Friday, July 4, 2008

Jan In Your House

As you may or may not know, Jan Krentz is a good friend of mine. She's the Diamond Gal, the Lone Star Wizard, the one who makes those impossible diamond designs actually sew-able. She breaks it down to basics, and shows you how to make beautiful quilts, all without breaking (much of) a sweat. :)

I did diamonds once, back in 1985. I swore that I would never EVER do another pattern utilizing diamonds. I stuck to my guns, until Jan lured me in to help with "a project." Had I known it was her Lone Star quilt book, I would have run for the hills. Instead, I said, "SURE!"

When I found out we were going to be making Lone Star quilts, I think I may have cried. I know I thought about it. But Jan is an AWESOME teacher, and she turned my tears of trepidation into those of happiness. I can actually do it! I can make a Lone Star quilt that doesn't have a bra cup center or warp this way or that. It came out flat AND square! Since that fateful first class, I've finished SEVEN Lone Star quilts. And four Hunter Star quilts. And five diamond quilts.

Jan is a kind and patient teacher, full of encouragement and tips and demonstrations on how to achieve success. I doubt any other teacher would have been able to get so many quilts out of me. To date, none have...

And so, I come to the point of this post.

Yesterday I received word that her DVD, Jan Krentz Teaches You to Make Lone Star Quilts DVD will be available in August. If you like, you can pre-order directly from Jan. If you've never taken a class with Jan, or if you have and need a refresher course, this DVD would be well worth the investment. It would be like having your own private course, with Jan, right there, in your house! How cool is that?!!

Well, I was going to post some pictures of my Lone Star quilts, but apparently I only have one on this computer. This one is the one that I completed most recently. It's not much, but it's a taste of what you, too, might choose to make. Happy quilting!!!

"Paintbox"
begun 2001, finished 2006
hand-quilted
Suzanne Kistler

No comments: