I ordered 2 McTavishing books from AQS and they came today!! Mastering The Art of McTavishing is great, and the 90 minute DVD that comes with it is worth the price of the book (especially the section on doing McTavishing on a home sewing machine.) Karen McTavish is fun to watch!

The other book I ordered was the reprinted Whitework Quilting - worth the price just for the pictures! I had to get a napkin to keep from drooling over this one :D It'll take me a while to go through all 190 pages, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do :twisted:

Sometimes I order how to books, and am disappointed when I get them - so I thought I'd better open my big trap and sing the praises of the good ones! AQS had a great sale; I saved more than the cost of membership :D

I received one of her books as a Christmas gift last year, but have not tried it. Be sure and let us see pictures of your McTavishing.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: can you tell I am envious??? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I can't wait to see you McTavishishing 8) 8) 8)

:oops: :oops: :oops: Well, here goes, my stupid question for the day,
What is McTavishing? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Ninnie
Google McTavishing and click on the first entry

Ninnie, that's not a stupid question - I thought the very same thing the first time I heard about it :D

Here's her site (be prepared to drool!):
http://www.designerquilts.com/mctavish.html

Her method avoids starts and stops whenever possible (which is most of the time) and I've wanted to learn it for different fills. The Whitework book is eye candy for me until I get really brave :lol:

I went and googled it like azderestrat said and
Holy Cow!!!!! That is BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Alas, I am a hand quilter, but I would love to pay someone to quilt one of my tops like that!!!
Let me know when you are ready, Roben. :wink: :wink: :wink:

mctavish is a rock star among rock stars.

the AQS organization the OP mentioned is an awesome deal - you get membership, a free book when you join, the magazine, and discounts on purchases, along with advance notice of sales before its opened up to non-members.

I didn't get a free book. :cry:

thats a shame they've been doing the free book thing for a while now. maybe you can call them and get the free book.

this is the free book that they're giving now if you join


http://www.americanquilter.com/books...il.php?id=2447

I bought the Mastering the Art of McTavishing too (thanks to Klue's link :D ) I just got through about 5 minutes of the dvd. I cant wait to see more!! I wanted to watch more yesterday, but we had a freak storm and were without power for some time.

Does anyone know the code for membership discounts?

Ninne, one of the quilts in the book was done by a hand quilter, using a stencil:
http://www.goldenthreads.com/p-1318-mctavishing.aspx That quilt is gorgeous!

Loretta, thanks for the thread link - lots of good info there too!

Moonpi, there's no code that I know of - AQS just runs sales on their books from time to time, and it's always a good time to get them.

For all who don't know, AQS is the same group that puts on the Paducah show every year, and now they have them in Knoxville (July) and Des Moines (Oct.). Here's their website:
http://www.americanquilter.com/

Hate to type & run, but it's vet day for the Boyz!

Come on Roben...I'm waiting to see your creation! :)

I've been renewing my membership every year for the past eight years and have never received a free book. Is this offer good for renewals or only new memberships?

you have to sign in as a member before you begin the checkout procedure - they didn't cross reference the checkout to scan the membership log.

Yeah me too...I have the renewal notice sitting in front of me right now. Also..last year they promised a free platinum needle (this yr they do also) and I didn't even get that! I'm still thinking about whether or not to renew, but I do LOVE the magazine!

its for new members but i joined years ago so they've been doing it for a while.

i'm sure if you call on monday and act disappointed they'll send you a book.

they want to keep all their old members during this economic downturn.

renew they really need to keep everyone - if you didn't get you items for renewal call them or send an email.

they are terribly under staffed and these are the kinda things that fall thru the crack.

yes its in paducah and if i remember correctly they've just received national status.

That is amazingly beautiful. Wonder what that would cost to have a long armer do - if they knew how. I too had never heard of it.

I got the Mctavish book last year, and promptly made a Project Linus quilt to try out the techniques.

I am impressed - very pretty!

I only posted those pictures to encourage roben to have a go. It isn't as hard as it looks, but I do recommend drawing out the swirly pattern on any handy scraps of paper for a while before you jump in. At least, that way, you have an idea how you would get out of an awkward corner if you needed to.

AQS has a museum and book store in Paducah KY (about 45 min from where I live) Through July they have the 25 winning quilts in the museum. I'm trying to get there ...

I've used McTavishing on quite a few quilts Its a wonderful way for a "filler" stitch. Only one thing...it uses a LOT of thread...but well worth the effort to practice it.

OOPS...didn't read the entire forum...sorry to repeat

How about a photo of some of yours SA. The more the merrier.

Her quilting is awesome.

:twisted: You enabler, you! :twisted: The Whitework book is the jewel, for sure - I can't look through that book without napkins for the drool :lol:

It'll be a little bit before I get to tackle it - today is finish the design wall day (woohoo!) but I plan on trying it out in the wall hangings I'm working on. I am taking the pattern for Red Rooster Vintage Homestead and splitting it into 2 wall hangings, so that'll keep me on my toes all week. I keep a dry erase board, and have been dutifully doodling on it to improve my quilting - it helps tremendously, and I can wipe away as often as I like.

I'll admit I'm an AQS fan; although I haven't been to Paducah (yet :twisted: ) I have been to the Des Moines show and it was fantastic - I can't imagine how much work went into organizing just that one show, let alone the three they put on every year.

BTW, I love the fabric companies as well; it seems like each of them puts out loads of free quilt patterns! Here's a link to the one I'm working on if anyone wants it:

http://www.redroosterfabrics.com/stu...ern/vh6.19.pdf

That's the book I got when I joined. They offer great deals.

I love that pattern! And the fabrics are great!!! Can we see pictures of your progress?

Vicki, it's the first project I put up on my new design wall:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/posts/list/21991.page

I have the panel cut apart and separated into what I want in each wall hanging - one with the quilt theme will go in my sewing room, and the other more generic to go into the dining room. Right now all the cutting is done, and I'm working on getting the churn dash blocks out of the way. I'm toying with the idea of a wavy border rather than the piano keys to fit more with the frames around the panel pieces - depends on how brave I feel :D