Quilting club members - assignment time

**homesteadmamma** · 01-20-2003, 10:46 PM

Our assignment for this time will be critiquing either a quilting book or quilting magazine.

We all love looking at quilting books or magazines which can be picked up at our local library and so I thought it would be interesting to pick a book (your choice) and critique it for us here. Give us the title of the magazine/book, the author if there is one and let us know the following:

- was it enjoyable - why/why not
- if a magazine was there too many ads
- did the book/magazine keep you interested
- did you find something that really stood out for you
- did it have patterns that you might have found interesting
- did you learn something new from the book/magazine
- what would be the cost
- would you recommend it for someone to read

Have fun!! You can post your answers here so that its all in one thread.

**Missy** · 01-21-2003, 01:38 PM

One of my favorite quilting books is more or less a resourse book. It is called "The Quilters Ultimate Visual Guide" From A-Z Hundreds of Tips and Techniques for Successful Quilt Making. It is written by several people but the Editor's name appears on the cover; Ellen Pahl. I like it because it is in alphabetical order for topics that I have been curious about. I have gotten a better understanding of what applique involves and different methods. Each topic, in my opinion is very clearly explained and the picutres are very helpful. and as the title suggests, it has all kinds of topics. I got the book new at 19.95 for Christmas (for myself), but if one wanted, I am sure places such as amazon or maybe ebay might have it for much less. Or perhaps even a local library may have it. I do reccommend it as a place to go to find answers and descriptions of techniques and skills.

**homesteadmamma** · 01-21-2003, 05:38 PM

Thank you - great explanation.

Next....

**Kimmomo3** · 01-24-2003, 03:39 PM

The Practical Encyclopedia of Sewing by Dorothy Wood

It is how I learned the details on how tho quilt. I has lots of pictures on every page to show you how to do things like bind a quilt.

It covers general sewing, patchwork, and Embroidery I have use all of those on quilts. I has the basics (this is a needle) and it has more advanced stuff like how to do reverse applique'.

And different things like Sashiko quilting, which is a traditional Japanese quilting technique.

I got this as a gift, but I would guess it would be around $20.00.

I use it all the time.

**heaven** · 01-24-2003, 05:20 PM

Okay i found two at the library, and i must say that neither one were all that great i will go over why though. the first one is Carrie Hall Blocks, by Bettina Havig it is all just patterns. it give 800 diffrent patterns, it is full of beautiful patterns the problem is that there were just too many of them (i think for a beginner.) it really was overwhelming. There are no directions in it other than to show the lay out.

the other one I found was America's Quilts and coverlets. By Carleton L. Safford and Robert Bishop. this is more of what i was looking for it gave short (unfortunately) descriptions of when quilts were started and who started them. showed so really interesting photos of diffrent quilts there were a few things i found very interesting one was that girls would try to have 13 quilts in their chest by the time they were married, the last quilt wasn't made by them but for them when they were ready to marry at a quilting bee, one quilt had this little thing written on it.
At your quilting, maids don't dally, a maid who is quiltless at twenty-one, Never shall greet her bridal sun! (have things changed!).
also this was added to another quilt
It took me more than twenty years, nearly twenty-five, I reckon, in the evening after supper when the children were all put to bed. My whole life is in that quilt. It scares me sometimes when I look at it. All my joys and all my sorrows are stitched into those little pieces, When i was proud of my boys and when I was downright provoked and angry with them. When the girls annoyed me or when they gave me a warm feeling around my heart. And John too. He was stitched into that quilt and all the thirty years we were married. Sometimes I loved him and sometimes I sat there hating him as I peiced tohe patches together. So they are all in that quilt, My hopes and hears, my joys and sorrows, my loves and hates, I tremble sometimes when I remember what taht quilt knows about me.
This last statement totally sums up what I want from my quilts. So this book i would recommend.

**homesteadmamma** · 01-24-2003, 06:41 PM

Thanks ladies.

Next...

**SewCrafty** · 01-24-2003, 11:59 PM

"The Quilting Sourcebook, Over 200 Easy-to-Follow Patchwork and Quilting Patterns by Maggi McCormick Gordon.

I found this (hardcover) book very enjoyable. I actually forgot I had it! LOL But when I saw CJ's assignment for us, I remembered when I belonged to the Crafter's Choice Club I ordered it. Probably 5 years ago.

She starts out with all the tools needed for quilting, and proceeds with detailed instructions of how to cut, piece, and sew blocks together whether it be by hand or machine. It also does have 200 block patterns in the book. Everything is with very clear color pictures that are easy to follow. This book is good for a novice quilter to an experienced one. It also continues after all the block patterns, to borders, bindings, batting, basting and finally quilting (hand and machine). The nice thing for me was all the stitching patterns and motifs that you can trace and transfer to your quilt for stitching.

I did enjoy the book very much and I am sure I will be using it in the near future (probably tomorrow!). The only drawback I found was, the author does tell you how many squares and/or triangles you need to make each block including illustrations, but does not give sizes to cut them. So you will need to do a little bit of math to figure this out. I have found another site to help with this problem (thank you to whomever posted this site

), it is http://www.quiltcollections.com/howto.htm

I got the book through the book club and I think I only paid $1.00 + S&H when I joined. It is no longer listed on thier site, so on Amazon.com they have 6 of them, all are new to slightly used ranging in price from $9.99 - $19.58.

I would recommend this book to any quilter, newbie or experienced!

**frugalmel** · 01-28-2003, 08:57 AM

ok. I am a little late with this, but here goes.

My first book is Start Quilting with Alex Anderson. She is the host of Simply Quilts on HGTV. That is one of the reasons I got it. I like the way she asks questions on the show of presenters to make sure the directions are clear for her viewers. The directions in the book are easy to follow with pictures and diaghrams. (This is very helpful for me as I am a visual learner) She provides necessary information for beginners without burying us in too much. I bought it used from Amazon.com for $7 (US) plus shipping

The second one is a magazine called Quick Quilts. I found it fun to read. It included projects for beginners also. It has pattern pieces that can be copied. The directions were pretty simple with lots of pictures.

Got it a Wal-Mart for $4.

**sunshine** · 01-28-2003, 01:12 PM

Ok, another late one. We don't have a library

So, I bought a magazine while at Walmart today.

I bought "Quilt It for Keepsakes". My parents 50th anniversary will next January and I was looking for inspriation. Boy did I find it here!

The cover shows a 'family stars' quilt. Photo quilt done in various star blocks.

Then it also had lots of quilted wearables.

But the one I liked the best was the soft photo books! I'm thinking that is what I would like to do. Less cumbersome than an entire quilt, more versitile than the wearables, and if I run out of time- I can quit where I am

**mylittle4** · 01-28-2003, 10:50 PM

I really enjoy Debbie Mumm's Quick Quilts for all Occasions. You have to know the basics already, but it is full of projects from big to small. And it is way more than just quilts. It has a country feel to all of the projects and the instructions are very easy to follow. My best friend has never quilted and she did some of the smaller projects and they came out great. I am working on an apple wall hanging from it right now. I wish I had had this book before xmas it has great gift ideas.

**QuilterMom** · 01-29-2003, 08:36 AM

I enjoy Quick and Easy Scrap Quilts by Patricia Wilens. It's loaded with beautiful, but more importantly, EASY patterns for beginners.

**voodidit** · 02-06-2003, 01:24 AM

I decided not to review one of the books I already had on quilts themselves but to buy a book that I really needed and read it. So I got THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO QUILTING...lol. written by Laura Ehrlich I think this is a wonderful book for beginners like me. She explains things in easy terms and even though there aren't a whole lot of colored photos it is still a highly interesting book filled with not only how-to information but a lot of the history of quilting too.

If you are new to quilting like I am, I would recommend this one.

**Katybird** · 02-16-2003, 09:14 PM

I am going to review Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel. This is the first quilting book I found when I started quilting. I don't care for the lap quilting technique but the book does have a lot of great patterns in it. Most of the patterns are simple and easy to do. I recommend this book for the patterns alone, although if you are interested in lap quilting (this is nice if you do a lot of commuting as a passenger and have time to kill) this book has a fairly easy lap quilting technique. There is even a lap quilting technique for a wedding ring quilt for the more advanced quilter.

Blessings,
Kathy