Your quilt top has a message for you...it’s trying to tell you something...what? What? What? Oh. It wants to tell you how to quilt it. Fortunately, expert machine quilter Christine Maraccini is standing by, ready to teach you to listen to that top and to guide you through every step of the machine-quilting process. Quilters will learn to take cues from the intended use of the quilt and the shapes and patterns created by piecing and appliqué. Design no-mark motifs for each space, and add stippling, microfill, even trapunto. Complete step-by-step instruction for five quilts--with three different quilting options for each--mean dozens of exciting possibilities.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 12 reviews)

A Must-Have for Domestic Machine Quilters

Many machine quilting books give the nuts and bolts of quilting on an ordinary "domestic" sewing machine, but few take that next step to inspire a novice machine quilter to create her or his own quilt designs. This book does just that. Yes, I agree with those reviewers who say the quilts are nothing special, but the point is that they are there to showcase the quilting, not to detract from it. With the simple traditional block designs that we have all seen before, our eyes are drawn to the quilting. Each design is quilted in three different ways- a simple allover design, a design that shows off the plain blocks and negative spaces as well as the pieced blocks, and an elaborate "show stopper" with detailed quilting and touches of trapunto. As a longtime quilter, but a relative newbie to machine quilting anything other than loops or meanders, this book has done far more to improve my quilting than any other machine quilting book in my personal library. I have gone on to machine quilt at least four or five quilts without copying any of the designs in the book.
September 10, 2008

Best I Have Found So Far

I have a number of books pertaining to machine quilting, including the McTavishing book. That one is good, but this one is better. The ideas and instructions are superior. I've already put some of it to use and the improvement in my free-motion is very satisfying.
February 18, 2008

happy surprise

This book is a supreme example of the old adage "don't judge a book by it's cover." I found the cover quilt extremely boring to the point I couldn't imagine why in the world the book had so many good reviews. When I got the book I didn't even like the quilting design on the cover. I didn't like and wouldn't make any of the quilts in the book, either. They were way too basic for me. However, forget all that! The bland quilts in the book were just a quick way for the author to show her quilting designs, and I get it! The free-flowing designs are wonderful, and doable by all! There is no marking involved, no stencils, nothing to stop you! I suspect long-armers have known how to do designs like this for many years, but they just haven't been available to domestic machine quilters. I am grateful that I bought this book, and I think both beginning, intermediate, and advanced domestic machine quilters will love it.
January 27, 2008

Exactly what I was looking for!

Looking for a book that goes into detail of free motion quilting after you already have the basics down? Then this is the book for you. Builds up skills and gives detailed instructions on how to design the quilt and map out designs. Step by step on how to practice the patterns so no marking is needed. Love this book!
November 06, 2007

So much more than patterns

This is so much more than patterns. It gives you ideas on how to look at your quilt and then decide what to do. The hints it gives you on how to make your free motion work is well worth the price.
October 20, 2007

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