I will definitly have to find Mary Ellen's book!! It sounds like a great resource.
A friend just gave me another great resource book - she was just going to put it on the 'free give away' table at our guild meeting and I expressed lots of interest in it so she gave it to me instead!!!! It is fantastic!!!
It is a large hard cover book (488 pages!)called the Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns by Jinny Beyer. It has great examples/colored pics of more than 4050 pieced blocks along with the basic black & white grid for each to show how it is broken down into each section so that you can easily analyze the block. Each block is listed according to the earliest date of publication (which I found really interesting) and it is cross referenced with double names and duplicates. The opening chapters discuss step-by-step help on 'seeing' the grid behind each design. This info is good for redrafting the designs.
This is not a beginner's book or for anyone looking for immediate 'how to' instrutions. It is a terrific book for those that want to try their hand at drafting a pattern and researching the multitudes of patterns that are in the public domain. It is definitely for the more experienced quilter who has the patience to do this or to use as a companion for using EQ. There are no specific instructions on the sizes or on making the blocks. It offers very thorough info on the publication dates and who published the blocks.
I was thrilled when my friend just handed it to me and gave it to me!! She likes to do big block quilting with large pieces and she had received it as a gift and said that she would never use it. I have already spent quite a few hours pouring over all of the beautiful designs!! ithas absolutely every block that you can imagine!!!