Back Basting Appliqué Step by Step by Hand or Machine

Long arm appliqué fan, Barbara Eikmeier, found teaching needle-turn to others a challenge. That was until she discovered back-basting appliqué. With this needle-turn technique, you baste the fabric in place from the back side, then trim and then appliqué. Barbara covers three methods of back-basting appliqué: baste by hand, appliqué by hand; baste by machine, appliqué by hand; and baste by machine, appliqué by machine. She also includes step-by-step illustrations of techniques such as layering motifs, reverse appliqué and broderie perse. Once you have the technique down, you can progress through a series of wall hangings, table runners and a banner to perfect the technique or venture out on your own.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

The Gifts of Imperfection
Brené Brown
Hazleden; $14.95

I purchased this book a while back because I’ve loved Brené Brown since I saw her talk on TED and watched her keynote speech at Omega a couple of years ago. I knew I would have a long trip back from Portland and took this to read on the plane. I loved the book. As someone who wrestles with perfectionism, this book cut to the core for me. The book is subtitled “Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are.” Her recommendation is to take up wholehearted living and she shares 10 prescriptions for that. For us creatives, one is to create! It’s a quick read, though it will be something I will go back to again to study in more depth and consider her questions. Can’t recommend this book enough. I’ve ordered extra copies for family and close friends.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Learn to Sew Easy Curves
Jen Eskridge
Leisure Arts; $14.99

Curves: You either take them in stride or you are in the “fear the curves” camp. I usually take them in stride, but I will admit that sometimes the curves could be neater in my work. If that’s the case for you or your students, try Jen Eskridge’s faced appliqué method for flawless curves. She teaches you how to attach a facing to your curves, whether single, double, reverse or closed appliqué pieces. Once you’ve got the technique, Jen offers you eight fresh-looking projects ranging from mug rugs to full-size quilts.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Print with Collage and Stitch: Techniques for Mixed-Media Printmaking

Val Holmes
Interweave; $26.95

I loved my printmaking class in college and still have the plates I made. They were all relief printing. In this book well-known teacher and embroiderer Val Holmes shares everything you need to know to use collagraphy in your textile work. Collagraphy uses a plate for printing, only elements are added to the plate rather than taken away yielding exciting and unexpected results. She goes into great depth about how to make a plate and add elements, including stitching, to it. Once you’ve created the plate, you need to make the print, and you aren’t limited to a traditional press. She discusses burnishing, printing with a roller or a flower press, even using your car tires as a press. I found her summary of materials table of what can be added to a plate and how it can be printed useful. And, if you want to use a simple press, Val gives you outlines for building a flower press, a screw-down hand press and an etching press. I found this book to be filled with exciting possibilities.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Curves Without Piecing
Annette Ornelas
American Quilters Society; $12.95

American Quilter’s Society recently published a series of 24 books in its new Love to Quilt series. The books, 32 pages in length, feature excerpts and patterns from earlier books. Some of the titles include Marble Your Own Quilt Fabrics by Kathy Fawcett & Carol Shoaf; Circular Quilting Designs by Helen Squire; and Curves Without Piecing by Annette Ornelas. A complete list of books is at www.lovetoquiltcreations.com. A great way to try a technique at a lower price point.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Quiltings, Frolicks, and Bees: 100 Years of Signature Quilts
by Sue Reich
Schiffer Publishing; $29.95

Is there a quilter around who hasn’t added her name to a signature quilt? I know I’ve signed several over the years, and I created a basket quilt for my grandmother’s 90th birthday with blocks signed by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. What I like best about the process is that it involves non-quilters. Sue Reich takes a look at 100 years of signature quilts from the late 18th through early 19th centuries. Much of the text comes from actual newspaper articles documenting gatherings of quilters to quilt, or “frolick.” The book includes numerous photos of quilts with family, patriotic, community, charitable and religious themes. I enjoyed the newspaper accounts, e.g., the “clever scheme for raising money to pay for a scholarship for a heathen girl.” Of course, once completed, “the question arose as to the method of disposing of the coverlet.” In this case it went to the first to be married, with rumors of weddings and the announcement that “several members had set the fateful day.” A valuable addition to quilt scholarship.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Listen to Your Quilt: Select the Perfect Quilting Every Time – 4 Simple Steps
by Barbara Persing
C&T Publishing; $17.95

I sometimes think the most dreaded words a quilter hears are, “Quilt as Desired.” What does that mean for someone who is a novice at quilting? Or even for someone who is just overwhelmed at the choices she can use? If this is a challenge for you or your students, Barbara Persing’s book will help. She looks at four steps to help you choose a quilting design: the category of the quilt, what its intended use is, what quilting will enhance the quilt and what thread color to use. Barbara showcases more than 20 different quilts and explains how she used her system. The quilts are shown in full size and in a detail. I wish the full size quilts were clearer, as the quilting doesn’t show to its full advantage. She also offers more than 20 different quilting designs that you can use. A good resource to get you started.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Uncoverings 2012
Lynne Zacek Bassett, ed.
American Quilt Study Group;

Scrappy Firework Quilts – A Blast of Strips, Scraps & Triangles

by Edyta Sitar
Landauer Books; $27.95

Quilter and fabric designer Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is sharing 19 quilt designs that use half-square triangles, strip panels, 8-pointed stars and fusible appliqué. The resulting quilts really do have a firework quality, with light popping from the quilts. While most of the projects are quilts, she does include a fun sewing box. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, with lots of step-by-step photos. I love the way she blends traditional prints with batiks. A good stash busting book.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to  Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement

by Suzi Parron with Donna Sue Groves
Swallow Press; $29.95

The American Quilt Trail, large colorful quilt blocks painted and mounted on barns, is truly a grassroots public arts movement. In this book, Suzi Parron travels across 25 states and Canada to visit the barn artists and barn owners to learn more about the movement, which started with Donna Sue Groves’ project in 2001 to paint barns in Adams County, Ohio. From those humble beginnings designed to honor Groves’ mother and draw economic attention to one part of Ohio, the quilt trail now encompasses 45 states and more than 3,000 “quilts.” The stories are fascinating, and the quilts are just fun to see. I was fond of a Grandmother’s Fan that wrapped around the side of a barn in Ohio and the trompe l’oeil Lone Star quilt on a barn in Illinois. Recommended.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.