Threads - Fabrics - Equipment - Quilt top construction - Ribbon illusions - Sheer stitching - Appliques - Embroidery - Finishing - Blocking a quilt.

When it comes to machine quilting, there's a thread for every occasion, and an occasion for every thread. Now you can create dazzling, eye-catching quilts with all of the wonderful colors and textures of today's decorative threads. Eleven easy-to-follow exercises will show you how decorative threads can make your quilts sparkle and pop. Special techniques for quilting both through the needle and from the bobbin of your sewing machine. Convenient charts for determining which threads and needles will work best with your projects. Reliable methods for couching curves, appliqués, and angled shapes. Hints and advice on making adjustments to your sewing machine for optimum results.

Quilts exemplify precious things: comfort through the warmth they provide; community, since they are often created by groups; and love, given the time and effort they require. With this in mind, legions of kindhearted quilters all over the world choose to donate their labors of love to people in need. Ruth McHaney Danner has gathered fifty-four heartwarming stories of quilters who make their compassion tangible one stitch, square, and quilt at a time. Each story introduces a quilter or group of quilters, ranging from a blind woman in Texas to preschoolers in Australia. Their gifts have the power to make recipients feel cherished and supported, even though they may never meet face-to-face. These wonderfully inspiring stories show that every quilter who has ever wondered, “But what can I do?” can do something to reach out and help others.

The Bee-all and End-all: The complete quilter's companion and essential resource, jam-packed with information, supplies, expert interviews, techniques, community, and inspiration. All the tools of the trade: rotary cutters, sewing machines, longarms, anddesign software; fabulous fabrics and where to find them; and if you're just starting out, everything that belongs in a quilting basket. The online world made manageable with a guide to the most useful blogs, websites, e-mail lists, free patterns, and podcasts. National and regional shows, guilds, and the best retreats and quilt museums. Batting parties, tutorials on fabric dying, and a breezy history of the quilt boom. Profiles of twenty top teachers-including television's Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, Esterita Austin and her award-winning landscape quilts, and Ruth B. McDowell, known for her bravura technique. This is a book to help every quilter deepen and grow-keep it as close by as your stash of fat quarters -Cover.

No-Sew (well, almost!) Art Quilts That YOU Can Create! YES YOU CAN create an art quilt this weekend! Engage your right brain with freewheeling collage techniques. Give your sewing machine a rest: no sewing needed except for quilting and binding. Design as you go - no measuring, no math! You can even fuse your way to finishing, binding, and displaying your art! PLUS find fun, no-quilt fabric collage projects. Eye-popping gallery of quilts by Caryl Bryer Fallert, Jane A. Sassaman, David Walker, and MORE.

Say goodbye to your seam ripper, backwards blocks, and mismatched seams with Easy Precision Piecing—the pathway to flawless patchwork. This comprehensive system starts with picking the right tools and prepping your fabric for the best results. Learn to get organized so you can easily set aside projects without losing your place. Practice your cutting, sewing, and pressing with foolproof Quilt Block Builder blueprints, then use your newfound skills to make 6 stunning quilt projects.

Uses a question-and-answer format to address more than two hundred quilting topics and includes step-by-step instructions for tricky techniques.

1 Great Fabric + 1 Block = 1 Stunning Quilt! • Brand new technique is all about texture, movement, sparkle, and swirl! • Choose hexagons or octagons-you're the designer • Easy random cutting! No planning, no fussy cuts, no mess-ups • Simple piecing with NO Y-SEAMS! Amaze your friends! Maxine shows you exactly how to choose a large-scale print, figure yardage, cut and piece these drop-dead gorgeous quilts. Big pieces and clever short-cut methods make these quilts go together faster than you'd think. Choose one of two projects or use the techniques in any size quilt you can imagine.

Borrow from history for your next quilt with ninety free-motion quilting designs reinterpreted from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century quilts. Honor the elegance of the past with collector Bill Volckening and quilter Mandy Leins, who modernizes motifs such as the orange peel, feathers, and quatrefoil into continuous-lines designs that are perfect for all of today's quilts. Plus, learn tips for marking, combining motifs, and quilting.