Buy You Books and…

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle

I’m doing a lot more machine quilting these days and boy, am I learning a lot.

I’m using the HQ Capri stationary longarm with its Insight table, which provides stitch regulation and support for the quilt.

In my search for ideas of what to quilt on Wild Garden, an improv throw-size UFO, I pulled out my books on machine quilting.

And that’s when it hit me.

You can buy all sorts of books on machine quilting.

I own:

  1. You Can Quilt It! Stunning Free-Motion Quilting Designs Made Easy by Deborah M. Poole
  2. 180 Doodle Quilting Designs: Free-Motion Ideas for Blocks, Borders and Beyond compiled by Karen M. Burns
  3. The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting: Longarm and Sit-Down by Angela Walters and Christa Watson
  4. Quilt with Tula and Angela by Tula Pink and Angela Walters
  5. Free-Motion Quilting Made Easy from the editors of QuiltNow

But if you do not practice your free-motion quilting, you’re not going to become a great machine quilter.

I watched my friend and colleague Mary Beth Krapil share her ideas on this topic, and it hit home.

 

Why do I have so many books on machine quilting, and yet I have never mastered this skill?

I own:

  1. Get Addicted to Free-Motion Quilting: Go from Simple to Sensational by Sheila Sinclair Snyder
  2. Easy and Fun Free-Motion Quilting: Frames, Fillers, Hundreds of Ideas by Eva A. Larkin
  3. Pat Sloan’s Teach Me to Machine Quilt
  4. First Steps to Free-Motion Quilting: 24 Projects for Fearless Stitching by Christina Cameli
  5. Beginner’s Guide to Free-Motion Quilting: Professional Results on Your Home Machine by Natalia Bonner

Each new book seemed to hold the promise of making me into a good machine quilter.

I wonder if subconsciously I thought that

maybe I could skip all of the hard stuff, the hours of practice, the missteps and the mess-ups.

I own:

  1. Feathers That Fly: How to Design, Mark and Machine Quilt Feather Motifs by Lee Cleland
  2. Custom Curves by Karen McTavish
  3. Stitching Pathways: Successful Quilting on Your Home Machine by Wendy Sheppard
  4. Creative Classics: 250 Continuous-Line Quilting Designs by Laura Lee Fritz
  5. Foolproof Walking-Foot Quilting Designs by Mary Mashuta

I suspect that I wanted it to come easily.

I hoped it could be effortless.

More books in my personal library:

  1. Machine Quilting Solutions: Techniques for Fast & Simple to Award-Winning Designs by Christine Maraccini
  2. Free-Motion Quilting for Beginners and Those Who Think They Can’t by Molly Hanson
  3. The Complete Guide to Machine Quilting: How to Use Your Home Sewing Machine to Achieve Hand-Quilting Effects by Joanie Zeier Poole
  4. Walk: Master Machine Quilting with Your Walking Foot by Jacquie Gering
  5. Foolproof Machine Quilting by Mary Mashuta

But here’s the other stupid thing.

I haven’t even looked at some of these books.

Did I think the info was going to jump into my head on its own? Did I think that having these on my shelf would do the trick? Like they say, OH-EM-GEE. 🙄

So here is my plan.

  1. Park the books near my favorite chair.
  2. Look through at least one book a day.
  3. Page-mark important ideas, motifs and exercises.
  4. Practice.
  5. Practice.
  6. Practice.

Keep on keepin’ on,

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Comments (5)

  • Whiskers

    |

    Gee, I wouldn’t know what you are talking about.

    Golfing cows, anyone?

    Reply

    • Diane Harris

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      LOL! I googled golfing cows but I’m still not sure I follow. Fill me in?🤪

  • Alyson

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    Wow! I dont have a couple of those! Shopping list!! I would like to say that I use those books for ideas, because I don’t always have an idea. But. I may be like you 😘 and be hoping that I will the author’s talent and skill by osmosis!
    Thanks for the book ideas! 🤣😘

    Reply

    • Diane Harris

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      Alyson, I’m sorry it took so long to approve your comment. I missed the notification–my bad! Hope you’re staying well there on Maui. And I wish I was there! 🙂

  • Sandi Griepenstroh

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    Wow! I thought I had a lot of books about machine quilting! While it’s true that they won’t magically make you better, they are inspiring. Nothing but time and practice will ultimately make you a better machine quilter. As you look through them, you will notice that many of these books have the same designs, the same ideas, and are really saying the same things. My advice is to narrow them down as you look through them, and keep only your favorites. Donate the rest to your guild, or use them as giveaways here on the blog. At some point, it just becomes “white noise”…You know what to do and how to do it…so, just do it! 🙂

    Reply

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