Recently I’ve had a lot of people encourage me to think about selling my work as fabric to quilters. Then I got an invitation to a quilters guild show, and knew I needed to learn about the world of quilting. How do quilters buy fabric? What sizes appeal? What do they look for? I started by asking various artists at my recent shows. That was helpful. I’d much rather learn from the people who are doing it than on the internet and further research was needed.

I found a gem of a resource at Quilters Way in West Concord, MA: www.quiltersway.com and spent some time there last night. Donna Whalen is tremendous and was patient and helpful with all my questions. I started with “Hi, I’m a batik artist, and have been invited to sell at a quilters guild show. I know nothing about quilting….. so can you teach me?” We talked patterns, fabric, batik fabric, preferences, fat quarters, jelly rolls, guilds, binding, machining and so much more. I know 600% more than when I walked in.

As we chatted, a few women came to work in their sewing cafe and it was a jovial crowd. There are beautiful quilts hung all over the store providing ideas and inspirations. They also offer classes. It is a place of COLOR, and thus dear to my heart.

Donna also told me about a current exhibit at the Concord Museum: “A little scrap for recollection’s sake: Quilts from the Concord Museum” which I’m planning to check out.

Not to worry, I’m not going to take up quilting anytime soon (see post title: Learning about quilting, not “learning to quilt”). Too much sewing involved, and last thing I need is another hobby. But for anybody who is interested in getting started, I recommend Quilters Way for patient and friendly folks, resources, space to work and lots of fabric.