Book question
 

Do any of you have a favorite book author? I have been looking at quilting books with patterns and lots of information but have no idea where to start. At this time I don't want Vintage and am such a beginner that I want to lean towards easy. Thanks as always for any help.

Welcome aboard to both Quilting Board and the potential start of a life-long hobby!

So you are looking at beginner level quilting books and looking for recommendations?

Do you need the breakdown of the basics like 1/4" seam reminders, and the how to sew two pieces together, with directions and cutting instructions? Are you comfortable choosing your own fabrics, or are you better with kits?

I don't get many books any more and don't keep up with what is current. I do know though that when I started books weren't really all that helpful to those that couldn't draft their own patterns. Mostly what we had were block diagrams with zero directions. Today's books with not only block diagrams, but setting diagrams and cutting layouts, and little sub-unit pictures and/or diagrams can be awesome, but again, some people have to learn how to translate all that stuff. Like I see knitting patterns where an entire fancy sweater is all spelled out in stitches and counts and can't visualize it at all, but a knitter can see, oh -- that's where they start the cable or whatever info it is they need.

Nowadays the fabric lines each design quilts to catch your eye and be made with them and typically offer them for free -- but here's the thing, you don't need to use their fabrics to do that. You can use something like look the free patterns here (which are mostly designed around panels), and then use the directions to make something with your fabric, or pick fabrics because you liked the idea you saw.
https://www.equilter.com/pattern/cat...ttern-designer

My very first quilt book got me hooked on quilting. The pattern was easy and fun to do. My first quilt was a success. And the best thing was when I finished the quilt was quilted making me feel so accomplished. If you can find it get
Reversible Quilts: An Easy New Technique by Anita Murphy. Usually Amazon has used ones for about $5. My first quilt I didn't make it reversible, used a solid muslin for the backing. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. I learned so much making that quilt and really didn't know all the mistakes I was making but it didn't matter. The quilt looked great and I knew I was born to make quilts. LOL

I get a lot of requests from non-quilters and newbies alike- looking for books to get them started, or just something to read to see if they might be interested in investigating further, or something to help a beginner improve techniques. There's three books that fit the need. I try to keep two or three of each to loan out to "future quilters."

Any of the Singer quilting books. They are very beginner friendly, and designed to inspire new or non-quilters to continue the journey, in hopes of selling them a sewing machine. They are not really a "Singer advertisement," but a very well written and illustrated book that won't scare off the new people. These are excellent and cover most aspects of quilting in a simple manner, and have small projects as well as quilts to either get you going, or increase your desire to delve further into quiltmaking.

"The Quilters Ultimate Visual Guide." by Rodale Press. This book is a heavily illustrated journal of all things quilting. It is easily read and has hundreds of tips and tricks to make your quilting journey more enjoyable. It's billed as "Everything you ever wanted to know about quilting." It is too- probably the best out there to answer "newbie" questions, but a good reference for seasoned sewists as well. Every other quilter I've talked to has said this is the best quilting reference they have ever read. If you can have only one book- this is it.

"Rotary Magic" by Nancy Johnson-Srebro. This book features easy techniques to improve your quilting experience. It has some projects plus tecniques for piecing and finishing. This is a great "techniques manual" which is easily followed by quilters of all skill levels. As you might expect, it has great tips on rotary cutting. A super book that isn't scary at all.

As a former technical writer/editor/instructor I am very aware how easy it is to lose a student if we over-complicate things. I think these three will cover pretty much everything. Most of the books I acquire come from either Goodwill, the free table at guild or garage and estate sales. New books are probably worth the asking price, but not nearly the value of used books, which is where they all end up eventually.

Welcome aboard the QB from SE Michigan! Books that I find have some of the easiest patterns to follow are by Eleanor Burns. She has a few different books that have sampler quilts so you have at least 12 different blocks to learn in a single book. Her instructions are clear an easy to follow. JAF (Joann fabrics) has a good selection and they come on sale regularly.

Jane Hardy Miller’s French Braid Quilts books are great, she explains every step so well, from selecting the fabric to finishing a really great quilt. They look complicated but are truly beginner friendly and everything is explained so well. Modern looking quilts with plenty of WOW factor.

For a particular technique by a particular author, I really like Karla Alexander's Stack the Deck series. There are rulers now you can buy for "quick crazy quilts", but she was one of the proponents of the technique and explains how to do it without rulers and how to achieve scrappy looks without a ton of different fabrics. I use my own variation of her technique to get variety into my own projects. She explains things well and easily, with good pictures.

I get most of my books at Goodwill or half-priced books. Amazon too, you can get some great deals, just watch the shipping costs.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...tack_the_Deck_

I used a book by M'Liss Rae Hawley called "Make Your First Quilt". "A beginner's step by step guide. Tips and techniques". It is not a large book but very comprehensive. Good pictures. This was recommended in my first quilting class. I still refer back to it.

Not a book, but I think the Fon's & Porter Love of Quilting magazines always have some good instructional pages for techniques in the back. Actually most of the magazines are doing that now. And F & P put out a magazine of Quick Quilts--always pretty easy to do. Those would be good starting points, too.

My first quilt book was Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel. I loved hand quilting and that was what I wanted to do. They are traditional designs and she had a show on PBS at the time. After that I bought a book that was A to Z Quilting - more of an encyclopedia of quilting so I could understand a lot of the different terms. After that if I liked the patterns in the book I bought them. I loved to watch the Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day shows on PBS and bought a couple of her books. I think she breaks down the various quilts the best.

The MSQC tutorials are also very good to watch, Jenny Doan is so good at making it look easy and tells you short cuts.