books « thelongthread.com

1, 2, 3 Quilt Cover

Look! 1, 2, 3 Quilt is available for pre-order! The official release isn’t until September, but you can pre-order now or add it to your wish list. After working on this book for nearly two years, it’s hard to believe that it will actually be printed and done. I was lucky enough to work with the amazing people at Chronicle Books again on this project.

This book, like 1, 2, 3 Sew, has projects organized in groups of three allowing you to build on your skills with each set as you work through the book. In 1, 2, 3 Quilt, the chapters are organized by shapes — squares, rectangles, triangles, hexagons, circles, flowers, stars and diamonds. As you create more complex shapes, the projects get a bit more challenging. So you’ll make a reversible checkerboard game mat, then eventually end up making a cathedral windows quilt.

I tried to cover all of the quilting techniques that I could pack into this book including flying geese made three ways, half-square triangles, needle-turn appliqué, freezer paper appliqué, foundation paper-piecing, English paper-piecing, plus much more. You’ll make projects like a Dresden flower quilt, clamshell pillow sham, and hand-pieced hexagon handbag. In this book, each chapter starts with a small project, then ends with a quilt. There are 8 quilts, 16 other patchwork and quilted projects, plus many more techniques that you can use as you continue your quilting journey. For instance, if you enjoy making the appliqué hand towel, you can take that skill and make a full-sized appliqué quilt later. You’ll also learn some basic sewing skills like how to install a zipper, make mitered corners, and create a stuffed animal. If you’re a beginner, the book begins with some simple projects to get you started. I really think there’s something for all skill levels here. I hope to show you more in the coming months.

But today I thought I’d show a bit of behind-the-scenes for the cover. For 1, 2, 3 Sew, I digitized and sewed the cover background design using my embroidery software and my embroidery machine. This time, I stitched the cover title and some other details by hand. In my Instagram photos below, you can see how I traced the title sent over by the book designer, and then stitched it. I then photographed the stitching and sent it to Chronicle, where they added the photos and additional text. I love the warmth and handmade feel it gives the cover and I’m thrilled with the way it came out in the end. On the final cover above, you can see a set of coasters from the circle chapter, a bag from the stars chapter and a quilt from the rectangles chapter.

123-quilt-cover-stitching

I’m excited about this book and I hope you’ll love it!

Hand Quilted with Love

I recently ordered a copy of Sarah Fielke’s new book, Hand Quilted with Love. Wow, I love these quilts. She has some simple quilts for beginners as well as more challenging quilts for experienced quilters. All of the quilts reflect Sarah’s unique color sensibility and of course, they are hand quilted beautifully. If that makes you tired to think about, you can make these patterns and machine quilt them! Here are some of her amazing quilts.

In the introduction, Sarah says:

Try new things, be adventurous, and crack your own quilting code. Don’t be hung up on whether something is right or wrong, or on whether you are a “modern quilter” or a “traditional quilter”, or even an “art quilter”: just be a QUILTER, be creative and love what you do. It’s what I do every day – and I can tell you, I’m a happy girl because of it.

I couldn’t agree more! The internet gives us so much inspiration, but sometimes I think we can get too caught up in what others are doing rather than being true to our own sense of style. All modern quilters borrow from the past to one degree or another and you don’t need to fit someone else’s definition of what a quilter should be.

Sarah has a very helpful free video over on Craftsy where she shows you some of her secrets for hand quilting. She also has a class over there called Big Techniques from Small Scraps, which looks like it is full of useful ideas. And for more inspiration, be sure to take a look at Sarah’s blog, The Last Piece.

Handmade Hostess Book Giveaway

handmade-hostess

Today I’m excited to be part of the blog tour for Handmade Hostess, the new book by fabric designer Kelly Lee-Creel and her sister, Rebecca Söder. This book includes twelve party themes sorted by the seasons, with craft ideas, sewing projects, and recipes. Projects include tiny leprechaun clothes to hang for St. Patrick’s Day, giant fabric flowers for a wedding shower, and a tutu tablecloth for a pixie party. Many of the major holidays are covered in the book with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Fourth of July party ideas, as well as more unexpected themes including a mad scientist party and a Japanese garden party.

I like how the book gives you ideas for all aspects of the party with baking, sewing and decorating included, rather than just focusing on one element. And Kelly and Rebecca make it clear that not everything at your party needs to be handmade! Buy some things. Make it easier on yourself, and add handmade touches if you choose. Who wants additional stress? Here’s a quote from the introduction:

We don’t do it all, and neither should you (unless you really, really want to). The only good reason to do any of this—the decorating and celebrating, baking and making—is because you want to, and doing it yourself will give you immense satisfaction. There are lots of reasons we get caught up in trying to entertain our friends and families, but the best celebrations, however simple, are the ones that come from the heart.

handmade-hostess-projects

Overall, I think this book will give you some inspiration to get started with a party, some delicious recipes, creative craft ideas and some simple sewing projects. Would you like to win a copy of the book? Simply leave a comment below by midnight eastern this Saturday (March 30) and I’ll choose a winner at random. This giveaway is open internationally!

Stamped and 1, 2, 3 Sew Giveaway!

I finally got yardage of my Stamped collection, so I’m ready to give some away! Today’s giveaway is for six yards (one yard of each print in the colorways shown here), plus a copy of my book, 1, 2, 3 Sew.

The giveaway is open internationally. Please enter by leaving a comment on this post by Saturday, February 2 at midnight eastern. Thanks!

Stitch Savvy

Today I’m excited to be part of the Stitch Savvy blog tour! Written by Deborah Moebes (author of Stitch by Stitch: Learning to Sew One Project at a Time), this book will help take your sewing ability to the next level with 25 projects of different levels that allow you to choose your own sewing path as you learn. The bags, quilts, clothing and home décor projects in the book are useful as well as pretty. The book is hardcover, spiral-bound, and includes a CD with printable PDF patterns.

Deborah is the owner of Whipstitch Sewing Lounge here in Atlanta and is a great teacher, which really shines through in her book. With photos of the step-by-step instructions and advice given with Deborah’s energetic writing style, this book conveys both Deborah’s experience as a teacher as well as her enthusiasm for sewing. As you finish each project, there is a section with suggestions for projects in the book to try next that utilize the same set of skills. Though I haven’t had a chance to make any of the projects yet, I’d love to make the Beaded Evening Clutch (pictured here on the cover), followed by the Knit Top and Photo Transfer Wall Art. There is a wide variety of projects, so something to interest anyone here, whether you love to make quilts, bags, clothing or pillows.

Below you can see some projects from the book, along with some of my own fabric suggestions. See, I mostly like to shop for fabric and think about what I will make. And I’ve suggested a couple of fabrics from my new Stamped collection, of course. I really do need to sew some things with it, but I need to get some more fabric first!