Looking for Inspiration?

Winter is here! Cold months mean there is no requirement to get outside to do yardwork. We have the books you need for hand sewing and other new skills! Boro & Sashiko, Harmonious Imperfection by Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsbysd Boro is the ancient Japanese art of mending and Sashiko refers to …

Learn a new technique or be inspired

Book reviews by Kathleen Day, guild librarian Hello, readers! Our library continues to get treasures in, from buying readers’ recommendations to generous donors. Here are just a few:  Modern Quilt Bible by Elizabeth Betts Published just last year, this book introduces the reader to the aesthetics and skills needed to …

New Books in the OPQG Library

We have big news in the OPQG Library! We have added 200 new titles to our library in the past month and our library now has more than 1,100 books. Each book has something to offer—inspiration, instruction, patterns, news of quilting in other places, quilt history, and other cultures. The …

A Skill Building Course in Quiltmaking

by Loretta Hermann, OPQG Librarian Whether you are a beginning quilter or an experienced quilter, this series of Quilter’s Academy, written by Harriet and Carrie Hargrave, will have strategies, tips, instructions and projects for you.  There are six books, each with lessons and projects building on quilting skills. Each book in …

Dating Your Quilt

How to Become a Quilt Detective by OPQG Librarian, Loretta Hermann Perhaps you have inherited some old quilts, or you got carried away at an auction and purchased some old quilts.  Most vintage quilts do not have a label on them. “Curiosity killed the kitty-cat,” so the saying goes.  To …

Applique—As American as Apple Pie!

Although applique may be a French-sounding word, the use of applique in quilts is an American invention.  Like our culture, beginning with English bedding traditions, quilters added parts of German design mixed with diverse native folk art.  At the turn of the 1900s, quilting terminology distinguished between a “pieced” quilt …

Good Things Come in Small Packages—Miniature Quilts

Article by Guild Librarian, Loretta Hermann In the early 1980s, homes were decorated with anything from by-gone eras, including quilts.  Decorators found that scaling quilts down, they could be used for placemats, table runners, potholders, wall hangings, framed like pictures, or hung on a small stand. In the past few …

Making Your Quilt Pop with Color

Sometimes when I finish making a quilt, I am disappointed in how boring and “matchy-matchy” it turned out. It is not as exciting as I expected when I chose the gorgeous, colorful fabrics at the fabric shop. Effective use of color can reinforce a composition and help clarify your intention.  …

Jodie Davis

Jodie Davis has been designing and sharing her designs since the 1980s. Her designs are featured in more than 30 books on quilting, she has written. That includes Hometown Quilts and Raw-Edge Appliqué.  She is co-creator and host of “Friends in the Bee,” plus the face you see most often …

Tula Pink

Tula Pink is an icon of the fabric and quilt world.  She is an illustrator, a fabric designer, a quilter, an author, and a maker.  Known for her cool, innovative style, Tula is the leader in the modern cultural revolution. Pink graduated from Otis College of Art and Design in …