Love to Sew: Quilting On The Move: With English Paper Piecing

Description

English Paper Piecing (EPP) is a popular and easy method of creating beautiful, hand-sewn patchwork designs. The fabric is cut and folded over a paper template and the resulting shapes are stitched together by hand, making it ideal for sewing whether you're on the move, or at home. Successful and established author Alistair Macdonald provides 18 fabulous projects, including a lovely baby's play mat, a stylish gentleman's scarf, a useful hobby bag, a tea cosy, a gorgeous tote bag and a make-up purse. All the patchwork is done by hand sewing, using the English Paper Piecing method in fresh, bright cottons and with clear, step-by-step instructions and beautiful photographs. There is some machine sewing for putting projects together, but you can hand sew if you prefer. Actual size templates for every project are included.

As an established designer and purveyor of textiles and products made from some of the finest fabrics available, Alistair Macdonald from House of Alistair continues to find ways to nurture his lifelong love of sewing. His knowledge and understanding of fabric is astonishing whilst his imagination and flair to create and design might be considered unparalleled. Such a talent can be appreciated once realizing that Alistair's love of sewing and craft began early whilst in the company of his Gran when growing up on the Isle of Bute in Scotland and then pursuing an education in art followed by fashion design; ending up graduating from the prestigious Central St Martins in London. Some years later, time spent working among some of the world's most iconic brands led to the birth of House of Alistair - a business aiming to bring together both quality and design for the world of fabrics and haberdashery. www.houseofalistair.com Alistair lives in London.

The best book for beginner sewists, which uses the simple art of paper piecing that everyone can do. 18 wonderful projects with simple step by step instructions, and with the inclusion of templates makes this a book for mindful sewing. Paper piecing is a hand sewing technique, which involves cutting shapes of paper and wrapping your chosen fabric and stitching them together to make stunning and useful items. Cushions, bags book covers and quilts I actually started paper piecing when I first learned to sew, and started making a small lap quilt which when I eventually finished was a king-sized quilt which now adorns my bed and is very warm... This craft is very addictive so be warned. -- Tracy Shephard * Postcard Reviews * I had this book to help teach my WI. It is a very useful book for beginners. I have found Alistair uses his experience to mention not machining in a zip until you have checked it works whilst tacked in place. Also how to make a tab with bias binding to cover any visible raw edges. The diagrams were mostly clear and I like the techniques section. I particularly liked the tablet case and storage baskets. -- Jane Ford * Customer review * I recommend this lovely book for anyone who wants to start English Paper Piecing. Alistair Macdonald clearly and simply introduces you to the basic without delay. He shows how easy it is to begin making lovely items. Included are full-size templates, projects, hints, and tips that gave confidence to this nervous newbie. What I love most about this book however is that he shows you that you don't need to buy a lot of unnecessary products. This makes the process so relaxing - which to me, is what it's all about. This book and a few basic tools like scissors, ruler and some bits of fabric are all you need to get going. -- Lesley Bambridge * Customer review * Excellent basic technique section at the beginning, with templates, with 18 really useful projects to make. I will definitely be using this book to teach from. -- Lyn Rochester * Customer review * This is a great book for getting started with English Paper Piecing. Having never tried this technique before, the book clearly explains how to get started and the projects within the book are nice and simply explained. You really can pick them up and take them with you wherever you may be going: car, train or bus. Each of the instructions are clear and easy to read and include a picture template of how you would piece together your various shapes (mainly hexagons). These will make for a few handy presents for people throughout the year such as the ipad cover, hot water bottle cover (I can now jazz up my previously rather boring hot water bottle), tote bag, table rest and the baby play mat. The only negative for me is that the pictures were not as vivid as I was expecting, the front cover lead me to think that they would all be quite vibrant. However I think this is down to the fabric choice, I was expecting all of the projects to use fabrics and colours similar to the bag on the front cover. But this is just my opinion as I am a fan of bright bold colours and patterns. Overall I would say this is a great book to get you started with English Paper Piecing and has quite a few interesting project for you to try the technique out with. The fact that each project is so portable makes it each one great to take with you on long journeys or when visiting family to keep your hands busy in an evening. -- Rebecca Ridyard * Customer review *