Modern quilter Katie Pedersen

Introducing Katie Pedersen -- modern quilter extraordinaire who spoke at our Gig Harbor Quilters Guild last month. She was fantastic, fun, and her quilts were fabulous! Can you tell that I liked the program?

She's only been quilting for seven years, but she founded the Seattle chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild and already has a book under her belt. She also blogs and just did this blog post about her talk at our guild:  http://sewkatiedid.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/stepping-out/

One of her simple square quilts.

Her book is "Quilting Modern -- Techniques and Projects for Improvisational Quilts," written by Katie and Jacquie Gering. But more impressive than the book (which is great) is that she lives and works in a 640-square-foot home with a husband and son along with her fabric stash!

Improvisation is a big theme with her, and she started by showing us some simple square patch quilts that were made improvisationally.  

Then she explored half-square triangles ...

... and other triangles ...

... and showed us some wonky blocks with a lot of solid background to showcase the quilting. She likes to use Osna cloth, a type of loosely woven off-white nubby cotton that almost looks like a rough linen. She also backs a lot of her quilts with flannel.

She used old phone book pages as the foundation for this strip-pieced star:

This red quilt shows her "magic numbers" design. You basically cut squares 2 1/2", 4 1/2", 6 1/2", and keep adding 2" to the size. Allowing for quarter-inch seams, the blocks all fit together nicely into improvisational units.

She also showed some more intricate designs:

The backs often carried over the design from the front.



One of the quilts using Osna cloth as the background.

Improvisation

Here's what Katie and Jacquie say in the book's introduction: "Improvisation has various interpretations, but for us it means creating in the moment and reacting to ideas and our environment to make something new. Improvisation energizes our creativity and fosters an inventive spirit."

Free yourself

Also: "Free yourself. We ask ourselves on a daily basis, what might happen if? Ideas are free for the taking. Grab one and take it where you want to go."

Have a colorful day