Simple Quilts that Look Like a Million Bucks

Rating:
Summary: Like your own private quilting teacher
Review: As a beginning quilter, I have purchased many books that were highly recommended. This one, I picked up because I was so attracted to the beautiful quilts. What a wonderful surprise to find that the author has such a winning style of writing and her instructions are detailed and easy to follow as well. The book lives up to its title-these quilts are simple and can be constructed fairly quickly using rotary cutting and strip piecing techniques. The designs are strongly graphic in style (no applique or simple squares) with several of the quilts variations on each other so you get a sense of how to make color choices or design your own variation. Half-square triangles are used creatively to form beautiful diagonals and sashing is used imaginatively to form beautiful star designs. The instructions are clear enough that I used this book to make the first quilt ever entirely by myself after having taken a sampler class. I would recommend more of a how-to beginner's book like Doak's "Your First Quilt Book" or "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts" by Nownes for basic information and then use this book to branch out. It's such a pleasure to look at and read that I refer to it again and again. Thank you, Nicole!

Rating:
Summary: Like your own private quilting teacher
Review: As a beginning quilter, I have purchased many books that were highly recommended. This one, I picked up because I was so attracted to the beautiful quilts. What a wonderful surprise to find that the author has such a winning style of writing and her instructions are detailed and easy to follow as well. The book lives up to its title-these quilts are simple and can be constructed fairly quickly using rotary cutting and strip piecing techniques. The designs are strongly graphic in style (no applique or simple squares) with several of the quilts variations on each other so you get a sense of how to make color choices or design your own variation. Half-square triangles are used creatively to form beautiful diagonals and sashing is used imaginatively to form beautiful star designs. The instructions are clear enough that I used this book to make the first quilt ever entirely by myself after having taken a sampler class. I would recommend more of a how-to beginner's book like Doak's "Your First Quilt Book" or "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts" by Nownes for basic information and then use this book to branch out. It's such a pleasure to look at and read that I refer to it again and again. Thank you, Nicole!