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About a week before Christmas I spoke with author and quilt teacher Jan Krentz. Jan's new book Quick Star Quilts & Beyond comes out in March and will be sold through local quilt shops and online, on Jan's own website and in her classes. We talked about the new book, Jan's teaching philosophy, and why people love to quilt.
Jan makes traditional quilts, but uses fresh, updated fabrics and this is highlighted in her new book. She also sells 45-degree diamond ruler templates to help make the featured star quilt. Jan describes it as a Lemoyne Star on a large scale.
Jan has worked with star designs for years and began selling the rulers in classes, but she says her students didn't know what to do with them when they got home. Jan wrote the book to answer their most common questions. How big will it be? How much yardage should I buy?
These patterns make fast quilts. Each of the twenty patterns take about 5 to 10 hours depending on the complexity of the design. More complex patterns like Broken Stars take a bit longer, but you can piece the whole top in one day. Jan describes these as "pedal to the metal" quilts - something a quilter can do quickly just for fun.
Jan says, "People are looking for simple projects so they can feel a sense of accomplishment." She hopes the book will appeal to beginners or advanced beginners and people who don't have a lot of time to put into quilting. These quilts would make good samples to showcase a fabric collection and also appeal to anyone who needs a fund-raiser quilt, graduation quilt, or other quilt with a deadline. They will look attractive, but won't take a lifetime to make.
The book incorporates a variety of fabric styles to showcase the different designs. The quilts in the book were made by several different guest quilters so that Jan could showcase the variety of fabric styles that work with this pattern.
Jan is planning classes based on the new book. She says that quilt guilds are requesting shorter classes from 3 to 6 hours. This is a challenge for the teacher who must factor in travel time and expenses. To make it cost-effective, the teacher needs at least two days worth of classes to compensate the two days of travel, while workshop attendees need shorter classes to fit into their schedules. It's challenging to balance these two requirements.
Quick Star Quilts & Beyond is available for pre-order through Amazon or on Jan's website.
Next time we'll talk about Jan's philosophy of teaching and why people love to quilt!
Cheers,
Kelly
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