Sneak Peek: Pre-Cut Combo Quilts by Debra Greenway

Pre-Cut Combo Quilts, written by Debra Greenway, is a special book for a couple of reasons. It's the first quilting book to feature patterns that combine different pre-cuts: jelly rolls, charm packs, layer cakes and more! It's also "fat-quarter friendly", meaning that, if you'd rather use fat quarters (or your stash is just overloaded with them) each pattern gives you instructions on how to cut fat quarters to make the quilt. There are 14 quilt patterns and 5 variations, so the book is loaded with inspiration. And finally, it's written in a friendly, non-intimidating style, making it perfect for beginners.

Pre-Cut Combo Quilts comes out in early April, but in the meantime, feast your eyes on these sneak peek photos!





And just for fun, I asked Debby Ten Questions. Read on to learn about what inspires her and how quilting has changed her life.

Ten Questions with Debra Greenway

1. When did you start crafting? What craft did you start with?
In my early 20’s I learned to crochet and did some rug hooking. I also started garment making around that time.

2. What other crafts do you do besides quilting?
I’ve stuck pretty closed to all sorts of needlework. I love cross-stitch and knitting, which I didn’t learn until I was nearly 50. I do a little scrapbooking and still enjoy crocheting sometimes.

3. What made you decide to write Pre-Cut Combo Quilts?
I really enjoyed working with pre-cuts and noticed no one had ever written about combining different kinds of pre-cuts in any one quilt. Since I had collaborated with Debi Henninger while she was writing Hobo Quilts with Krause Publishing, I decided to propose my own book with them. I was flabbergasted when they accepted the proposal!

4. What is the best part about writing a book? What is the most difficult?
Believe it or not, the best part is seeing a major commitment through to the end and coming out of it with a product with which I can be excited. I have done something that I believe others can benefit from or at least enjoy. The most difficult part is also seeing a major commitment through to the end. I “quit” at least three times!

5. How do you get inspired when you’re feeling a lack of creativity?
Oh boy, I am pretty good at setting up little goals and rewards. I’m kinda ADD, so I allow myself to get up every half hour or so and grab coffee or check my email. Sometimes, though, I just had to make myself sit down to the sewing machine or computer and go after it.

6. What is the skill or technique that most intimidates you?
Accurate seam allowances. Sounds elementary, doesn’t it? Then I guess I am elementary, because I find accuracy is not intrinsic with me.

7. What’s the best advice you could give to a new quilter?
Learn to enjoy or at least accept the tedium of the time it takes to do things right. Otherwise you will be learning how to do them again, and that’s not so enjoyable.

8. What’s your favorite quilting blog, and why?
That’s a real good question. I would have to say my favorite quilting blogs are the ones that cover favorite quilting blogs. :o)

9. What tool, notion or material can you not live without?
EQ7, the software. Also, I am a freelance tech editor and use two books for all that work, plus my own designs: Judy Martin’s Ultimate Rotary Cutting Guide and The Quilter’s Pocket Reference by Peggy Scholley.

10. How has quilting changed your life?
Oh my—friends! Adventures, jobs. It’s had a significant impact on the checkbook, too!

Pre-Cut Combo Quilts is available in April, but you can pre-order it now. If you're looking for fresh ways to combine your pre-cut stash, be sure to check it out!

About Debra
I remember my first quilt—don’t we all? I was in high school and made it from children’s hankies. It could have been so cute! I still pull it out once in a while when I need a smile.

My grandmothers were accomplished needle workers, and watching them always fascinated me. My mom made sure I understood that the doll clothes or sweaters they made were very special and something to treasure. So I did. Growing up with an appreciation of my dad’s art and loving parents who encouraged my own talents laid a foundation for which I shall forever be thankful. My parents are truly the greatest!

I met my husband, Tate, at work when I lived in Tucson, Arizona. (Thankfully, I snapped him up before I caught the quilting bug.) We settled on a beautiful plot of land in the high desert to raise our precious little family, a few pet chickens, some blackberries and a miserable garden!

I dabbled with many needle arts until the mid-1980s when I caught the quilting epidemic that swept the country and the world. I still managed to graduate from the University of Arizona with a degree in interpersonal communication, and then we moved to Denver, Colorado, for seminary. Even then I’d sneak down the street to the local quilt shop for a break now and then. Finally, we moved to Illinois to be near my parents until our daughters were out of school.
I worked and taught for years at Peg and Lil’s Needlepatch in Washington, Illinois, and then more years for Peddler’s Way Quilt Company when Lillian retired.

After some time off to play gramma, I joined Debi Henninger as administrative assistant to her three shops in Metamora, Pekin and Peoria, Illinois. That’s when Debi’s Hobo Quilts came about, and I knew I had to write a book, too. I was hooked! Krause Publications took me into their fold and well, here I am. In 2010, on New Year’s Day, we temporarily “retired” to small-town Waldron, Arkansas, where I saw this book dream come true. Then it was back to central Illinois for the next chapter of our lives. What a journey!