Sandi’s work was featured in a special display at AQS-Chattanooga, and I was lucky enough to get to interview her. I took some pictures, and if you want to see more of her work, check the links at the bottom of this post.
Sandi designed this nontraditional arrangement of split 9-patch blocks
While I was waiting to interview Sandi, I heard her tell someone, “Any time I make a quilt, I do it to learn something.” My sentiments exactly!
Sandi made this quilt from a pattern, adding modern colors to the design
Sandi started quilting over 25 years ago, using cereal box templates because rotary cutters weren’t yet used for quilting. She still uses templates when appropriate, but a lot of things have changed! For one thing, she now uses freezer paper when she needs templates so she can cut several layers of fabric at once.
Sandi designed and made this quilt using her own quilt-as-you-go technique
Sandi teaches several classes, including her own version of Quilt As You Go. (I’m going to keep an eye on her website because I’d like to take that class if she teaches it anywhere near me 🙂 )
The AQS exhibit included both quilts Sandi designed herself and quilts she has made from designs by others. This was a round robin quilt; Sandi made the final arrangement of sections and did the quilting:
Round Robin quilt by Sandi Suggs and friends. Look at Sandi’s quilting!
A couple of hints from Sandi: she likes to use the multi-stitch zigzag (stitch #4 on Bernina machines) in her quilting. She starches all her fabrics before cutting to make them smoother and less likely to fray. She says starching also equalizes the weight of the various fabrics. She likes to wash her quilts after they are finished to achieve a crinkly look that emphasizes the quilting.
Sandi does her own quilting on her home machine. This quilt is called “Roy G. Biv”
Sandi also has her own way to successfully select fabrics for a mystery quilt! I’ve only done one mystery quilt and was unhappy with the result, so I asked her about it. She showed the quilt below, designed by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr as a mystery quilt, and told me how she selected her fabrics.
Mystery quilt designed by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr demonstrates Sandi’s successful fabric selection
Sandi looked at the fabric requirements for the quilt and figured the largest fabric requirement was for the background. Once she had chosen gray for the background, she decided she would need bright fabrics to contrast with it. I think her decisions were very successful!
You can find Sandi’s blog at: www.FrogPondStudio.blogspot.com
She has many more pictures of her quilts there, including these five posts that show all her quilts from the AQS exhibit:
Zippy Quilts 