Learn how to quilt all-over, as filler, on borders, and on individual blocks…using loops and swirls, feathers and flames, flowers and vines, pebbles and more! Includes tips for choosing batting and thread, layering and basting, starting and stopping, and prepping your machine are included. After you've practiced, show off your new skills with six geometric quilt projects.

    There's a Russian Shawl Quilt, inspired by traditional motifs of Russian folk art, a Floral Frocks Quilt inspired by summer dresses, flower gardens and herbaceous borders and a Suits and Ties Quilt reusing sober woollen suiting contrasting with extravagant silk ties designed in an Irish Chain.Finally, a practical section covers all the knowledge you’ll need – from chainpiecing, hand-quilting and sandwiching to binding, storage and caring for your quilt. Armed with the design tools, you can embark on your quilting journey and begin creating your own personal masterpiece.

    Critics and popular audiences alike marveled at these quilts that combined the best of contemporary design with a deeply rooted ethnic heritage and compelling human stories about the women. Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt is a major book and museum exhibition that will premiere at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), in June 2006 before traveling to seven American museums through 2008. The book's 330 color illustrations and insightful text bring home the exciting experience to readers while displaying all the cultural heritage and craftsmanship that have gone into these remarkable quilts.

    Learn the glue-basting method of English paper piecing and use it to create exciting designs. You'll enjoy relaxing handwork as you incorporate hexagons into decorative projects. Select from 52 patterns for 6" blocks Divide the shapes within the hexagon outline and discover new shapes Stitch projects ranging from a mug rug and candle mat to a bed-sized quilt

    Jessica Alexandrakis has traveled the world with her on-to-go sewing kit and small stash of fabric, creating strikingly modern patchwork along the way. Now she shares everything she's learned about this addictive, beginner-friendly technique. • Sewing kit essentials that you can slip in your bag so you'll always be ready to stitch • Color theory and stash organization tips for dramatic effects or scrap-happy results • Creative patterns to combine hexagons, half-hexagons, diamonds, stars, squares, and triangles • 10 step-by-step projects, including the hand-pieced Laptop Bag, Tanuki Stripe Throw, Falling Stars Baby Quilt, and Jessica's signature Travel Quilt • 10 customizable quilt patterns with 40 vibrant color palette suggestions Whether your style is classic or modern, Jessica offers a range of stunning projects, from small home accessories to full-size quilts, for all skill levels. So leave the sewing machine at home. Take your quilt to go.

    A world-class designer and extraordinarily skilled quilter, Jinny Beyer demonstrates everything from threading a needle to piecing perfect points. Beginning with the basic running stitch, quilters quickly move on to joining two, then four patches, making stars and compasses, setting in pieces, and stitching curves. With each new skill, quilters are invited to begin the next section of a quilt designed especially for beginners—encouraging a “sew-as-you-learn” approach with each of the 10 quilting projects. The quilting stitch is simply and clearly explained, and detailed photographs illustrate how neat, even lines of stitching are achieved.

    And she's determined to enjoy making quilts. In fact, she will not -- absolutely will not -- let the risk of making a mistake, or a less-than- perfect quilt, keep her from relishing the task! In the 34 chapters of this new book, Lisa covers: The need for new fabric colors -- "blurple," "rorange," and "brellow," to name a few; The virtues of lumps in a quilt; How to share your bum fat quarter at a fabric exchange; How crocheting doilies will drive you back to quilting; How to cope when your quilts lack depth and dimension. Lisa Boyer is a breeze of fresh air. She brings you back to the pleasure of quilting with her confessions and adventures in Stash Envy!

    In The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, Sherri Lynn Wood presents a flexible approach to quilting that breaks free of old paradigms. Instead of traditional instructions, she presents 10 frameworks (or scores) that create a guiding, but not limiting, structure. To help quilters gain confidence, Wood also offers detailed lessons for stitching techniques key to improvisation, design and spontaneity exercises, and lessons on color. Every quilt made from one of Wood’s scores will have common threads, but each one will look different because it reflects the maker’s unique interpretation. Featured throughout the book are Wood’s own quilts and a gallery of contributor works chosen from among the hundreds submitted when she invited volunteers to test her scores during the making of this groundbreaking work.

    The results - like non-identical twins - are inextricably linked, yet intriguingly different. With practical step-by-step instructions, a comprehensive basics section and glorious photographs, this is a book to make your fingers tingle with sheer inspiration."

    A must-have book for any quilt or craft library." --Denyse Schmidt (author of Denyse Schmidt Quilts). . . My approach to quilting is an approach for true beginners. I don't like triangles, circles, hexagons, diamonds, rhombuses, or any shape that makes measuring a chore. (Can we stop right here and ponder the word rhombus? Man, that word is hilarious.) In this book, every project is designed using only squares and rectangles. Why just squares and rectangles? Because straight seams are easy to stitch!Craft a modern quilt with independent quilt-maker Boo Davis, whose fun, slightly quirky designs take quilts into new graphic territory. Using only simple shapes like rectangles and squares you'll see robots, skulls, alarm clocks, and owls come to life as fabulous, full-size quilts. With 10 charming quilt patterns, and 15 eye-popping patchwork projects perfect for afternoon or weekend crafting, Dare to Be Square Quilting reinterprets quilt traditions such as basket weave, rail fence, and housetop designs in a bold new way. With advice on color and fabric selection, and an extensive how-to section on quilting, Davis teaches the fastest, simplest, and most reliable methods modern quilting has to offer.Dare to make a quilt that's funny, fabulous, and from the heart . . . Dare to be square!

    20 traditional patterns for a new generation of generous quiltmakers are included.

    In Quilting with a Modern Slant, Rachel May introduces you to more than 70 modern quilters who have developed their own styles, methods, and aesthetics. Their ideas, their quilts, and their tips, tutorials, and techniques will inspire you to try something new and follow your own creativity wherever it leads.

    It's like a private "show me" quilt class designed to help quilters expand their skills.

    Twelve chapters (one for each month) showcase the designs of today's leading modern quilters along with easy-to-follow guidelines, so you can reinvent their work in your own signature style. Best of all, with this book in hand, you'll have everything you need to start your own online quilting bee and enjoy collaborating with other fabric lovers around the world.

    In addition to clear directions and step-by-step illustrations for machine-sewn patchwork and quilted projects, Fresh Quilting includes a detailed section of techniques from basic piecing, cutting, and measuring methods to more advanced techniques such as inserting zippers into pillow backs and using bias binding to finish a quilt. Throughout Fresh Quilting, Malka will teach you how to adventurously and confidently mix colors and prints. You'll be inspired to infuse your own brilliant palettes into each project and discover just how irresistible and beautiful contemporary quilting can be!