Utility Quilting - It Could Be Yours!

I feel so fortunate to be able to review three books this week!! The finale is Utility Quilting; Simple Solutions for Quick Hand Quilting by Carolyn Forster. 
My day was the 23rd and it is that day in the UK, so I'm posting now!! 

I reviewed a novel, a quilt book with many small quilts and a cute theme, and this book, which  is definitely a technique book. Is it possible Carolyn saw my post when I admitted it had taken me 13 years to hand quilt my Jane Stickle quilt? hahaha

The first thing I noticed when I received the book is the clear, large photos with step by step instructions. I am a visual learner so this was extremely helpful to me.

The other thing I picked up right away, is Carolyn is not a hand quilting snob. She does not dismiss the use of machine quilting as undesirable or less of an art. (many do!) Utility quilting by hand or machine gets the job done!

System 2 for basting

How many ways are there in quilting to get to the end result? Many! She shows us step by step 3 ways to hand baste a quilt.She also covers, spray basting, the use of safety pins for basting and a basting gun.

One whole page and a beautiful photo of possible thread choices. (She isn't a thread snob either!) There is plenty of photos and lists for supplies. I liked that she gives lots of choices. It isn't a matter of one specific thread that you have to order cross country to use! (The bottom quilt I show I used 3 different threads! I think Carolyn would approve)

 

I love that Carolyn uses real quilts as examples!! She does that throughout the book. She also shows us how to make our own templates for popular quilt designs.

 

There's more then one way to tie a quilt!! Love the close ups!!

She gives page after page of examples of big stitch, fine hand quilting and machine quilting.

I've never done a big stitch before  reviewing Utility Quilting. Here's my little quilt I made for AAQI recently. I found thread that I thought would work and did a simple grid marked with my Hera marker.

Not perfect by any means, but a good first project and fun!

Here's the back. Looks like I missed a few places going all the way through. I thought big stitching fit the style of this quilt really well.

Here is the back of another small quilt I used the big stitch on recently. This time I used a fan pattern with no marking.

 Lest you think it is all technique, you'd be wrong. Carolyn is from the UK and has included beautiful floral soft shabby chic style quilt  patterns and quilting suggestions. Seriously beautiful quilts!! If you want to see more you can also have a preview here.

What do you have to do to win a book? This time you must hop right over to Carolyn's blog before March 2 and leave her a comment. (and look at other posts while you are at it- very inspiring!) She has added a few things to go with the book including thread, needles and fabulous fabric!! (hmmm, wonder if I can enter?)  Tell her Lori sent you!! 

And if you are not a lucky winner, then I'd suggest looking for it at your local quilt store. It is worth every penny!!