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Friday, September 16, 2011

Meet Edyta Sitar, Aurifil’s designer of the month

Edyta Sitar
Aurifil’s Designer of the Month for September is Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. As you know, I love and make traditional quilts as well as art quilts. Edyta does, too! In her traditional quilts, she often combines applique with piecing, and her color schemes — usually warm and soft — are just luscious. Look at this beauty:

“Reaching Out” by Edyta Sitar
Her art quilts are very graphic, and usually feature batik and hand-dyed fabrics. Here is one of her patterns:


Pat Sloan interviewed Edyta on the Aurifil blog; you can also download the lovely free project she designed there. Here it is:

If you want to hear Pat’s interview with Edyta on May 2, 2011, click here.  

Remember, if you make any project from the design team, load a photo to our Aurifil Flickr group. This puts you in the running to win an Aurifil thread prize!



You can check out Edyta’s books, calendars, patterns and fabrics in her online shop. Here is her latest book:


GIVEAWAY!
Each month this year, I’m going to be giving away a pack of Aurifil minispools (like the one shown above) when the new project is announced. Just leave a comment after this post telling me how you learned to quilt (did someone special teach you, or did you take a class? read a book?).
I'll pull a name at random on Saturday, October 8 at noon EST. The sampler pack (below) includes great colors in different weights. We have a winner! BillieBee from Texas won the thread this month.


 

46 comments:

  1. You are doing a great job Susan!! I learned to quilt when I was 23 which was 40 years ago..from a picture in the Foxfire book. I have never stopped.

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  2. I learned to quilt on the internet in 1991 through a listserv quilt group called Quiltnet.

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  4. I learned to quilt from reading. I bought books, and later when I learned about blogs I started to read blogs, and these I decided are GREAT! I can ask questions on blogs and get responses. Not as easily done with books :)

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  5. Oh I just love your guest designer, Edyta Sitar! I have several of her patterns and enjoy each and every one! Count me in for a win of Aurifil--a wonderful thread! Thank you.

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  6. I was at Edyta's blog and she has wonderful pieces. I make traditional for myself and others, but I also love to do art pieces, just need more time and practice. I learn from books and by just going for it and what not to do, lol.

    Debbie

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  7. Right after I had my first child- a girl- I decided I should learn to smock (a southern thing). My husband bought me a gift certificate for lessons. By the time I got around to signing up for the class, the woman no longer taught there. But it was a quilt shop so they asked if I'd be interested in quilt lessons and that is how I got started in 1990. I'd love to try the Aurifil thread.

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  8. My mother taught me to quilt, and I used magazines, tv, books, and blogs. I had already watched her, my aunts, great aunts, and grandmothers quilt too.
    Edyta's pattern is lovely and I enjoyed her interview by Pat Sloan. Thanks to you and Aurifil for the giveaway of the sampler threads. mlwright29(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  9. I love Aurifil! I learned to quilt by reading a book and making lots and lots and lots of mistakes. ;)

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  10. I did take a quilt class, but most of what I learned was from TV, books, magazines, and now the internet. Youtube has turned into a wonderful source as well....not to forget the blogs....grin.

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  11. Wow! I thought the geranium quilt was a watercolor painting! Pretty! I'm a self-taught quilter, via books and the internet. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  12. Thanks for the chance to win!! I study from quilting blogs :)

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  13. As the daughter of a home ec teacher, I have always sewn... Retirement brought more time for exploration. I never dreamed I could simply lower the feed dogs and create beautiful art. My sewing machine became a whole new tool for creativity. So, I experiment, read blogs, try new techniques... Thanks to you, I'm getting better and better. So much to learn... what fun.
    Hugs,
    Mary

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  14. I learned to quilt 20+ years ago from a man in his 70's who had learned from his mother as a child.

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  15. Bonjour,
    J'ai eu de la chance de voir les superbes quilts de Edyta cette semaine Au Carrefour européen de Patchwork à Ste Marie aux mines, une vraie merveille.
    http://www.patchwork-europe.com/

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  16. My neighbor did machine quilting as a home business. She helped me start my first project which was a Maple Leaf quilt. I don't know where those blocks are, but I still have the flimsy from my next attempt several years later after I got married. Maybe I should finish that... I've been quilting since 1990.

    kris

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  17. I'm a self taught quilter (at least initially) -- went to WalMart and bought a book on teaching yourself to quilt. My first large quilt was made from the first 2 blocks in the book.
    thanks!

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  18. What an inspiring post. Thank you. I learned to quilt while literally playing under my aunt and grandmother's quilting frames. It seems as if I've had a needle in my hand all of my life. It has been only in the last year that I have seriously begun to explore and commit to quilting. I love it! I take classes every chance I get and have to many projects and ideas in my head that it's just spinning. Thanks also to you and Aurifil for the giveaway of the sampler threads. What a treat it would be to receive them.

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  19. I learned to quilt at classes held locally but I was taught to sew at school aged about 8 years old

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  20. I love the geraniums too!! Plus I can't wait to see her book... it sounds amazing!

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  21. I learned to quilt when I was in graduate school. My favorite cross stitch store started branching out into quilting. I took a class (nine patch honeybee) from one of their teachers - a lovely woman who was 82 years old and carried her 1955 singer sewing machine back and forth to class on her own. After that, it was all over.

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  22. I taught myself to quilt through books after accidentally watching an Eleanor Burns "Quilt In A Day". I always watched "Sewing With Nancy" on Saturdays, and this one Saturday they substituted Eleanor's show where she was making a block for a Christmas quilt. I'd always thought quilting would be difficult to learn, and the show caused me to realize that I could do it! Since then, between books, tv shows, online, and learning from friends (we teach each other), I have become a quilter....and I'm still learning! Right now I'm learning how to be an art quilter as well as how to be a good free motion quilter.

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  23. I learned to quilt in 2002 when I took a class at a local quilt store. The instructor was terrific and I got a solid foundation in basic quilting with that class.

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  24. I took a class at the LQS. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  25. My first attempt at quilting was over 25 years ago, when I saw a magazine article claiming that you could "Make a Quilt in a Day". I believe it was written about a woman by the name of Jane Townswick or Townsend who had developed a method for making a "Trip Around the World" pattern using a system originated by some Eleanor lady in California. ;) used a pair of pinking shears to cut strips, since rotary cutters were unheard of. The wedding gift it was intended to be has become a silver anniversary gift instead, but I finally finished it! (have made many many others, just never finished the first one till recently!)

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  26. My Mom taught me how to sew, mostly garments. Wonderful teacher Laurie taught me the basics. Been learning new things ever since. Have experienced a lot from blogs, DVDs and the guilds I belong to. Thanks for all you share with us.

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  27. Maureen of Starry Night QuiltsSeptember 17, 2011 at 7:48 PM

    Those quilts are beauties! I taught myself to quilt initially, by copying a butterfly appliqued quilt my grandmother had made for me when I was a child. Eventually I took some lessons and I have been quilting for over thirty years...Definitely my passion!

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  28. I first started quilting in late 2007. I learned by reading books and watching quilting shows on TV. My favorite show was Alex Andersons. Alex had a show where she and Ami were going to bring one of their first quilts. Alex said she couldn't find any. I still remember Ami Simms showing one of her first quilts where the corners didn't match and other mistakes that she pointed out. That gave me hope that I would get better if I just kept at it. Now I am proud to say, I have made several quilts for Ami's Alzheimers Art Quilt Iniative.

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  29. I learned to sew at a young age and started quilting about 18 years ago. My early quilting years were from books and quilting tv shows. Haven't used Aurifil yet in quilting and would love to try it.

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  30. I have just started quilting - am teaching myself but any help would be appreciated and def any appropriate threads would go down well

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  31. I started sewing when I was 12 but did not get into the quilting mode until the late 80's when I took my first quilting class. I was hooked! Since that time I have been passionate about quilting and quilt fabrics.

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  32. Edyta is a wonderful artist. Thanks for featuring her.
    I learned basic hand quilting from my mother-in-law and some friends and then taught myself how to hand applique.

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  33. Both of my grandmothers made many wonderful quilts, and although they taught me how to knit and crochet, they passed away too soon (when I was 9) to pass on their stitching skills. I've always loved quilts, but never thought I had time to pursue it until 1991 when I was 55 and took a course at a quilt shop. It's now a focal part of my daily life - I hope I'll still be making quilts when I'm 85!

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  34. I learned to quilt from reading - a magazine told me I could make a trip around the world in a day...that Eleanor Burns....Love Aurifil.

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  35. I learned to quilt from a local quilt shop when I walked in one day 'just to have a look'. I did a sampler quilt and loved it, and couldn't stop! Thankyou for the chance to win the threads.

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  36. I learned to quilt under my Grandmother and Mom's quilting frames. Eventually I help "put the quilt on" and finally was allowed to put some stitches in the quilt. I marveled at my Mom and Grandmother's fast and even stitching. As a single Mom I was thrilled to learn machine quilting. I like making small wall hangings and art quilts. Thanks for asking everyone to share. I have enjoyed reading the posts!

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  37. I learned to quilt in 1997 in a quilt class from a now defunct quilt shop in Roswell, GA. Since that time I have taken more classes and never tire of quilting.

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  38. In the 70's in a small town in Australia, it was me, myself, and I. There was no quilt heritage and I stumbled upon an imported Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts Magazine.
    I poured over every word and photo of this and future copies. It was my "Bible".
    Edyta is extremely talented. I am yet to try the Aurifil.

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  39. I love Edyta's quilts!
    I learned to quilt from an "Trip Around the World" book in 1984. Later, I watched shows like Eleanor Burns' show and "Sewing with Nancy," took classes and read more books.

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  40. My mother taught me how to sew, but quilting I have learned on my own for the most part.

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  41. My grandmother was a quilter and my mom taught me to sew when I was maybe 8 years old, I always been a sewer and when my children were little small projects here and there lead to quilting. Now I have a long arm business in my home and love it!

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  42. I was taught about 4 years ago by a lady who, herself, had been taught by others in her 50's. She taught me the "old fashioned way" with scissors, pencils, rulers, sandpaper and cardboard for the templates, and would roll her eyes at my colour choices!! When I was proficient in hand cutting, sewing and quilting she allowed me to move on to rulers, cutters and mats! But still she rolled her eyes at my colours..........what fun we both had. I would love to try some Aurifil thread as part of that progress now.
    Thank you for your site, too.

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  43. I borrowed several quilting books from my mother-in-law and studied every page in those books to learn about quilting. She later gave me the books when she realized she never planned to quilt.

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  44. droped in the lone quilt shop 4o years ago in my town.That was beforen rottery cutters and all the neat rulers and templates. Came back 20 years later and it seemed so much easier, have never stoped.

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  45. I took a hand quilting class for a few weeks from a local quilt shop almost 25 years ago. I have learned so much from various quilting books and most recently from The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. Susan, I loved your show with them. This is where I was first introduced to Edyta Sitar. Her books are wonderful.

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  46. I took a class when I was pregnant with our son in 1985 because I wanted to make a baby quilt. I made the quilt, but after he was born I got "sidetracked" with raising a family and volunteer work so quilting fell by the wayside. (I did continue to do hand embroidery since it was "mobile").

    After being in a very bad auto accident in 2001 which required multiple surgeries over several years, I was in a hospital bed for a long time. One day as I was flipping through TV channels I saw "Simply Quilts" on HGTV and I started watching the show everyday and got really excited about quilting! After having several hand surgeries and finally getting to the point to be able to really get into long term hand therapy, I incorporated quilting into the therapy first by hand piecing and later on by hand quilting. The quilting passion ignited and I have been quilting just about everyday since that time (Now, I use my sewing machine for most of my quilts except for hand applique). I make traditional quilts and art quilts.

    Honestly, I believe that quilting and all that it encompasses was the best "medicine" I could have had!

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