3-D Quilts with Marci Baker & Sara Nephew

Quilting is a uniquely American art. When hopeful or desperate people traveled from other countries to start a new life, they often had very little with them. Planting seeds, hunting, and trying to live off the land, these pioneers were extremely creative with household necessities. Any fabric was used as covering for clothing or bedding. Women put every small scrap together to make usable pieces.

Native Americans also valued fabric and made items that showed their unique designs. They had garments and useful objects that influenced their new neighbors. Native American patterns translate into beautiful quilting. Traditional Seminole patchwork is an inspiration to modern quilters. And Plains Indians value designs like Blazing Star even today. 

During the Thirties, more people turned back to quilting again, because lots of people suddenly got poor. They didn’t have money for new clothes and bedding. Flour sacks were printed with colors and designs so the fabric could be used for dresses and quilts. And the colors were light and bright, with lots of pastels, to lift people’s spirits and inspire hope. Newspapers had special sections that would motivate a person to try making a quilt, by printing different block patterns every week, hundreds of patterns. Some of those patterns are still used today.

3-D Scraps, by Sara Nephew

But people are more advanced now. Sewing is more advanced now. Modern machinery makes a big difference. Sewing machines produce even, small, fast stitches (perhaps a little harder to unstitch). We can watch quilting classes on TV and learn, or just watch for fun. Or even with your computer or phone you can watch someone on YouTube teach you how to make their original pattern.

We have other special new tools. Rotary cutters (a round razor with a handle) and hard plastic rulers have speeded up cutting and made it possible to be as accurate as the work of the most exquisite seamstress. A large library of quilting books shows us amazing new patterns and multiple cutting and sewing techniques. Perhaps we also have more time to enjoy our cutting and sewing, with washers and dryers, dishwashers and little round vacuums running automatically over our floors. Some quilters have quilting machines that can fill a whole room and turn out one quilt after another.

Do you think about the past as you are sewing? As you cut six thicknesses at once? Do you feel like you are the future? New rulers can create new designs no one has ever made into a quilt before. As you start trying some of these new designs you may see 3-D illusions – modern art. Your quilts can be on walls, like pictures of future architecture. Hang a quilt in an office, a home, a hospital, or anywhere.

Singular Sampler, quilted by Kristi Droese

Some of the pictures shown in this article are from 3-D Magic! Simple Blocks, Striking Quilts, a book by Marci Baker and Sara Nephew, available Thursday, January 25th, 2024. These are quilts that use 60o angles to create illusions. Marci and Sara are captured and inspired by the possibilities of these new illusions for quilts. And friends and students have tried their patterns to make many exciting wall hangings or bed quilts.

Playing with Blocks, quilted by Kate McIntyre

Transitions, by Marci Baker

Sara was an art major through high school and college. She ended up working as a jeweler, even was learning to set diamonds. Marci, 20 years her junior, was a software engineer working in industry. They have a lot in common, though. Marci is from a family of eight children, Sara’s family was five children, but the last three were triplets. Both ladies subscribed to a “House Beautiful” type magazine in high school. Married and with children, Marci’s husband climbed mountains, and Sara’s husband was a golfer. Left to their own devices, they became enthusiastic quilters and love to share their enthusiasm.

Pre-order your copy of 3-D Magic! Simple Blocks, Striking Quilts at C&T Publishing!

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Sara Nephew is an internationally known quilt designer, author, and creator of the Clearview Triangle. She resides in Seattle, WA.

Marci Baker is internationally recognized for her quilting expertise, having been featured in magazines and television. She resides in Fort Collins, Colorado. quiltwithmarcibaker.com