The Quilter's Catalog: A Comprehensive Resource Guide

The Quilter's Catalog: A Comprehensive Resource Guide

It’s not your grandmother’s quilt world anymore. Quilting today is a phenomenally popular hobby, artform, and business, often rolled into one, that attracts 21 million avid quilters who spend $2.27 billion annually on their passion. There are 2,500 quilt shops around the country, popular television series, guilds, Web sites, and national fairs—one in Houston draws 50,000 visitors each year. Meg Cox, a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal , is one of the obsessive new quilters, and in The Quilter's Catalog , she draws on all her skills as a journalist to write the essential resource for contemporary quilters. Here’s the low-down on tools: computer-driven sewing machines, innovative rotary cutters, longarms. New and old techniques, from how to dye your own fabric to cutting-edge digital photo-transfer. Profiles of the twenty top quilting teachers— television’s Alex Anderson, Esterita Austin and her award-winning landscape quilts, Ruth McDowell, known for her bravura technique. Who makes the best fabrics and how to find them. A complete resource guide to the best Web sites, online groups, books, patterns, stores, shows, challenges. And a look at the new world of quiltaholics: its sense of community, its opportunities for business, its controversies (hand-sewn vs. machine-sewn), its attractions—quilting is easy, portable, friendly, therapeutic, often profitable, and the perfect way to mark a milestone. The book includes 12 step-by-step projects from key teachers—a crib quilt, bed quilts, quilted ornaments—and instructions on how to hang, store, or ship a quilt. The Bee-All and End-All The complete quilter's companion and essential resource jam-packed with information, supplies, expert interviews, techniques, community, and inspiration. All the tools of the trade: rotary cutters, sewing machines, longarms, and design software; fabulous fabrics and where to find them; and if you're just starting out, everyting that belongs in a quilting basket. - The online world made manageable with a guide to the most useful blogs, web sites, e-mail lists, free patterns, and podcasts. - National and regional shows, guilds, and the best retreats and quilt museums. - Batting parties, tutorials on fabric dyeing, and a breezy history of the quilt boom. - Profiles of twenty top teachers—including television's Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, Esterita Austin and her award-winning landscape quilts, and Ruth B. McDowell, known for her bravura technique. - This is a book to help every quilter deepen and grow—keep it as close as your stash of fat quarters.