Alex Anderson - Hand Quilting with Alex Anderson: Six Projects for First-Time Hand Quilters

Developmental Editor: Liz Aneloski
Technical Editor: Joyce Engels Lytle
Copy Editor: Judith M. Moetz
Design Director: Diane Pedersen
Designer: Bobbi Sloan Design
Illustrator: Gretchen Schwarzenbach, GNS Graphics
Photography: Sharon Risedorph
Cover: Kathy Lee, Diane Pedersen, John Cram
Cover Photo taken at Ravenswood Historical site in Livermore, California, Livenmore Area Recreation and Park District

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

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to:

The terrific people at C&T Publishingyour dedication to quality and continuous creative spirit is an ongoing inspiration to me. You are the BEST! Robert Kaufman Company, Inc. for producing an excellent product line, Kona Cottonyour fabric quilts like butter, and Elizabeth Phinder for your kindnessyour generosity made the development of the quilts and this book a creative joy; All the quilters before us who have set standards of excellence that we all can learn from; The person unknown who taught me how to take my first stitches so many years ago; Kay for your beautiful roses and generous spirit, Linda Ballou for your friendship and attention to detail; Lee Ellen Cash for sharing the plans for makinig a sawhorse quilt frame, and last but not least, thank you to Mom and Dad, John, Joey, and AdairI love you all.

To my Dad, who bulit my first quilt frameand to the Inghams, from whom we stole the lumber.

I love to hand quilt. My passion for hand quilting started about twenty years ago, when I picked up my first thimble. The hand quilting process and results cannot be matched in any other format. The satisfaction of sitting at a quilting frame in the middle of chaos (I have two teenagers), or alone, simply enjoying the silence and time to reflect, is a pleasure no quilter should skip. I love watching the quilt come to life as each little stitch is put in place.

But, do I always hand quilt? I wish the answer could be yes, but the truth is, no. It strictly depends on the fate of the quilt. Since I am fortunate to have quilting as my vocation, I now find that my quilts fall into two categories; working or heirloom quilts. My working quilts are often created for publications and need to be finished in a limited amount of time, or possibly it is a quilt that will be loved and used by a child. My heirloom quilts come under the category of quilting recreation, or quilts that are strictly made for the joy and love of the process, often resulting in show pieces. These are the quilts my kids will one day fight over. I think you know what I mean.

When I first started quilting and to this day, I have always been intrigued by Amish quilts. Their strong, graphic, pieced tops coupled with beautiful quilting designs are enough to make even the strongest heart skip a beat. My first real quilting class was taught by a Mennonite woman in my area, Lucy Hilty. In her class we learned how to draw feathers, cables, and all those really neat quilting motifs. With this knowledge I made a classic Amish diamond quilt. This experience led me to an intense appreciation of hand quilting. I thank Lucy for opening my eyes to the world of beautiful, well-designed, traditional, hand quilted quilts.

I can remember many satisfying hours at the quilting frame putting in stitches, watching my pieced tops take form right before my eyes! It was almost as if was breathing life right into them. If I had ten minutes to spare you could find me sitting at the quilting frame. I knew it was time to stop when my son Joey, then a little boy, would stand up under the quilt stretched on the frame, creating a head mountain. This little protest would make it impossible to quilt. My daughter Adair, then an infant, would wake from her afternoon nap demanding attention. Oh, when would I steal ten more minutes?

My father and I developed, and still have, a quilt frame business called Sladky Quilt frames. When we vend a show, people always stop by to watch me quilt. The are fascinated by the speed and ease of the process. (Through the process of hand quilting several dozen quilts during the first decade of my quilting career, 1 quickly developed the skill for creating little stitches.) What really surprises observers is that I can quilt in all directions using three different fingers: my middle, pointer, and thumb. With a short lesson, and a little practice, many people have learned to hand quilt in the same manner. Even my dad knows how to do it! Once you learn these simple techniques your life will be changed, forever! So lets get started.

In hand quilting, the sky is the limit when it comes to tools. With so many tools available its difficult to know where to start. I will share with you the products I use and why. When you understand the basic properties of the tools feel free to try other brands. What works for one person might not be the right choice for another. Before you know it you will understand what works best for you. But always remember you generally get what you pay for, with few exceptions.

Fabric

Always work with the best 100% cotton available. The quilts in this book were made using Kona Cotton solid-colored fabrics by Robert Kaufman Company, Inc.the colors are wonderful and they needle beautifully. How a fabric needles refers to how easily the needle glides through the fabricwhich enables you to get little stitches. I will often bring a quilting needle along to the quilt store to test the quiltability of the fabric (how it needles). I take a few passes through the cloth to determine how easily the needle slides through the fabric. If the fabric grabs at the needle or seems difficult to get through, put the fabric back on the shelf and pick another bolt. Avoid using cotton/polyester blends. While they might seem softer and therefore a more likely choice for case of quilting, I have found the fibers "grab" the needle, making the quilting experience slow and frustrating. Be sure to choose fabrics carefully. I am always amazed at the diversity of fabrics that can exist under the same roof!

If you are using fancy quilting motifs, as we are in this books projects, the more visually exciting the print of the fabric, the less your quilting designs will show. This is why I chose to use solid-colored fabrics. Let those cables and feathers spring forth!

Beware of bargain fabrics. Only the seasoned quiltmaker should partake in this type of purchase. Many times these great deal are fabrics with a lesser thread count (fewer threads per inch) which can cause the fabric to stretch or distort and wear out quickly. These fabrics can also be scattered with imperfections and flaws. When you hand quilt, many hours will be spent handling and working with the fabric. What a shame to have the fabric fall apart right before your eyes after many stitches have been lovingly put in.

Avoid using a bed sheet or decorator cloth for the top or the backing. The higher thread count (more threads per inch) makes it extremely difficult to hand quilt, because the needle will not slide between the threads easily.

There are different schools of thought as to whether you should prewash, or at least pretest, your fabric. My philosophy is, at a minimum you should test, but probably prewash, and here are my three reasons.

When the quilt is laundered, 100% cotton can shrink, causing puckers and distortion of the shape.

The darker color dyes have been known to migrate to the lighter fabrics in quilts. This defines the expression heartbreak. Always prewash darks and lights separately.