Save the Scraps : Great Quilts from Small Bits (Now In Its 4th Printing!) $ 24.95 More Information

News from Gayle Bong

I thought I’d update you on what I have been working on this last year.  In November 2007 I sent a manuscript to Martingale and Co for my seventh book, Twin Peaks.  It is due to be released, at the end of 2008. If you are familiar with my books or classes, you already know that Twin Peaks is my name for a strip piecing technique that produces pairs of half-square triangles joined on a short edge. I have thought of doing this book for a long time and finally made the time to work on it. I use the technique in the “Calico Rickrack” quilt in Quilts from Skunks Hollow and in two quilts in Save the Scraps. I now offer two different Twin Peaks classes where participants have a  choice of 3 different quilts in each class. 

In the last year I have had two articles published in Quilters Newsletter magazine. In the June 2007 issue, No. 393, my three-patch triangle technique was featured in the Quiltmaker’s Workshop column to offer a template-free method to construct a unit I have used a number of times in my quilts.

Then in the April 2008 issue, No 401, my Infinite Stars technique was featured in the Quiltmaker’s Workshop column. I was quite surprised when one of the magazine’s editors called and asked if I would do an article based on the book I’d written 15 years earlier.  It was great fun to make these stars again and the technique was new to  many of my students who hadn’t been quilting the first time I offered the Infinite Stars classes.

Save the Scraps is in its fourth printing. Yippee! Thank you, thank you. I continue to enjoy working with scraps so I wrestle with working on quilts for another scrap book or the next Thirtysomething book. I have been amazed at how sales for the Thirtysomething Square Up continue.  Thank you  to the designers around the country that use it in their classes.  In fact, they have inspired me to continue to design with it. As a result, I have come up with two new companion units to use with the original Thirtysomething pieces. That lead to over 100 new blocks and the start of another book. It’s been exciting! Some of the blocks are in the sampler quilt shown here.

Meanwhile, I am revising the Thirtysomething classes I offer to include the two new units.  Locally, I am offering a Thirtysomething “course” this summer at Pamella’s Place, in Genessee Depot, WI. Particiapants will learn all the related thirtysomething units in this series of great skill building classes. Check the schedule at her website, http://www.Pamellasplace.com/

My hope is to generate at least 30 quilts to show in the next Thirtysomething book. So, whether you have taken a Thirtysomething class from me or another teacher, or explored the design potential of this little unit on your own, please send your pictures if you would like your quilt considered for publication. Even if you don’t want it published, I’d love to see your quilt.

And finally, I’d like to thank everyone for encouraging me to continue doing what I love.