Kathy Brown's Strip-Smart Quilts

It was a packed space last Saturday here at Bright Hopes Quilting, when Kathy Brown brought her new book and accompanying trunk show.

Oh to be so up-close to the quilts and feel the fabric, linger over the quilting designs..... and be able to ask Kathy, what is this fabric!? Case in point: The Twist

Okay?

Now check out the back!

And now the quilting.

When I saw this one in the book, it's softness was apparent but in person, the subtlety of color and simplicity of quilting just took my breath away! And the fabric was so soft and alluring. It was everything I love in a quilt! I wanted to curl up in it in some corner immediately and just just keep going over the rest of the book.

Here's Carlyn and Meliss, two of the Wednesday quilters, in front of Merry-Go-Round, one of the many bright quilts you'll find in the book.

So, when this whacky-looking ruler showed up, we were all asking each other, "What do you make with that!?" The answer is: "A lot more than you think!" and so much so, Kathy is in the process of designing new quilts for a second book.

She had even more exciting news to reveal! She showed us photos of her new fabric line that should be hitting "market" in the fall. And let me tell you, they are beautiful. What a talented woman we have living just down the road from us in Baton Rouge.

I enjoyed seeing the actual quilts, watching Kathy demonstrate and reveal the tips she has to make make these vibrant quilts. It's always fun to compare the photographs to the originals; in this case is proof to the pudding that this quality is at a high standard indeed with "Strip-Smart Quilts."

Someone at the demo said (I'm paraphrasing here), "You speak like you write in the book. Your personality comes through." and she truly does. She has pulled from her life and weaved anecdotes to the patterns.

Now, I wonder if she'll share the recipe for those good-looking brownies on page 26!