The Bee-all and End-all: The complete quilter's companion and essential resource, jam-packed with information, supplies, expert interviews, techniques, community, and inspiration. All the tools of the trade: rotary cutters, sewing machines, longarms, anddesign software; fabulous fabrics and where to find them; and if you're just starting out, everything that belongs in a quilting basket. The online world made manageable with a guide to the most useful blogs, websites, e-mail lists, free patterns, and podcasts. National and regional shows, guilds, and the best retreats and quilt museums. Batting parties, tutorials on fabric dying, and a breezy history of the quilt boom. Profiles of twenty top teachers-including television's Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, Esterita Austin and her award-winning landscape quilts, and Ruth B. McDowell, known for her bravura technique. This is a book to help every quilter deepen and grow-keep it as close by as your stash of fat quarters -Cover.

Lists all the resources needed to create a balanced curriculum for homeschooling--from preschool to high school level.

A comprehensive directory listing more than 2,500 suppliers, complete with names, addresses, phone numbers and detailed descriptions of what crafts materials they supply.

Let an expert teach you the traditional craft of Japanese country quilting, “the perfect simple, low-cost hobby to get you off your phone” (Slate). Sashiko, the traditional Japanese technique of needlework quilting, uses a simple running stitch to create beautiful patterns ideal for patchwork, quilting, and embroidery. Sashiko, pronounced shash-ko, means “stab stitch” and refers to the small running stitch that is worked to build up hundreds of distinctive decorative patterns. This book begins by exploring the origins of the technique: to strengthen clothes and to make them warmer. The “Getting Started” section describes everything you need to begin stitching, including selecting suitable fabrics and threads, marking out patterns on the fabric, as well as the stitching technique itself. Ten project chapters show how easy it is to use sashiko patterns to make beautiful items for the home. The sashiko patterns are described in step-by-step detail in the pattern library, showing you exactly how to achieve each individual pattern with ease. Finally, a gallery of work by contemporary Japanese textile artists provides extra inspiration. “A book I would suggest anyone getting started with sashiko would benefit from having in their library . . . Susan Briscoe writes with an obvious fondness for Japanese culture.” —The Ardent Thread