Mary Cowan - Colorful Stash Busters: 10 New Projects from Marys Cottage Quilts

Text copyright 2011 by Mary Cowan

Photography copyright 2011 by C&T Publishing, Inc.

Artwork copyright 2011 by Mary Cowan

Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Acquisitions Editor: Susanne Woods

Editor: Cynthia Bix

Technical Editors: Teresa Stroin and Gailen Runge

Cover/Book Designer: Kristy Zacharias

Page Layout: Kerry Graham

Production Coordinator: Zinnia Heinzmann

Production Editor: Alice Mace Nakanishi

Illustrators: Mary Cowan and Tim Manibusan

Photography by Christina Carty-Francis and Diane Pedersen of C&T Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted

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

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be used in any form or reproduced by any meansgraphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systemswithout written permission from the publisher. The copyrights on individual artworks are retained by the artists as noted in Colorful Stash Busters. These designs may be used to make items only for personal use or donation to nonprofit groups for sale or for display only at events, provided the following credit is included on a conspicuous label: Designs copyright 2011 by Mary Cowan from the book Colorful Stash Busters from C&T Publishing, Inc. Permission for all other purposes must be requested in writing from C&T Publishing, Inc.

Attention Copy Shops: Please note the following exceptionpublisher and author give permission to photocopy pages 21, 29, 32, 40, and 56 for personal use only.

Attention Teachers: C&T Publishing, Inc., encourages you to use this book as a text for teaching. Contact us at 800-284-1114 or www.ctpub.com for lesson plans and information about the C&T Creative Troupe.

We take great care to ensure that the information included in our products is accurate and presented in good faith, but no warranty is provided nor are results guaranteed. Having no control over the choices of materials or procedures used, neither the author nor C&T Publishing, Inc., shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. For your convenience, we post an up-to-date listing of corrections on our website ( or at P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549.

Trademark () and registered trademark () names are used throughout this book. Rather than use the symbols with every occurrence of a trademark or registered trademark name, we are using the names only in the editorial fashion and to the benefit of the owner, with no intention of infringement.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cowan, Mary (Mary Stewart)

Colorful Stash Busters : 10 New Projects from Marys Cottage Quilts / Mary Cowan.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-60705-271-5 (soft cover)

1. Strip quilting--Patterns. 2. Machine quilting--Patterns. 3. Patchwork--Patterns. I. Title.

TT835.C697 2011

746.46--dc22

2010048108

Printed in China

109 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Scott, Ben, and Melissa,
Thank you for your love and patience;
you guys have always been my biggest fans.
I love you so much!

First of all, I want to thank my husband for buying me my first quilting book some 18 years ago. I think he is still kicking himself for that fatal lapse in judgment. I would also like to thank my darling children, who have been more than happy to humor this queen of reheat and eat the frozen meals I have put in front of them. Thanks, too, to my cousin Leslie for walking around Wheeler Farms with me and taking my picture for this book.

I especially would like to thank my mom, Regina, and my brother Dan, who have been my cheerleaders from afar; they are always ready with words of encouragement. I would also like to acknowledge my dad, Dudley, whose quiet strength is with me always; he taught me of the beauty in nature that is all around us. Thanks to my family, the Stewarts, whose heritage I am a large part of and whose love I have felt. The name of my companyMarys Cottage Quiltsis taken from a cottage built by my great-grandfather William James Stewart in upstate New York in 1907. Thanks to all of my familyI love you all!

I know this book wouldnt even be possible without C&T Publishing! How can I ever thank you? You have taken this clueless quilter under your wing, and you have been so nice to work with. You are a team, and I have felt your kindness throughout this whole process. Thank you all for your patience and willingness to help meCynthia Bix, Teresa Stroin, Alice Mace Nakanishi, Zinnia Heinzmann, and Kerry Graham.

When I was in sixth grade, all of my friends decided they hated the color black. I decided that I hated olive green. I look back at that now and laugh, because I actually chose a specific green to hate. I guess I have always been aware of colorhow it affects the feel of a quilt or a room, and so on. I remember back to my college days to one of my graphic design professors telling us to look at colors in nature when we are exploring different color combinations.

That being said, I think we quilters sometimes stress way too much about color choices. In this book, my primary goal is to encourage you to let loose a little with your color options.

Last year when I was binding an old quilt for a friend of mine, I noticed that there were a lot of different shades of the same color within the quilt and that they all didnt quite match. It was like a breath of fresh air to see that this quiltmaker had used what she had on handbecause lets face it, there probably wasnt a local quilt shop nearby with the perfect shade of green. I love that approach! I love to use my stash, see what I can take from it, and then add other fabrics as needed.

For each project in this book, I show you two different color possibilities in the hope that it will help you see that there is always more than one successful colorway for any quilt.

Most of the quilts in this book were based on fabric I had in my stash, with new pieces as needed. Having said that, the guidelines listed for fabric requirements with these quilt projects are the smallest amounts you will want to purchase. Remember, these are guidelines; they are not set in stone. I really want you to use what you have in your stash and then add to it. Sharing fabrics with quilting friends is another great way to build a good variety of fabrics in small amounts!

My second goal in this book is for you to have fun and try new ways to design your quilt tops and put your blocks together. For example, I like to figure out ways to make these quilts a lot easier to construct than they lookoften by designing layouts with the blocks on point. I also love to use two different blocks and see the secondary design that is created when these blocks come together. I hope you will take some of the approaches you learn in this book and use them when making other quilts and projects. I also hope this book will be a useful reference tool for you.