A few weeks ago, I wrote about my friend, Karen Snyder, who sells Fabric and Fudge at her
shop, Anna Lena's, in Washington State. Well, she also just published a book about fat quarters. The book is called “Bundles of Fun” Quilts from Fat Quarters. This book features 12 “stylish” ways to use you fat quarter bundles.
I conducted a fun interview with her about the process of quilt book writing and publishing--here are some highlights of the interview:
Q: How did you find the time to sew, quilt, stir fudge, keep the “cranberry man” (her hubby is a cranberry farmer) happy and write a book?
A: I had lots of help with the sewing. I wanted to show each quilt in at least two entirely different color families in the book, so my goal was to make each quilt once myself, and have a friend make it another time, with other fabrics. That would kill two birds with one stone--get a second quilt made and check the pattern. In the end, a couple of friends did double duty, too.
The quilting was all done by me (I think!). Luckily, I have a long arm machine, so was able to use that to do the quilting. The challenge was to keep the quilting interesting and not all the same. I gave quilting suggestions for all the quilts in the book, not the usual "Quilt as desired!"
Fudge stirring fell to Patty, my girl Friday at the shop. I taught her everything I know about fudge making, and she has taken over the kitchen.
The cranman (that's the license plate on his pickup, by the way) is relatively easy to keep happy. He does require three meals a day, however, and that's not always easy. Luckily, I have quite a repertoire of 10-minute gourmet meals to fall back on, and Long Beach has lots of great restaurants. I feel it's my duty to help them stay in business, so I try to patronize them frequently.
So, that leaves the book writing. I did most of the writing in the evenings. The hardest things to get used to were the format that the publisher required, and, sometimes, figuring out how to put into words something that's relatively easy to do--like sew all the strips together, sew them into a tube, cross cut the tube, unstitch at 2" intervals and connect the strips. Huh? Also, thank goodness for graphic designers that can interpret my sketchy sketches and turn them into fine diagrams and layouts.
Q: I understand that your book is fat quarter friendly...but are you friendly with quilters with fat quarters??
A: Gina, I think you would know that I am a very friendly gal. How many people do you know, besides you and me, who would get up in front of a room full of strangers and sing Bottle of Wine (She is referring to a award winning singing performance at a snazzy dinner we attended while at market last fall-I was her back-up dancer…)
Q: . I know the process was a long one, but it is all very exciting. Congratulations. It is great that your book is finally on the shelves of quilt shops.
A: It was a long process. The weirdest thing is, I was completely done with my part last July, so it seems so long ago since I was in the thick of writing it. It's amazing that it takes that long to edit and print it, but it does. I am happy with the layout of the book-- it is very straightforward. The fat quarter cutting diagrams are easy to follow and having the quilts shown in two color families really exposes the reader to multiple options for their own quilts.
I hope you check it out "Bundles of Fun" and use up some of your fat quarter collection to make the fun quilts in this book. (These detailed photosof the book are courtesy of the FatQuarterShop.com. They sell Karen's 128 page book for $26.50.)
shop, Anna Lena's, in Washington State. Well, she also just published a book about fat quarters. The book is called “Bundles of Fun” Quilts from Fat Quarters. This book features 12 “stylish” ways to use you fat quarter bundles.I conducted a fun interview with her about the process of quilt book writing and publishing--here are some highlights of the interview:
Q: How did you find the time to sew, quilt, stir fudge, keep the “cranberry man” (her hubby is a cranberry farmer) happy and write a book?
A: I had lots of help with the sewing. I wanted to show each quilt in at least two entirely different color families in the book, so my goal was to make each quilt once myself, and have a friend make it another time, with other fabrics. That would kill two birds with one stone--get a second quilt made and check the pattern. In the end, a couple of friends did double duty, too.
The quilting was all done by me (I think!). Luckily, I have a long arm machine, so was able to use that to do the quilting. The challenge was to keep the quilting interesting and not all the same. I gave quilting suggestions for all the quilts in the book, not the usual "Quilt as desired!"
Fudge stirring fell to Patty, my girl Friday at the shop. I taught her everything I know about fudge making, and she has taken over the kitchen.
The cranman (that's the license plate on his pickup, by the way) is relatively easy to keep happy. He does require three meals a day, however, and that's not always easy. Luckily, I have quite a repertoire of 10-minute gourmet meals to fall back on, and Long Beach has lots of great restaurants. I feel it's my duty to help them stay in business, so I try to patronize them frequently.
So, that leaves the book writing. I did most of the writing in the evenings. The hardest things to get used to were the format that the publisher required, and, sometimes, figuring out how to put into words something that's relatively easy to do--like sew all the strips together, sew them into a tube, cross cut the tube, unstitch at 2" intervals and connect the strips. Huh? Also, thank goodness for graphic designers that can interpret my sketchy sketches and turn them into fine diagrams and layouts.
Q: I understand that your book is fat quarter friendly...but are you friendly with quilters with fat quarters??
A: Gina, I think you would know that I am a very friendly gal. How many people do you know, besides you and me, who would get up in front of a room full of strangers and sing Bottle of Wine (She is referring to a award winning singing performance at a snazzy dinner we attended while at market last fall-I was her back-up dancer…)
Q: . I know the process was a long one, but it is all very exciting. Congratulations. It is great that your book is finally on the shelves of quilt shops.
A: It was a long process. The weirdest thing is, I was completely done with my part last July, so it seems so long ago since I was in the thick of writing it. It's amazing that it takes that long to edit and print it, but it does. I am happy with the layout of the book-- it is very straightforward. The fat quarter cutting diagrams are easy to follow and having the quilts shown in two color families really exposes the reader to multiple options for their own quilts.
I hope you check it out "Bundles of Fun" and use up some of your fat quarter collection to make the fun quilts in this book. (These detailed photosof the book are courtesy of the FatQuarterShop.com. They sell Karen's 128 page book for $26.50.)
