Customer Reviews

The Art of Machine Piecing - Print on Demand Edition

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Sally Collins has outdone herself with this book. In our modern day society, there is an emphasis on speed - everyone rushes around trying to squeeze in as many activities and projects into each minute of every day. This sometimes has the unfortunate consequence of less attention to detail and the result is sloppiness. In this book, Sally shows the quilter how to slow down and enjoy the process of creating each quilt block.

She starts her book with a chapter on Philosophy and Creativity and her deep love for quilting is very evident in the words that she uses. Phrases such as "..take pleasure in the journey", "..experience the joy and bliss that quiltmaking gives each of us". She views errors as "gifts...opportunities for success" and says that "problem solving is a real key to finding the joy in quiltmaking". With these statements, she removes the fear of making mistakes and turns errors into learning opportunities. She states that quality workmanship is not just about perfect sewing, but also knowing how to solve problems as they occur. One would be tempted to skip this introduction and jump right into the technique and block sections - this is a mistake. It may sound a bit corny, but after reading these pages, I was inspired at the prospect of making miniature blocks rather than being intimidated as I know most quilters are by the tiny pieces used in small scale blocks.

She follows the introduction with a detailed section on tools and explains what they are used for which is very helpful. A chapter on Color and Fabric is next and she does a wonderful job explaining the importance of color and fabric selection in general and also how to select appropriate fabrics for small scale blocks. There are a number of helpful example images that accompany the text. As we progress further into the book, we begin to learn about designing blocks and drafting. She goes into detail on how to draft blocks from beginning to end, a discussion that I found fascinating. Sprinkled throughout this chapter and each of the ones that follow, there are tip boxes titled "Noteworthy" that are filled with valuable information.

For the quilter interested in improving their accuracy in assembling blocks, the chapter entitled "Workmanship" is without question, the most valuable one to read - and should be read through several times to reinforce key concepts. Sally discusses various factors that cause problems from cutting to sewing to pressing. The bottom line is that the quilter needs to pay careful and close attention to each step of the process. Her quilting experience is evident in the tips on pinning, blocking, and measuring that she includes.

The last chapter before starting the block section deals with various construction techniques, such as assembling half square triangles, English Paper Piecing, and using bias bars. But, she does not stop there - she ends the chapter with a detailed and well illustrated tutorial on matching seams, a very important factor in sewing quilt blocks and one that is rarely addressed in instructional quilting books.

The Block Collection consists of forty-nine blocks with familiar names such as Churn Dash, Dresden Plate, or Bear's Paw and six of the blocks are her own designs. Each block is accompanied by a color photograph and includes template outlines and color coded measurements for three, four, and six inch blocks. She always includes a tip or two appropriate to the block, perhaps about construction or color selection. Each of these blocks is used in her quilt that she discusses in the last chapter. I was fortunate to see this quilt at a show and can vouch for its beauty and attention to detail. I spent several minutes looking at various blocks and marvelling at how well she put it together. If you are interested in making a similar one for yourself, she includes the instructions for the quilt along with fabric requirements.

She concludes the book with more eye candy in the form of a Gallery of full color photographs of quilts that she has made using the blocks in the book to whet the appetite of the reader. An alphabetic index and a brief biography of the author can be found on the final pages of the book.

It is well worth taking the time to read the book from cover to cover before embarking on the blocks. The instructions are clear and concise and well presented from a visual standpoint. This is definitely one to add to the collection!

this is a wonderful book for a quilter of any level of skill or experience.

i have no plans (right now!) to work at the scale the author enjoys, and i do not intend to enter any comptetitions, but i still want to do the best work i can. just one quick reading has improved my technique. thanks to ms. collins, i am more aware of how i am cutting, piecing and sewing, and more aware of what the machine is doing, can do, or will do. some of what she writes about i knew, some i never considered, some advice i've seen in other publications, but having all of this information in one source reinforces the lessons.

even if you have other technique or block books on your shelf, you will benefit from this one. as other reviewers have mentioned, ms. collins accepts the time and attention that good craftmanship requires, and encourages her readers to put that time and attention into their work.

No matter how many quilting books you own, this is a must have for your personal library. Sally Collins takes it step by step to help perfect the "Art of Machine Piecing". Will we ever be perfect? No, but striving for consistency is a goal that Ms. Collins covers in detail. Belong to a quilt guild? I strongly suggest this book be included in the guild's library so everyone can improve their stitches. Happy Quilting!!!!

First let me say that I was very happy to find such an intelligent quilting book. There is very little fluff in Sally Collins work, and quite an amazing amount of good solid practical and technical information.

For example, there is a place in the early chapters where she talks about the proper way to cut using a ruler and rotary cutter. Do you know how many quilt books I've read where there is no such instruction? I got my degree in Fine Art, and in class, we were taught very precisely how to cut with an Xacto blade so that the lines would be straight, the edges were not damaged, and we were not injured. I recognized the same sort of precision in Sally's work and felt quite at home. She explained about control and safety, not fraying the edges of the fabric, and all the good things that are often not addressed adequately. And this is just one tiny example. The book is full of them. There are wonderful hints for using your machine correctly that no one else will think to tell you! Many of the reviewers talk about how this book is not for beginners, but I think that often beginners are underestimated. Everything in the book is so well explained in precise detail, that a beginner, or an advanced quilter with a beginner's mind, would be well served to study it.

Perhaps the complexity of the designs is what folks assume are too far advanced. But the way the instructions are given makes this book very practical. I think my favorite hint was her admonition to SLOW DOWN. Allowing the meditative quality of the work to return. In recent years we hear so much about making quilts in a weekend, or a day, or a few hours, stack and whack, stack and whack! And I think there is a place for that, especially for quilters who have to balance families and jobs with their quilting. But the sense of just having time, and the continuity of the tradition of quilting is also important. Allowing your work to be slow and exact, and learning NOT to judge yourself badly for taking more time (the time that is needed!), or for not doing things in one quick go, is a really important skill we've forgotten. Sally's book teaches this, among many other things, and is so far one of my favorite all time quilting books. I have her Precision Piecing DVD, too, because it is nice to watch her hands work the fabric. It helps ground her instructions, and helps things make sense.

Now, I have to say that my ONLY complaint about this book is the printing. I purchased the Print on Demand version. It has flat matt paper, sort of like the stuff you put in your printer, but a bit thicker. It's the kind of paper used in the 80's, and usually reserved for text only books. The reason for this is that the ink soaks in and saturates the paper in a way that blurs the lines a bit, and darkens the colors, making them less pure that we are used to seeing them. Without the glossy printed surface that we are used to seeing for books with lots of graphics, the pictures of the quilts do suffer a bit, and seem just a tad out of focus.

Think of how a full color picture looks if you try to print it on an ink jet printer on regular printer paper, and you'll get an idea of how the illustrations in this book are presented.

Now that I've complained, I'll say that even if the pictures are a tad fuzzy and dark, the ones that ARE there are very useful, and are good enough to present her information well. A lot of care was taken to make every instruction or hint as clear as possible, and that shows.

I wish I could have purchased this book in the published version, rather than print on demand, HOWEVER, I'll take this book in ANY version that I can get it in! It's just that good.

The author is an expert in quilting. She generously shares her experience and knowledge with the readers in a format that is easy to understand and appreciate. The samples are adventurous in both color and structural design.
A must-have in your library.

Sally Collins does lots of beautiful, complex miniatures . This books you lots of advice on how to improve your own piecing--in my case its not miniatures, not usually really complex, but we all like our points pointy and our corners matching. CHAPTER V and VI was the heart of it for me.

Her list of tools is short and not full of the latest gadgets, she uses only TWO rulers routinely. She uses toothpicks, sticky notes and so on , not some expensive tool that you can't buy locally.

Her construction tips are common sense, nicely illustrated. They are not really for beginners, just because most of us begin with no anxiety about the pressing plan, no knowledge that bias edges are the road to ruin , no thought that there will be a difference on length on the right side of the quilt vs the left. She explains diamond intersections, y seams, those ugly places where the seams are pressed the same way, a nice technique for quarter square triangles that accounts for piecing by amateurs , and so on.

THe focus is on the basics, cutting, sewing and pressing . THe cutting seems harder but its easier for complex patterns . She puts everything on sandpaper--I do mean everything, and always uses 1/16 holes to line up (ala Jinny Beyer who does mainly hand piecing) . I tried her technique when I had to make a template for a BOM project , and it was a lot better than my trace and pray technique. There was more time up front but even for the ONE block it saved time as there were no errors and the piecing was easier to match and put together. That said I don;t think I'll be twisting 1/8 bias tape into basket handles any time soon.

I give a 4.7 instead of a 5 because there are 50 pages of blocks with fairly short instructions then a much shorter chapter on making the whole quilt. I have dozens of block patters --I bought this book so I could improve my piecing . Bigger graphics and more illustrations would have been a better use of 50 pages .

This book has made a difference in the accuracy of my quilt blocks. I was having trouble with my blocks coming out the right
size and with the seams all matching. The information in this book has helped resolve these issues. It is great reference book.

Sally Collins is a perfectionist in her work. If you want perfect results, this is the book for you. I believe it is an excellent way for a new quilter to begin. Any mistake you make will be magnified many times over, by the time you reach the end of your row. It is best to learn to be precise at the get-go. You will be much happier in the end. All of her books are valuable to have in your personal library.

Wonderful book, great instructions and perfect to use as a workbook to improve your piecing.

This book is a must read for ANY quilter, whether working with regular or miniature pieces. Thanks to Ms. Collins for sharing all these terrific ideas.