With a refreshingly new approach to free-motion stitching, First Steps to Free-Motion Quilting encourages you to make something beautiful while improving your free-motion quilting skills. You'll find 24 projects and quilts that are light on assembly so you can spend most of your time stitching. A handy troubleshooting guide ensures success every step of the way.

    The American Quilt shows how these virtuoso textiles, long appreciated for their bold graphic appeal and naive charm, are also a fascinating reflection of cultural and social attitudes, painting an indelible portrait of our nation’s history and the remarkable women who lived it. America of the 18th and 19th centuries developed at a breathtaking pace, and the changes that marked each era were inevitably mirrored in the prevailing quilting styles of the period. The American Quilt marks the first time the evolution of quilting has been traced chronologically, identifying the fabric, design, and construction hallmarks of each period and showing the genesis of beloved patterns and styles. A thorough discussion of America’s textile history, complete with a fabric time-line, provides further insight into antique quilts, offering important clues to their age and provenance.The American Quilt charts the course of quilting in America, from the earliest whole-cloth and broderie perse quilts through the emergence of the block style in all its regional and popular permutations. Special sections are devoted to quilt subgenres, including Amish quilts, Baltimore Album quilts, mourning quilts, and African-American quilts, that are highly prized by collectors today.Quilt collectors will also find helpful information on displaying, storing, and caring for quilts, as well as an exhaustive directory of dealers and quilt collections that have been updated for this edition.Filled with more than 250 photographs of rarely seen quilts and delightful evocations of quilting’s colorful past, The American Quilt is a thought-provoking and important step forward in our ever-expanding knowledge of this remarkable folk art.“[The American Quilt] offers a profusely illustrated survey that ingeniously weaves the threads of America’s social, political, economic, and industrial history into the evolution of the quilt-making arts.” —New York Times“A longtime dealer of antique quilts, Kiracofe has given us a guide to evaluating and dating old quilts, and has included methods of tracking down the makers, and advice on their cleaning, storage, hanging, and restoration. A pleasure for the generalist, this book will be indispensable to serious students and collectors.” —Washington Post“A must for any serious student of quilts.” —Quilter’s NotebookA “classic quilt tome.”—USA Today

    Presented with easy, step-by-step instructions, illustrations, and photos, these 23 projects include a bohemian coat sweater, a mohair hat, retro bed slippers, and an assortment of trendsetting bags. Projects are included for baskets, pillows, and a throw to add a stylish twist to a crocheter's home decor. In addition to introducing basic crochet techniques, this guide tackles more advanced projects using a variety of yarns, including mohair, merino, angora blends, and linen.

    With the admonition to "write this down," Williams began to describe how slaves made coded quilts and used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad. But just as quickly as she started, Williams stopped, informing Tobin that she would learn the rest when she was "ready."During the three years it took for Williams's narrative to unfold--and as the friendship and trust between the two women grew--Tobin enlisted Raymond Dobard, Ph.D., an art history professor and well-known African American quilter, to help unravel the mystery.Part adventure and part history, Hidden in Plain View traces the origin of the Charleston Code from Africa to the Carolinas, from the low-country island Gullah peoples to free blacks living in the cities of the North, and shows how three people from completely different backgrounds pieced together one amazing American story.

    This book offers a fashionable, contemporary update of crewel embroidery with designs and a colour palette that will have every crafter reaching for their needles and thread.

    Learn, for instance, about Isis, the mother goddess of Egypt, and knit a red stole that grants power to its wearer. Other stories and projects include Athene and a scarf called a smoke ring, Penelope and a warm beautiful sweater, and more. Wonderful for beginners as well as the more advanced knitter, this one-of-a-kind approach to knitting will teach readers not only how to master the craft, but will also entertain, inspire, and inform.

    Chock full of easy to understand instructions and full color pictures for the 24 recipes included, you are sure to succeed with this book, regardless of your skill level. With a few simple ingredients, and a little bit of time, you’ll be making bath bombs in an afternoon. You’re in good hands with this quick and easy guide to showing you not only the basics, but also more fun and challenging recipes like the Fizzy Pops, designed to look like tasty cake pop treats. Taking it a step further she has also included cupcake bath bombs with a sugar scrub topping. Who wouldn't love to make these? This book can be a project for yourself, a gift for a friend, or an enhancement to your knowledge in the world of bath and body crafts. Whatever the purpose, the reader will enjoy!

    With this book you will learn:Basic stitches like the Purl StitchKnit stitches, such as Diamond Brocade and Seeded TrianglesRib Stitches like the Mock Cable Rib and Fishbone RibLace Stitches, such as the Fishtail and Cubic LaceCable Stitches like the Woven Cable and Waving CablesBONUS: As an added bonus this book includes a knitting glossary at the end, for you to use to help understand knitting jargon!

    Explore seven core techniques and multiple projects using each technique—all presented with detailed instructions. Also included is step-by-step direction from Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen on tools, materials, and quilting basics, as well as expert advice on color and design.New and seasoned quilting artists will love making stunning bed, wall hanging, pillowcase, and table accessory quilts with this must-have resource. Quilting Modern is a field guide for quilters who strive to break free from tradition and yearn to explore improvisational work.Quilters can make the 21 projects in the book, but will also come away with the new knowledge and skills to apply to their own unique designs. In Quilting Modern, quilters will find the support, structure, and encouragement they need to explore their own creativity and artistic vision.

    Featuring new and fashionable designs, this book of innovative projects is perfect for new and intermediate crocheters who want to take crochet to the next level with clever stitch motifs, new techniques to shaping, and creative embellishment ideas, such as unusual edgings, color work, and crocheting with beads, lace, ruffles, and tiers. Charts are included for every stitch pattern and motif and each pattern includes diagrams for all constructions, making this a complete resource for the hip crocheter.

    Fans of the wildly popular “60 Knits” series are already into the lighter sportweight wool, exclusively from Cascade Yarns-and new readers will welcome its many advantages. Projects include the Paris Cardigan and Birdhouse Sweater from Pat Olski, Amy Barht's Bunny Blanket, and Veronica Manno's Smart Striped Vest.

    For advanced crafters, this book instructs on features such as modes and functions, and teaches how to create with color, texture, and dimension. A cutting guide teaches the perfect settings to cut every type of material. A separate chapter introduces the new features of Cricut Expression™ 2 and explains how it differs from the original Expression machine. More than 50 creative projects inspire ideas for home décor, gifts, parties, cards, and scrapbook layouts.

    Richard Bedard was a journalist in his mid-40s, living abroad, when he was diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome, or chondromalacia patella. His burning joints made his life so miserable that he fantasized about hacking off his kneecaps. Four doctors failed to help; one said he would never get better. His physical therapist finally gave up too.Unable to sit normally, he quit his job. Unemployed and desperate, he launched a year-long, round-the-clock experiment to save his knees. He read from scores of clinical studies, medical textbooks, health newsletters. What he discovered left him stunned. There was a familiar story about what patellofemoral pain syndrome was and how to treat it: The advice to focus on strengthening the quads. To stretch. To take glucosamine. To forget about cartilage healing, because that never happened.And that story was completely wrong.Armed with this knowledge, he fashioned a plan to get better. Within two years, he fully recovered. This compelling story chronicles a long journey of healing and discovery. It shows that a patient’s true ally isn’t simply hope, but informed hope.

    

    Using paper templates to guide your pattern, you can expertly fit your quilting shapes together before you even start sewing. All Points Patchwork takes you far beyond traditional hexagons and accommodates triangles, diamonds, octagons, and even curved shapes. Simple instructions for decorating clothing, bedding, and home decor open up astounding possibilities for quilters of all levels.