I’ve long been a collector of sewing and quilting books and I’m always adding to my library. Recently, I bought a stack of vintage quilting and quilt history book from an industry friend’s destash, but my newest addition is Color, Thread & Free-Motion Quilting: Learn to Stitch with Reckless Abandon by Teri Lucas.
Teri and I have known each other in the quilting industry for years now and I love her take on the quilt world as well as her way with words. Her book, published by C&T makes the most of both. Color, Thread & Free-Motion Quilting is a fresh take on learning how to use all three in your projects, but with a heavy emphasis on doing it all with some freedom and bravery.
I bought myself a Grace Company Q’Nique 15R with a Hoop Frame earlier this year, when I thought not traveling would give me time to really learn how to long arm. I’ve since learned I’m just as busy while staying at home, but I have been able to take time to learn a little about free-motion quilting. I think the biggest takeaway so far has been: longarm quilting is totally different from piecing quilts! There’s a whole other skill set to be learned and Teri’s book has been a great addition to my library as I learn more about color theory, designs, thread, needles, all the things that make quilt making a skill.
Teri walks the reader through colors, how they work together, then gets into the nitty gritty about thread types, weights, colors, materials. Then she goes into more detail about how thread weights affect needle choice, and bobbin thread choices. This is the info that I crave when I’m trying to figure out how to make my projects turn out well. Honestly, for me to figure it out on my own would take years and I’m never going to do it. And while I may not actually retain much of the info presented, I know exactly where to look when I need to know–Color, Thread & Free-Motion Quilting: Learn to Stitch with Reckless Abandon.
As a newbie free motion quilter, I’ve learned a bunch and have taken to heart some of the suggestions Teri makes. I appreciate her encouragement to readers to be brave and make mistakes. Make quilt sandwiches and quilt them, whether you like them in the end or not. Don’t be afraid to remove stitches and try again. Work on small samples before trying to tackle a whole cloth quilt.
Despite making quilts for nearly 30 years now, I’m still learning, stretching and growing. With Teri’s encouragement, I’m less freaked out about “wasting an hour” quilting something that isn’t perfect. I’m curious what I’ll be able to manage and how my newfound knowledge will guide me in a more creative direction. I’m excited to give it a try, but until then, I’m just doodling quilt motifs like she suggests in the book.
If you’re interested in purchasing Color, Threads and Free-Motion Quilting: Learn to Stitch with Reckless Abandon, I recommend you purchase it directly from Teri.
As a thank-you for reading my blog and for wanting to try new things, Teri and I are giving away a prize package to a lucky commenter. I’ll send you threads, fabrics and some batting so you can try free-motion quilting without feeling like you wasted good money (LOL) and Teri will send you a PDF copy of the book.
Leave me a comment and tell me what quilt-making fear you want to tackle. You can comment until August 6th, then I’ll choose a random winner. (I hope it’s you!) Remember to visit each of the other bloggers too:
7/27 Teri Lucas Facebook Live event
7/28 Melissa Thompson Maher Generation Q Magazine
7/29 Susan Emory
7/30 Jenny K Lyon
7/31 Teri Lucas
8/1 Paula Reid battsintheattic.com
8/3 ME!
8/4 Scott Hansen
8/5 Linda Pearl
8/6 Teri Lucas
Mastering my long arm…and getting past the fear of sewing through my finger…again.
My fear is Free motion quilting. I’ve tried it a little and it is so hard. I really wish I could do it well enough to do a quilt with it.
Free motion quilting on large quilts – I can do wall size but I can’t get going on larger ones!
Stitch-in-the-ditch is the bane of my existence. If I didn’t love the look so much, I might be able to let it go. But I love it and I just can’t get the hang of it.
My quilt making fear is that I will never be able to do even adequate free motion quilting. I have practiced, mostly to no avail, so tend to use walking foot quilting instead.
This book sounds so good – I am tired of Straight-line quilting, and am afraid to try designs. I really like the idea of making small quilt sandwiches and practicing on them. Thanks for the opportunity to win this!
I am not sure I will ever master feathers. It seems so tricky to get them properly angled back into the stem!