Hobby Stash » Quilting

The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns by Jinny Beyer

Linda — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:10:12 +0000

Let me get this right out of the way: WOW I LOVE The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns! It contains over 4000 beautifully illustrated images of the blocks Jinny Beyer has researched over her quilting career. It has given me so many ideas for both quilting and crochet projects. It does not include measurement and assembly instructions although she does include design grids for each. The book is ridiculously expensive, but the quality of the publication and the content made it worth it for me. I do wish a CD had been included with the patterns that could be printed out or imported into Electric Quilt.

Rating: ★★★★★

Pieced Borders The Complete Resource

Linda — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:52:09 +0000

To me, interesting borders on a quilt can take it from beautiful to fabulous. I love the technique of pieced borders to add interest to your quilt and have used it on my last several quilts.

Pieced Borders The Complete Resource does an outstanding job of illustrating and explaining the technique of pieced borders. It has an extensive section breaking down pieced borders by type and the last third of the book is devoted to complete quilt patterns. Over 200 ready-to-use patterns and a dozen complete quilt patterns. Now that’s bang for your buck!

Rating: ★★★★★

Learning to Quilt

Linda — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:28:04 +0000

I recently purchased this book for one simple reason. ..I was looking for a variety of simple blocks I could redesign for Tunisian crochet. This book fit the bill nicely. Relatively inexpensive as far as quilt books go, $10.95, and I got it for 40% off at a book sale. The book covers 25 lessons and when done, you’ll have a completed sampler quilt. An excellent book for beginners!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Machine Quilting in Sections

Linda — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:03:27 +0000

Marti Mitchell’s Machine Quilting in Sections tackles the quilt-as-you-go approach. She illustrates some interesting techniques for putting a quilt together after it has been quilted. The illustrations are nice but I find I have to read over the explanations several times before the brain absorbs some of the techniques.

I’ve used the the quilt-as-you-go approach with the last two quilts and enjoyed the technique. But I do also enjoy the traditional approach of quilting after the top assembly has been finished. So I switch back and forth depending on the project.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Infinite Feathers by Anita Shackelford

Linda — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:06:31 +0000

I bought this book shortly after I first started quilting and fell in love with it. Anita Shackelford does an excellent job of illustrating the step-by-step process of creating your own feather designs, describes the different methods to use for transferring the designs to your quilt, and provides some excellent illustrations of the result. The book comes with a template to get you started and the last half of the book provides patterns you can copy.

Rating: ★★★★★

The Quilter’s Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini

Linda — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:58:23 +0000

A very charming story about Sara McClure’s introduction to quilting. She strikes a bargain with an award-winning, if somewhat crotchety quilter, Sylvia Compson, to learn how-to-quilt while she assists Sylvia in preparing her estate for sale. The storyline is somewhat schmaltzy (even for me) but I so enjoyed the quilting descriptions, I plan to try out the second in this series.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Victory Quilts

Linda — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:20:53 +0000

I ordered this book as soon as I’d watched Eleanor Burn’s first video on this series. It arrived yesterday and I spent the evening drooling over the illustrations and instructions. I’m anxious to get started and am debating on which square to start first. I think I might just make the squares in the same order as Eleanor’s videos.

The book itself is absolutely awesome. She provides extensive detail on compiling each block and quilt with excellent illustrations. You definitely don’t need to watch the videos if you have the book. But I enjoy watching her and still highly recommend the videos.

Rating: ★★★★★

Applique the Basics and Beyond

Linda — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:56:09 +0000

I have several quilting projects planned and one of them is an applique quilt. Towards that end, I purchased this wonderful reference.It provides excellent detailed instructions and wonderful illustrations of the different applique techniques and includes some patterns for you to try out. And I love the fact that the book is spiral bound. This one will be getting lots of use!

Rating: ★★★★★

EQ6 Simplified by Fran Gonzalez

Linda — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:00:26 +0000

I actually started out with Electic Quilt 5 and upgraded to version 6 earlier this year. I had the program for awhile but got frustrated because the buttons and screens were confusing at times. I purchased Fran Gonzalez’s EQ5 Simplified and it opened up a whole new world in quilt design for me. I can’t recommend it enough. She walks you through creating some pretty amazing quilts using the programs features and extensive block library. Each lesson builds to the next and by the time you’re done you are anxious to create your own.

Rating: ★★★★★

Quilter’s Complete Guide by Marianne Fons & Liz Porter

Linda — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:22:57 +0000

I’m relatively new to the world of quilting having only been at it for a couple of years. As time goes by my quilting library has grown almost as fast as my fabric stash. This book was one of the first acquired and is still one of my favorites.

If you’re new to quilting, you’ll find this one invaluable. The illustrations and explanations are great and I found some great time saving tips in additon to basic instruction. Fons and Porter are the best…I love their PBS show, their website, and, of course, this book. I highly recommend it!

Rating: ★★★★★