Modern Machine Quilting by Catherine Redford // Fresh Lemons Quilts

When I think of quilters with serious quilting skills and talent, Catherine Redford is high on the list. I have posted in the past about Catherine, and all her amazing efforts in teaching us to become better quilters. Today I am thrilled to share her latest book, Modern Machine Quilting : Make a Perfectly Finished Quilt on Your Home Machine.

That last part of this book's title is what interests me most. I don't have a long arm machine, and I have never rented time on one (although the thought has crossed my mind!) Each and every one of my quilts has been quilted on my home machine. Catherine's book is *full* of information on tools and techniques you can use to add more visual interest to your quilts.

Modern Machine Quilting is 128 pages and broken down into 5 Chapters: Getting Started, Walking-Foot Quilting, Free-Motion Quilting, Putting it Together: A Gallery of Quilts, and Projects.

Grab a cup of coffee and relax in a comfy chair, because the first chapter is *full* of information you will want to read and absorb. Catherine goes over fabric, batting, needles, machines, quilt sandwich techniques, backing, basting techniques...even the ideal quilt room setup!

The next chapter focuses on quilting techniques you can accomplish with your walking foot.

To start with, Catherine covers everything from stitch plates to tension, where to start on your quilt to pulling up the bottom thread. There are many photo examples (I learn best with pictures so I love this!)

She shows techniques for straight lines, such as shadow quilting and matchstick quilting, as well as incorporating curves like waves, branches and spirals. She even pulls out a protractor to help with marking! (Yes, this got me excited because my 10 year old just learned how to use a protractor at school. :) )

The third chapter focuses on free-motion quilting.

Catherine starts by sharing the appropriate feet, stitch plate and tools needed to be most successful with your free motion quilting. Then she moves on to the actual designs - complete with not only written directions, but sketches and photos of the quilting. I think I counted 28 designs!

In the next chapter, Catherine shares a variety of her finished quilts where she incorporated these modern machine quilting techniques.

And finally, the book wraps up with four quilted project (1 placemat and 3 quilts) patterns. I am in love with this flying geese solids quilt.

Modern Machine Quilting is full of just so much detail and information by the very talented and experienced Catherine Redford, it is a welcome addition to my quilting resource library. I hope you will check it out!

Catherine provided me with a copy of her book for this honest review. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links are used in this post.