A dear friend of mine received a gift card to Barnes and Noble and she wants to get a first book on quilting.

What would you suggest she get?

I thought Quilter's Complete Guide would be good, but it's out of stock.

Ideas?

I'm going to give her the link to this page--her name is Angie.

Hi Angie! :D

The quilters Ultimate visual guide is a fantastic book! I just saw it at Barnes & Noble the other day.

I got mine last year and have learned a lot from it!

How new is she to quilting? Does she need to learn terms and techniques or just easy blocks for a beginner?
I looked at the B & N site, 1032 quilting books!! I looked thru the first 300 but gave up after that :lol:

Great Question, barnbum....Love the Egg Money Quilts but first bought Your Guide to Quilting from JoAnns, Back to the Basics by Pat Yamin, and a couple of books with lots of blocks to choose from (one is 500 and the other is 101 I think).You can NEVER have enough books!! :D
HI ANGIE!

I like QUILTS! QUILTS!! QUILTS!!! -The Complete Guide To Quiltmaking- by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes and also The Essential Guide to Practically Perfect Patchwork - Everything You Need to Know to Make Your First Quilt by Michele Morrow Harer. This last I have as one section of "The Big Book of Quilting"

I just recieved Better Homes and Gardens
Complete Guide to Quilting
and I think its neat ! Its set up like their cook books. I don't know if you can purchase it in bookstores yet though.

Barnbum,
Please check your PM 's. Thanks :lol:

My first book was Quilts!Quilts! Quilts. There are a few editions of it. MIght be able to find a good one on-line used for a few dollars.

I also bought a BHG Magazine w/ 200 quilt blocks. It has them organized by type w/ simple instructions included. So far, this has been a wonderful guide.

HTH,

I had a difficult time rotary cutting accurately, and happened on the book Rotary Magic by Nancy Johnson-Srebro. It's available on several websites, including Barnes & Noble and Amazon (less expensive on Amazon.) It covers the basics of cutting, piecing, pressing and finishing plus has 12 projects - all written in an easily understandable and cute way. I have the Fons & Porter book, but it was too much information for me as a beginner (its definitely one for the library, tho!)

Watch lots of videos. QnnTV is really good but costs $24 a yr.
It is worth it for a beginner. It has all the experts and every show they make. Except Simply Quilts.
QuiltersTV is free but dosnt have the selection that QNNTV has.

If you watch the book stores, you can get Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Quilting for $5.95 on clearance.
For beginners I recommend any book by Eleanor Burns, she is the best teacher by far.
Be sure and watch her on QuiltersTV.

Roben....good choice....Rotary Magic by Nancy Johnson-Srebro.

Elly wrote
I just bought that book for my sister who just retired and is ready to take up quilting. She has sewn for years but not quilts, so I thought this was a good guide. I have several books but liked this one better that the ones I have. I got this one at Borders.

Beverly

My very first book was a Alex Anderson beginner. I loved it and learned a lot. Ended up getting every book she had that I could find. I think she does a great job showing how to do things. Hope this helps

Rita

Hi Rita,

I liked [i]First-Time Quiltmaking: learning to quilt in six easy lessons.[/i]
It has a nice format, is easy for the beginner without being condescending. The book lies flat for referencing. It only goes over pieced quilting. But does it completely, including the borders, sandwiching, and quilting methods. The pictures are colorful and helpful. Once familiar with piecing ... your friend may want something more about the 'A' [applique] and the paper piecing techniques.

As for designing quilts, if she doesn't want to do something more expensive like theElectric Quilt computerized program [whick I have used a lot and love due the ease of use and the books that go with it], I love the reissue of Mary Ellen Hopkins The It's OK if You Sit on My quilt Book.

Hope this helps
alice

I have the Complete Guide to Quilting (Better Homes & Gardens). I recently started teaching a quilting class for the ladies at church. This book is great for refreshing my memory. It has everything a beginner needs to know. If Barnes & Noble doesn't have it, I'm sure they would order it for you.

I agree about the Eleanor Burns books. My first 2 quilts were done from her Quilting through the seasons book which we borrowed from the quilt guild library for the summer last year. In fact I just bought my own copy last week while in Seattle on holidays. I was a total novice at the time and it really helped me with yardage and cutting instructions so much.

all these suggestions are so good I got a book a few years back that I still see sround and it's qyuilting 101 a beginners guide to quilting it helped me with tools to use and it has patterns it is a real step by step for a beginner...quilters TV has been just a wonderful thing to watch and see how easy it is to do certain steps that I would other wide not even attempt...Alex Anderson books are great for beginners to....and if she can take a basic quilting 101 in her local quilt shop thats really the best way...hands on...

I like your first quilt book or it should be for new quilters

tricia

Fons and Porters complete guide to quilting is my favorite resourse. You can order it from their web site or at any book store. Good luck and have fun!