About

KarlaQuilt designer and author, Karla Alexander lives in beautiful Salem OR, with her husband Don and family dog, Lucy. Her three sons, Shane, Kelly, and William currently attend college at Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon.

Karla Alexander is the author of Stack the Deck! Crazy Quilts in 4 Easy Steps!, Stack a New Deck!, New Cuts for New Quilts, Baby Wraps! Color Shuffle, Stack The Deck - Revisited and her newest book, Dynamic Quilts with easy Curves.  She is currently hard at work on her 8th book, due for release in October of 2013.

She was a featured artist on Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson in July of 2002. A featured quilter in the Fons and Porter magazine, Oct. 2007, a contributor to the 2008 quilt calendar by Martingale & Co. as well as the book Creative Quilting,Volume II. All books were 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 and Specialty Rulers from Creative Grids.  

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.

 

Fabric

The Quilt of a Gift:

outside 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 she enthusiastically inspires her students to discover and create their own individual style in their quilt making journeys. With all the many things to worry about, she believes quilting isn't one of them, but rather a time to experience the "creative flow" & enjoy!