Fabulous freeform filler strips

Quilter, author, and pattern designer Gail Garber has come up with another winning concept for interpreting traditional quilt patterns in a more contemporary style. She calls her technique Freeform Fillers—they’re basically curved rows filled with a variety of foundation-pieced designs such as Flying Geese and Picket Fence. These colorful pieced fillers can be used to create an entire quilt, or they can simply add a dramatic border or center to your next project. As you can see from these photos, Gail's fillers have a graceful swooping and dipping bird-like quality, not surprising when you learn Gail is also director of Hawks Aloft, a New Mexico non-profit organization that works to protect indigenous wild birds.

Gail outlines her technique and shows you how to design your own fillers in the July 2011 issue of American Quilter magazine, which will be mailed to AQS members the first week of June. If you’re not yet an AQS member or if you joined after May 3, 2011, you can purchase this issue on newsstand in mid-June or order a copy now through our member services department at 800-626-5420. (This issue is supersized to 114 pages and features all the winning quilts from both the Lancaster and Paducah AQS shows. It's always a quick sellout.)

And if you want to explore Gail’s technique even more, check out her book Flying Colors – Design Quilts with Freeform Shapes & Flying Geese (C&T Publishing), available for purchase at http://www.americanquilter.com/books_supplies/item_detail.php?id=8319.

Round quilt hanging sleeve

(Submitted by Gail Garber, www.GailGarberDesigns.com)

Here are instructions for making a sleeve to hang Cartwheel Constellation (the cover quilt pattern from the January 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine) or any other round quilt. This method will work with even small round quilts.

Calculate 1/8 of the diameter of the finished quilt. Then determine the width of the quilt this measurement (1/8 of diameter) below the top. Cut a strip 8-1/2" wide and 2" longer than this width measurement. Hem each end and then stitch into a long tube, wrong sides together. Press seam toward one side, centered along the back of the tube. Position the tube a distance of 1/8 of the finished quilt diameter down from the top of the quilt, at the center. Slip stitch in place.
I use this method when hanging all circular quilts, positioning a sleeve close enough to the top to evenly bear the weight of the quilt, but not far enough below the upper edge to allow the top to flop over. I then insert a very thin piece of molding, about 1" longer than the sleeve. This is placed on two small nails that extend out of the wall just far enough to hang the molding. Generally, the quilt top will stand up nicely against the wall. In those rare instances where it still wants to flop over, I insert one tiny straight pin through the quilt and into the wall. Another option is to sew a small tab near the top of the quilt on the back side and pin that to the wall.

Look what's in the January 2010 issue!

The January 2010 issue of American Quilter (on newsstand December 8th) is chocked full of wonderful articles and patterns…and some surprises! Joanne Winn teaches you how to use your machine’s embroidery module to quilt fancy feathers, while Gail Valentine reviews six efficient methods for making half-square triangles. You’ll be amazed at the first installment in a new series of articles by Iris Frank about remarkable larger-than-life quilting projects. And did you know that you can dye fabric with steel wool? Beth Wheeler shows you how in her article on rust dyeing. Tattooed quilters? You might be surprised at who is sporting quilter “ink” nowadays. There are colorful patterns ranging from easy to challenging, including the spectacular cover quilt by Gail Garber. All this and more await you in the January issue! Not an AQS member? Join now so you don’t miss a thing.