Darned Quilts

By Dena Dale Crain

Darned Quilts is the outcome of one quilter's journey. A simple, basic need coupled with a few sparks of inspiration led to this entirely new way to think about patchwork quilt design.

Growing out of a real-life situation, the design methods you will discover here developed over time. The journey began with experimental attempts to create increased visual interest in a single-layer composition.

Learn to work with color gradations in patchwork quilt design. See how one set of colors can make a background from which identical shapes can be cut and repositioned to create eye-catching pops of color contrast that generate an imaginary three-dimensional design space.

Play with all kinds of trims and specialized treatments that add color, texture, and interest to the background and the shapes cut from it. Finally, discover how sewing machine darning holds the work together to make a long-lasting work of art that is uniquely yours!

The Darned Quilts ebook contains step-by-step illustrated instructions. It is full of good general sewing advice and peppered with anecdotes that make for interesting reading and great fun in patchwork quilting. As the work unfolds, your mind will jump to other possibilities suitable for your first Darned Quilt or others to come. One Darned Quilt follows another, and the possibilities are endless. Dena's innovative ideas shine through, but you can be proud of your original design art quilt—-it's a "one-of-a-kind!"

Darned Quilts went on to become one of Dena Dale Crain's most popular online quilt classes. Dena taught Darned Quilts in live classrooms in Canada, Houston, New Zealand, South Africa, and elsewhere. Its popularity has never waned!

Get your copy of Darned Quilts now, and let the fun begin!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dena Dale Crain
• Release date: Mar 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005625016

Dena Dale Crain

Dena Dale Crain relocated from the USA to Kenya in 1990, then returned to the USA in 2023. She spent most of her time in Kenya, living on the shore of Lake Baringo, two hundred miles and a five-hour drive north of Nairobi, with her partner Jonathan Leakey.Dena saw patchwork quilting as a way to employ local women, taught herself the basics, and began a small production quilting business in her home. With advanced degrees in design, anthropology, and textiles, she was uniquely positioned to help. As her experience and confidence increased, she began producing “one-off” works of art. Dena’s innovative art quilts were the subject of several solo art exhibitions and group quilt shows in Africa.Dena helped found the Kenya Quilt Guild and keeps a pulse on its activities. She helps educate members of the society at large about quilts as art. She has written magazine articles and lectured at quilting and non-quilting functions.Teaching in Cape Town, South Africa, for the Good Hope Quilters Guild National Quilt Festival in July 2002 moved Dena into the ranks of international quilting teachers. Since then, she taught art quilting at such prestigious venues as the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England; the European Patchwork Meeting in Val d'Argent, France; and the International Quilt Festivals in Houston and Chicago in the USA. In 2011, she earned South Africa National Quilt Guild Certification. In 2018 she became a Recommended Teacher for the same guild.In 2004 Dena joined the faculty of Quilt University, the first major online educational facility for patchwork quilters, later teaching for QuiltEd Online and the Academy of Quilting. An inventive and creative mind coupled with top-notch sewing skills makes Dena Dale Crain an educator of high merit in the world of patchwork quilting.Find links to Dena's patchwork quilt ebooks, live and virtual quilt classes, original pattern downloads, and more on her website.

Book preview

Darned Quilts

by

Dena Dale Crain

Copyright

Smashwords Edition

2021

Discover other titles by Dena Dale Crain at Smashwords.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Smashwords licenses this book for personal education and enjoyment only. It may not be resold or given away to other people. To share this book with another person, please buy another copy for each reader. If you did not buy this book, please return it to Smashwords and buy another copy.

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Disclaimer and Terms of Use Agreement

The information contained in this book is solely the author's opinion based on personal observations and experience. This material is for information and reference purposes only.

The author does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or usefulness of any information contained in this resource book. The author shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, in any way, for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of, or because of the use of, or reliance on, any such content. Information contained in this resource book is subject to change without notice.

The author and publisher assume no liability whatsoever for the use of or inability to use any or all information contained in this publication. Readers use this information at their risk. If they practice the ideas contained in this book, they accept full responsibility for their actions.

This book may include links to World Wide Web sites and products. While supplying these links, the author does not guarantee, approve, or endorse the linked websites' information.

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Table of Contents

Preface

Testimonials

Supplies

---Fabric

---Other Supplies

Introduction

---Brief Glossary of Color Theory Terms

Chapter 1: Gradation Color Schemes

---Three Kinds of Gradation

-----Value Gradation

-----Color Gradation

-----Color plus Value Gradation

---Importance of Contrast

---Broken Gradations

---Embellishments for Gradation Sets

---Fabrics: Size and Number

Chapter 2: Practice Freehand Rotary Cutting and Piecing

---Cut Freehand Curves

---Sew Freehand Cut Seams

---Clip and Press

Chapter 3: Cutting and Sewing a Darned Quilt Background

---Cut Graded Fabric Strips

---Sew Graded Fabric Strips

Chapter 4: Additional Considerations for the Background

---Gradation Strip Alignment

---Optional Two-Panel Darned Quilt

---Optional Piping

Chapter 5: Stabilize the Background

---Fusible Interfacing and Its Use

---Fusible Interfacing FAQ

Chapter 6: Embellish the Background

---Color of Embellishments

---Layers

---Wide to Narrow

---Hidden Seams

---Excessive Embellishment

Chapter 7: Wide Embellishments

---Fusible Interfacing Appliqué

---Machine Set-Up and Sewing

---Appliqué Arrangements

---Fancy Fabric Appliqué

Chapter 8: Narrow Embellishments

---Ribbons and Trims

---Machine Embroidery

---A Decorative Stitch Chart

---Embroidery Embellishments

---Double-Needle Pintucks

---Couched Cording and Yarns

Chapter 9: Design and Construction

---Design Theory

---Shapes and Templates

---Working in Sets

---Cut and Swap

---Secure the Shapes

---Darn the Shapes

---Edges of Broken Bubbles

---Edge/Center Swaps

Chapter 10: Special Effects for Darned Quilts

---Overlaps

---Shadows

---Ghost Shapes

---Trapunto

---Free Motion Embroidery

---A Word About Borders

Chapter 11: Squaring and Quilting

---Purpose of Backing

---Straighten the Backing Fabric

---Flatten the Top

---Stack and Secure the Layers

---Quilt without Marking

---Trim the Quilt

Chapter 12: Happy Endings

---One Darned Quilt Leads to Another

---A Darned Good Quilt Story

---Finish the Darned Quilt

About the Author

---Other eBooks

---Online Quilt Classes at Academy of Quilting

---Patchwork Quilt Patterns

---One Last Word

Feedback

Preface

This quilt design method grew out of a disagreement. Jonathan and I could not decide what we wanted as a bedcover. Of course, I wanted a quilt. He argued that a quilt was too warm for our climate. Daily temperatures at our home near Lake Baringo in Kenya ran between about 80-95o F, and we had no ceiling fans or air conditioning.

We finally agreed on the idea of two layers of cotton sheeting without batting. Compromising on that decision gave me complete artistic freedom to decorate the cover as I wished.

The coverlet design was random. It was simple and easy to sew. It used a combination of curvy strips of African fabrics and wavy lines of double-needle stitching for texture, plus more curved lines of hand-dyed cotton yarns couched into place. It was not an artistic masterpiece. Still, it was fun to make the quilt, and it resolved any potential conflict.

The gentle curves and the way the fabrics worked together, like fronds of waving seaweed, were appealing. I used the idea for another quilt, this one for a wall hanging, combined with a graded background. This method of working launched my quilting into yet another new direction and Darned Quilts was born.

Darned Quilts offers quiltmakers a chance to design on the fly. Replicate what I did with the designs if you wish. It is far better to master the sewing methods I suggest and follow my thinking in how the design process developed for me. Then let these various ideas empower you to go in new, more creative directions.

Testimonials

My DH likes the Darned Quilting and wants me to make him one . . .

Making a darned quilt was a good experience for me as I hadn't tried the techniques before. I plan to do more in the future.

When I took the Darned Quilts class, I had in mind an aquarium feel for the quilt, but it ultimately came out as a meteor shower!

This was a fun class with a low-stress quotient. I learned some new techniques and a simple way to design and construct a complicated-looking quilt. As usual, Dena's material is articulate, well organized, and complete. She shares her knowledge and experience generously. She responds to questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.

Quite by chance, I am busy with another darned quilt at the moment, but I must say that class was one of the most enjoyable I have ever done. I learned more from you in that class than in many others, including Nancy Crow!

Supplies

Fabric

Special Note: Please read Chapter 1 before buying any fabric. Most quilters own enough fabric and trims to make a Darned Quilt without additional shopping. Use what you have on hand instead of purchasing new products.

In addition to the 6-8 graded fabrics as described in Chapter 1, fat quarters or quarter yards of full-width fabric for each value or color, materials needed for a Darned Quilt include:

---3-4 printed or patterned materials to use as embellishments. These should coordinate or contrast with the graded fabrics. They should be equal in width to the width of the quilt. They should be long enough to provide 3-6 strips cut on the cross-grain, each piece 1-3" wide, to appliqué to the quilt top.

---One piece of fabric large enough for the quilt binding

---One piece of fabric large enough for the quilt backing

---Enough scrap fabric and extra interfacing to make some practice samples as needed

Other Supplies

---Batting of choice, 1/4" thick

---2 yards of lightweight Pellon, Vilene, or another nonwoven fusible interfacing

---(optional) 1/2 yard of the fusing agent of choice, e.g., WonderUnder, Steam-a-Seam

---A random selection of trims, ribbons, cords, laces, and tapes, 1/4 - 1/2" wide, of different materials and textures, in colors to coordinate or contrast with the gradation fabrics

---A random selection of yarns in any fiber in colors that match or contrast with the gradation fabrics

---Regular sewing thread for piecing, quilting, and finishing the quilt in neutral, matching, or contrasting colors

---A selection of decorative threads: rayon, holographic, variegated cotton, and metallic. Colors need not match the fabrics, only to complement them.

---Quilters’ bent safety pins or straight safety pins

---Straight pins