Crazy Quilting

For anyone who hasn’t been introduced to the world of sewing and crafts, embroidery might be a foreign concept. But embroidery is really quite a very simple concept, if not complicated to master. To that end, embroidery is the art of embellishing fabric with various patterns of thread or yard. When it comes to more complicated embroidery patterns, it could also incorporate items such as small metal pieces, sequins, beads, and many more items.

In this way, embroidery is nothing difficult to understand, but it can take years to be truly masterful at its execution. For this reason, it’s a good idea for beginners to invest in any number of embroidery books. These will offer you basic tips and strategies about how best to approach and succeed with your embroidery projects. It will still take practice in order to get the hang of it, but at least the books will give you a decent head start.

One day while I was working, I slipped and fell on a floor mat wasn’t secured, and I really injured my lower back.  It hurt for a long time, and I had to take time off work for it to heal.  I also had to go to a chiropractor every week for a couple months.  While I was at home sitting on my rump with not much to do, my mom brought me a couple quilting books and some quilting supplies.  I had never quilted before in my life, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out that it was fairly easy to learn, and soon I was quilting all the time and had an activity to keep me occupied while my back healed. 

After about a month, I was able to get around like usual, and I continued to enjoy quilting.  Eventually, I joined a quilting club that met a couple times per week, and I met some fun people.  I guess even though it was no fun being disabled, I learned a valuable lesson in the process. 

Before you embark on your new quilting hobby, it’s a good idea to see what other people in the quilting industry have had to say. With that in mind, the following are some well-received quilting books that can prove invaluable to the novice quilter. (And they’re not so bad for the advanced quilter, either.)

-Heirloom Machine Quilting: A Comprehensive Guide to Hand-Quilted Effects Using Your Sewing Machine (By Harriet Hargrave): This book is an enjoyable read by a well-respected quilter. Her book offers a comprehensive explanation of how best to quilt with your machine as well as specific details regarding quilting in general. There are also a variety of photos showing both modern and antique quilts. Their beauty and artistry prove one of the best motivational tools in the book.

-Big Book of Best-Loved Quilt Patterns (By Leisure Arts): Focused on the visual end of quilting, this book seamlessly brings together the new and the old of quilting in photo form. The book also provides practical advice such as fabric and supply resources.

As the quilting and embroidering demographic continues to expand, the market is beginning to flood with books touting themselves as the “end all be all” of crafting. And it can be difficult to decide which is actually best.While personal preferences will differ, A-Z of Embroidery Stitches by Sue Gardner is regarding by many embroidery enthusiasts as one of the must-have embroidery books in the market. The spiral-bound edition contains 144 pages of embroidery photos and step-by-step instructions concerning every aspect of the craft.

It is the first craft book released by the Australian company Country Bumpkin Publications. At last count, this company has now released twenty-seven books in the A-Z series. Proving extremely popular, Country Bumpkin has sold over 2 million total copies in this series, and they have found this success internationally.

If this edition doesn’t answer all your questions, don’t fear. They also released A-Z of Embroidery Stitches 2 to cover any aspect they missed in the first attempt.