Saturday 1 December 2018

off the bookshelf

It's time for a book post and I've got quite a mixed line up for you
. . . with two quilting book reviews, a domestic thriller, a bit of poetry, and Kaffe

Next year I really want to focus on machine quilting some of my quilts. Julie from justjulielou recommended I have a look at Jacquie Gering's book for inspiration. Jacquie shows you how to work your way from walking foot basics to intricate marked designs. Her clear directions cover the basics and then the diagrams and step-by-step instructions show a variety of stitches that include reverse stitches, curves . . . and lots of great photos for me to follow. I will update you on how I go.

Other quilters also share their ideas with walking foot quilting designs. Leah Day has videos on walking foot quilting, see here for her book 365 free motion quilting designs. Melissa Marginet has a book too on walking foot quilting that has dozens of designs.



The other quilty book I've recently been looking at is this one - 'Use Scraps, Sew Blocks, Make 100 Quilts' by Stuart Hillard. I'm a scrappy quilter and this book is full of ideas, with lots of suggestions for sashing, settings, borders, and colour schemes to make your quilt unique. 
Stuart takes you through a short techniques section, love his comment about quilting . . . "quilting can be done by hand, or machine, and nowadays it can also by done by credit card". Then there are pages of block patterns, something to tempt everyone. 





And I've got a few books stacked up on my bedside table just now.
I'm 1/2 way through this book, 'The House Swap' by Rebecca Fleet and I can't put it down! It's a slow-burning story of domestic suspense. House swapping sounds somewhat intriguing right? Instead of taking a regular vacation, Caroline and Francis swap houses with a stranger for a week.
The tension between the couple is obvious, they've had a few difficult years but are trying to make things work. Not long after they arrive, strange things start to happen and Caroline is forever looking over her shoulder.
The scenes unravel slowly, but the reading is compelling and I'm racing through this one.



And still on books . . . have you heard of a spine poem? Check out this link here to read a rather moving love poem by Jo from mybearpaw. Great book choices too, I'll have to check out a couple of new-to-me ones.

 


I see too that Maureen from mysticquilter has Kaffe's latest book Quilts in America. She has been busy gathering fabrics to make the 'stonewall' quilt - such a happy burst of colour

- pics re posted with permission


For lots more reading inspiration pop on over here #booksonquilts
and here #quiltbooks


8 comments:

Julie said...

What an interesting post, hope it becomes a regular occurrence. Looking forward to getting the new KF book from the library, I think I'm #3ob the list now.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I haven't gotten Jacquie Gering's book I think I need to. I know I need to machine quilt more as my hands get older lol

Janie said...

Good reading, Linda.
I've got Kaffe's new book, Quilts in America, and the quilts and photos are
gorgeous, just what you'd expect from Kaffe Co-operative.
I'll have to visit Maureen and see what she's up to!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I have the Walk quilting book by Jacqui Gering, and have gotten a lot out of it! Thanks for the other book recommendations, too. I just recently found #booksonquilts on Instagram and have been enjoying that!

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

Thanks! I just ordered that 100 quilts book. Looks good. I have Jacquie's book. Very good information in there. I am slowly rebuilding my quilting library after the flood. I had just bought a bedside book case and put all my quilting books in it and the flood hit two weeks later. Lost them all! This will be a great addition.

Mystic Quilter said...

Super book post Linda. I also have the book WALK, it will probably be after Christmas before I can get on with some serious practice.

Cathy said...

What a coincidence...my WALK book should arrive tomorrow! I've had it on my list for a long time and finally ordered it with some other books I'm gifting.

I've never heard of 100 Quilts so thanks for mentioning it. I love that 16 patch!

Kaja said...

It's always nice to have book recommendations; like others I like the look of that 100 quilts book.