Customer Reviews

Whitework Quilting: Creative Techniques for Designing Wholecloth and Adding Trapunto to Your Quilts

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For years I have been hand quilting and last year designed and quilted my first wholecloth quilt. Since I had no previous intruction, it is fair to say that had I had Karen's book, life with my wholecloth venture would have been a lot easier. This book is in the top 3 in my library. It is not only beautifully bound and comes with an attached satin ribbon for page marking, but the information is invaluable and the pictures are remarkably gorgeous! (Perhaps because the quilts are the same.....gorgeous!) Packed with ideas, this book contains explicit directions for choosing fabric, stencils, designing, marking, shadow trapunto, and more. Particularly special is the fact that Karen not only instructs and displays her own quilts, but she spotlights the quilts of other quilters and allows them to give narration on the drawbacks and the values of different techniques and products, mistakes and victories! If one cannot be inspired by the beauty and simplicity of directions in this book, that person is not cut out to be a quilter! Although written with instructions for machine quilting, this book is invaluable for hand quilters, as well.

Karen McTavish is a brilliant quilter, and in this book she has assembled some of the most beautiful quilts you will ever see, some she has done and others by other talented quilters. She also has given instruction on how these magnificent works were created and how you can do them yourself. If you have any interest in trapunto (or even if you don't!), this book will convince you to try it yourself! The photography is wonderful; the commentary on each quilt is very informative. Karen's instruction is great. With these quilts, you can certainly see how the quilting can make a quilt sing! Each page is a whole new experience; you'll want to savor each quilt!

Karen is one of the best machine quilting teachers out there, and this book shows you why. Her directions are clear and concise, the photographs are stunning, and her comments are accurate as well as funny. Karen makes you feel like you, too, can do this! This is a beautiful coffee table book, and will be an asset to any quilter or non-quilter's library.

I am a novice machine quilter and I have always loved wholecloth quilts. But I know that, unlike pieced-top quilts, the quilting provides ALL of the beauty of a wholecloth quilt. I didn't think I could do it until I purchased this book. I've seen Karen McTavish on television programs a couple of times so I was excited to buy her book and read all the details of this beautiful art form. The book is very well done, it even has a ribbon bookmark! The chapters are very detailed so you clearly understand how to get going on your particular project, whether it be wholecloth, trapunto, McTavishing, etc. There's an amazing number of full-page color photographs and close-ups so you can easily see stitching details. There are also lots of comments from Karen's students, who were also novices like me. You can see by their own quilts, which are pictured in the book, that they completed beautiful quilts on their first try! This book gave me the backbone I needed to try my own quilt - I'm in the marking process right now! Thankyou Karen McTavish! And thankyou, Amazon.com, for the price of this book. It was much cheaper from you than it would have been for me to buy it at my local fabric store!

This book is absolutely full of eye candy. Reading it is just like being in class with Karen...she is so warm and bubbly! This is a must-have book for every quilter.

Karen McTavish has created one of the most beautiful books that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Such gorgeous quilts can only be called the ultimate in the quilter's passionate attempt to make personal works of art that will be cherished! I am so happy that this book is coming back into print so that I can get a copy of my own(and not just keep getting it out of the library!! Ha ha!!)

This is an educational book and i am pleased that i was able to get it for myself; very well illustrated and easy to follow directions; book gave me different prospective on whitework. recommened for those who whould like to extend their knowlege and techniques of quilting.

This book includes so very many helpful and beautiful pictures and stories of different quilts. It has helped me to venture into trying my hand at whole-cloth quilting. Very inspiring book.

This is the MOST beautiful book I own. I have completely fallen in love with the pictures of the completed works. It does have a few chapters on consturction and supplies, but it is not a machine quilting textbook. For that I would look to Harriet Hargraves Guide to Heirloom Machine quilting. However this book should be on every machine quilters book shelf. One note- Karen uses a long arm machine, but I use a regular sewing machine and find this book very valuable, as she nothing she talks about is exclusive to long arm machines

Featuring full-color, full-page close-up photographs of artfully done whitework quilts, Whitework Quilting: Creative Techniques For Designing Wholecloth And Adding Trapunto To Your Quilts is a solid guide for machine and hand quilters alike. Extensive step-by-step instructions walk the reader through whitework quilting techniques to create artful, professional-looking creations. Chapters address wholecloth methods, trapunto, applique and pieced quilts, auditioning stencils and marketing one's designs, and much more. A lavish and beautiful resource for those who are serious about creating memorable, original quilts for personal or professional purposes, and so wonderfully illustrated it is a joy to simply page through.