Find It! Buy It! Use It!

Armchair travel with Roberta as she tours the world in search of fabrics for her quilts. Once these treasures are in hand, she next answers the great quilting question: “What do I do with it?” Learn how to work with fabric that’s “new” to you so that you, too, can create a quilt that’s a showcase for the colors and sights that you’ve experienced.

The Fabric Makes the Quilt

How can you be a more creative quiltmaker? Roberta shares her pet design principles and personal thoughts on color. Hear her slant on the “tools” of the quilting trade and how they can be used in a more creative way. Learn to see your fabric with new eyes, especially those exciting-to-buy/difficult-to-use ones. When you listen to your fabric, it will indeed make your quilt.

Scrap Quilts: The Art of Making Do

Scrap quilts are the most humble of quilts and, at the same time, the most complicated of all quilts to understand and make. Roberta will provide you with the key to the interaction of fabrics, illustrating with both antique and newly made quilts. Topics will include color, value, temperature, and mood.

The Amish Quilt: A Marriage of Spirit and Fabric

The Amish way of life is studied to gain a better understanding of these simple people. They are known for several unique patterns which seem to be a reflection of their lives. They also worked with traditional American patterns, making them Amish through their handling of color. Roberta will show how she has applied the insights gained from her study of Amish quilts to her own work, both in color use and simplicity of format.

Plaids and Stripes

Our earliest quilts were made with homespun plaids and stripes. When commercially produced fabric became available, plaids and stipes continued to still play an important role in American quiltmaking up through 1940. Many modern day quilters haven’t thought to use these wonderful fabrics. Deepen your appreciation and understanding of the design potential of these fabrics in your quilts.

Color + Fabric = Quilts

Confidence in color selection and skill in the use of fabric patterns are essential for modern quilters. Let an expert show you how to glean color and fabric advice from antique quilts as she also adds a dash of the “Horton Color Theory” to the mix. Roberta will then reveal the “why” of the fabric/color choices in some of her recent quilts.

Japanese Patchwork

Many beautiful textiles with a beautiful design sense are produced in Japan. Quilters can select from summer cotton yukata, printed cotton copies of luscious silk kimono fabrics, and sophisticated woven stripes and ikats. These fabrics, however, present a unique challenge. Learn to cut into and use these marvelous fabrics.

Double Exposure: Shared Experiences . . . Differing Views

Sisters Roberta Horton and Mary Mashuta share a love of quiltmaking, fabric, and color. They also share common genes. Their shared visions are filtered through different minds and expressed by different hands. Hear how these sisters share a home (with two quiltmaking studios, of course) and manage to produce quilts that express their own perspective and talent. (Presented with Mary.)