Stash Buster Quilts. Lynne Edwards

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      STASH-BUSTER QUILTS

      Lynne Edwards

      Time-saving designs for fabric leftovers

      A DAVID & CHARLES BOOK

      Copyright © David & Charles Limited 2006

      David & Charles is an F+W Publications Inc. company

      4700 East Galbraith Road

      Cincinnati, OH 45236

      First published in the UK in 2006

      Text and illustrations copyright © Lynne Edwards 2006

      Lynne Edwards has asserted her right to be identified as author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

      The designs in this book are copyright and must not be made for resale.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      ISBN-13: 978-0-7153-2194-2 hardback

      ISBN-10: 0-7153-2194-3 hardback

      ISBN-13: 978-0-7153-2463-9 paperback (USA only)

      ISBN-10: 0-7153-2463-2 paperback (USA only)

      Printed in the United States of America by CJK

      for David & Charles

      Brunel House Newton Abbot Devon

      Executive Editor Cheryl Brown

      Editor Ame Verso

      Assistant Editor Louise Clark

      Head of Design Prudence Rogers

      Project Editor Lin Clements

      Production Controller Ros Napper

      Visit our website at www.davidandcharles.co.uk

      David & Charles books are available from all good bookshops; alternatively you can contact our Orderline on 0870 9908222 or write to us at FREEPOST EX2 110, D&C Direct, Newton Abbot, TQ12 4ZZ (no stamp required UK only); US customers call 800-289-0963 and Canadian customers call 800-840-5220.

      To the memory of my dear old dad, God bless him, who was the one who suggested that Making Scrap Quilts to Use It Up needed a sequel.

      Also to the memory of Pam Kearney, a much-missed Thursday Girl, and to Hazel Hurst and Phyll Howes-Bassett, dear friends who supported and encouraged me in everything I did. These two were my fairy godmothers and I miss them hugely.

      To all my family, especially my brother and his wife, who were towers of strength when I needed them.

      And finally, of course, to the quilters in Chelsworth, with whom there is never a dull moment. Still no respect but I can dream …

      Contents

       The Art of Stash-Busting

       Layer–Cake Quilts

       Spinning Pinwheels

       Crazy Nine–Patch

       Stitch–a–Strip

       Tilted Log Cabin

       Bargello

       Buzz–Saw

       Squaring It Up

       Squares on Point

       Boxed Squares

       Bits and Pieces Quilts

       Tessellating Leaves

       Scrap Lattice

       Corner Square

       Star and Nine–Patch

       Small but Satisfying

       Sheep in the Meadow

       Perfect Patchwork Pig

       Japanese Folded Patchwork Bag

       Finishing a Quilt

       Bordering a Quilt

       Backing a Quilt

       Ideas for Quilting

       Binding a Quilt

       Acknowledgments

       About the Author

The Art of Stash-Busting

      For more than four years I have been focused on finding, creating and developing quilt designs that will make some inroads into the piles of fabric that have accumulated relentlessly over the years – fabric on shelves, in drawers, in boxes and in piles on the floor. But I don't need to tell you about all that. If you have been a quilter for more than a year you know exactly what I am describing. To the uninitiated eye this represents the mindless accumulation of useless stuff (we won't even touch on the capital outlay involved). But what they need to understand is that when we buy fabric we are building and maintaining a collection. Collecting is just as much a creative activity as painting, writing novels or making quilts.

      Everyone's collection is different. I don't feel a compulsion to buy autumn shades or really bright fabric. Soft shades and subtle tones of blues/greys/mauves/pinks are my areas of addiction. Our fabric choices are personal and probably colour co-ordinated and it is that element of a collection that appeals. Nevertheless, what we have to realize is that the longer a piece of fabric stays in a stash, the more it loses its power and attraction. It needs to be taken out, shaken, grouped with others that give it new life, as it gives new life to them. In other words we have to use some of our collection or it cannot grow and continue to give pleasure.

      Don't be afraid to use the stuff: it justifies your collecting habit and after all, that's what it was made for. Reviewing my fabrics both for this book and my previous one, Making Scrap Quilts to Use It Up, proved to be an unexpected pleasure, like going to a family wedding or college reunion and meeting up again with people you had almost forgotten. Not only had I renewed my relationship with some lovely pieces of fabric but in using them in a quilt I have introduced them to other people who now also