Have you read Sampler Spree by Susan Ache yet? 

It has 101+ fresh and fun quilt blocks!  That's enough reason for me to have ordered a copy.  (Maybe two.  I'll share that soon.)

What about the profile of Susan in the June 2021 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting?

It's titled Fun in the Sun. 

If you’ve read either one, you already know that Susan is the kind of maker that we want to “hang with”.  If just to ask her another sixty-three questions.  (Really? If you know me at all, you know how many questions I can ask.)

From Susan's IG - @yardgrl60.

Last week, we asked about orphan blocks and scraps, especially how to build a stellar scrap bin.  The topics this time are tips, and tools.

Susan, you’re known for your generosity in sharing what you’ve learned.  In the book, you do that by sprinkling a treasure trove of tips throughout the pages.  Of the tips included, do you have any favorites?

Pages 38, 39 and 59.  LOL  What?  Those are my favorites, and if you don’t read all of them, you won't know which tips might become your favorites!  You also won’t know which of your favorite tips I left out.

But to make you happy… my favorite hint is to not press scraps until you’re going to use them.  It’s a huge timesaver from the get-go because you’re going to end up using it later, and it will need to be pressed then.  So don’t add another step to your organizational process.

Admit it... now you're on the hunt for a vintage shopping cart.

Most of the quilts you make tend to be bigger - at least throw- and lap-size.  Do you make table-runners or wall-hangings?

I loved making minis and table-runners years ago, but I wasn’t using them.  As much as I liked playing with colors and blocks for smaller projects, they just weren’t being used the way my big quilts are.

There was a time that I had a pair of pillows to match every single quilt I made.  Then the stack of pillows in the closet got taller than the stack of quilts.  So, now, when I make a pillow, I concentrate on holiday themes instead of everyday themes.

The APQ article shares that you spend the month of January planning for the year ahead.  That includes reviewing “quilts” you’d put together the year before that didn’t get made, and trying out rulers and templates you’d bought.

January is such a fun, mixed bag of entertainment for me.  Most of the tools I have bought during the year were total spur-of-the-moment, and I never even opened the package.  So I end up Googling instructions, and trying to find tutorials to see if I am going to like that “quick purchase.”  So I never have notes on those.  But as soon as it’s “tried out”, I instantly know if I’ll play with it again. 

Susan's One Dresden A Week - Double-Wide Dresden by Me & My Sister Designs.

No to notes, because I know that if I started writing everything down in a real journal, I would probably spend too much time focusing on how cute my journal could be if I tried harder.  (I collect cute scrapbook stuff like a pro and never use it.) 

All of my quilt block books have notes slipped inside them with colors and combinations that I thought might look good, or even an idea for an entire quilt. I do print out some of the fabric pictures I take, but any notes are mainly my math for a block I have figured out how to make differently, or easier, or in multiples.

Kind of like what I’ve done with your Sampler Spree book!  I already have a dozen Post-it notes on my favorite blocks.  And more for tips I want to remember. 

One last thing... you mentioned templates.  While they're included in the book, you've said that you have a couple of must have rulers and templates.  Everybody wants to know!  (Especially me - I need to make sure I have them before they sell out.)

These are my "Fab Four".  The Bloc Loc KIS - kite in a square - template set in the 3" finished size.  The BlocLoc TIS - triangle in a square - in the 2" finished size.  Make sure you get the regular TIS, not the one "on point."  Then I use the Easy Angle and Companion Angle by EZ Quilting.  These have been around forever, and they work for making so many blocks and block parts.  Many quilters still use the Easy Angle to make HSTs, and combine the two to make flying geese. 

Thank you, Susan.  Next week… let’s talk about shopping, okay?

Oh, I love that talk!  When it comes to fabric, I’m a multi level shopper! Haha

That’s all there is for today. 

If you've missed the first two posts with Susan:

• Let's Play Sampler Spree 1
• Let's Make A Sampler

All images by Susan Ache.

For a PDF Download of Let's Play Sampler Spree 2.