Quilt Designer News

Barbara Chojnacki, Six Gable Designs
www.sixgablesdesigns.com

Q:  Please tell us more about yourself!

A:  I’m a quilt designer because…

• Quilts have fascinated me since I was a teenager
• As a history buff I love the history behind quilts and quilt patterns
• Designing and creating a quilt engages both sides of the brain, and I’m fascinated with the way my mind works while I’m quilting
• I’ve designed crochet patterns, crewel patterns, needlepoint patterns, counted cross-stitch patterns, even bobbin lace patterns. None of those “stuck”; quilts stuck!

Barbara Chojnacki
Six Gables Designs

Barbara Chojnacki, Six Gable Designs
www.sixgablesdesigns.com

Q:  Is there a special time of the day, day of the week or emotion that you find yourself in when you sit down to design a quilt block or quilt?  Can you tell us about it?

A:  Naturally my best designs pop into my head in the middle of the night, keeping me awake as I mull over them for hours, only to have them lose all appeal by the light of day!

Barbara Chojnacki, Six Gable Designs
www.sixgablesdesigns.com

Q:  If you could pick any ONE quilt block (old or new) that you’ve either made or designed that exemplifies how you feel toward quilting, what block would that be – please name it and show us a picture (drawing or photograph) of it.

A:  That would have to be my “Earth, Air, Fire, Water” pattern. It was my first completed Six Gables Designs pattern, my first teaching project, and it uses multiple techniques (hand and machine piecing and applique’, paper piecing, curved piecing, even a touch of trapunto).

“Earth, Air, Fire, Water”
Designed by Designed by Barbara Chojnacki, Six Gable Designs

Barbara Chojnacki, Six Gable Designs
www.sixgablesdesigns.com

Q:  If you were to describe your quilt designing style by comparing it to food, what “recipe” would you say your quilt designing is made up of?

A:  Making Patty Piper projects is very much like those cookie recipes in women’s magazines around the holidays- the ones where you make one basic batch of dough, but have twelve variations.

Barbara Chojnacki, Six Gable Designs
www.sixgablesdesigns.com

Q:  Please tell us a little about yourself … your name, your website, some of the names of your recent quilt designs.

A:   I’m Barbara Chojnacki of Westerly, Rhode Island. My business is Six Gables Designs; yes, I live in a house with six gables, and I chose the name because it was reminiscent of The House of the Seven Gables, and I wanted a business name with a coastal New England feel. Some of my recent quilt patterns are my “Patty Piper” patterns- “Patty Piper Pieced a Pair of Painless, Pointless Pinwheels”, “Patty Piper Strikes Again”, and “Dinner with Patty Piper”. For each of my Patty Piper patterns you construct blocks, cut them, sort the pieces into two piles, and re-construct them into two coordinating, but not identical quilts. Saves time, saves fabric, ?saves money, and you have two quilts in much less time than constructing them individually (and it’s FUN!)

“Patty Piper Pieced a Pair of Painless Pointless Pinwheels”
Designed by Barbara Chojnacki, Six Gable Designs

“Patty Piper Strikes Again”
Designed by Barbara Chojnacki, Six Gable Designs

“Dinner with Patty Piper”
Designed by Barbara Chojnacki, Six Gable Designs