Free-Motion Combinations: Unlimited Quilting Designs

Designer Cameli (Step-by-Step Free-Motion Quilting) offers expert guidance in this enthusiastic guide to free motion quilting. The technique requires practice in manipulating a quilt by hand under a needle to create a design, and, as she focuses primarily on combining designs rather than teaching the basics, the projects here will be best suited to quilters with some familiarity with the method. She leads quilters through a variety of approaches to combining designs whether they’re sitting at a sewing machine or standing at a long-arm machine, and a motif library, including leaves, flowers, pebbles, and spirals, serves as a reference. Her combinations come in two sections: simple (which showcases a swirly “starry night” and leafy “fern grove”) and fancy (with swirly “fossils” and a loud “kitchen sink combo”). Along the way, Cameli offers tips and tricks (consider making one pattern the largest, and have one “filler” motif), and encourages crafters to follow their intuition. Photos and drawings for each combination will leave quilters well-prepared, and her steady encouragement is a plus: “I hope that you will embrace little inconsistencies and imperfections as evidence of your humanity and adventurousness.” Seasoned quilters looking for free-motion inspiration are sure to find it here. (Oct.)