Question for Quilters

My daughter wants to learn to quilt. I helped her with some
applique/embroidery on one she did 3 years ago, then the spark died
because of two births. She wants to get creative. I sent her a
brochure I had received in the mail a few weeks ago - a new mag on the
market for quilters. This sparked her enthusiasm.

She called this morning with some questions. I'd like to be supportive:

1. Is there a book that is high quality that will get her started. She
wants to learn to hand quilt, but is also interested in machine
quilting. Her preference is hand quilting to begin with.

2. Is there a magazine - again high quality - that would be a nice
adjunct to the craft.

3. She lives in the southwest region of the greater Chicago area. Is
there a quilting guild around there?

4. Are there high-quality web sites she can visit? A Yahoo Group or
similar forum-type situation? She doesn't have a lot of time on her
hands (2 year-old and 8-month old), but she wants to learn.

She DOES NOT want to copy everyone elses idea of "quilt". Although I
mentioned she may have to start with a familiar design to get the hang
of it, and then go off from there. With that in mind, it may help
quilters out there who might answer this to better determine where I
might send her. g I'm trying to be supportive without being
interferring so as not to quench the light.

Feel free to email me. g Make sure the word "quilt" is in the subject
line. ggg I delete about 300 SPAM a day.

Dianne

Dear Diane,

The absolutely best book I have ever seen for handquilting is the Jinny
Beyer book that just came out, titled "Quilt Making by Hand". She tells you
literally everything you need to know, and the book is wonderfully
illustrated. I have been machine piecing and quilting for several years,
and this book is about to convert me to hand work.

For high quality magazine you can't beat Quilter's Newletter.

I don't know about guilds in the Chicago area, but I do know there is a
wonderful shop in Naperville called Stitches and Stuffing. My DS and his
wife used to live in Naperville, literally across the street from the
shopping center where the shop is. I spent hours there whenever we went
for a visit.

Becky

"Dianne Lewandowski" wrote in message

My daughter wants to learn to quilt. I helped her with some
applique/embroidery on one she did 3 years ago, then the spark died
because of two births. She wants to get creative. I sent her a
brochure I had received in the mail a few weeks ago - a new mag on the
market for quilters. This sparked her enthusiasm.

She called this morning with some questions. I'd like to be
supportive:

1. Is there a book that is high quality that will get her started.
She wants to learn to hand quilt, but is also interested in machine
quilting. Her preference is hand quilting to begin with.

First of all do you mean hand quilt or hand piece? )
Quilting is a general term for the craft but it's also the specific term for
stitching the top, batting, and backing together. Piecing is actually taking
2 pieces of fabric and sewing them together.

For hand quilting I bought "That Perfect Stitch" by Roxanne MacElroy.
I don't have the book but Jinny Beyer recently published an excellent book
(or so I've heard) that covers hand piecing and quilting. (I believe she
hand pieces all her quilts.) "Quiltmaking By Hand"

Don't forget the library. It's a fantastic resource for all kinds of
quilting books.

2. Is there a magazine - again high quality - that would be a nice
adjunct to the craft.

There are so mant different quilt magazines it's hard to make any
recomendations. I personally subscribe to "The Quilter" and "American
Patchwork & Quilting". I also belong to the American Quilter's Society
http://www.aqsquilt.com/ which publishes a really good quarterly magazine
for members.

For more art quilt/nontraditional type inspiration she could check out
Quilter's Newsletter Magazine.


3. She lives in the southwest region of the greater Chicago area. Is
there a quilting guild around there?

Here's a site that lists guilds by state.
http://ttsw.com/QuiltGuildsPage.html
She could also call quilt shops in her area. They should be able to give her
plenty of guild information.

4. Are there high-quality web sites she can visit? A Yahoo Group or
similar forum-type situation? She doesn't have a lot of time on her
hands (2 year-old and 8-month old), but she wants to learn.

About.com has a fantastic quilting forum.
http://quilting.about.com/

Quilter's Cache is a great website for all levels of quilters especially
beginners. Marcia has tutorials on just about all aspects of quilting from
start to finish. She also has free patterns for hundreds of quilt blocks
both traditional and original designs.
http://www.quilterscache.com

She DOES NOT want to copy everyone elses idea of "quilt". Although I
mentioned she may have to start with a familiar design to get the hang
of it, and then go off from there. With that in mind, it may help
quilters out there who might answer this to better determine where I
might send her. g I'm trying to be supportive without being
interferring so as not to quench the light.

From this I'm assuming you're looking more for inspirational sites rather
than 'how-to' sites?

http://www.aqsquilt.com/03winners.shtml (winners from the 2003 Paducah
quilt show)
http://www.nachograndmasquilts.com/n...quilts_001.htm

If I think of any more I'll pass them on to you. )
--
Jeri
"You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because
thorns have roses."
~author unknown~

On 1/28/04 12:30 PM,"Dianne Lewandowski" posted:

My daughter wants to learn to quilt. I helped her with some
applique/embroidery on one she did 3 years ago, then the spark died
because of two births. She wants to get creative. I sent her a
brochure I had received in the mail a few weeks ago - a new mag on the
market for quilters. This sparked her enthusiasm.

My aunt did this to me a couple of years ago, besides showing me, over and
over all her stuff. Anyhow, I'm glad she did.

She called this morning with some questions. I'd like to be supportive:

1. Is there a book that is high quality that will get her started. She
wants to learn to hand quilt, but is also interested in machine
quilting. Her preference is hand quilting to begin with.

My first 2 books:
1) The Quilter's Complete Guide by Fons & Porter
Has everything you need, good information, well presented, good to have
by your side with details on how to do things. These women have several
other books, and a magazine out now, For Love of Quilting - it's good for
beginner to intermediate quilters - the magazine. The book is a keeper
forever kind of thing. A good book to have in hardback. Available on Amazon

2) Rotary Magic by Nancy Johnson-Srebro
Excellent guide with all kinds of layout, technique and measurement info
about rotary cutting. Rotary cutting is what most quilters do, instead of
scissor cutting - get the most cut, the most precisely, etc. There are still
times to use scissors for fabric cutting. This book is full of information -
a little duplicates the Complete Guide, but they're awesome as a pair to get
you started and keep you going.

For hand quilting - Jinny Beyer has a new book out - about hand-quilting.
Jinny is pretty much a goddess when it comes to this. Her books are very
well-written, and detailed (I have some others). Having taken classes with
her, & at her studio - if I were going to hand-quilt, her book would be the
one to get.

The Jinny Beyer Website has some good info, as well as free, downloadable
patterns, grouped by level:
www.jinnybeyer.com

http://www.aqsquilt.com/

2. Is there a magazine - again high quality - that would be a nice
adjunct to the craft.

I really, really like Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. It's very high quality,
and has good references and information, plus a project or 2. It's a glossy
type magazine. I believe they also have a web-site. QNM also publishes
(IIRC) Art Quilt Magazine - which is fantastic - not a project mag, but a
beautiful thing to look at, and use for reference.

The American Quilt Society (AQS) has a magazine that comes periodically and
is very nice. It's for members.
http://www.aqsquilt.com/

There are many other magazines - mostly I just pick those occasionally -
most of them are very country or traditional (not my style), or more full of
projects.

3. She lives in the southwest region of the greater Chicago area. Is
there a quilting guild around there?

I'm sure there is. In the DC area it's Quilter's Unlimited, a.k.a. QU. But,
AQS is national, and you can check their website. AQS publishes a lot of
books, and members can order directly, with a discount. Also, to take
classes at the seminars you have to be a member, but it's very reasonable.
The expos are open to all.
http://www.aqsquilt.com/

4. Are there high-quality web sites she can visit? A Yahoo Group or
similar forum-type situation? She doesn't have a lot of time on her
hands (2 year-old and 8-month old), but she wants to learn.

E-quilter has some discussion groups off their web-site. There is RCTQ.
There are some shop web-sites. I'll ask my aunt - as she has several quilt
chat groups, and seems to know a lot. Anyhow, most LQS have some kind of
stitch ins, classes, and ways to meet people. It's good to take a class as
you're learning.

E-quilter is:

www.equilter.com
They have some interesting discussion groups, and a great place to buy
fabric, etc.

Here are some shops/web sites worth a look:
http://www.keepsakequilting.com/index.html
They also send a quarterly catalog. Lots of nice stuff

She DOES NOT want to copy everyone elses idea of "quilt". Although I
mentioned she may have to start with a familiar design to get the hang
of it, and then go off from there. With that in mind, it may help

It's good to learn the basics before doing something totally of your own
making. The nice thing about quilting - your choice of fabrics, colors,
textures, embellishment and actual quilting after doing all the piecing - so
even a well-known pattern is "your own."

One other book, that I highly recommend -
"Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift" .
The Quiltmaker's Gift is a book for children, with gorgeous illustrations.
This book is actually a book of the patterns for the quilts in it, and they
go from pretty easy to make to complicated, but are written very well. The
instructions, diagrams for cutting, piecing, putting together are extremely
clear. Well broken out in the charts for how much of which fabric, as well
as shows alternate settings (ways the quilt blocks are put together), and
traditional color block diagrams as well as some modern versions. It is a
great book.

quilters out there who might answer this to better determine where I
might send her. g I'm trying to be supportive without being
interferring so as not to quench the light.

Joen Wolfram has some great books on color theory, use of color in quilts -
she is a rather well-known quilter from Washington state. Does pretty much
art quilts. I also have her book "Patchwork Persuasion" which talks about
ways to mix and match quilt blocks, etc. Has some gorgeous reference photos,
and can be had pretty inexpensively now. Also, IMHO, one of the true wonders
of art quilting - Carol Bryer Fallert. Her stuff is phenomenal.

Anyhow, there is lots out there. Most quilt books are good quality, large
soft-covers.

Finally, for machine quilting - I have a book by Lois Smith, which is good,
and also covers fabric dyeing. And a really good one just about the quilting
by Diane Gaudynski, Guide to Machine Quilting.

Hope this helps,
Ellice

On 1/28/04 1:50 PM,"Becky" bbkelher@remove spamaculink.net posted:

Dear Diane,

The absolutely best book I have ever seen for handquilting is the Jinny
Beyer book that just came out, titled "Quilt Making by Hand". She tells you
literally everything you need to know, and the book is wonderfully
illustrated. I have been machine piecing and quilting for several years,
and this book is about to convert me to hand work.

If you ever meet Jinny - she'll probably finish the conversion. I haven't
seen the book, but could only expect it to be fantastic - she's so very
precise with everything.

For high quality magazine you can't beat Quilter's Newletter.

Just the best, and their web-site has good links, info as well.

I don't know about guilds in the Chicago area, but I do know there is a
wonderful shop in Naperville called Stitches and Stuffing. My DS and his
wife used to live in Naperville, literally across the street from the
shopping center where the shop is. I spent hours there whenever we went
for a visit.

Wow - my crazy but nice SIL lives in Warren - which is just near Naperville.
Good reference for when we go visit.

Ellice

From: Dianne Lewandowski

My daughter wants to learn to quilt. I helped her with some
applique/embroidery on one she did 3 years ago ...... She called this morning
with some questions. ........

You have gotten some great info so far but I would also recommend that you
ask over at RCTQ and send your DD there as well. Those are THE nicest bunch of
people (mostly women but a fair number of men) and they will bend over
backwards to get you the best info. CiaoMeow ^;;^
..


PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ Queen of Kitties
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!

Dear Ellice,

Absolutely!! Don't miss Stitches and Stuffing when you go to Warren, it is a
a wonderful shop!

Becky

I wanted to thank - SO MUCH - all the great replies. I'm going through
them and will send her an email with all your suggestions. I'll
definitely put RCTQ on my list for her . . . wasn't sure about it. Glad
you reminded me!

I've been trying to get my daughter to do *something* for years, but she
balks. Quilting is something I don't do . . . so this is something
perfect for her. No competition, she can lord it over me. I'm pleased
as punch. She has a better sense of color than I do, so she should be a
natural at it.

What super responses to my question. THANK YOU!!! If the links,
suggestions don't get her motivated, I don't know what will. g
Dianne

Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply wrote:
From: Dianne Lewandowski


My daughter wants to learn to quilt. I helped her with some
applique/embroidery on one she did 3 years ago ...... She called this morning

with some questions. ........

You have gotten some great info so far but I would also recommend that you
ask over at RCTQ and send your DD there as well. Those are THE nicest bunch of
people (mostly women but a fair number of men) and they will bend over
backwards to get you the best info. CiaoMeow ^;;^
.


PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ Queen of Kitties
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!