or two projects in process and many ideas in my head for the next quilt and the next one.

This book contains the questions I have had along with those of many others who love to play with color and fabric to create beautiful quilts for themselves, family, and friends. They are questions you might ask as a beginner or even as a more experienced quiltmaker. Unless you make the same quilt design over and over, you are bound to learn something new with each project you start, and you will likely encounter new problems or challenges to resolve with each one. This book includes basic information that you will refer to often, as well as information that will ultimately become a part of your knowledge base that you use on a daily basis.

One of the best ways to begin your own quiltmaking adventure and to get your questions answered is to take a quilting class from the pros at your local quilt shop. Quilting lessons are also available online. If there is a quilt guild in your area, join these quilting enthusiasts, and youre sure to come away from each meeting inspired and educated, refreshed and excited about your projects.

Develop a quilting buddy or two to share your experiences and problem-solve together. Some of the best quilt-book authors work in pairs, each one contributing their own perspective, skills, and methods to come up with more than one way to do the same thing with great success. Most importantly, enjoy yourself and share your quiltmaking skills with your friends. Have fun and keep on quilting with this little handbook at your fingertips. Quilting is good for your soul!