Customer Reviews

Foolproof Machine Quilting: Learn to Use Your Walking Foot Paper-Cut Patterns for No Marking, No Math Simple Stitching for Stunning Results

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this book because I feel I'm still a "newbie" in the area of Free Motion Quilting (FMQ). This book touts the use of a walking foot, as opposed to using a FM foot, and a regular stitch on your machine (as opposed to regulating the stitches with the speed you are moving the quilt)

While I found the pictures of the techniques used inspiring, the book offered no demo or pictures to show how to use the walking foot effectively. I found I was having to "manhandle" my quilt, tugging and pulling it through my machine to get it to pivot. No, it wasn't the size of the quilt (my quilt was 48 x 65), nor was it the size of my desktop (45 x 60 inches, with an extension on the left side to hold the quilt. The bottom line was that the author forgot to insert pictures of how she specifically performed the technique.

There were pointers on using daisy head pins (flat tipped straight pins which are usually a No No in quilting) to pin down the freezer paper templates. The reason why these pins aren't used much is because you stick yourself trying to move the quilt. And yes, I did get stuck; many times. You don't know the pain of having a pin stuck in your hand while you are trying to move that hand to move the quilt around. Ouch! What I ended up doing was pressing the sharp point of the pin down into the fabric (so it wouldn't stick up and thereby stick me). This helped a little.

The book would have been better if the chapters were broken down into demos that the author used on her quilts. After all the subtitle states: "Learn to use Your Walking Foot", but there was no teaching to "learn". I wouldn't think that this information would be so proprietary that it should be omitted--it's important! But there were some nice pictures of a Bernina sewing machine (methinks the company was involved in the book in some way) and how to use monofilament thread.

If you have some quilting skills and want to glance over a book that has nice pictures on techniques, then this book is for you. But if you want to learn this technique, you'd be better off spending your money elsehere.

This is a great book for beginning to intermediate quilters who are looking for ideas and inspiration beyond stitching in the ditch. It's amazing how much you can do with just your walking foot. No months and months free motion practice required. I turn back to this book for ideas again and again.

I took both of Mary's classes that correspond to this book. It is an incredible way of machine quilting. Mary is wonderful, the book the wonderful, the system is wonderful. Even if you have not taken the class, the book contains beautiful, vibrant colors of examples and Mary's directions are very easy to understand. They covers it all. Can't recommend this book enough. 5 stars without question!

This is an excellent book to teach yourself to do quilting. I bought two, one for me and one for a friend for Christmas and she is thrilled. The author has other books printed but for me this one is the best and will help me the most. Great price on them, too.

Foolproof Machine Quilting by Mary Mashuta is the answer to the "quilt as desired" dilemma so many quilters are faced with at the end of pattern directions. It is also the answer for those who find free motion quilting difficult or who simply don't enjoy it. Free motion quilting is not required. Instead, quilters will learn to use a simple straight stitch to create surprisingly beautiful results.

Mary teaches us to quilt with our walking foot with feed dogs up and introduces us to all of its advantages. She goes beyond the usual stitch-in-the-ditch which, unfortunately, is often the only use most quilters make of their walking feet.

Valuable information about our sewing machines is included along with how to select projects and supplies, basic sewing tips, selecting projects and supplies, and important information for working with monofilament and other types of thread. The very useful section on preparing the quilt top and quilt sandwich will ensure problem-free edges for our quilts.

The lessons in the book quilters will appreciate most especially are how to create our own quilting designs and make the templates for them. The book is chock-full of quilt design ideas for a variety of block sizes and patterns in full colour. Borders are not neglected. 16 pages of of directions and photos ensure that our quilts will be finished beautifully.
This book is definitely a must-have for our personal quilt book libraries!'

I keep this book ny my sewing table. It is very user friendly and teaches you an alternative to free motion quilting. I like the opportunity to move slower with my walking foot and have a controlled stitch.

The ideas presented in the book are very good and presented in a step by step logical manner.

I bought the book because I was taking a class from the author. It's has easy-to-understand steps for the beginning quilter to get started machine quilting.

This book has many wonderful ideas, practical tips, and detailed instructions. I'm an intermediate quilter who has been frustrated with free motion quilting, so this book was particularly welcome. I had quite a few "why didn't I already think of that!" moments. The written instructions are very clear with many picture examples (of what it ought to look like,) and multiple pictures for multiple steps.

The Kindle version has one flaw, so be aware: the pictures and captions do not always divide properly. You can be looking at a photo with only the caption for the previous photo showing. Once you learn to look on the following page for the appropriate caption, it gets less frustrating.

Great ideas for avoiding having to mark the quilts and good direction for using the techniques to make up patterns of one's own.

made quilting concepts super easy, no paper to tear off, no tools required. you can even use your regular walking foot instead of doing free motion. it makes it easy to see how to use the technique for any quilt that you want specific quilting on. not for all over patterns as much (though possible) gives great ideas on what to do when you see the dreaded words, "quilt as desired."

I purchased this book along with a free motion quilting book. I really found this book to be helpful with the trouble shooting. It also gave some tips and shortcuts to avoid mistakes.