Autumn is Quilting Weather...

Chilly Autumn nights are here, so it must be time to start all of your holiday quilting projects.
There are so many different approaches to quilting but I think we would all agree that the most important is to be prepared. Cut once, measure twice, have all of your pieces ready in advance and of course a neat and tidy work area (well, we should all have something to aim for!). At Mary Jo’s Cloth Store we carry all of your old favorites and some great new fabrics in many patterns, colors and different holiday and seasonal themes. We even have some on our sale page and when you think about our low prices to start with, you know the sale price is dirt cheap.

Today we are featuring a master quilter, Anita Grossman Solomon who is the author of the popular books, Make It Simpler series “Paper Piecing” and “Perfect Blocks in Minutes”. She has also appeared on HGTV's "Simply Quilts". Anita has created a system that is easy, organized and can help you to create a perfect quilt, every time! Sounds like a dream? Don’t worry easy never sounded so good.
I was cruising around on her website www.makeitsimpler.com and was impressed with the knowledge she so freely shares and easy links to purchase her books. This is what she had to say about “Paper Piecing”.
The following is an interview featured on Electricquilt.com...
“Q: Congratulations, Anita! You're just written your first book, about a new pinless, "fold and sew" foundation technique you developed. How would you describe your technique to our readers?
A: It's simplified paper-piecing, but it's not paper piecing as you know it. It's sort of hand-piecing, with a sewing machine, over a paper foundation. An entire 6" block pattern is meant to be photocopied from the book onto translucent vellum. Most significantly, rather than cutting up the pattern into sub-units, it's scored instead along pre-printed lines.
Piece the block without sewing through allowances. Since you never cut the foundation apart, it doesn't have to be put back together. Just refold and sew the subunits together along the printed seam lines. Every intersection and point should be perfectly matched because they were never cut apart.

Anita's Faux Card Trick quilt. Can you believe each block was pieced on ONE foundation? Hint: Anita used squares, rectangles and triangles. Pieced by Anita and machine quilted and finished by Janice E. Petre of Sinking Spring, PA
Because of this new technique, it's possible to design and construct blocks in new ways. I've 'done' a Faux Card Trick that can be pieced, continuously, on one foundation. I've never seen the block done on less than three foundations.

Another block, Jan's Star (named for my fabulous C&T editor, Jan Grigsby) is an asymmetrical star ensconced in an attic window setting. It's unusual because the setting is formed when one of its two seams are sewn. A perfect 45 degree angle is created. It's uncanny.”
To read more of this interview click here..

Wow, so much more is on the site so take the time to log on to Anita's site and surf around to find some tricks that will make quilting easier and more efficient. Think about all of the quilts and smaller quilt project you could create between now and Christmas. Think about this, great gifts and cozy bedding just in time for cold, dark and rainy, snowy days.

Now is the time to get crackin’ on your upcoming projects so take a minute and log onto www.maryjos.com today. Better yet if you have time or are in Gastonia you could stop by and take a cruise through our 32,000 sq. ft store for not only inspiration but a rummage through the sale bins. We also have stacks and stacks of fat quarters just waiting to be turned into something absolutely fantastic.
Happy Holiday’s. Yes it is early, but not so far away.