This guide to needleturn applique compiles years of research on quality quilting materials, and hundreds of observations culled from watching experts and beginners at work. Distilling needleturn skills into five key techniques that are accessible even to novices, it also includes an analysis of the best fabrics, threads, and tools to use. Sequences of photographs of precise hand movements show how to create perfect stitches every time, and quilters can see exactly how the fabric, needle, thread, and fingers interact--with photos from both above and below the quilt in progress. In addition to traditional needleturn, quilters also learn channel applique, an incredible new style of reverse applique that transfers line drawings onto fabric. Beautiful examples of quilts, from traditional American applique to Tahitian tifaifai, are included, as are 10 take-along projects and a Roxanne Optimal Strand Estimator (ROSE)--a hand tool that allows quilters to estimate the thread counts of any fabric.