Carol Doak has been writing books about paper-piecing since 1993, has created over a thousand paper-pieced designs and in 2009, was named  by the readers of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine as “Favorite Paper Piecing Teacher”.

Her newest book, Creative Combinations, takes us into the land of rectangular shaped units…

Carol is very active online – she has a great blog, an active yahoo! group, and a newsletter that she sends out regularly.  She described her process behind this book on her own blog and was kind enough to let us share it with you here as well!

‘Let me take you down the creative journey that inspired this book. You see, for several years quilters had been asking for legal size foundation paper so they could print longer blocks.

When C & T Publishing agreed to work with me to make legal size foundation paper available, they suggested that I design a free 3″ x 12″ long border block to include with the package of paper. I agreed and the block was designed.

But then I thought, I could create 6″ x 12″ block designs. So I started playing with some new designs in that size.

When I printed out the first design, I thought, gee, I could place them together along the long side and make 12″ blocks in two halves too! The result was a 12″ block made in two halves looking very different from traditional block designs.

But then I thought I should design some blocks to round the corners of the border blocks. But then why not use those blocks as 4-block rotation blocks.

I soon saw the possibility that some blocks offered to just make the triangular portion of the rectangle and placed them in a four-block rotation to create new block designs.

And then of course this book needs to come with the Foundation Factory program that will let you print the blocks in any size you like. But that program also lets you flip blocks and distort blocks….oh my, I could see the possibilities were going to be endless!!!!!!

I love the way each foundation is presented as a border with the pieced corner suggestion, a corner square, the block positioned two ways for a quilt in a colored version and just the line drawings so you can see other options pop up in your brain.

Want to see some of the quilts in the book??? The styles and colors are so varied and they are just the tip of the iceberg with this book.

I love how this Magic Carpet Ride Quilt takes on the flavor of a Southwestern design

Morning Rays…This one was for me! Love the colors and the sharp points.

This one called, It’s Amazing was made for my perfect granddaughter. She walked in the room and saw it on the wall and Looooovvvved it! It was so easy and fun to create.

This one is so dramatic. It’s name is Arrowhead and it is the perfect scrap quilt or quilt for that tall guy in your life.

This quilt called Sunset has a wonderful contemporary look and was so easy to make.

This quilt called Garden Star is a modern twist on the look of 30′s fabric quilts.

There is so much more in the book, but I hope this sneak peak has given you an idea of what you can expect to see in it!’

Thanks Carol! And Congratulations on your brand new Craftsy Class!!!

Giveaway!

To win a copy of Carol Doak’s Creative Combinations AND a package of Legal-Size Foundation Paper please leave a comment on this post telling us if you have tried paper-piecing before.  Winners outside of the United States will win an e-book of their choice! Giveaway closes on April 11th, 2013.  The winner will be notified and the winner’s name will be added as an update to this post. Good luck!

4/12/13 UPDATE;  Linda is our winner – congratulations!