Monday, March 26, 2012

Book Review and a Give-Away!

Recently I have had the pleasure to read an amazing book called Finish Almost Any Quilt: A Practical Guide to Adapting Quilts to Finish as You Go by Marguerita McManus.  If you have been reading my blog for a while you'll know that I absolutely love Maguerita's book Crazy Shortcut Quilts!  I have taught her method many times in classes and everyone always loves it and the quilts always look amazing.  So, when Marguerita came out with her new book I couldn't wait to get my hands on it!



In her second book Marguerita explores more methods to finish your quilts using the quilt as you go method.  What I love about her method is that there is no hand-work involved at all!  Many methods of quilt as you go do a lot of hand trimming or hand sewing to finish the quilts off - not in this book!!  Her methods are easy enough for beginners to achieve success with.  Indeed, I have taught Crazy Shortcut Quilts to beginners and they have loved the method!

Since this book is self-published there are lots and lots of colour pictures that will really aid the reader.  Also, Marguerita has an amazing YouTube Channel with many extremely helpful videos.  Talk about great value!

In Finish Almost Any Quilt Marguerita explores how to quilt almost any blocks quilt as you go using a regular domestic sewing machine.  You do not need a long-arm or different sewing machine to use these techniques.  I think this is great because so many quilters get intimidated when they look at a whole quilt top and think they can't quilt it on their own.  Because you are only quilting one block at a time you can easily quilt the entire quilt, block by block, without struggling and pushing and pulling the quilt through your machine.

I teach machine quilting classes and many quilters would love to use their walking foot more if it was easier to maneuver the quilt around.  Using quilt as you go methods we certainly can!  I really like how Marguerita shows quilters that they can use their walking foot to quilt straight lines or gentle curves that would be difficult to do if you were quilting the entire top as a whole.  By quilting block by block it is easy to use your walking foot and let it set your stitch length for you.  On the other hand - it is extremely easy to work on your free-motion quilting skills when you only need to quilt a small block instead of tackling a whole quilt!

From the back cover:

What's Different from Other Books?
There are no patterns in this book!  It teaches you how to finish what you have and how to choose adaptable patterns for future quilts.  This book gives you permission to be imperfect, how to "make do" and how to fix and finish what you've created so far.

How great is that!  The book focuses on the method of quilt as you go rather than providing you with lots of patterns.  In fact, it picks up where most patterns/books leave off when they tell you to "quilt as desired" but don't give you directions to do it.

So, to top all of this off Marguerita has offered to sponsor a give-away to one lucky reader!  Want to win a copy of Finish Almost Any Quilt: A Practical Guide to Adapting Quilts to Finish as You Go?  This is easy:
  1. For one entry leave a comment and tell me why you would like to win this book?
  2. For another entry go and follow Marguerita's blog and come back here and tell me in the comments.
  3. For a third entry Follow my blog and tell me that you do!
  4. For a fourth entry go and "like" Marguerita's Facebook page for her books - it's a great page!
Each comment is your entry!  If you only leave one comment - you will only get one entry!

Also, please make sure that you are not a no-reply blogger!!  If you come up as anonymous then I have no way to contact you!  Make sure that you follow the link on the right side of my blog to find out if you are a no-reply blogger.

Ok let's do the draw on Sunday to give everyone a chance to enter!

90 comments:

barbara woods said...

i really need that book

barbara woods said...

i follower her blog

Gill said...

This sounds a great book! Count me in please!

Gill said...

I'm a happy follower!

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

This book sounds like the answer to all my problems - well, at least in quilting. Thanks for the opportunity to enter your wonderful giveaway!

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

I am a new follower :)

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

I 'liked' Marguerita's FB page.

Martina said...

I have done one little tablerunner with the quilt as you go method and it was great. Would love to learn more about it.

Martina said...

I am already a follower! Thanks so much!

Karen said...

That book sounds like a must have, my sewing machine is pretty generic and not really aimed at the quilter, so as you say, the pushing and pulling during the quilting can be quite tricky. Thanks for the chance :o)

Karen said...

I'm a follower of yours :o)

Sallie said...

I would love to learn QAYG! This book looks like a winner! Thanks for the chance!

Bonnie58 said...

the book sounds incredible. i have just started quilting my own large quilts on my home machine, so any tips and techniques i can learn are definitely an asset. Here's hoping

Wivi said...

That book is just what I need.

Wivi said...

I added her blog to my bloglist.

Wivi said...

I'm already a follower of your blog.

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

I love quilting books...can't get enough of them.

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

I follow you.

Ariane said...

I really would love this book. I'm always terrified when it comes to quilting my quilts. The tops sit unfinished for so long. It would be so nice to learn an easier way to get them done.

Ariane said...

I follow Marguerita's blog on google+

Ariane said...

I follow your blog!!

Ariane said...

I liked her on FB.

StitchinByTheLake said...

I have 13 1/2 quilt tops waiting to be quilted. Obviously I need help! And that doesn't count the ones that are not complete tops - just blocks waiting to be put together! blessings, marlene

ritainalaska said...

just what i need! i've made one big qayg quilt and a runner qyag ... they were the easiest pieces i've made. it be nice to win this book and make more of my quilts qyag. thanx for the chance to do so.

ritainalaska said...

i've been over and browsed marguerita's blog and signed up to follow her by email.

ritainalaska said...

yes! i follow your blog :)

ritainalaska said...

i did go and like marguerita's fb page!
rgoshorn@ak.net

Renee G said...

I'd love to win this book because I'm a beginning quilter and I'm always interested in learning more.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com

Béa said...

I have not enough money for longarmer quilting and can't quilt myself large size quilt.It's the book I need.

Béa said...

I follow her blog by email

Tracey @ The Peony Teacup said...

I am a follower :)

Tracey @ The Peony Teacup said...

I would like to win because I find the idea of quilting large quilts on my machine super daunting, and I love the idea of being able to quilt as you go and being able to effectively quilt any sized quilt on a domestic home machine.

Dolores said...

I don't want to count how many unfinished quilts I have. I would love to win a copy of the book.

tubilinha tiacarminha said...

Sou sua seguidora.tiacarminhapezzuto@gmail.com

tubilinha tiacarminha said...

Quadro à Quadro?Eu preciso deste livro com urgência.Pago caro pessoa para fazer para mim.Os preços até são encarecidos por conta das horas de trabalho e deixamos de vender por isso.Não que vou deixar de pagar...mas tenho clientes que reclamam,e não entendem que o serviço tem que ser valorizado também.Obrigada.tiacarminhapezzuto@gmail.com

sosarahsew said...

I'm a great "topper" but I have quite an assortment of tops that need the quilting. I'm good at that also but it's not a half-hour here and there process. Maybe this book would give me a few shortcuts. And otherwise it can be displayed on the shelf reminding me to FINISH ANY QUILT!

sosarahsew said...

Checked out her site - some cute ideas and shortcuts! I'll go back not and peruse some more. Thanks for the chance to win.

sosarahsew said...

Been a follower for some time now - cool ideas and inspirations!

Diann said...

I would like to win this book so that I could learn to quilt as I go and hopefully finish more quilts!

Diann said...

I signed up to follow Margueritas blog.

Diann said...

I signed up to follow your blog.

Becky said...

This looks very interesting. I'm beginning to machine quilt small projects on my machine. Would love to study these lessons.

Jocelyn said...

This sounds like a great book. I do not like to do any hand sewing (including the binding) so I'd love to see how she does it. Thanks!

emmy said...

This book sound like a lifesaver, especially how to finish and quilt your projedts. Thank you for the giveaway.

emmy said...

I am a follower of your blog

emmy said...

I am a follower on Marguerita's blog.

Anonymous said...

I have her first book written with her daughter and just want to know more!

Kittylet said...

Now I'm not anonymous:
I have her first book written with her daughter and just want to know more!

Kittylet said...

I'm a follower and on Facebook with you.

Kittylet said...

I'm following Marguerite's Blog

Kathy H said...

I follow your blog.

Kathy H said...

I think this book would be great to have. I would actually finish more of my quilts instead of having a pile of tops sitting around.

Kim said...

I would love this book! I really want to quilt my quilts myself! This quilt as you go method may make that wish come true!

Kim said...

I liked her FB page too!

Janet said...

I've quilted some full size quilts on my machine but it is not an easy task. I would love to learn how to use quilt as you go techniques on all my quilts. Thanks for a chance to win this book.

Emma R. said...

I can always use a book that will help me finish my quilts - I have a lot of UFOs!!

Emma R. said...

I already follow your blog.

Lisa Cox said...

I would love to win this book. As a newbie quilter (1 lap quilt finished), I have a hard time figuring out how to finish them. I can look at pictures on websites and blogs until I am blue in the face. To have a book that will help me, right there in my hands. that would be awesome

Crystal said...

I'm a new quilter, I think this book would be lots of help!

Crystal said...

I follow your blog, thanks!

Crystal said...

I follow Marguerita's Blog, thanks!

Crystal said...

I follow Marguerita on Facebook, thank you!

Lyn said...

I love your site, Would love the book I have a hard time with free motion. Thanks,

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

I would love to finish a quilt....grin. I'm the Queen of blocks and flimsies.

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

I'm following her by email.

Linda in Arkansas said...

Oh goodie a book about finishing quilts. That's what I need as I sometimes get stuck and don't know what to do after making blocks.

JoyceLM said...

I have a huge stack of quilt tops that need to be quilted. Having a copy of this book to learn quilt-as-I-go wouldn't shrink the stack, but it wouldn't get taller. Thanks for the chance to win.

JoyceLM said...

I'm a follower. Thanks for the giveaway.

JoyceLM said...

I'm following Marguerita's blog. Thanks for the chance to win.

JoyceLM said...

I liked Marguerita's facebook page. Thanks for the giveaway.

Lori said...

Need to learn to QAYG!

Lori said...

I also visted Marguerita's page!

Unknown said...

It would be nice to finish a quilt without sending it to the long arm quilter.

Unknown said...

I follow your blog!

Cecilia said...

I would love to win this book. I have a few quilts that I need to quilt and I still find it a little intimidating quilting a large quilt on my machine. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.

Cecilia said...

I follow your blog.

hueisei said...

I'm new to quilting and I need the book to guide me.

hueisei said...

I follow your blog

hueisei said...

Liked Marguerita FB page

hueisei said...

Follow Marguerita blog by google reader.

Bobbie said...

UFO's have invaded my house so I definitely need that book! :)

Marcia W. said...

Many times I get to a point where the blocks are made and I'm at a loss to finish a quilt.

Judith said...

I need the book as I have a hard time finishing my quilts.

Judith said...

I went to Marguerita's blog and am following it.

Judith said...

I liked her facebook page (under zephyr_Judith).

Judith said...

I am following your blog thru facebook (zephyr_judith)

Nancy Sue said...

I love this book. I think it covers an area a lot of us (ok, maybe just me) need help in. I remember Gene Black's review on it and seems to be a very comprehensive book but very approachable:)

Nancy Sue said...

I am now following Marguerita's Blog :)

Nancy Sue said...

I follow your blog :) Thank you for organizing the giveaway!

Nancy Sue said...

I liked Marguerita's page on FB, and now going to peek at her videos on youtube (with popcorn in hand!)

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