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

    Finish up by following Amanda's suggestions for filling in background space with free-motion quilting.

    Learn how to trust your instincts so you can work more intuitively, and develop a new appreciation for the therapy of sewing without a plan.

    Start with fresh, beginner-friendly patterns and build your skills to sew snowballs, stars, flying geese, and more. Using precuts from your stash or your own charms cut from scraps or yardage, you’ll learn tips to take the guesswork out of piecing. Modern and traditional quilters alike will fall in love with these quick, clever, and clean designs!

    Stroll down memory lane with photos and stories of good times, good friends, and beautiful quilts. "Still Stripping" is a collection of 12 quilt patterns, some traditional, some contemporary. The patterns are based on 2.5" fabric strips, which have become Eleanor's trademark. As an added feature, most patterns have complete yardage and cutting charts for all five quilt sizes. The book, with over 200 pages in full color, has fully illustrated, step-by-step directions for the patterns and features Eleanor's latest fabric line, "Yours Truly" from Benartex, Inc. Each quilt includes a convenient chart with each fabric color name and number for easy identification."Still Stripping - After 25 Years" is sure to become a collectors item, for the fun, easy quilt patterns, photographs, and stories of Eleanor's first 25 years!

    The projects produce high-impact quilts made with simple cutting and construction, therefore no fussy cutting or Y-seams are required.

    This work teaches you everything you need to know about colour theory, fabric selection, and design, as well as providing expert advice on piecing, hand and machine applique, and finishing techniques."

    Get reacquainted with your favorite characters from the Elm Creek Quilts series while browsing through a dozen brand-new quilts designed by Jennifer Chiaverini.

    The "Getting Started" section will give you a great overview and help explain some things for the very beginner. Next, learn some easy stitch patterns in the section "Basic Stitches." When you're ready to try your first project, take a look at the "Potholder Patterns" section, but make sure to read the "Pattern Information & Notes" first for some important stuff that pertains to all the patterns. The ebook is also filled with photos to help you along your way.Why Potholders?Potholders are a great project to work with Tunisian crochet because:• The back/wrong side is hidden between the two layers• Tunisian crochet makes a very thick final product• Working square shapes is easy for the beginnerHave fun, and happy hooking to you!

    Quilting expert Ricky Tims presents an imaginative, new piecing technique that quilters will adore! Convergence quilts feature two or more fabrics cut into strips, sewn together, then cut and pieced again.

    This book provides sewers with time estimates for each step of a crazy quilt patter; demonstrates how to break projects down into manageable pieces and suggests alternate uses for leftover fabrics; and teaches sewers how to make savvy fabric selections to coordinate with existing room or to add new flair.

    The projects range from smaller lap quilts to full-sized bed quilts and each is made from one jelly roll, layer cake or charm pack (or a combination), making the quilts quick and economical. Using the latest fabrics, the authors provide a main quilt and an alternative color way for added versatility. Simple step-by-step instructions and illustrations make creating quilts from bundles fun and easy, regardless of your skill level.

    Your colorful pictures of flowers will produce a stunning flower art book that you can be proud of.In recent years coloring for grown-ups has become a widespread and growing hobby. There are of course many reasons for this, but here are just some... Coloring Lowers Stress And Anxiety Psychiatrists have long known that coloring relaxes the fear center of the brain and allows your mind to get some rest. In fact the founder of analytical psychology, Carl Jung, is known to have given his patients mandalas to color more than one hundred years ago. In today's hectic world the stress reducing properties of coloring are possibly more valuable than ever. Coloring Trains Your Brain To Focus Remaining inside the lines as you color needs focus and, while you are concentrating on this stress-free and relaxing activity, you can forget about your worries. Coloring is a mind exercise which allows you to put aside everything else for the time you spend coloring, and this is very important in our increasingly demanding world. Coloring Helps In The Development Of Fine Motor Skills And Vision Coloring forces the two hemispheres of the brain to work together and involves both the use of logic (necessary for coloring forms) and creativity (as we mix and match colors). In turn, this brings those areas of the brain responsible for fine motor skills and vision into play, and helps in keeping these active and in developing them further. It is this aspect of coloring which is being seen more and more as especially valuable for older individuals, as many in the medical profession believe that it can delay, or even prevent, the onset of dementia. Coloring Provides The Chance To Be Social Although you might feel that coloring should be a solo occupation, its rising popularity is quickly turning it into a social one. Friends, families, work colleagues and others are getting together to eat, drink and enjoy the chance to socialize, through their shared interest in coloring books. Without doubt, this is a perfect excuse for getting together, as coloring needs only a minimum of concentration and can easily be done in a group setting. Coloring Lets You Be Yourself There are no rules when it comes to coloring and your coloring book is your coloring book. If you mistakenly make the cat's back leg green because you mistook it for part of the grass, who cares? If you feel like making the sky yellow, what does it matter? You can be as creative as you wish because this is your coloring book, and yours alone."You may already be a convert to adult coloring, in which case you will already know and appreciate its value. This may however be a new project for you and one which you are considering for any one of several different reasons. If this is something new for you then I urge you to give it a try. There is a reason why so many people are fired up about the world of adult coloring, so join in and start enjoying the benefits for yourself today. IMPORTANT Please note that the illustrations in this Kindle book are deliberately of a relatively low quality in order to keep the download size of the book small.

    Eight small projects are provided to help you practice your new hand- or machine-stitching skills Step-by-step illustrations, a friendly, conversational style, and a generous dose of humor keep the learning easy and fun Treat yourself to an enjoyable, anxiety-free first quilting experience and lay a solid foundation for your quiltmaking with this resource that you'll turn to again and again

    Cutting hundreds of pieces and joining angled seams can be tough work! But log cabin quilting—an artful and simple way to piece strips of fabric around a central square—is different. From the intuitive construction through the straight-line stitching, this style of quilting is simple as can be. In Modern Log Cabin Quilting, Susan Beal outlines the entire process from start to finish, including basic quilting how-to as well as extensive design, fabric, and embellishment information. Since all log cabin designs follow the same formula, once you master straight lines and right angles, any of the 25 projects in this book are possible. From stash-friendly designs like the Charming Camera Case to more ambitious undertakings like the Vintage Linens Quilt, there’s sure to be a project that will get you into (or bring you back to) quilting!