As some of you may know, I totally lost all my sewing and quilting mojo last lockdown and it stayed gone until the beginning of this year. That's a long time for this girl not to want to sew. So now I am looking for inspiration everywhere and what better place for a book lover than a hard copy, hold-in-your-hand quilt book!
This book was published by C&T Publishing in 2020 and is available from Search Press.
Just look at all those gorgeous projects!! I love it when a pattern book has all the projects photographed and set out at the start. It means you can head straight to the one that catches your eye.
The introductory section is really well laid and contains lots of information on fabric selection, tools and techniques and piecing basics. Whilst I have been sewing for many years now, I still read these sections because I always learn something from them. The photos in this section illustrate the information really well, which I think is a huge bonus to any book. Sometimes you just need a refresher and a quick look at a photo can get you on your way again quickly. Because really at the end of the day we all want a finished quilt right?!
Another plus for me is that the templates at the back of the book are full size and ready to trace or copy if you don't have any curved templates to hand. I find it really annoying when you have found a project and are ready to start and then you have to mess around trying to enlarge a template or pattern or having to make a trip to the copy shop - not so easy these last 12 months!
I also like to see quilts in different colourways because sometimes the original colours might not speak to you and the pattern could be overlooked. For each project in this book there is a full shot of the finished quilt plus a picture of the quilt in different fabrics. There is also a full diagram of the quilt which is really helpful.
I always find it useful to have a full diagram of the quilt for easy reference and so the assembly diagrams in this book fit the bill perfectly. And of course for me the quilting is very important!! To get some close up shots of the quilting is a real bonus. I think the actual quilting is left out of a lot of patterns and 'Quilt As Desired' is not that helpful if you do not know what quilting you desire! It is nice to see how the quilt designers have chosen to quilt the quilt and maybe use that to inform your quilting.
And, as with any good quilt book, the styling of the finished quilts is lovely! A far cry from my lounge where all the quilts are in constant use and so are strewn around the sofas and the floor!
Read the full review HERE.
-- Abigail Sheridan de Graaff * cutandalter.com *
