This collection of dreamy quilts bursts with fabrics from the scrap basket! Classic patchwork provides a backdrop for pretty flowers and twining vines, all made easy with machine applique. Learn two ways to prepare appliques, plus tips and tricks for setting up your machine for applique.
Dozens of close-up photos and tips reveal secrets for mingling antique-style fabrics ranging from blushing pinks and soft purples to rich golds, reds, and browns. From small wall quilts to lap-sized designs, this bouquet of quilts is simple to sew--yet so extraordinary, the quilts you make will be handed down from generation to generation.
Sharon Keightley is an applique artist from New Zealand. I have followed Sharon on her blog for several years; I've always found her techniques interesting. In this book, there are 12 projects, all combining applique and piecing. They all have that cozy feeling you get from using reproduction fabrics. Sharon has 2 techniques she uses most. One is using applique wash away paper. This involves reversing the patterns when they're traced. The second is using freezer paper, without reversing the patterns. When placing the paper on the back side of the fabric, it's done shiny side up. No glue or starch needed, just a hot iron. Her preferred applique method is invisible machine applique. Using monofilament thread on top and 60 weight cotton or polyester in the bobbin, small stitches are the way to go. Slow and easy, she layers one piece on top of another. I don't think we can have too many tools in our toolbox when it comes to applique. Every technique that helps us get to the finish line is a good one. This book deserves a place in our libraries. --Eileen Keane, Director

Sharon Keightley
Sharon grew up in a family of makers in rural New Zealand, where sewing days were special and very dear to her heart. Her mother was a dressmaker by trade, who could make anything. Sharon would often see an outfit in a magazine, and her mother would end up making it for her. Sharon's grandmother, also a maker, taught her the arts of knitting and crochet. All of this early introduction to the world of fabric and threads led Sharon to who she is today. As a mother of two grown sons and wife of a busy man living on a small farm overlooking New Zealand's Kaipara Harbour, she has time to create quilt designs that express her love of vintage and reproduction fabrics.
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