Hello Everyone,
One of the best things about the quilting world is that we have some of the most talented people! One individual who is that talented is my friend Christa Watson. We both wrote books last year with Martingale and they were released this September at that same time!
Christa is a multi-talented quilter. She is a designer, author, fabric curator, Electric Quilt (EQ instructor), teacher, and most of all a machine quilter! That is where her book comes in, Machine Quilting With Style...
When I got the book I couldn't wait to read it. As a long time long arm quilter this book appealed to me as it is about sit down quilting on your domestic machine. To be honest, that is something that has always terrified me as I am so used to doing stand up long arm quilting.
Anyway, I read the book from cover to cover on my flight to Florida last Thursday. In short the book is pretty awesome. When I finished it, I wanted to go home and try a little bit of quilting on my home machine! Yup, I think that Christa gives clear instruction and tips throughout. Plus, she has 12 fabulous quilt designs too!
From walking you through types of thread to use and why, batting choices, and all the way to how to position your machine and handle the quilt while quilting and then onto how to quilt the quilt using a walking foot or free-motion, this is an invaluable book to have in your library.
As in the photo above of her quilt Facets, she shows how to quilt a variety of designs with great detail.
Facets is one of my favorite quilt designs in the book for two reasons.... I love the design and I love the colors that she chose. Striking! But the quilting makes this quilt sing. This quilt can be found in her Free-Motion Quilting section in the book. All the quilting that you see in the first pic is done free-motion.
In the book, she talks about her "scrunch method" of quilting. Having the table hold up the wait of the quilt and scrunching it through the machine.
The cool thing is that Christa curated this collection of Kona Cottons for this quilt and for Robert Kaufman. Yup, we here at CVQW will have them in stock too! Don't you just love the colors that she chose? See what I mean by multi-talented...
The book is chock full of wonderful projects and Christa walks you through quilting them too. She talks about the techniques and ways that you achieve the optimum results. The designs are modern and stunning.
Of course this quilt above was a favorite... wink, wink....
So whether you are looking for just a fabulous modern quilt design or to learn how to create a quilt from start to finish on your own... this is the book for you! I swear you will love every page! A great resource and "how to" book for any quilter's library. You can pick it up here.
Tell me which is your favorite part of quilting?? Is it the piecing, the binding, the quilting, the label.... or just picking out the fabric? Oh and make sure you pop over to her site, she has a ton to share!
Until Next Time...
