free-motion Machine Quilting, by Don Linn

A new quilting book published by CT Publishing, "free-motion Machine Quilting", written by Don Linn, will begin shipping in February 2011.  I've had the opportunity to review an early copy of this book and am excited to share insights with you.

From cover to cover this is an excellent book for quilters that want to improve their free-motion quilting (FMQ) skills, or learn the art of FMQ.  The introduction was inspirational. I loved the reference to “Machine quilting has gone from a dirty word to an accepted art form”.

Lin has been teaching FMQ for 10+ years. This book captures his insights on how he has been able to teach and inspire the basics and art of FMQ to quilters of all levels.  

Basics are provided on selecting necessary tools vs optional tools and project supplies.  And good insights on the all too overlooked need of having good seating posture while doing FMQ.  Don also shares insights on proper batting and backing selection, preparation of your quilt for FMQ, machine tension, starting and finishing a quilting design, hand placement, practice exercises, potential problems and solutions, as well as bad habits to avoid. 

Excellent insights are shared on "Learning to Draw and Stitch Designs" with practice exercises that help you learn a create beautiful ropes, feathers, grids and more.

The section on how to select designs appropriate for your quilts is very helpful.  It also includes insights on how to transfer and mark your quilt, echo quilting, as well as making designs fit your border.

There is a lovely quilting gallery included in this book, with many inspirational quilts made and quilted by Don.

Lastly, Don also included an excellent section packed full of beautiful quilting designs that you can use on your projects.  There are actually 50+ quilting designs that are included in this book.

Overall, excellent blend of insights and visuals in this book.  I also found that Don's words of encouragement were as if I was seated in a class with him standing next to me and giving me the confidence that I could do this.   This book radiates a "you can do" approach to FMQ.

You can pre-order copies of this book directly from CT Publishing, or check it out at your local quilt store in February 2011. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to improve their free-motion quilting skills, and an absolute must for anyone interested in learning FMQ.  I'll even go further, by sharing, if you are to purchase just one book on free-motion quilting, this is the book you will want to buy.