Day 6 of the Strip Quilt Secrets Blog Hop. You Could Win a Copy of This Book!

Woot! Woot! Diane Knott has a brand new book out and I think you're gonna want this one too! In her introductory she says, 'I want to make quilts that are comforting to look at as they are to use'. Oh yes, she's definitely speaking my language.

Reading through the book, I came upon several interesting tips on dealing with strip sets. Things that I always have problems with, like sub cutting the long strip sets. You know how they tend to get this slanted thing going on, and you always have to trim a little bit more to get those nice, sharp pieced units? She addresses that in a way that I can't wait to try out.

The true test of a good quilting book {to me} is when I find a quilt that resonates and suddenly I'm imagining it in fabrics that are already stashed away. I've been wanting to find a good 'chain' pattern and Shimmer really hits the high notes. You have to know that I'm already envisioning it with an appliqued border....

After dithering about color palettes and little details like that, I read a little deeper into the pattern. Hallelujah! She even has pressing instructions for all those strip sets! In the picture below, you can see that the arrows indicate proper pressing directions. Yep, I'm sold. So very frustrating to try and join multiple strips into something that looks good, when all your best efforts inadvertently end up causing stacked seams.

I tried not to veer too far off the pattern with this fabric selection pictured below. Really! So surprising as I usually upend the entire suggested pattern selection and practically stand it on its head. I ended up choosing lighter purples for the chains than what Diane chose, and then mixed up the value in the middle units a little bit more than what might be wise. Didn't choose as many bright and happy colors. My goal here is to create a fade-in, fade-out look with the lighter purple chains barely holding the line. I love that this pattern is so set, but you know me. Always having to take a risk somewhere to keep things extra interesting! We'll see if it works out, but regardless, the strips are cut out now. Guess that means I'm committed!

I also took a good hard look at the Fiesta quilt. Diane does such a fabulous job with value and her brighter, more cheerful quilts are, as always, especially inspiring. When you get a chance to flip through the book, you'll quickly realize that many of the quilts also come with pieced border instructions. Love that! Having collected many scrap quilting books throughout the years, I can tell you that this means that Diane has went the extra mile to make each quilt extra special.

You can also be sure that she is a true-blue, die hard, scrap quilter at heart, by the fact that she includes instructions for the quilt below. Be still my frugal, utility quilt loving heart! Made in different colors and older fabrics, it could very well have been made a hundred years ago! There are great directions for diving head first into your scrap bin and making use of all those little bitty castoffs. Not in the mood to spend much time pre-planning or cutting before getting started? This is your quilt!

Diane is giving away a Strip Quilt Secrets book at every single one of the Blog Hop sites, including this one! For a chance to win a copy of this book, just leave a comment below telling me what your very favorite quilt book is. {I don't care if it's already on your shelf or a new one that's currently just on your wish list, inquiring minds want to know!} And oh yeah, present book excluded as there's no doubt it's front and center in everyone's mind right about now!

I'll draw a winner on Monday, January 14th. Please leave an email within your comment if there's any chance you might be a no-reply commenter. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of postage, this giveaway is only open to US residents. For those of you unable to leave a comment, due to the vagaries of Blogger, you can drop me an email at audkateaster at gmail dot com. I'll make sure to include you in the drawing as well. Only one stop left after mine, so you'll want to be sure and check that out on Thursday! Let's give some love to Diane and have a whole bunch of comments for her to check out. You and I both know that she'll be reading each and every one.....!