Pat Sloan — Book Tour Stop!

Pat Sloan — Book Tour Stop!

Today is my day on Pat Sloan‘s Book Tour! And it’s Pat’s birthday today I hear! So be sure to wish her a happy one!

Let’s just get right to talking about the book, shall we?

Pat’s book Teach Me to Machine Quilt is great one for machine quilting basics. What I really like BEST about it, is her constant reminder that Practice makes Perfect. When it comes to machine quilting, practice is the KEY!

This book is chock full of great, well-written advice with VERY clear photos explaining so many things. This picture showing pulling the bobbin thread up to the top when you begin quilting is just one example of many, many great such photos. And something I needed to be reminded of when I started doing some more of my own machine quilting recently.

There are two sections about quilting – using the walking foot and free motion quilting. I don’t have a walking foot so I didn’t delve into that section as much as I did the free motion section. There was really good advice about how to make everything you practice on be useful from making and giving away baby quilts to making dust cloths from your practice pieces. That Pat! She’s so funny; as if quilters dusted!!  Hahahahaha! I did some major practicing on the Thanksgiving placemats I just finished this past week. We needed placemats and it was a good small way to practice different concepts in quilting patterns, seeing what I did and didn’t like or do well and which needed more practice.

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Of course, my go-to in any book is always the projects! And there are a couple that plucked the strings of my heart. This one below, Cherry Pie, was my favorite of the lot to be certain!

And for quilting, there is a lot of fun negative space to place with in it!

I mocked up three different blocks with the fabulous Deco States line by Tiffany Lerman for In The Beginning Fabrics. I obviously didn’t leave any negative space to let the quilting shine in as in Pat’s gorgeous model one, but they sure are wonderful blocks!

I also liked this Mini Charm Star made from 2 1/2″ squares! So fun, but I haven’t got time to even mock this one up this year (and BTW- This year is almost OVER!!  Jinxies!)

The best thing about the book is how friendly and genuine the whole conversation with Pat flows with you while you read it.  It really feels like she is right there with you, giving you tips and advice as you plunge into something new, or are going through a refresher on the subject as I am.

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Now, go visit Pat’s Giveaway Page to enter to win one of the 5 copies of her book!

Physical Copies for US residents, digital copies for all other winners. Be sure to enter by Midnight Dec 1 and then visit the others on her Mega Fun Tour to learn more about Pat’s book, some have interviewed Pat, a few might have a giveaway, or have made a project… it’s all listed on Pat’s page!

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AND HERE at the Blue Nickel, I am also having a giveaway! I will send a bunch of 4″ strips from most of the Deco States line that In the Beginning Fabrics sent me earlier this month – more than those shown here. I have a post coming up in few weeks with more pictures of that line and ANOTHER giveaway!  For now, leave a comment on this post telling about your favorite machine quilting technique or one of the other stops on Pat’s Book Tour. I will draw a name from all of the comments on November 30th sometime and send one lucky winner those 4″ strips plus one of my Blue Nickel Studios patterns (my surprise choice!).

Also don’t forget I am having a low key sale on everything in the Blue Nickel Shop now through Cyber Monday.  Everything is 30% off.  Just use the coupon code SMALLBIZ16  to get your discount.

So that’s it for today. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, US citizens and hope all have a wonderful end of the year.

Keep Sewing, Keep Happy,

Scott