You Inspire Me To Quilt - Introduction (Part 2)

Welcome to the second look at You Inspire Me To Quilt. Today I want to let you in on the rest of the quilts and contributors. If you missed the first instalment, you can find it here.

Have you ever had someone in your life - not a quilter - who suggests some crazy idea for a quilt to you? An idea that you initially dismiss as ridiculous, difficult, or even impossible to translate into a quilt? Have you struggled to work out a design for an idea you wanted to try, for an inspiration that stopped you in your tracks? Well, you aren't alone. You Inspire Me To Quilt is all about that process - from inspiration to finished quilt, from Spark to Binding.

Each contributor to the book shared their process of design and making. That's on top of the pattern itself. We've also included insight from each quilter on a wide range of topics from teaching quilting, finding time for creativity, inspiration, and family. It was such a privilege for me to work with these amazing women, I am thrilled.

Dino Patch is a fun quilt, perfect for collaboration with the favourite littles in your life. You need to see what Carolyn Friedlander did when working with her nephew. Her process is fun for all parties involved and makes for this great quilt. By breaking out the process you can take it and completely make it your own.

Kisses was a labour of love for me. In response to a need for a large enough quilt for a king size bed - with us in it - I made this. Sometimes the inspiration is more functional than funny, but it is still there.

This quilt is a simple, stunning beauty. Straightforward in its construction, yet full of so much love and detail. Jen Carlton-Bailly did an incredible job capturing the phases of the moon and a mother's love for her daughter in one quilt. (I couldn't help but use two amazing mothers in the photo, from Shop Blest, and my dearest friend. Those are their boys/grandsons in the Dino Patch photo too.)

You never know when the SPARK is going to hit you. In Heather Jones' case it was when she and her husband, Jeffrey Cortland Jones, were leaving a parking lot.  In shooting the book I hemmed and hawed about the best way to shoot this quilt. In the end, a stark moment captured interestingly won out over literal interpretations with other signs.

It is totally appropriate that Blair Stocker made a quilt with her husband's request to tackle ski parkas. They are quilted already, after all! Personally, I think this is a fantastic idea for those of us with a surfeit of kids' parkas left with stains and ripped elbows from an active winter. Not to mention cold rinks to sit in and ski lunches to be had.

This was truly an incredible experience, from start to finish, from spark to binding, from first notes to book in hand.

Pick up You Inspire Me to Quilt on Amazon or request it at your local quilt store.