Book Review: Quilting & Sewing Books

An article by Rachel    1 Comment

I’ve been meaning to post my two cents about a couple books . This review will feature the following books:

For Christmas, I received In Stitches by Amy Butler. Several people have blogged about this projects. Then I spotted it in the store. I loved how she used fabric to make the home comfy. I want to duplicate the feeling. While I’ve yet to make anything, I’m planning on making the hot pads, the apron, and the cat tunnel.

So what do I like about the book? Based on my first impression, I like the instructions. They simple and basic. Yet they produce projects with finishing touches. While the projects in this book won’t push my sewing skills, I wil finish a couple of projects in a reasonable time frame.

Appliqué Delights: 100 Irresistible Blocks from Piece O’ Cake Designs by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins was also a recent Christmas present. A friend has this book. She’s making a beautiful quilt with some of the blocks. I want one too. For me appliqué can really be enjoyable. Nothing is better than quietly sitting down with a small appliqué project at the end of a long day.

I’m not sure what I’m going to make. I need to do some project planning and prioritizing. Then I can move forward. So while I want a nice big quilt, I might be settling for a beautiful wall hanging. I do plan on getting this book spiral-bound. It will be easier to copy the patterns.

I picked up Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt and Patchwork Projects at the library a couple of weeks ago. Once again, a lot of bloggers have made beautiful things from this book. Yet when I look through it, I’m not inspired to tackle any of the projects. I think the skewed lines aren’t for me. I really like symmetry, and straight lines. This all goes back to my need for order. I blame it on the fact that I’m an oldest child and my life was a little outof sorts this last year. Perhaps if life continues in a positive way this year, I’ll feel more comfortable with skewed lines in the future.