Fat Quarter Friendly (For the Love of Quilting)

Rating:
Summary: Not what I was expecting...
Review: Do not get this book if:

1) You are a beginning beginner (as opposed to advanced beginner).
2) You do not have a VERY large stash of fat quarters and/or eighths.
3) You want patterns that will use fat quarters, but allow some creativity in terms of color.

This is a very well-done book, but I feel a little misled and have to return or resell the book. I expected a book more like M'liss Rae Hawley's "Fat Quarter Quilts," which contains instructions for quilts requiring 6 fat quarters, plus background and border material. That's what I get for making assumptions. Most patterns in this book require 20+ fat quarters and/or fat eighths. I'm a beginning quilter and just don't have that kind of stash yet. To me, that's a scrap quilt, which has its value, but just isn't what I'm looking for right now. I feel that this book is marketed in a misleading way by suggesting you can make these quilts from fat quarter bundles (which usually come bundled, where I live, in five or six quarters, not twenty or more!).

I also felt restricted by the patterns. The instructions are for mimicking as closely as possible the quilt displayed in the photos with each pattern. The book does not encourage you to personalize with your own color designs. So, I don't really see how people can use quarters from their stash; they'd have to go out and buy the called-for colors and values, solids and prints. Hawley's book is much more flexible here.

The last reason this book wasn't for me is that, again, I am a beginning quilter, and some of these patterns are way too advanced for me. There are a few that look suitable for a beginner, but I wouldn't recommend anyone who's brand new to quilting to start here. This is not the book's fault. It does not claim to be for beginners. It was just another disadvantage for me, personally.

However, I will say that the photos are gorgeous. There is one picture of each quilt draped artfully and another of it laying flat. There are 30 patterns for a nice variety. They make use of not only fat quarters, but also fat eighths. The instructions seem clear, though I haven't actually tried to make any of these quilts. There are sections in the back on making labels, mitering corners, attaching borders, making bindings, applique, etc.

In all, it's a good book, but I thought others should be aware of the pitfalls I encountered. I can see that, for some, however, this would be the perfect book.

Rating:
Summary: Fat Quarter Friendly - fun for everyone
Review: Fat Quarter Friendly is great for making use of scraps & remnants too! The book contains a large variety of projects with something for everyone. The instructions are clear and well illustrated. I've been working on the mini mariner compass wallhanging. The paper-piecing of the compasses is so simple, and the results are spectactular. Fons & Porter's books are among my favorites (check out their seasonal quilt book too).

Rating:
Summary: Great for ideas!
Review: I bought this book solely for the large pieced flamingo ! The completed-quilt photos are mostly uninspiring, mostly dull colors. It takes a lot of imagination to choose your own colors to bring these patterns to life. But you have 30 different complete quilts to choose from, storm at sea, spinning wheels, scrappy star, mini mariner's compass, etc. An experienced quilter, I know that some are easy enough for beginners, while some are very challenging. (Not anything in the book to indicate which are which so be advised). And then there is that flamingo...

Rating:
Summary: complete variety of scrappy block patterns
Review: I bought this book solely for the large pieced flamingo ! The completed-quilt photos are mostly uninspiring, mostly dull colors. It takes a lot of imagination to choose your own colors to bring these patterns to life. But you have 30 different complete quilts to choose from, storm at sea, spinning wheels, scrappy star, mini mariner's compass, etc. An experienced quilter, I know that some are easy enough for beginners, while some are very challenging. (Not anything in the book to indicate which are which so be advised). And then there is that flamingo...

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: I bought this book this summer and have made 2 quilts from it already. It is a great book with a lot of different techniques (template, non-template, paper piecing, freezer paper, applique). The instructions are clear. One of my favorite features is that each quilt has a clear picture of laying flat. I very much enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: It is just what Liz & Marianne say it is
Review: I like this book a lot. I read other reviews and want to add mine. On page 3, the authors give an introduction and mention that they have bunches of fat quarters and have quite a variety of them--now what to do with them?

Liz & Marianne say, "This book features a collection of our most popular Fat Quarter Friendly and Fat Eighth Friendly quilts from the magazine [For the Love of Quilting]....you have 30 patterns at your fingertips to inspire you." It is just what they say, reprints of their most popular patterns from their magazine that use fat quarters/eighths/small pieces of fabric. It is not trying to be all things to all quilters. (Beginners may not like this book too well, but Fons & Porter have published an excellent, very thorough and popular guide to quilting that would be better for them to start with.)

Of course one little bundle of 6 fat quarters is not going to make a twin/double size quilt! And yes, the front cover does show mainly bright colors but the back cover also shows quilts made in duller colors. If you don't like the duller ones, you can always get ideas for color combinations from many quilt books/magazines or other sources. You don't have to make your quilts match theirs. Some patterns are simple and some are WAY too hard for me. This is true of most of the quilt books I own. But I have seen pictures of "Circle Safari" done by other people in different colors from in the book; also in our local fabric store, someone has displayed a "Homespun Pleasures" quilt done in bright plaid flannels, and I almost didn't recognize it because the color choices are much different than the one in this book. I wanted to make these two quilts but I missed out on the Fons & Porter magazines that they first appeared in. Then I realized they were both in "Fat Quarter Friendly" and figured the price of the book equals out to about the same as buying two average quilt patterns, or would cost the same to locate & pay for the two back issues that these quilts were originally in, PLUS there are other patterns in it that I may try--so it's a good deal to me.

If you are limited in funds and in fabric, go to sales & keep collecting over time (almost everything in my stash is a fat or long quarter yard.) I have several other scrap quilt books, and each one has something different from the others, and I like them all for different reasons, including this book. This is a good addition for me, and thanks to Amazon.com, I was even able to get a used copy at a better price!

Rating:
Summary: It is just what Liz & Marianne say it is
Review: I like this book a lot. I read other reviews and want to add mine. On page 3, the authors give an introduction and mention that they have bunches of fat quarters and have quite a variety of them--now what to do with them?

Liz & Marianne say, "This book features a collection of our most popular Fat Quarter Friendly and Fat Eighth Friendly quilts from the magazine [For the Love of Quilting]....you have 30 patterns at your fingertips to inspire you." It is just what they say, reprints of their most popular patterns from their magazine that use fat quarters/eighths/small pieces of fabric. It is not trying to be all things to all quilters. (Beginners may not like this book too well, but Fons & Porter have published an excellent, very thorough and popular guide to quilting that would be better for them to start with.)

Of course one little bundle of 6 fat quarters is not going to make a twin/double size quilt! And yes, the front cover does show mainly bright colors but the back cover also shows quilts made in duller colors. If you don't like the duller ones, you can always get ideas for color combinations from many quilt books/magazines or other sources. You don't have to make your quilts match theirs. Some patterns are simple and some are WAY too hard for me. This is true of most of the quilt books I own. But I have seen pictures of "Circle Safari" done by other people in different colors from in the book; also in our local fabric store, someone has displayed a "Homespun Pleasures" quilt done in bright plaid flannels, and I almost didn't recognize it because the color choices are much different than the one in this book. I wanted to make these two quilts but I missed out on the Fons & Porter magazines that they first appeared in. Then I realized they were both in "Fat Quarter Friendly" and figured the price of the book equals out to about the same as buying two average quilt patterns, or would cost the same to locate & pay for the two back issues that these quilts were originally in, PLUS there are other patterns in it that I may try--so it's a good deal to me.

If you are limited in funds and in fabric, go to sales & keep collecting over time (almost everything in my stash is a fat or long quarter yard.) I have several other scrap quilt books, and each one has something different from the others, and I like them all for different reasons, including this book. This is a good addition for me, and thanks to Amazon.com, I was even able to get a used copy at a better price!

Rating:
Summary: Great for ideas!
Review: I was looking for ideas to use the fat quarters I am always collecting and grabbed this book at a sale at my local quilt store. However, I probably would not follow the directions for some of the patterns. For example, the Mini Mariner's Compass could be much more accurately done using paper foundation piecing than just the traditional piecing instructions they gave. This surprised me because they did give paper piecing instructions for other quilts, so it is not as if they don't endorse the method. Very enjoyable reading and good as a source of ideas if you don't interpret them too literally.

Rating:
Summary: Another delightful book from Fons and Porter
Review: The 144 page book is chocked full of beautiful photographs and illustrations of their projects. There are about 30 projects and the only problem I have is that I want to do them all! If you like the Fons and Porter magazinee For the Love of Quilting, you will like this book since most of the projects come from this magazine.

Rating:
Summary: Friendly Fat Quarter Friendly
Review: This is a great addition to the library of any quilter, especially those who love collecting fat quarters and have stacks of them in their sewing closet. The projects are of varying degrees of difficulty -- this book goes beyond the same simple strip quilts found everywhere (you know the ones I'm talking about -- we're all pretty bored with them). However, a beginner can find projects here, and as she improves there are more advanced quilts to tackle.

There is a beautiful photograph of each finished quilt, as well as a colored line drawing. The instructions are clear and concise, and there are general quilting and quiltmaking instructions included at the end of the book.

Some patterns use only a few fat quarters, and some can put to use the stash of square collecters. Many of the patterns use 60 or more fat quarters, which, of course, means you can go out and buy 60 more!