Maui resident Cindy Walter is an author, television host, and international master teacher of traditional and contemporary quilt techniques. She has authored 10 books, and also designed a fabric line and patterns. “Two of the books I co-authored, Fine Hand-Quilting and Attic Windows, promote traditional quilting,” she explained. “The techniques passed down to us by our elders are a very important part of our heritage. I alternate between teaching and creating  both traditional and contemporary quilt styles, and I especially enjoy encouraging students to create their own unique designs.”

Walter often spends her free time designing quilts, writing books, and teaching workshops on boat cruises. Her books include new tools on the market, and refined techniques. Her fondness for contemporary quilting is how her book, Snippet Sensations, began. “I wanted to create a quilt that looked like a Monet painting, and began pondering fabric and paint methods. I cut pre-fused pieces of cloth up into little bits like dabs of paint, and applied them to my quilt. Wow! My idea worked and once I perfected the technique I wrote Snippet Sensations to plant the seeds of inspiration in others.”

Then, it came to Walter to actually try to paint on fabric Another of her books, Fabric Painting, teaches basic information to help understand paints, supplies, and how to set up the workspace. “Living in Hawaii makes it easy to find inspiration for Hawaiian quilt patterns,” Walter said. “As much as I enjoy the traditional Hawaiian needle-turn method, I could not resist painting the Hawaiian quilt. The project is rewarding and fast. It is directly painted, so there is no guesswork. You simply spread the paint as evenly as possible within the lines. You can highlight the painting with machine quilting, using the traditional echo pattern, to get a quilt with a true Hawaiian feeling. Hawaiian quilt tops are made by folding fabric into eighths, like a pie wedge. The pattern is then pinned on top of the fabric wedge, and the entire quilt top is cut out at once, snowflake style.” Go to www.cindywalter.com for teaching information, books, and inspiration.