Congratulations Claire! You’re the winner of the book!!!
Free-motion Quilting from Ordinary to Extraordinary: 3 Steps to Joyful Machine Stitching in 21 Days
Jenny K Lyon
C&T Publishing
96 pages, 8 1/2 x 11
softcover, $27.99; eBook, $22.99
Learning to free-motion quilt is daunting as there are a lot of moving parts, literally. In Free-motion Quilting From Ordinary to Extraordinary Jenny takes us through our awkward teenage years of quilting giving us the guidance and direction we need while allowing us to take more stitching on our own. She speaks of seeking inspiration in the environment around us, adjusting tension, and practicing well.
Jenny shows us five ways to practice: postcards, panel quilts, quilt from the back, quilt as you go, and with a quilted boho jacket giving us lots of opportunities. With each of these Jenny refocuses us from this intense hardcore practice that we try to do to “plactice”. Plactice is a combination of play, and practice reminding us that we’re machine quilting for fun.
Jenny offers a couple of my favorite tips: set a timer for twenty minute and put some tunes (podcast, fave tv show) and get stitching.
This is full of great tips and hints for quilters who’ve free-motion quilted for a while and are ready to tackle and embrace being an intermediate quilter. Seriously, this is an important part of being a free-motion machine quilter. Taking these twenty minute snippets of time makes a huge difference over the long haul. It’s important to have fun. In Jenny’s practice sessions she uses postcards (see the book for details!) which can then be sent in the mail to family and friends or even used as gift tags.
all images courtesy C&T Publishing
As always there’s an opportunity to win a copy of the book. Simply comment and let me know your favorite thread. If you live in the US we’ll send you a copy of the book; if you’re outside the US an e-book. I’ll draw a winner on Tuesday December 18th.
Of course this being a blog hop here are a group of fabulous bloggers participating. Visit their sites and comment too increasing your chances of winning a copy of the book. Most of all, get this book one way or the other and add some extraordinary to your quilts.
Dec 1 Jenny K. Lyon https://quiltskipper.com/
Dec 2 Lisa Chin http://www.lisachinartist.com/
Dec 3 Catherine Redford https://catherineredford.com/
Dec 4 Lyric Kinard http://lyrickinard.com/
Dec 5 Heidi Proffetty https://www.heidiproffetty.com/
Dec 6 Debby Ritenbaugh Brown https://www.debbybrownquilts.com/
Dec 7 Libby Williamson https://libbywilliamsondesigns.blogspot.com/
Dec 8 Barbara Black http://bbquiltmaker.blogspot.com/
Dec 9 Cindy Grisdela https://www.cindygrisdela.com/
Dec 10 Teri Lucas https://terificreations.com/
No favorite thread for FMQ yet. I need to try a few kinds to decide that. Much more ‘plactice’ needed on my part!
I have tried several different kinds of threads for free motion quilting and find what I like beast depends on the scale of the project. For postcards I love 100 weight silk thread, it’s beautiful! I’m looking forward to seeing Jenny’s projects for “placticing” am grateful for an opportunity to win her book as it looks wonderful.
Superior threads are great, Magnifico my favourite, love the sheen.
Hi Teri, Thank you for the opportunity to win. We all need more Plactice! My favorite thread (right now) is YLI 40wt because it is so strong and Madeira for a bit of shine and sparkle.
Love the idea of using something small like a postcard to practice. My go to thread for FMQ is Isacord. I also like the polyester threads from Superior, like Magnifico Trilobal and Living Colors Trilobal.
My favorite thread for FMQ right now is Sew Fine, but a close second is Glide, depending on whether I want a sheen to the design and a slightly heavier thread or the opposite.
I like using a 50 weight thread. It sometimes feels like I am quilting with hair!
I love Aurifil – I’ve tried various wieghts for free motion quilting and been fairly successful with it.
I like Aurifil thread.
I love Aurifil thread. It just behaves so nicely and looks so good. I normally use the 50 wt but would like to try some 40wt to see the difference. I would love to have Jenny’s book. I have taken a class from her and love her philosophy. She is so nice and easy going and you can tell she loves what she does.
I love using Aurifil. It comes in a variety of colors and weights which makes it perfect for almost everything I need to sew/quilt!
I piece with Coats but I need to do more plactice to figure out what my favorite thread for FMQ is!
Thanks for the chance to win! I like Essential thread.
My machine seems to like Masterpiece or Isacord!
So fun to read all the reviews about Jennys book. Hoping my plactice sessions help this ol’Brain learn new tricks
My favorite thread Brand is the Superior line.
I also like to use Aurifi.. Thank you for this opportunity.
My favorite thread is Aurifil.
I like quilting with Superior Metallics.
My favorite thread seems to Aurifil and Superior lately, but I have all brands and weights on my racks at home. I like for my quilting to take a backstage texturing role on my projects.
I like Superior Threads, they are so high quality!
I like Aurifil but haven’t done much FMQing yet so might come to like another makers’ thread.
I like to quilt with 30 or 40 weight. I’ve been using Superior thread lately.
I like to use Aurifil threads.
Loved your work, and blog! Fav thread is aurifil, but enjoy many! Am so hoping to win Jenny’s book. She is great!!
My favorite thread for large all-over FMQ is Fantastico by Superior Threads! I like SewFine or Bottom Line for finer FMQ. I would love to win Jenny’s book as I love her style and can’t wait to “Plactice” more!!
I’ve had my best experiences with Aurifil and Superior threads…always in need of more practice to perfect my FMQ skills!
Ohh, there are so many choices for thread. My mission is to try most of them. I piece with Auriful. Superior has such a wonderful selection of threads. I use variegated thread a lot for quilting. It seems to make all the colors sign. Thanks for promoting Jenny.
I use isacord because my machine loves it and I love the colors.
Loved your website, sure have enjoyed Jenny’s classes, would so love to win her book!! And a. Thread so far is aurifil
Congratulations Claire, you’ve won a copy of the book. I’ve sent you an email so please be on the lookout for it!
I use Aurifil 50 wt and So Fine for most of my quilting. I will “placative with other threads and maybe I will find a new favorite.
Just finished a quilt using Isacord- it was pretty sweet!
Hi Teri. Looks like a wonderful book. I mostly use Superior threads of a variety of types, Isacord also works well, and Aurifil 50 wt cotton and 12 wt wool blend, depending on what I am doing. I also use Sulky 12 wt cotton. They all have different looks and sometimes I want a more matte finish and sometimes I really like the lustre. Sometimes I want a tiny thread for background fills, and sometimes a real statement. It’s all great.