Sheila Sinclair Snyder is an author, quilting teacher, designer, lecturer and long-arm machine quilter. She noticed many clients in her long-arm quilting classes commonly ran into difficulties when attaching borders. Often, borders did not lay straight or seams were mismatched. Sheila discovered that a change in technique yielded much better results for quilters of all levels of experience. By incorporating the border and sashing designs into the blocks, smoother, better fitting results are possible. Her streamlined, common sense technique is the basis of this, her first book.

"Pieced to Fit" includes nine projects based on traditional designs. The projects include a variety of sizes and themes. There are medallion and block styles ranging from throws to bed sized quilts. No matter your personal taste, you are sure to find a project to your liking.

Sheila's techniques for creating border and sashing designs that lay properly involve building them into the blocks. It's an effective, simple, timesaving approach that leaves most wondering "now, why didn't I think of that"? Overall, Sheila uses four separate techniques that are demonstrated by designs in the book, but they are just as easily applicable to any unique projects as well. Her techniques are:

- Use color placement to create the illusion of a border.
- Incorporate sashing into the block to make it appear as if the border has been added.
- Combine the sashing with a pieced-block border.
- Piece borders constructed from blocks along with the quilt center blocks rather than as a separate strip.

"Pieced to Fit" includes many sew-as-you-go tricks that make learning the process a breeze. The Workshop page shows wonderful examples of results created using these techniques too. Quilters will be happy to know that in addition to beautiful borders, Sheila's technique eliminates fitting and calculation frustrations. This method saves time, eliminates wasted fabric and creates beautiful results each time.

"Pieced to Fit" is a well-designed, well-written guide for quilters. Photographs and graphics are used effectively to clarify each step. The book is organized logically and provides a helpful reference throughout the quilt creation process. Sheila's method is presented so clearly, even those with little quilting experience can follow along with ease.

Features

- Publisher: Martingale and Company (November, 2004)
- Paperback: 80 pages
- ISBN: 1564775615
- nine quilt patterns based on traditional designs
- four techniques for easy-to-fit borders
- sew-as-you-go tips

Pros :

There is a good amount of color photos and graphics used in this book. These images accompany project instructions and help guide quilters through each step. They are used to clarify the process as well as create an engaging layout.

"Pieced to Fit" is an in-depth presentation of Sheila's technique. It is organized logically, following the process of quilt creation. In learning how to piece borders with Sheila's method, quilters will find the book to be an effective educational tool.

Cons :

The only thing missing from this book is more designs with which to work. The featured projects are gorgeous and colorful, but once quilters grow accustomed to Sheila's technique they will want more.

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