Exploring Mixing Quilt Elements with Kathy Doughty
Posted by Kathy Doughty on Apr 13th 2016
We are lucky to be quilters! It gives us a space in our lives to be creative, to be engaged, to be productive, and over all to be happy! My years as a quilter are accumulating, but I never forget what it felt like to be new to quilting. To wonder how it was all done … to separate what I know from what I don’t know and to discover methods of achieving the results I wanted in my quilts. If our eyes and minds are open we can learn something new every day.
Mixing Quilt Elements is all about digging into the tool box of techniques available to us.
Perhaps in your quilting practice you want to learn how to explore using color. Controlling contrast is the first step. Color Works is a quilt that will help you break through the mystery of how to use dynamic prints and most likely do so with things you already have in your stash!
Hexagons are all the rage at the moment. You may think that hand piecing is for someone else, but I am most likely the most unlikely hand piecer. No patience, busy life, and a manic need to finish projects are all part of my DNA. However, over the years I have fallen in love with hand piecing as a way to connect with my creative breath. The choices are one at a time and the process is relaxing. In the end, we get there. Hope Hammock started the day I learned I had breast cancer. It took over two years—I thought maybe I would never finish it but there it is and hand quilted as well!
In some projects you may just find a detail that you like, for example a border treatment like this one in New Star.
I also explore New Star in more depth in the video above, talking about how I combined English paper piecing with larger pieces of fabric.
Interesting use of graphic prints is a favorite theme. Stripes and plaids are my go-to fabrics for backgrounds and sashing strips. Ring Around is made using a wedge ruler … a favorite theme with a new twist!
I have found over the years that some days we just want to dig into our stash and make a little quilt. Into the Woods captures the details of my favorite scraps and turns them into a fairy-tale walk in the woods under trees with delightful surprises. Liberated piecing means every quilt is unique.
There are also a few patterns in here using wool! Fun images of Magpies capture the feeling of my backyard … or yours!
So, Mixing Quilt Elements … a modern look at color, style, and design … why modern? Because the patterns are written to let you show you and be you in your quilts. I like to write about fabric choices and technique so that you can pick what you like and go where you want to go!
Follow me on Instagram at matobsgirl or on my blog for more information and updates on what people do with the projects in this book.
We're giving away a copy of Mixing Quilt Elements and a bundle of fabric from Kathy's FreeSpirit fabric line, Flock Together. Enter here for a chance to win: a Rafflecopter giveaway! Open to US participants only. Winner will be announced in one week on the blog. Congratulations to Lori M., winner of this giveaway!
