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The StoryBuilder Method™ Front Yard Friends
Bring your quilts to life with a fresh, interactive approach to appliqué storytelling.
Written and designed by Marisa C. Gray, The StoryBuilder Method™ Front Yard Friends is a comprehensive 160-page creative guide and template library. It invites you to explore new possibilities, follow your inspiration, and confidently develop your own voice as a fabric artist.
Meet the Front Yard Friends!
Inspired by the animals and birds that have visited the author’s own yard, this charming cast includes Bill the EveryDuck™, the dignified Professor Harrington and his exacting standards, Chuck the Woodpecker and his “Unhinged Quilting Tips”, Fatty the Squirrel, the Ducklings, and the beloved mallard couple, Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth.
What Is The StoryBuilder Method™?
The StoryBuilder Method™ is a flexible framework that helps you think differently, make creative decisions with confidence, and enjoy the process as much as the finished quilt.
Beginners are absolutely welcome, although this is not a technical guide to quilting. Learn the basic techniques through a beginner-friendly book, class, or video, then use The StoryBuilder Method™ for inspiration, direction, templates, patterns, and ideas, with the freedom to decide what belongs on your quilt and how you want to create it.
Follow the four-step creative cycle:
MAKE • LOOK • RESPOND • BUILD
At the heart of the book is the modular EveryDuck™ Foundation Framework, a character-building system that lets you mix features, expressions, poses, accessories, and personalities to create original scenes and stories.
Inside This 160-Page Workshop Companion-
OVER 85 PAGES OF TRACEABLE TEMPLATES!
A Complete Character-Building System: Detailed placement guides help you create Bill the EveryDuck™, Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth, Professor Harrington the Goose, the Ducklings, Chuck the Woodpecker, and Fatty the Squirrel. Interchangeable expressions, seasonal sports gear, and personality-filled accessories make each character your own. After all, how many geese do you know who wear loafers and a green argyle sweater vest?
Creative Teaching Modules: Explore communicating movement, choosing and balancing low-volume fabrics, building a scene, and creating your own one-of-a-kind heirloom quilt.
Created by a quilter with ADHD, this method supports creative minds that thrive on variety. Move between characters, techniques, ideas, and sections of your quilt whenever interest begins to fade. Repetition is always optional.
Full-Scale Quilt Layouts: Includes cutting measurements, fabric requirements, and assembly diagrams for the 72" × 72" Duck Pond Quilt Top and the 66" × 72" Seasons Quilt. You will also find five panel options, scenery elements, seasonal props, and reversed letter templates for all four seasons.
Trace-Ready Templates and Quilt/Character Size Charts: Dozens of crisp character, accessory, and scenery templates, in both right and left-facing versions, include 1-inch calibration squares for accurate printing and tracing at home.
Whether you are an appliqué beginner or an experienced textile artist, The StoryBuilder Method™ will help you transform your next heirloom quilt into an unforgettable neighborhood story.
ORDER THE DIGITAL/PRINTABLE PDF:
Bring your quilts to life with a fresh, interactive approach to appliqué storytelling.
Written and designed by Marisa C. Gray, The StoryBuilder Method™: The Foundation Volume, Introducing the Front Yard Friends Collection is a comprehensive 160-page creative guide and template library. It invites you to explore new possibilities, follow your inspiration, and confidently develop your own voice as a fabric artist.
Meet the Front Yard Friends!
Inspired by the animals and birds that have visited the author’s own yard, this charming cast includes Bill the EveryDuck™, the dignified Professor Harrington and his exacting standards, Chuck the Woodpecker and his “Unhinged Quilting Tips”, Fatty the Squirrel, the Ducklings, and the beloved mallard couple, Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth.
What Is The StoryBuilder Method™?
The StoryBuilder Method™ is a flexible framework that helps you think differently, make creative decisions with confidence, and enjoy the process as much as the finished quilt.
Beginners are absolutely welcome, although this is not a technical guide to quilting. Learn the basic techniques through a beginner-friendly book, class, or video, then use The StoryBuilder Method™ for inspiration, direction, templates, patterns, and ideas, with the freedom to decide what belongs on your quilt and how you want to create it.
Follow the four-step creative cycle:
MAKE • LOOK • RESPOND • BUILD
At the heart of the book is the modular EveryDuck™ Foundation Framework, a character-building system that lets you mix features, expressions, poses, accessories, and personalities to create original scenes and stories.
Inside This 160-Page Workshop Companion-
OVER 85 PAGES OF TRACEABLE TEMPLATES!
A Complete Character-Building System: Detailed placement guides help you create Bill the EveryDuck™, Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth, Professor Harrington the Goose, the Ducklings, Chuck the Woodpecker, and Fatty the Squirrel. Interchangeable expressions, seasonal sports gear, and personality-filled accessories make each character your own. After all, how many geese do you know who wear loafers and a green argyle sweater vest?
Creative Teaching Modules: Explore communicating movement, choosing and balancing low-volume fabrics, building a scene, and creating your own one-of-a-kind heirloom quilt.
Created by a quilter with ADHD, this method supports creative minds that thrive on variety. Move between characters, techniques, ideas, and sections of your quilt whenever interest begins to fade. Repetition is always optional.
Full-Scale Quilt Layouts: Includes cutting measurements, fabric requirements, and assembly diagrams for the 72" × 72" Duck Pond Quilt Top and the 66" × 72" Seasons Quilt. You will also find five panel options, scenery elements, seasonal props, and reversed letter templates for all four seasons.
Trace-Ready Templates and Quilt/Character Size Charts: Dozens of crisp character, accessory, and scenery templates, in both right and left-facing versions, include 1-inch calibration squares for accurate printing and tracing at home. Pre-formatted for 3 ring binders/hole punch.
Whether you are an appliqué beginner or an experienced textile artist, The StoryBuilder Method™ will help you transform your next heirloom quilt into an unforgettable neighborhood story.
NOTE: DIGITAL PRODUCT
This purchase includes a digital PDF. No physical product will be shipped. Purchase includes one personal-use license for the original purchaser. Digital files may not be shared, resold, redistributed, posted online, or reproduced for distribution. Due to digital files being delivered immediately upon purchase, refunds/returns are not available for this item.
CHOOSE YOUR FORMAT:
The StoryBuilder Studio is a very small independent business. When I say “very small” I mean me, Marisa Gray, the designer and creator, along with my four feline assistants, who contribute primarily by sleeping on me, my laptop, or my sewing machine while I work.
If you discover an issue while creating, please let me know so I can review and correct it. I would also love to see your works in progress and completed projects. Share them on social media and tag @storybuilderstudio using #frontyardfriends or #thestorybuilderstudio.
This book was an enormous undertaking and a true labor of love. Please help protect independent creative work by keeping your purchased files for your own personal use. If a friend would like to try The StoryBuilder Method™, I would be delighted to send them the free Fatty the Squirrel template!
NOTE: DIGITAL PRODUCT
This purchase includes a digital PDF. No physical product will be shipped. Purchase includes one personal-use license for the original purchaser. Digital files may not be shared, resold, redistributed, posted online, or reproduced for distribution. Digital products are final sale once delivered. If you experience a technical problem accessing your PDF, please contact us for assistance.
ORDER THE LAY FLAT, COIL BOUND WORKBOOK:
$59.95
NOTE: PHYSICAL PRODUCT
This purchase includes the lay flat, coil bound, workbook, printed on 80# coated paper, for added durability, tracing and studio work. Book includes one personal-use license for the original purchaser. Book may not be shared, scanned, copied, posted online, or reproduced for distribution. (Purchaser may scan and print for personal use.)
Of Note:
Checkout for the workbook is through our printing partner, and is separate from the Studio’s other products’ checkout.
Half Price PDF with Workbook Purchase
Purchasers of the printed edition may add the complete digital PDF for 50% off. Submit your printed book order number below, and once your book purchase is confirmed, we will email you a single-use discount code for the digital edition.
Returns and Refunds
Because each printed workbook is produced specifically for your order, printed books are final sale and cannot be returned or refunded. However, if your book arrives damaged, defective, or you received an incorrect item, please contact us promptly so we can arrange an appropriate replacement or resolution.
Already own the printed workbook?
Purchasers of the printed edition may add the complete digital PDF for 50% off. Submit your Lulu order number below, and once your printed book purchase is confirmed, we will email you a single-use discount code for the digital edition.