Lisa Berentsen

Many say differently, but I say, “There is no cheating in quilting.”

Google “Cheater Quilt,” you’ll get 169,000 results.

Now try Googling “Cheater Quilts,” you’ll get 294,00 results.

If you want to, search on “Cheater Quilt Patterns,” you’ll get 572,000 results.

What is a “cheater quilt?” They tell me it is fabric designed to look like patchwork or applique that allows a quilter to skip most of the piecing, getting to the borders, quilting and binding faster.

Some people even call the self-binding technique “cheater binding.” (You know, where you trim the backing bigger than the quilt, fold it to the front and stitch it down.)

But, not me. I’m boycotting any form of the word “cheat” when it comes to quilting. After years of quilting I’ve learned that there is no such thing as “cheating” at quilting. Quilting is manufacturing. Just as industry has improved production techniques, tools and materials, Quilting techniques, tools and materials evolve over time.

To me, this is not “cheating,” this is “improving” and it makes more time for me to quilt more things.

 

Live well. Quilt Well.

With the quilt top finished, there were still decisions to be made and work to be done.

Of course, the backing had to be chosen. That was easy enough.

The batting can be a different issue. I showed Ellen quilts with various battings- Warm and Natural, Bamboo, Hobbs Poly-Down, etc. Ellen’s quilt top was sewn consistently enough that she could choose from any and get a great result. With some new quilters, I encourage a batting with some loft, as it has the propensity to absorb some of the lumps in a quilter’s early efforts. Also, a quilting pattern that minimizes the number of stitches and the tightness of the quilting pattern helps work in some of the inconsistencies.

Ellen liked a bit of loft and chose the Hobbs Poly-Down. She wanted a fairly modern looking quilt and choose an all over loop pattern for the quilting.

I think it’s important to give a new quilter the gratification of a finished project as quickly as possible. Ellen and I had scheduling issues, and it looked like it would take weeks to free up the time to teach her to quilt the quilt top and finish the binding, so we went to Plan B. I made time to quilt her quilt top on the long arm and finish it using the “Suzie’s Magic Binding” technique.

The link to “Suzie’s Magic Binding” is in the Tips Library. (Go to “Community,” select “Tips, References & Tools,” then “Library”– at the bottom right on your mobile device, at the top of the feed on the web.) Also, yardage requirements for this technique are included in the “Backing Yardage” reference in the same location.)

Live well, quilt well.

Lisa

As far as I’m concerned, everyday is National Quilting Day. In reality, Saturday, March 21st is the National Day of celebration this year.

In my lifetime, I’ve seen many holidays created, Grandparents Day, Secretaries Day, Bring your daoughter to work day, etc. But I’ve never seen a newly made holiday that I appreciate more than National Quilting Day.

It is a special holiday set aside to celebrate quilts and quiltmakers- past, present and future. First celebrated in 1989, when the Kentucky Heritage Guild organized a “Quilters’ Day Out’ on the third Saturday of March, a day, they said, to celebrate the rich tradition of quiltmaking in Kentucky. In 1991, the National Quilting Association liked the concept enough that they voted to take it a national level. (I’ll bet that vote was unanimous.)

The first National Quilting Day was observed in 1992. Since then, the celebration has grown into an international celebration, with the entire month unofficially deemed “Quilting Month.” Helen Storbeck, one of the founders of National Quilting Day, wrote in The Quilting Quarterly, “Groups of quilters were encouraged to hold special events, publishers and shop owners were invited to sponsor promotions especially for quilters and it quickly became a grassroots endeavor with quilters in every part of the country participating.  In the first year of National Quilting Day, quilters in other countries asked to participate. They were welcomed with open arms. As our feelings of a community network has evolved to include a world community, it is only appropriate that quilters and quilt lovers everywhere united to give recognition to the special art form.”

NQA continues the celebration by using a contest to determine a National Quilting Day project each year. This year’s project, Crooked Path by Danielle Bohannon is shown here. Instructions can be found on the NQA website. Whether you make this pattern for personal use or for charitable giving or simply enjoy looking at it, have fun celebrating National Quilting Day!