Kathreen Ricketson - Whip Up Mini Quilts: Patterns and How-To for 26 Contemporary Small Quilts

PATTERNS AND HOW-TO for MORE THAN 20 CONTEMPORARY SMALL QUILTS

by KATHREEN RICKETSON
photographs by LEIGH BEISCH

My beloved Nanna was an incredible woman with amazing skills and resilience. She was my crafting hero and appreciated not only the process of creating but also the value and frugality of repurposing things. I used to laugh when my grandmother and her sister would collect bread bags and crochet them into coat hanger covers. But my grandmother reminded me that by making things she could have luxuries she could never afford otherwise.

My life is much easier than my grandmothers ever was. I craft for pleasure rather than necessity (with more gadgets to help me out). I choose to make my childrens clothing, even though it would be more convenient (and cheaper) to buy them from a department store (those store-bought clothes feel impersonal and disposable to me). As I juggle my various roles as career woman, mother, and wife, I make sure to squeeze in a little time to create; it helps me get back to being me. Just like it was for my grandmother and so many other women, crafting is my time to dream and think and imagine.

For me, handcraft is not just about making more stuff. It is about giving a part of myselfthe payoff is the satisfaction of givingand about telling stories and expressing opinions. When I started a personal blog a few years ago, I had just had my second baby and finished five years at university. Suddenly I found myself a stay-at-home mother, cut off from my previous life as an artist, and without inspiration. Surprisingly, I found my creative energy again through the world of online craft blogs (who knew?). I discovered new designers, artists, makers, and a ton of amazing online resources.

I couldnt believe that all this information was at my fingertips. I soon started WhipUp.net: Handcraft in a Hectic World. It really is a hectic world that we modern women live in: working, mothering, running a house, and all the time trying to keep our own creative space going. That is what WhipUp is aboutbringing together creative people and providing a space for them to share their stories, showcase their crafts, and offer up resources, ideas, and information.

Crafting for me, and many others, is about taking more control of your life. In this time of fast technological advancements, economic uncertainty, and the need for greater environmental awareness, being able to choose the materials used in your home and on your body is increasingly important. Upcycle and re-fashion are the new buzzwords in crafting today, and youll see their influence in this book, in projects that show you how to use what you already have. Just like the women in the 1930s who recycled feed sacks for their sewing projects, women today are deconstructing clothing, felting old moth-eaten sweaters, and crocheting plastic shopping bags. They are taking control of how they use resources and live on this planet.

When I am crafting, both the process and the project drive me; I often experiment with new materials, techniques, and ideas. This is how I work when making quilts. With a deep respect for traditional quilt designs, but without the patience or time to give them the care they need, I prefer to improvise and experiment, and making small quilts is a perfect way for me to do just that.

This book of small quilts brings together just a handful of the amazing artists, makers, and designers I have either connected with through the hand-craft blog scene or discovered by seeing their work online. These twenty-four makers, including myself, come from all over the world: Japan, Australia, Finland, England, and the United States. I have chosen these people to contribute to this book because of how theyve inspired me. Im confident that their work will inspire you, too.

I love the satisfaction of finishing a quilt and seeing my children snuggle up under it while I read them a bedtime story, but finishing a full-size quilt is a big project. This is why making a small quilt, or mini quilt, is so deliciousits an achievable weekend project for any level of quilter; you can try out your new ideas and designs and see them through to fruition almost the next day!

I see todays mini quilt as a modern take on the traditional sampler quilt, which was used as a teaching tool for young quilters. Similarly, in the early nineteenth century, doll quilts were used to teach girls the first steps in sewing and quilt making. Every girl was expected to learn to sew, and many began by sewing for their dolls. These doll quilts, and other small quilts made for babies and children, were miniature copies of full-size designs. Only later in the century, when the concept of childhood took on a greater importance, were quilts designed specifically for children. These quilts began to reflect childrens interests, depicting stories and animals for the purpose of educating. In addition, doll quilts were no longer made only by young girls; suddenly, mothers, aunts, and grandmothers were making sweet little quilts with fine stitching and designs for the little girls in their lives.

Small quilts have come a long way from their beginnings as learning tools and sentimental gifts. Mini quilts, for me and for many other contemporary and traditional makers, present an incredible medium with which to play with fabric, color, design, ideas, and techniques. They allow the maker to express their creativity, and they can easily become works of modern art.

Consider this book a primer for making small quilts. Youll find a wide range of quilt designs from talented makers, organized by style, with quilt patterns ranging from super-simple to quite tricky. For the most part, the instructions for each quilt will help you replicate it exactly, but occasionally youll find suggestions for improvising your own version. Just as you would with a food recipe, it is usually a good idea to follow the instructions exactly the first time and then play around with them to suit your personal tastes after that.

If you have never made a quilt before and have only basic sewing skills, then this book is the perfect way for you to build up your sewing knowledge. Start with the easy quilts and slowly work your way up to the medium-level quilts, leaving the tricky ones for last. If you already have strong sewing and quilting skills, then you can head straight to some of the medium-level and trickier projects. There are plenty of new techniques and original designs in here to keep you inspired. Plus two more patterns are offered at www.chroniclebooks.com/miniquilts.

You can use the mini quilts you create (and, believe me, you will have quite a few once you get started) in all sorts of ways: as a bevy of doll quilts for all the little girls in your life, to cover a collection of cushions in your living room, or as lovely place mats to dress up your table. Or, create a beautiful display of all of your mini quilts to hang on your wall.

The materials, design, and techniques used in each and every quilt tell a story about the maker and the community that he or she came from. Every community and every culture has its own textile traditions that reflect the makers way of life. In cultures all over the world, patchwork and quilting are part of textile traditions; it seems no one can resist the temptation to use up bits of cloth while beautifying ones surroundings.