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Discover How to Transform the Ordinary into the Extraordinary - Both in your Quilts and Your Quilting Stitches Longtime Quilter, Georgia Bonesteel Shares Her Secrets of Beautiful Quilts and Quilting
Greetings Quilter - If you are looking for inspiration, Georgia is a quilter who oozes creativity. Beginning as a general seamstress, Georgia made the switch to quilting where she has shared her techniques with quilters for more than 30 years. Her television series, Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel, has been helping quilters since 1979, and continues to air on PBS stations throughout the country. And, Georgia is more than a just lap quilter. Georgia has a flair for design, and can take an "ordinary" traditional patchwork quilt block and create a beautiful, fresh-looking quilt. And she loves to share her techniques and inspiration with quilters. Plus, for those of you who are hand quilters, Georgia has techniques for handquilting that I haven't seen before. Plus she makes it all very practical. As we are discovering on our quilting journey, you get to make up "the rules" based on how you want to do it - not based on some quilting teacher or long-time quilter's techniques. During the Conversation with Georgia we heard:
Just as a start, in reading through one of Georgia's beautiful books, she shared a tip for handquilting that is brilliant. Instead of starting with a knot, cut off a long thread and pull it half way into your quilt. Hand quilt the design, and when you run out of thread, finish with a hidden knot. Then go back to the other side of the thread (which is still hanging out of the quilt), finish handquilting your design with that end of the thread, and end it with a hidden knot.
That tip alone will save me tons of aggravation. I don't know about you, but at least half of the time when I pull a knot into the layers of a quilt to begin quilting, it pops right out and I have to start again. Avoid that hassle and I'm a happy quilter. Georgia also has some creative things around the house to use for quilting designs and to transfer your quilting designs onto your quilt top. How about:
You see, Georgia isn't one to tell us to rush right out and buy the newest quilting gadget, either. Oh, I'm sure she has her share, like all of us do. But, she's a practical gal, and uses what she has around the house, too.
And, for those of you (like me) who forget when to change our sewing machine needle, she suggests keeping a log of how much time you spend sewing with each needle. She receommends 12 - 24 hours. And then, make a note of when you change your needle. Your quilting will be much easier with sharp, fresh needles - and you won't wonder when you changed it last! Oh, and one other thing - for those of you who hand piece: You can get secure and neat hand stitched seams by making a backstitch after every 5 to 6 stitches. Now that's a great idea, and will help prevent the whole line of stitching from coming out in case something happens to your thread.
Georgia took a lot of time and shared her special techniques for quilt as you go projects as well. She encouraged good planning before you start your project to ensure that your pieces are large enough and that the components - sashing, borders, etc. - are sewn in the right places so your quilt turns out just as you dreamed it would. This was a fantastic call with tons of great information about a variety of quilting topics.
I know that often when I'm on the phone, I get distracted with the cat, dog, or even another telephone call. Plus, sometimes even when I listen intently, I may not get every piece of information. And, who knows, 78 months from now you may be searching for inspiration, and you can pop this CD into the player in your car, computer or walkman, and you'll have the information right at your fingertips.
Georgia can be found at: http://www.georgiabonesteel.com/ Happy Quilting!
www.How-to-Quilt.com
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You'll be happy you listened in on this call, whether you are a beginner quilter or more experienced. And whether you are a hand quilter or machine quilter, Georgia has tips to make your quilting easier and even more beautiful. 
