Becky Goldsmith - Piecing the Piece O Cake Way: 15 Skill-Building Projects / 27 Quilts - Todays Guide to Quilting Basics

Text and Artwork copyright 2007 by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins

Artwork copyright 2007 by C&T Publishing, Inc.

Publisher: Amy Marson

Editorial Director: Gailen Runge

Acquisitions Editor: Jan Grigsby

Editor: Lynn Koolish

Technical Editors: Teresa Stroin and Amanda Siegfried

Copyeditor/Proofreader: Wordfirm Inc.

Cover Designer/Book Designer: Kristen Yenche

Illustrators: Becky Goldsmith and Tim Manibusan

Production Coordinator: Zinnia Heinzmann

Photography by 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 Piecing the Piece O Cake Way. These designs may be used to make items only for personal use or donation to nonprofit groups for sale. Each piece of finished merchandise for sale must carry a conspicuous label with the following information: Designs copyright 2007 by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins from the book Piecing the Piece O Cake Way from C&T Publishing, Inc.

Attention Copy Shops: Please note the following exceptionpublisher and author give permission to photocopy 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 more information about the C&T Teachers Program.

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

Goldsmith, Becky.

Piecing the piece o cake way : 15 skill-building projects, 27 quilts, todays guide to quilting basics, color choices made easy / Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-57120-416-5 (paper trade : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-57120-416-4 (paper trade : alk. paper)

1. PatchworkPatterns. 2. QuiltingPatterns. I. Jenkins, Linda. II. Title.

TT835.G6547 2007
746.46041dc22

2007017741

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Weve said it before, and well say it againwe are very lucky to be associated with C&T! Everyone there has been very good to us. First, Todd Hensley, CEO, welcomed us with open arms. Amy Marson, publisher, is always there to support us. Lynn Koolish, our editor, helps us to make each book the best it can be. We thank them all.

It would be nice to be perfect, but we arent, so we are very grateful to Teresa Stroin, our technical editor, who makes sure that we get the details right. Luke Mulks and Diane Pedersen, our photographers, make everything look beautiful. Kris Yenche, this books designer, has given Piecing the Piece O Cake Way its cheerful and happy appearance. We thank you all for your excellent efforts.

Three women helped us make the quilts in this book. Elsie Ridgley and Diane Redfearn helped us make several quilt tops. Mary Covey machine quilted many of the quilts in this book. We appreciate their excellent efforts!

FROM BECKY

Janette Meetze was my first quilting teacher, at the Cotton Patch quilt shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She made quite an impression on me! Her six-week sampler class was well thought out. She was always prepared, and she was unfailingly helpful to each student. When I teach now, I always try to do as good a job as Janette did.

Janette taught us the basics of quilting in that class. I certainly felt capable to go out and tackle any quilt I took a notion to make. Every quilter should be so lucky.

Thank you, Janette!

FROM LINDA

Betty Crowell was my first quilting teacher, in 1983. Her class was before rotary tools. Everything was hand pieced, and the patterns were traced onto the fabric using a template. We used a tool to add our seam allowances.

Our home was flooded in 1984. All of my hand-pieced blocks were soaked. I was able to save most of them. Two years later, I went to the Cotton Patch quilt shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with my blocks in hand. I asked if they offered a sampler class that I could sit in on so I could finish my quilt. Betty Terrell was teaching a sampler class using rotary tools.

I was blessed to have had the opportunity to learn the basics from Betty Crowell who taught me hand piecing and Betty Terrell who taught the basics using rotary tools. These two ladies gave me a firm foundation in quiltmaking.

Often quilters begin by making a quilt with specific techniques using a tool made for that pattern. It is our hope in writing this book that you learn the basics you need to tackle any quilt.

Thank you, Betty Crowell and Betty Terrell.

It hasnt been that long since we were beginning quilters. A big change that weve seen is that an amazing number of tools that we could never have imagined back then are now available to new quilters. With the proliferation of tools has come a proliferation of new quilts, new ideas, and new ways to do things, which inspire us all to be better quilters. However, with so much new information its easy to overlook what was once common information.

Many books written today assume that you know certain things. Of course you know how important a seam allowance is. or Everybody knows which way to press the seam allowances. The fact is, though, that many quilters dont know these (and many other) quilting basics.

We wrote Piecing the Piece O Cake Way with the hope that it will become a much-used resource book for quilters of all skill levels. We have done our best to share fundamental quilting skills with you. Once you have mastered these skills, you can use them in every quilt you make.

Its best to start at the beginning of this book and work through it. The skills we present are built upon one another, chapter by chapter.

A note to those of you who know us best as appliqurs: Like most quilters, we pieced before we appliqud. We have never lost our love of pieced quilts. We treasure the skills that we learned early on. While we didnt include any appliqu in this book, we do love to combine piecing and appliqu in quilts. Please refer to our book The New Appliqu Sampler for detailed instructions on hand appliqu.

Many quilters choose to make a bed-size quilt for their first quilt. If that is your plan, wed like you to reconsider. You are more likely to finish a smaller quilt, and we want you to have that satisfaction sooner rather than later.