Zero Waste Quilting: Crafting with Purpose

My book, Zero Waste Quilting, is a simple concept based on the idea that we can make a quilt then use all our fabric to create smaller projects. We create a capsule collection, of sorts, and what happens is we eliminate overflowing scrap piles because we have beginning to end use of goods.

When working in this capacity not only do we return to the roots of quilting – using every last scrap – but we encourage mindfulness with our consumption and we foster our creativity.

My Thanks to You

Expressing gratitude to the artists and companies that have supported my new book feels almost impossible to put into words. Saying that I am humbled doesn’t seem to capture the depth of my feelings. The amount of (unpaid) work they have done for someone else—for me—is truly staggering. I’m overwhelmed by the outpouring of support: from those who participated in the book tour, to those who bought (or won) a copy, to those who cheered me on every step of the way. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

The Cheerleaders

Thank you to the following companies and artists who supported me. Their reviews are linked here so you can see what everyone had to say.

C&T Book Tour Announcement on the C&T Blog 
Pat Sloan (Blog, Instagram, & YouTube)
Raylee at Sunflower Stitcheries (Blog & Instagram)
Maddie Kertay, @the_badass_quilter on Instagram
Emma Jean Jansen (Instagram)
Mary Quilts Blog
Teri Lucas of TerifiCreations (YouTube)
Bernina USA (Blog)
Jennifer Paganelli (Instagram)
HollyAnne Knight of String & Story (Blog & Instagram)
Jennifer Sampou (Blog & Instagram)
Aurifil Thread (Blog & Instagram)

The quilting industry continues to amaze me in the most wonderful ways. This book tour has been a powerful reminder of how fortunate I am to be part of such an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive community. It’s a combination of luck, a great deal of hard work, and the privilege of finding my people. I am deeply grateful for these connections.

A Long and Winding Road

This book has been years in the making. The initial spark of an idea came when I pitched Piecing Makeover back in 2015, but it took nearly a decade for that spark to ignite and evolve into Zero Waste Quilting. From the time I officially pitched this book to the moment I held it in my hands, almost two years passed. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: I am incredibly proud of this book—of the ideas within it and of all the projects it contains.

This book is a reminder that sometimes we need the time to sit on ideas we have – that giving ourselves the time and grace to allow something, anything to come together will always result in an object of beauty that’s not only completely developed but fully encompasses the message we want to share.

Zero Waste In Action

HollyAnne Knight at String and Story took it all a step further and used her scraps to create a Lone Star following the pattern in my book. I’ve shared her quilt below and you can read about the journey to make it here.

I love how HollyAnne created her Lone Star. She separated her scraps by hue and and created a rainbow. Each strip of the Lone Star is one color vs a mish-mosh of scraps like my quilt. I really like how the center came together. It reads like a more traditional Lone Star but the colors radiate out in strips. Very cool, HollyAnne. Very cool.

I hope you love this book as much as I do. I hope it encourages you to be mindful of your consumption and inspires you to look at fabric and scraps with new light. I have no doubt that you’ll be amazed at the beauty you can create with what you have.