Inspired by Carol Taylor

Quilt artist Carol Taylor of Pittsford, New York, is a talented teacher as well as a frequent award winner in AQS and other quilt competitions. Last year she wrote a wonderful article for American Quilter called Transparent Beauty, about using sheer organza fabrics in a variety of colors to create shadows and layers in her art quilts.

I recently received a letter and photos from Janet Gajewski of Lenoir City, Tennessee, about Carol and this article. Janet shares:

"I first saw Carol Taylor’s art quilt Bountiful in the March 2010 issue of American Quilter. I was inspired by the design and technique, so I drew my design on paper and began what turned into a real challenge. Although I'm an experienced sewer, I have been quilting for only a year. My nine-patch background consists of cotton fabrics plus several home dec fabrics. The first border is home dec satin; the second border, binding, and backing are batik. Some of my leaves are double fused. For example, I had bright red organza, so I fused a soft gold over it to get the desired color. For the peach leaves, I fused a peach polyester curtain fabric over light peach cotton. The finished size is 20” x 20” and I named it Nature Dances.

My learning experiences were phenomenal! I experimented with different threads for the embroidery stitching and discovered that a quality thread like Guterman rayon worked best. I also discovered that a narrow buttonhole stitch worked better for me than a tight zigzag, especially for the berries. It was a lot of fun doing something so different and creative, and I am happy to share these pictures with my family and friends."

Thank you, Janet, for sharing your beautiful quilt. AQS members can access Carol's article at http://www.americanquilter.com/.

A new look in the new year

The new year is a great time for fresh starts, so the design/editorial team at American Quilter magazine is delighted to debut a "magazine makeover" with our March 2010 issue. This issue is at the printer now, and will be arriving in your mailbox (if you're an AQS member!) in about two weeks.

What's different? Starting with the cover, you'll notice a fresh, more modern layout and font style. A stunning full quilt or quilt detail photo is presented as a full-page image, rather than just one corner - easier for you to see the stitching and details. The short cover headlines (letting you know what's inside) are grouped in one highlighted area, handy for the 94% of readers who keep and refer to their back issues indefinitely.

There are lots of improvements inside, too. The articles and patterns feature a new "lighter-weight" font. Pattern layouts are simplified, most diagrams are a bit larger, and yardage charts have a softer, cleaner look. At the top of each page of editorial content, you'll see a heading that identifies the page, making it easy to locate articles that "jump" to another page.

But some things have not changed! That includes our emphasis on interesting quilter lifestyle articles, helpful techniques, and distinctive patterns and projects. If you like Carol Taylor's cover quilt, try her technique for creating sheer layered images, all detailed with how-to photos in this issue. Traditional piecers who want to improve their technique will find Jan Krentz's article on eight-point intersections extremely valuable. And of course there's quilt "eye candy," in this case the 20 top winners from the AQS Quilt Expo in Des Moines.

I'd love your feedback after you receive this issue. We listen!