The head, the hands and the heart behind “Designs to Share with You” is Ursula Riegel, a Canadian designer located in beautiful Victoria, BC. She started quilting in 1991 and over the years has extensively taught quilt making classes which were all based on her own original ideas.
Her professional background in teaching helped her to write concise class handouts with clear step-by-step instructions. Repeatedly thankful students made positive comments on these handouts which in turn encouraged Ursula to publish her designs in pattern form. “Designs to Share with You” was born. As teaching classes was Ursula’s priority for some time she added only about one or two patterns per year. But once the first distributor had taken on her line there was no stopping. Currently there are 127 versatile patterns with focus on traditional and contemporary styles and techniques and projects for every skill level and interest. You can find patterns for quilts with multiple sizes like Easy-Does-It and Ribbonworks as well as quilts that showcase specialty techniques like Waves and Flying High.
Over time it became apparent that Ursula’s placemat and table runner patterns had become especially popular. There are now 46 different designs in this category. Spirals became the first of a series in circular placemats and table toppers in three sizes. The newest in this series is On a Roll. The more traditional A Handful of Runners and Pieced Placemats complement each other as the blocks can be interchanged to give endless possibilities.
Ursula also developed a technique which she calls “Press & Stitch”. This is a quilt-as-you-go method for curves and odd angles where self made bias strips cover the raw edges and the process of sewing down these strips at the same time takes care of the quilting. Examples for this technique are Clamshell Placemats, Easy Curves and Easy Elegance.
Other “Designs to Share with You” include art quilts like October Sky and Tree of Life. Lovers of Christmas projects will find a tree skirt called Star Ribbons and fabulous no-sew Coiled Fabric Ornaments and Coiled Fabric Snowflakes which are ideal to use up scraps of fabric.
These 16 patterns give you a taste of Ursula’s designs. Of course there is plenty more to find on the designers page for “Designs to Share with You” on our easy to navigate website at www.quiltwoman.com. Last but not least we should mention that “Designs to Share with You” is also the source for our Cutting Mat Cleaner. This is a small gadget that removes all kinds of lint from the crevasses of your rotary cutting mat and therefore prolongs its life considerably. It has been tested by 500 members of “Today’s Creative Home Arts Club” and has received an approval rate of 92%.