While the quilting drought lingers on, my first love, reading, fills in the gap nicely. I have been waiting for a few months, ever since seeing this book advertised in a couple of quilting mags for an August release, I ran across it at JoAnn's the other day. Whoopee! And with a 40% off coupon to boot--can't beat it with a stick.It is Foolproof Machine Quilting by Mary Mashuta. Oh, I have tons of machine quilting books but this one is a little different. It is not about free-motion quilting. It is all about
walking foot--feed dogs up style. It has a lot of tips for achieving great designs with a bit more control than the free-motion allows. Can't wait to have a small project ready for experimentation with some of Mashuta's techniques. Of course, the always-present problem of shoving a huge quilt through a small opening on a domestic home machine still exists! But I think this will give some ideas for mixing with walking-foot with free-motion.
The second book I am engrossed in is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. The past year or so I have become very interested in where our food comes from, how far away that is, how long it takes to get to my supermarket, how much genetic alteration was involved in growing it, and how much fuel was required to get it to me. With a renewed interest in cooking has come a renewed interest in nutrition and food safety and quality. This book is the story of a family who decided to journey away from the "industrial food pipeline to a rural life in which they vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves or learn to live without it." Very. very intriguing reading. And, of course, Kingsolver's writing style is delightful.
8 comments:
Hurry up and start quilting something so you can let us know how you like the technique. I'm always up for a new way of doing something...especially machine quilting.
I just returned Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - what an eye opener. Like you, I have been thinking about such things for a number of months - but I'm really shopping with my eyes open.
Can't wait to see your machine quilting project - that big quilt/small hole dilema is an ongoing issue *s*
The quilting book is one of two books I bought Saturday at the annual quilt show. I finished it this morning. It is full of wonderful information in the form of thread/needle combos. In the front of the book is that small disclaimer about the size of the quilts she stitches like this. So if I go by this disclaimer, then most of the quilts I make will need to go to a long armer.
that quilting book looks intriguing. i would like to be able to do more with my walking foot.
I enjoy what I call straight line quilting, which sometimes curves, using my walking foot. Free motion always gives me some problems with tension (both thread tension on the machine and mental tension in my brain). This book sounds like something I need to check out!
I love Barbara Kingsolver, so must look for that book. Thanks. Good luck with the quilting!
I can't wit to see how you like the new technique!! I am going to have to check that book out at Jo Ann's..
And, I read the Kingsolver book, living in an "agricultural" area, it is mandatory reading here, and it is a WONDERFUL book!!!
I love Kingsolver but I just couldn't get into this book - I've still got it here somewhere and one day will try to finish it up when I don't have anything better around here to read.
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