10-20-30 Minutes to Quilt (Sewing with Nancy)

Rating:
Summary: 4 stars
Review: I purchased this book for my mother who loves it. She created a beautiful quilt for me two years ago, and I absolutely cherish it... it is the most beautiful quilt. She found the book extremely helpful for new quilters and continues to refer to it.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the novice
Review: Not a bad book -lots of nice projects -but instructions could be clearer -and they seem to like to "advertise" certain brands and products in this book, instead of giving alternative (and cheaper!) methods. Still, I found this book to be enjoyable and will certainly be making a project or two -the instructions for quilting with fleece were particularly interesting to me.

Rating:
Summary: Not a good bet for the beginning quilter
Review: This is one of the first quilting books I purchased and I did not like it. In the section describing supplies, it seems more like an advertisement for the brands she uses and is sponsored by. Someone buying supplies following only her directions may spend money than they truly must in order to begin quilting.

Each project is only offered in one size, and those sizes are not even terribly practical, unless you want to wallpaper your house with hanging quilts.

She identifies each step of the process with an increment of time - hence the name 10-20-30 Minutes - which is not particularly accurate and not helpful to the beginner quilter.

Plus, the projects are not organized or identified by skill level - the beginner quilter who picks up this book should not try a kaleidescope quilt as one of her first projects! I also did not like the organization of the chapters and the projects chosen seem quite random.

One final note: Ms. Zieman seems to think this boook can be used as a part of her modeling portfolio - there are many many pictures of her thoughout it. I bought the book to see quilts, not her!

This may be used as a minor introduction to some quilting techniques for the experienced crafter, but for someone like me with little craft experience who really wanted to dive into the world of quilting, it is NOT the right purchase. A better choice is one of the easy level Quilt in a Day books.