CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA - GUEST QUILTER AND MYSTERY AUTHOR ANNETTE MAHON

Cozy mystery author and quilter Annette Mahon joins us today. Annette is a former librarian and native of Hilo, Hawaii, now living in Arizona, where she writes cozy Southwestern mysteries, with quilts and quilters, and sweet Hawaiian romances--some of them with quilts and quilters. Learn more about Annette at her website. 

Annette is offering advanced reading copies of St. Rose Goes Hawaiian to two of our readers. To enter the drawing, post a comment to the blog. And don't forget to check back on Sunday to learn if you're the winner. -- AP

In the Black at the Pink Plumeria

As a quilter, I love putting quilts into my books, which means I want to make the quilts my characters make. I actually have a collection of wall hangings I call the “book quilts.” It all began with my fist romance, Above the Rainbow, when I made one of the quilts described in the book, one called In the Black at the Pink Plumeria. The quilt store owner heroine made it to celebrate her store’s success, but I do want to comment that black fabric is not usually used in Hawaiian quilts. However, it is one of my favorite quilts and was used for the cover design of St. Rose Goes Hawaiian.

Maggie Browne, the main Character in the St. Rose Quilting
Bee books, designs an obake anthurium wall hanging in
ST. ROSE GOES HAWAIIAN 

Having a quilt for each book was almost a given with my mystery series since it involves a group of quilters who solve crimes over the quilting frame. At the time I conceived the series, I thought it would be fun to include a quilt pattern at the back of each book—a rail autograph block for A Phantom Death and a nine patch with hearts for An Ominous Death. However, I abandoned that idea with books three and four as it was too difficult to try to explain making a string quilt for Bits and Pieces or a Hawaiian quilt for St. Rose Goes Hawaiian.

Creating your own pattern using an8" square. Remember
to allow for the seam allowance which is included in
the cut pattern.

Writing St. Rose Goes Hawaiian was especially fun because I took my characters—the St. Rose Quilting Bee—to my home town in Hawaii for a quilt seminar. Hawaiian quilts are my passion, so I enjoyed planning a quilt for each of my characters. Creating the plot, planning the murder—those are the difficult parts of the writing process. Putting in the quilting bits is the fun part.

I love creating my own Hawaiian quilts. I usually design on a 40”-45” square; it’s not only a more manageable size than a full sized quilt, but I don’t have to piece fabric for the backing or appliqué.

You can make one, too. Hawaiian quilts take their inspiration from nature, so think of your favorite flower or plant. I love plumerias and anthuriums and have done wall hangings using both.

The anthurium paper pattern piece fully opened. The pencil
line shows where you should cut a slit for the flower in the
heart shaped spathe.

Begin by folding your fabric square into a triangle. It’s just like making paper snowflakes. Fold the fabric in half (bottom to top), in half again (left edge to right edge), then take the top left tip and bring it down to meet the lower right tip. This is your design space. Draw your pattern in that space, remembering that it will repeat eight times when opened up. I often start small, with a square made from one sheet of copy paper, so that I can see how the design will look when I open it up. Have fun.

Thanks for joining us today, Annette, and allowing us to see some of your beautiful quilts. Readers, want a chance to win an advance reading copy of St. Rose Goes Hawaiian? Post a comment. -- AP