Continuing to ‘Turn 20’

Yesterday, I told you about the great book “Turning Twenty”, and introduced you to the author and quilt designer, Tricia Cribbs. Today, I want to share some quilts from the 2nd and 3rd books in the series, “Turning Twenty… Again”, and “Turning Twenty Around the Block”.

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The basic premise remains the same, in a Turning Twenty quilt, you turn 20 fat quarters into a quilt top.

For book two, “Turning Twenty… Again”, you cut your fat quarters into 11 different shapes, then you mix the fabrics around to make every block look different. Here is my creation from that book, I choose to go with darker fabrics for this quilt, but if you look at the book cover above, you see how bright and ‘springy’ a quilt with this pattern can be.
Quilt Size: 64½” X 80½” – with optional 6½” border it becomes 76½” X 92½”

20 Again Quilt

For book three, “Turning Twenty Around the Block”, I made a quilt that was primarily black and white, with red accents. This quilt was taken with me to several different shows, expos, and seminars. And it seemed that everywhere I went, someone wanted to purchase the quilt from me!
Working with the buyers from Hancock Fabrics, I selected fabrics and helped put together a kit of fat quarters that would recreate the feel of the quilt everyone loved so much. The kit is designed to be sold as a companion to the “Turning Twenty Around the Block” book, the kit does not include a pattern with it.

The fat quarter kit – please note it does not include instructions

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A closeup of the fabrics in the kit (this time without the glare from the shiny packaging)

With this third book in the series, you are still making the quilt out of fat quarters, but instead of cutting them into 10 or 11 shapes (as in the last two books), this time you cut your fat quarters into 12 different shapes. Then the fun comes – you mix up the fabric pieces and make every block with different fabric combinations just as with the other books.

One difference in the third book – for this quilt you will need an extra 1½ yards of focus fabric for the center of the 20 blocks and you will need 1¼ yd of fabric to make sashings or corners on each of the blocks. The size of the finished quilt is: 72½” X 88½”.

Check out the book for examples of other color combinations and ideas for the centers of the blocks, as you can see on the cover, one suggestion is to put an image such as Sunbonnet Sue in the focus blocks. There is even a pattern to make a ‘Reduced Fat’ Quilt – finished size 34½” X 42½”
This quilt is a finished size 72½” X 88½”

Around the Block
A picture of the finished quilt – this is the quilt that can be made with the fabric kit available at Hancock Fabrics

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A closeup picture of the quilt

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Book Review: Turning Twenty

Today I thought I’d share with you some information about a great quilting book that I’ve really enjoyed making quilts from. It’s called “Turning Twenty”, and I was able to get the quilt designer and author of the book, Tricia Cribbs to share some of her thoughts with us.

As a ‘Certified, card-carrying Fabric Addict’ I continually find myself faced with the challenge of creating yet another quilt from a new group of marvelous fabrics! I made my first quilt in the 1980’s, and after I’d made just about all the basic quilts – Log Cabin, 9 Patch, Rail Fence, Trip around the World, etc., I tried my hand at designing quilt patterns. To date, we have published a multitude of patterns, had 4 books published by Leisure Arts, and have self-published 15 books (with two new titles being introduced at Spring Quilt Market in May). I’m also happy to have just designed my 7th fabric collection for Northcott Monarch. My “Beez” collection will be introduced at Spring Quilt Market, and YES there will be a book of patterns for making quilts using this collection!

Now about Turning Twenty – a few years ago, in an effort to reduce the time spent cutting out a quilt and also reduce my sewing time, I began to play around with a new idea. My favorite quilts must have several different fabrics, must be outstanding in appearance, and must be fast and easy to make! When I began to cut and piece my first Turning Twenty quilt I thought ‘now THIS is EASY’! The thing that I hear over and over from other quilters about Turning Twenty quilts is how fast, easy, fun, and addicting they are. So, Turning Twenty became a series of quilt books… each one uses the same concept – turning twenty fat quarters into a fabulous quilt. Those who have never made a quilt or even sat in front of a sewing machine will find instant success with Turning Twenty. With all the great fabrics available these days, it’s a shame to buy them, bring them home, only to stack them up and wait until ‘someday’ to make that quilt! It fun knowing you can gather fabrics in the morning and have a finished Turning Twenty quilt top before time to start dinner tonight! I hope you have lots of fun Turning Twenty, Turning Twenty.Again, and Turning Twenty Around the Block!

Blessings, Tricia

Now, I know it sounds too good to be true, but it really IS possible to complete the top of a Turning Twenty quilt in a day if you have everything ready when you get started to work.

Below is a picture of a quilt I made out of the first book, “Turning Twenty”. The concept is very simple, you start with 20 fat quarters, and each fat quarter is cut into into 4 specific shapes.

Mix up the fabrics to make each block have a different combination of fabrics. This quilt is so easy to make, and can be very simple and restful on the eyes or very exciting depending on the 20 fabrics you begin with. If you don’t have your own stash of fat quarters to use – check out the fat quarter singles program that Hancock Fabrics has – it’s a great source of fabrics.

This quilt is always on our guest bed waiting to offer a warm welcome to friends or family who to come to stay. Quilt size is 70½” x 86½” , or you can add an optional 6” border (which I did) and than the quilt is 82½” x 98½”

Many thanks to Tricia for taking the time to give us some insight into what got her started with these great books. If you’d like to learn more about Tricia, or about the Turning Twenty books, her website can be found at FriendFolks, and the books are in Hancock Fabrics stores now. Tomorrow, I’ll show you some pics from the other two books, and tell you about a fabric kit that has been specifically designed for one of these great books.
Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Quilting Book Review – Crazy for Baby

Are there times in your life when you fill like everyone around you is expecting a baby? It seems like that’s the case for me right now. Pretty exciting! But now I need to make baby gifts.

When you love to sew and make things as gifts for people, the most natural gift for a new baby is a quilt. At a time like this, I find that I need quick baby quilts, that will still have a great look. I found a great book called “Crazy for Baby” by Me & My Sister Designs. The book features four fast and fun quilt ideas with 10 color variations.

It seems that when I’m in the fabric store, I always find lots of great juvenile theme fabrics. The only problem with these fabrics is that you won’t want to cut them into small pieces for quilt blocks – the whole look of the fabric would be lost. What I really like about this book is that you can take a juvenile fabric and use for a center panel. You than sew pieced blocks around the large picture. How easy and fast is that? You’ll probably want to make more than one project out of this book!


My granddaughter got a Care Bear for Christmas, and when I found this cute fabric at Hancock Fabrics I thought her Care Bear might need a blanket.

For the pinwheel quilt blocks, I went to the section in the store where they have the Fat Quarter single program. This is a great program, fat quarters arranged on an upright rack by color and shade. Shopping through these is always fun and inspiring. It was so simple to pick-up 5 different fat quarters to complete my color selection.

You can complete this quilt top in a day easily. Perfect for a quick gift for a new baby (or bear) in the family! My finished quilt was 45″ x 50″, yours may be different if you change the borders on the quilt.

After I finished this quilt, I looked around Hancock Fabrics for some other fabrics that would work for this type of quilt. There are so many fun theme fabrics out there! Here are just a few of the other fabrics I may have to consider some day.


And look what came with the Care Bear fabrics. . . a fabric book panel. Make this up and give to the newcomer!

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila