About

Quilt designer and author, Karla Alexander lives in beautiful Salem OR, with her youngest son William, Husband Don and family cat, Sammy. Her oldest son, Shane, is attending college in Idaho, and her second son, Kelly, is enlisted in the Navy. Karla Alexander is the author of Stack the Deck! Crazy Quilts in 4 Easy Steps! She was a featured artist on Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson in July of 2002. Her second book, Stack a New Deck, was released in April of 2004. Both books are published by Martingale & Co, That Patchwork Place. She is currently working hard and looking forward to her third book ready for publication in 2006, published by Martingale & Co, That Patchwork Place.

In addition to her books, she has released her own line of patterns under the name Saginaw Street Quilt company. She has been a featured teacher at many quilt retreats and has taught thousands of students how to quilt using a variety of methods including her own stack methods. She has made hundreds of quilts with hundreds more waiting to be made.

The Quilt of a Gift:

As a young girl, I grew up playing around my mother's sewing machine as she busied herself making clothes for her five children. With leftover scraps I sewed Barbie doll clothes and bags with long straps. As I became older, I attempted sewing clothes for myself and in Junior High took the recommended home economics class. Clothing was the usual sewing assignment, and for me, somehow it remained just that - an assignment,no passion attached. Several years later, my mother gave me a quilt for Christmas. She admiringly pointed out how the center nine-patch blocks were pieced from her dresses when she was a young girl as well as many of her brother’s shirts and sister’s dresses. The blocks, surrounded by a red plaid border, were then followed by another row of nine-patch blocks. This time, I recognized my old play clothes as well as several of my sister’s and brother’s clothes. This simple quilt with its hand and machine pieced blocks changed the meaning of sewing for me. This quilt fascinated me, warmed my heart, (not an easy thing as a 16 year old), and continues to inspire and shape my sentiments regarding quilts to this day.

My philosophy regarding quilting is to enjoy the process, learn from your experience and take what you learn from one project on to the next. As a teacher I try and enthusiastically inspires my students to discover and create their own individual style in their quilt making journeys. With all the many things to worry about, I believe quilting isn't one of them, but rather a time to experience and enjoy the "creative flow"!