Quilted Leather

Using her award-winning art, Cathy Wiggins takes you step-by-step through the fundamentals of creating with leather on any sewing machine. Whether you work mainly in leather or in cloth, these helpful new techniques give you new direction for your pieces. The techniques are introduced one by one, each building on the skills from the previous chapters. More than 400 photos lead you through leather selection, marking designs, layering for quilting, inlay, applique, staining, hardware installation, and much more. Cathy explains her signature techniques like "thread tooling" for creating the look of tooled leather, and the quilt-before-quilting technique for three-dimensionality and texture. She shares her journey into leather art—it may surprise you!—along with the practical info you need for expanding your creative path with leather.

Cathy Wiggins is internationally recognized for pioneering the art of quilting on leather. She has been featured in magazines, television, and internet media. Her innovative work has received wide acclaim, including a retrospect exhibition at the 2015 Machine Quilting Expo, solo exhibitions at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festivals, and a solo exhibition at the 2016 International Quilt Association, Houston. Wiggins was honored by the Machine Quilting Expo with the establishment of the Cathy Wiggins Award for the category New Traditions in Textiles. Her artwork is in museums and private collections nationwide.