Contact Ann at: annholmesstudios@gmail.com
Ann Holmes
Artist, author of “No Sewing Until You Quilt It”, and inventor of Ann’s Magic Buttons, that automatically adds a seam allowance to every pattern piece.
Ann worked in stained glass from 1976 until 2024. When she moved to Asheville, NC in 1998 she became active with her Asheville NC Quilt Guild.
Ann had a desire to recreate some of her original glass designs into fabric, without the lead line look of stained glass quilts. As a stained glass artist she would build a window on top of a drawing. Ann experimented with building her quilts on a see-thru “French Fuse” foundation, and turning the edges with glue stick, and then sealing it down.
Then in 2005, foot surgery forced her to think of a quicker way to finish her project for the Asheville Quilt Show.
She asked herself, “Why am I sewing this twice?” first for stitching the top and then second for quilting. “No Sewing Until You Quilt It – French Fuse Appliqué” is the result. She builds her quilt top and then stitches and quilts it at the same time after the quilt sandwich is made.
This is a turned edge technique, it is easy and fun to do, it saves time, and you can edit your work without ripping out seams. See Rainbow Falls below in stained glass and the quilt it inspired. It was the first quilt she made with her “NO Sewing Until You Quilt It” technique.
Ann was invited to give her first quilting demo in Feb. 2006 and has been teaching her method
since then. She produced her DVD ©2007.
The American Quilter’s Society published her Daylily pattern in the November 2008 issue of American Quilter magazine. AQS published her “No Sewing Until You Quilt It” book in June 2012.
In 2014, Ann wrote a chapter in the AQS Book New Quilts from Old Favorites
“Carolina Lily” ....
Ann’s article: “Making Big Quilts in Manageable Units” is on the AQS web site
at AmericanQuilter.com - January 2015.
Ann is retiring and this website will go away June 1, 2024. But you will still be able to watch her You Tube channel: No Sewing Until You Quilt It--which has over 80 videos. It was such a joy working with my wonderful assistant Rachel Smith in making our videos.
For more history on Ann visit her Quilt Alliance, Save Our Stories interview at:
~ Rainbow Falls in Glass ~ ~ Rainbow Falls in Fabric ~
Ann's Original Video on AQS's YouTube Channel: Quilt TV in 2012
Watch this for an overview of her technique.
Contact Ann at: annholmesstudios@gmail.com
Building a" No Sewing Until You Quilt It" applique quilt
on a French Fuse foundation. All the edges are turned with glue stick and sealed down. No Sewing until you stitch and quilt all at the same time.
This is "Bird of Paradise" quilt in progress.
Ann Holmes Studios
Ann's Latest Project
"Lord, Save Me" (left)
(12 feet x 6 feet)
for the First United Church in Ada, Ohio
based on a Louis C. Tiffany stained glass from the Willard Chapel in Auburn, NY
(right)
*reinterpreted in fabric with permission*
