The best way to see if you really admire a quilt’s design is to view it in black and white.

I was reminded of this recently when I picked up an older book called Quilters’ Choice, copyright 1978 by the Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. The book features mostly black and white photos of quilts in the museum’s collection.

For quiltmakers like you and me, why is a black and white photo preferred?

The main reason has to do with value. The fabric values (lightness or darkness relative to the fabrics around them) are seen more easily in black and white. It’s easier to tell how many different values are used in the quilt.

And there are no “ugly” colors to distract you—you’re free to enjoy the quilt’s design alone.

Before I understood any of this, I sometimes purchased patterns for quilts made with ridiculously simple shapes. I came to realize I was buying them because I loved their color schemes, not because the piecing designs were anything special.

Now when I spy anything in which I love the color combination, I simply jot down the colors in my pocket-sized Moleskine. I have my own names for colors so that later, I know just what the color was.

I know exactly what I mean by terms such as seafoam, salmon and periwinkle.

This is what I call "seafoam."

This is what I call "salmon."

This is what I call "periwinkle."

Down the road, I can refer back to my lists for inspirational color combos.

This happened recently with a Quiltmaker pattern, too.

I had a black and white copy of a very old pattern called Whirligig. I loved the simple shapes and thought it would make a great scrap quilt. I had only the photo (no dimensions), so I had to decide what size to make the block: I went with 1″ finished strips and 2″ finished half-square triangles for a finished block size of 7″.

I had small pieces of some Denyse Schmidt fabrics I love, and to these I added some vintage fabrics. It was really fun to cut a bunch of pieces and then start mixing them up to see where it would all lead.

I made about 15 blocks and settled on 12 in the final piece.

A few weeks after I pieced this, I looked up Whirligig to see what the colors we originally used looked like.

Whoa. Not what I was expecting—but the color photo proves my point. I’d never have looked twice at this pattern in these colors, and certainly would never have made it based on the colors QM used in 1994. But in black and white? It was fabulous! Lesson learned. Always look at a quilt design in black and white. (When someone refers to “grayscale,” they mean the same thing.)

Now I’m on to the quilting portion, and I’m basically stuck, asking the eternal question: how should I quilt it? In the next post, I’ll give you some ideas of where to look for quilting designs when you are stuck (and also show you the world’s ugliest pieced back).

We’re looking for projects that you made using blocks in last year’s 100 Blocks special issue.

Georgia Presley, from Salem, OR, won Monique Dillard’s block #92 Red Rover. She made two complementary blocks to create this table runner. The block she won is in the center. Nicely done Georgia!

Pam Griffin, from Ontario, Canada, along with her friend Margie, made a calendar holder with the goal of a different block to display each month. First they chose Lynda Howell’s block #13 Isabelle.

And then they chose Vicki Lynn Oehlke’s block #51 Sunny Day.

Great job Pam and Margie!

It’s your turn. Show a picture and tell us all about your 100 Blocks project!

• If you’ve posted pictures on your own blog, leave a comment with a link.
• Post your picture on our Facebook page.
• Add your photo to our 100 Blocks flickr group.
• Send the photo by email to sewtospeak at quiltmaker.com.

You read last week how Diane dreads sewing rows together when she’s making a quilt – well, I seriously dislike marking the sewing lines down the center of a patch for things like triangle squares or stitch & flip. Did I mention seriously dislike?! I’ve tried to eyeball the stitching down the center, but you know how that goes – it’s never straight.

So, I’m piecing a quilt for an upcoming Quiltmaker issue (my own design mind you!) and it has a bazillion stitch & flip pieces. As I’m endlessly drawing center lines, I’m thinking “who would design a quilt like this?!” =) I was complaining to Diane & Eileen about having to mark all the patches and they suggested I mark the center line on my machine and use it as a guide for my stitching. Duh! Now, I’m not a new quilter, but it was such a simple and brilliant idea I thought, wow – no matter how long you’ve been quilting, there is always something new to learn, isn’t there?

Then I remembered that I had this great product just for this type of situation. It’s called Qtools Sewing Edge from Alicia’s Attic.

Qtools Sewing Edge

The thickness creates an edge that guides the fabric in front of the presser foot, or in this instance, I used the edge as an alignment tool. With the presser foot removed, I used my ruler and the markings on my sewing machine to align the repositionable edge with my needle.

Put the presser foot back on and align one corner of the patch with your needle and the opposite corner on the Qtools Sewing Edge.

As you stitch, keep the corner closest to you aligned with the sewing edge. It works great for chain piecing – look at all of my pieces!

Sneak Peek!

What “new tricks” have you learned lately?

I’m about to hyperventilate here. The blog at Sew, Mama, Sew today asks the question: What is the best sewing tutorial you’ve seen this year? Scroll down to the comments for a treasure trove of links to great patterns, instructions and ideas. It could take me all day just to get through them. Please go have a look–you’ll be inspired! Here are a couple of my favorites so far:

mod sampler from Oh, Fransson!

hanging fabric baskets from U Create

gathered clutch from Noodlehead

I love to piece. I love to make blocks. I love to applique. But when it’s time to sew everything together, I am not a happy quilter. I dread sewing blocks into rows and then sewing all the rows together. It’s boring, but—

I have a strategy! Right now I’m working on this quilt from McCall’s Quilting, September/October 2008 (one of our sister publications).

Row by row (one each evening), I'll get this baby together!

It’s called Merry-Go-Round; it was designed by Sandy Klop. You may know her as American Jane. I had so much fun piecing it—I got kind of carried away. It’s larger than I realized, so when it went onto the design wall I knew right away that sewing it all together would bore me to tears. So, my plan is to sew together one row each evening. I’ll be done in less than two weeks, and the pain/boredom won’t kill me!

Do you have a strategy you apply to quilting? We’d love to hear about it in the comments! Stay tuned for more strategies from Quiltmaker in the posts to come.

Wow–what a great response to my Meet Me at the Manor question. And for an unknown number of unidentified prizes!

First, I loved reading your responses and, while I don’t have an official tally, it looks like both the original Summer colorway and the Autumn color option are the clear favorites. Then Batiks and Blue & White, followed by the 1930s. Plus, I think all of the holiday suggestions are great too. This would be a very fun Halloween or Christmas quilt. Who’s going to make one?

On to the prizes and winners. I rounded up leftover fabric from our Sept/Oct quilts and have enough to pick five winners. Using random.org, the winning comments are #’s 66, 64, 29, 3 and 24. Winners have been contacted by email.

1. Bull Run Nine Patch—#66 Karen A wins some of the Blue Hill fabric we used in the quilt and some that didn’t make it into the quilt.

2. Triangle Tricks—#64 Lindsay wins a pretty big bundle of many of the Robert Kaufman fabric that we used in this quilt.

3. Simple Abundance—#29 Jessica will get some jelly roll strips and yardage from Moda that didn’t make it into this easy table runner.

4. Practical Magic—#3 Regina might just be getting enough Robert Kaufman batiks to make the whole thing.

5. Asian Autumn—#24 Stacy wins some lovely taupes from Maywood Studios with a variety of sampler fabric that didn’t make it into our finished project.

Thanks everyone for participating. Remember as you think about Meet Me at the Manor, we do have starter kits available in all the colorways shown in Sept/Oct ‘10. See the newest QM products.

Note: The pattern for Four Little Birds (mentioned below) is available as part of Quiltmaker’s All-Time Favorites~Spring 2006. This issue is available as a digital download. [9/1/10: We have some technical problems with the digital version of ATF Spring 2006. It is currently not available to download--we'll let you know when it's been fixed.]

The Sept/Oct ‘10 issue of Quiltmaker (No. 135) will be in subscribers’ mailboxes shortly and on newsstands August 10. On its inside back cover, Spotlight features a quilt by Lorry Chwazik from Norwich, New York. Lorry’s statement about the quilt and the process by which she made it was thought-provoking, and her ideas about designing the quilt were contagiously inspiring. I wanted to share them with you.

Lorry Chwazik's creatively original version of Four Little Birds

“Inspiration for this quilt came from ‘Four Little Birds,’ originally patterned in Quiltmaker Jan/Feb ‘96 (No. 47). I absolutely love the zen-like appeal of hand piecing, and this pattern provided the perfect challenge with which to use that technique.

The original version of Little Birds from QM Jan/Feb '96 (No. 47)

But how to provide my own spin on that design? The curves of the ‘birds’ made for a strong graphic right to the edge of the block, and naturally led me to wonder what secondary designs might pop up if the blocks were joined without sashing. And then what would happen if they were set on point? And what fabric choices would make it look like a period piece? So many interesting things to consider!

“I drew out a rough sketch for placement and started collecting and cutting fabrics. Little Birds and I were ready to spend many happy hours together, waiting at my daughters’ piano lessons, play practices and swim meets.

At a swim meet in the fall of 2003, Lorry paused her piecing long enough to take this photo of her daughters.

Lorry continues, “Life seems way too hectic. The feeling that my life is hurtling past is one I experience often. This quilt, which was hand pieced and hand quilted, was all about the process. It took nearly nine and a half years from start to finish. Although some people might have found it to be tedious, I found it to be liberating! Finally, something I could take my time with! And then, after all those thousands of stitches—the sense of accomplishment when that last stitch was placed was a fantastic feeling.”

Based on Lorry’s thoughts, here are some questions to ask yourself in regard to your next quilting project:

1. “What would happen if I ____________________?” Fill in the blank with options such as “rotated the blocks,” “rotated half of the blocks,” or “used fabrics in hot pink and purple.” Rather than making a quilt look exactly like one that has already been made, how could you put your own twist on it?

Actually, we choose Spotlight quilts based not only on their overall appearance and quality of workmanship, but also by asking “what did the maker do to make it her own?” A submission that looks exactly like the original quilt is less likely to be used as a Spotlight. Asking yourself “what would happen if I…?” is a great place to begin.

2. “Do I need to be in a hurry to finish this quilt?” If it’s for a 50th anniversary and the party is next month, you probably do. But how about reconsidering the sweet simplicity of taking your time and enjoying every step of a project? If there is no need to hurry, let your quilting be one area of life that quiets you and soothes your soul. Whether you’re working by hand or on the machine, relax, enjoy and savor every stitch. Think of the nine years Lorry spent on Little Birds—and get back to slow.

Note: The pattern for Four Little Birds is available as part of Quiltmaker’s All-Time Favorites~Spring 2006. This issue is available as a digital download. [9/1/10: We have some technical problems with the digital version ATF Spring 2006. It is currently not available to download--we'll let you know when it's been fixed.]

Thanks to some alert readers, we just discovered some missing elements from the Snuggle Sampler Part 2 pattern in July/Aug 10. Block W is missing the E patches and the frame for Block U is missing the seam allowance. Please check quiltmaker.com/corrections for the update. We regret the errors.

Have you entered our contest yet for a chance to win the July/Aug ‘10 cover quilt? You’ve got until 11:59 pm MST on 8/9/10 to enter.

Answer trivia questions from our sponsors’ website and enter today! Be sure to tell your quilty friends.

Quiltmaker is offering a free quilt pattern called It’s a Wrap for a limited time. It features gift-wrapped packages with name tags that can be personalized for your family or friends!

The newest issue of Quiltmaker (Sept/Oct, No. 135) features a finished quilt from this pattern by a reader, Anne Anderson from Pierre, South Dakota. Anne’s quilt looks great in reds, greens and golds (see page 9 of the magazine).

Another idea: make them into birthday presents! I can just imagine this quilt in little girl colors of pink and purple for a special birthday treat.

Or think even further out of the box: if you were to give your children or grandchildren lifelong “gifts,” what would they be? I think of things like faith, hope, love, honesty, creativity, liberty, roots, wings…the list could go on and on. How about putting those words onto the gift tags for a child or grandchild and making the quilt in colors he or she would love?

Don’t delay—the free offer is for a limited time. When the offer ends, the digital download will be available for purchase. We hope you’ll enjoy making this unique design, and we invite you to send us a photo of your finished quilt. You might turn up in Sew to Speak or Spotlight (our reader pages) in a future issue.