Quick Watercolor Quilts: The Fuse, Fold, and Stitch Method
The lovely painterly effect of watercolor quilts appeals to many quilters, but the technique is generally quite labor-intensive and time-consuming. Dina Pappas has refined a method that greatly simplifies the process, and her book explains it all clearly. Her secret is gridded fusible interfacing (bought with a printed grid or penciled on), on which the fabric squares are laid out and fused on; the whole piece is then folded on the grid lines and stitched. Not only does this greatly simplify and speed up the procedure, but it also allows for easy rearrangement of the layout before fusing; it also prevents quilters from accidentally rotating or mixing up the squares when stitching them together. The other element that makes this approach so easy entails keeping the designs fairly simple and small, though the technique can certainly be adapted to larger, more complex designs as quilters become more comfortable with the system. Pappas includes a good general overview of quilting basics, and the 13 step-by-step projects let newcomers practice the method under her tutelage before branching out on their own.--Amy Handy