Series Eight gets off to a free-wheeling start as fabric artist, designer, author, and teacher Susan Carlson visits the set with the lowdown on how she creates her "serendipitous" collage-like quilts. Get inside her design process, pick up some tips on using your fabric scraps as "paint," explore the potential of interpreting the same design in three different colorways, and learn a cool technique for applying binding. All this, plus Ricky shows you how to splice (and spice) your fabric by inserting a "lifeline" sliver.

In this technique-packed episode, pattern and fabric designer Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts amazes Alex and Ricky with an easy method for producing dozens of accurate half-square triangle units in minutes with just two pieces of fabric and her Triangle Exchange Paper. The "exchange" of ideas continues as Edyta shows how to enliven your quilts with diamonds, rectangles, and other shapes made from strips and using her clever "Strip Exchange" technique. Also not to be missed: Alex demonstrates how to design and draw a custom double-feathered wreath for quilting.

This episode is so "meaty" that we had to break it into two parts! You'll want to be on hand for both as quiltmaker, teacher, author, fabric designer, musician, and our own TQS co-host Ricky Tims walks you through the complete process for making your own, unique Rhapsody-style quilt. Learn to create the design, make the templates, prepare the background, prepare and stitch the appliqués, and assemble the component parts into an original masterwork that you and your family will treasure. In addition to the step-by-step process, Ricky will have lots of fantastic quilts on hand to inspire you. It's almost like having him come to your sewing room for private lessons...and you can replay each step as many times as you wish!

This episode is so "meaty" that we had to break it into two parts! You'll want to be on hand for both as quiltmaker, teacher, author, fabric designer, musician, and our own TQS co-host Ricky Tims walks you through the complete process for making your own, unique Rhapsody-style quilt. Learn to create the design, make the templates, prepare the background, prepare and stitch the appliqués, and assemble the component parts into an original masterwork that you and your family will treasure. In addition to the step-by-step process, Ricky will have lots of fantastic quilts on hand to inspire you. It's almost like having him come to your sewing room for private lessons...and you can replay each step as many times as you wish!

Travel back to the 1930s as quilter, author, editor, and quilt collector Darra Williamson sheds some light on Depression-era quilts, shares some stellar examples, and presents tips for working with those sometimes-challenging reproduction (and authentic) ‘30s fabrics. When Alex reveals an earlier faux pas about a particular quilting icon, British quilter, teacher, and author, Christine Porter joins the show via WebTV to help unveil the 21st-century model and to share up-to-the-minute tips and techniques for working with fusibles and the machine blanket stitch. Will Alex be forced to eat her words? Tune in and find out!

Do you own-or have your ever dreamed of owning-a home-based, quilting-related business? If so, you'll want to hear what quiltmaker, fabric designer, and successful businesswoman Verna Mosquera has to say about the challenges of balancing business-her pattern company, The Vintage Spool, focuses on romantic and timeless quilt designs--and family life. Then Verna shows some of her beautiful quilts, and gives Ricky a lesson in hand applique, focusing on clean, sharp points and deep Vs. The episode concludes with a tour of our location for the day, the home of Trish and Frank Cvetovac, where you'll enjoy a glimpse of the various rooms devoted to baseball, grandmother, and other "interesting" themes.

After viewing this episode, you'll understand why quilter and teacher Ronda Beyer took the Best of Show award at the 2010 AQS Show and Contest in Knoxville with her friend, Gail Stepanek, for their spectacular quilt, Star Berries. Ronda is an expert on her longarm quilting machine, and she loves to put her own unique spin on traditional designs. In this episode, she demonstrates ideas that you can adapt for hand quilting as well: how to create cross-hatched and double cross-hatched motifs and how to customize premade quilting stencils to fit your needs. She also shares a few of her beautiful quilts, including the aforementioned show-stopper. Then, if you're thinking of entering a show, Photo Man Gregory Case offers suggestions for improving the quality of those required photos.

Join the celebration as Alex, Ricky, our in-studio guest - quiltmaker, author, and designer Jo Morton - and our studio audience mark a TQS milestone: our 100th show!! Jo shares a great show and tell of her vintage-inspired quilts, and unveils super suggestions for success with color and terrific tips for accurate piecing. Then it's off for an at-home visit with an old TQS friend, quilt artist David Taylor - plus, Ricky shows an easy mono-print technique using fiber-reactive dye and soda ash. All are interspersed with memorable moments from past TQS shows. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll learn...don't miss it!

It's time for quilter, teacher, Silver Star Award winner, author, and TQS co-host Alex Anderson to take the floor in an on-location episode that's all about the fine art of paper piecing. In this "from start to finish" lesson, Alex introduces the tools you'll need to do the job. Then, using the New York Beauty block, she covers choosing fabrics, fabric placement, the basics of paper piecing...even how to paper piece curves, and gives her thoughts about quilting designs. As an added bonus, she takes you on a tour of host (and quilter) Cynthia Elliott's sewing room, and learns about making pizza in Cynthia's on-site wood-fired oven. Quilting and food? Perfect!

Contemporary folk artist, designer, and teacher Sue Spargo was born and raised in South Africa, and attributes the evolution of her signature layered and embellished "primitive"-style work to her childhood memories and her exposure to the energy and color of traditional African designs. Join us as she shares her wonderful folk-art quilts, and demonstrates her technique for adding dimension to a wool "base" leaf with layers of velvet, silk, and cotton. As if that's not inspiring enough, Sue then offers seven creative ways to introduce even more texture with embossing, embroidery, beads, and other embellishments. We wrap up the show with an on-site visit to the Monument, CO, home of Barbara and Bob Normoyle. Barbara, a prolific quilter, has a fantastic eye for decorating, and uses quilts throughout to enhance the decor. You won't want to miss this jam-packed episode!

Cheryl Lynch - quilter, pattern designer, author, and teacher - has found a creative way to preserve her travel memories: she turns her impressions into fabulous quilts. Recently, she has produced an extensive body of work inspired by the colorful tiled designs that she's observed while visiting Mexico. In addition to sharing some of these amazing quilts, Cheryl reveals three easy - and ingenious! - techniques for manipulating geometric images to create eye-catching designs, including one that utilizes Microsoft Word. She also offers great tips and techniques for embellishing and enhancing quilts with rickrack, and discusses the origins of her pattern company, Oy Vey! Quilt Designs, which specializes in Judaic imagery.

C'mon along as Quilting Adventure Guide (aka quiltmaker, designer, author, teacher, and surfer Rob Appell) "makes a splash" in our TQS studio. First he shows Ricky his Sewmando Vest, designed to keep a whole host of quilting tools within easy reach. Then the focus shifts to one of Rob's most cherished quilting endeavors - the Endangered Species Quilt Project - in which he has teamed with Michael Miller fabrics to build awareness of our planet and her endangered species through quilting. Rob displays some of these special quilts, demonstrates how to create a clever clownfish design, and discusses his quilting process, including some great trouble-shooting tips for free-motion machine quilters.

Teacher, author, and appliqué artist extraordinaire Wendy Grande uses ribbon as other quilters use fabric to create her beautiful appliquéd designs. In this episode, Wendy joins Alex and Ricky on location at Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs, CO, in a show and tell of her amazing work, both quilts and wedding gowns, and to share her favorite techniques and tools - ribbons, needles, thread, and markers - for achieving flawless results. Then Museum Administrator Karen Converse takes us on a tour of the 166-year-old castle, revealing some quirky facts and finds in the site's colorful history. You won't want to miss this one!