We live in the BOONEYs of the mountains of WV. The nearest quilt shop giving lessons is an hour away. I am looking into their offerings for lessons, but it would be a serious commitment of gas and time, so I'm going the self-taught route for now. It's called Patchwork Plus, Inc.

Marcia, first and foremost Welcome to the board. Secondly I would easily say that I have over 100 books as well, I have thought about getting rid of some of them but then I glance through and find something I wanted to make originally and that's why I keep them. With the new modern quilt movement what's old is new again, that being said you would probably regret getting rid of them. Another site you may want to check out is FaveQuilts.com they do take you to blogs but the instructions for the most part are good. BTW sorry for your loss, Good luck!

Basic good books are from Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day. she is also seen on many PBS stations. I too have EQ7 but I use it in order to resize quilt patterns I need to make a smaller quilt.

EQ can certainly help, but there is nothing better than curling up with a stack of quilt books and browsing through the pages to get you acquainted with all the terms, techniques, supplies and pattern ideas to jump start your journey. I would hold onto the books and only get rid of any after you've been quilting for a while. You never know where your interests and style preferences will take you; the one book you will go to time and again could very well be in your aunt's collection. Best wishes.

That is a GREAT website, Peckish! Thank you!

Bequest ... welcome to QB!! Peckish beat me to pointing you toward the Quilters Cache website for lots and lots of blocks.

But wait ... there's more!! :)

Most of the major fabric manufacturers offer free patterns that you can download. Below are some links to some of the manufacturers that offer free patterns.

http://www.robertkaufman.com/quilting/quilts_patterns/

http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/...tpatterns.html

http://www.windhamfabrics.net/cgi-bi...p/projects.cgi

http://www.makeitcoats.com/en-us/dis...rafts2eproject


And there are more ... I found this blog that has most graciously listed them already for me!!

http://www.thecalicocottagequiltshop..._Patterns/1008

Oh ... would like to add.

As for the books that your aunt has. Thumb through them and keep books that are of the general how-to genre and special techniques genre (i.e. how to applique, how to quilt feathers - etc). As for the books that are strictly pattern books, select the few that have quilts you would like to make some day - even if that day is 20 years from now, quilt books are not cheap and they go out of print fairly quickly.

If your aunt does not have any "here are the general steps to make a quilt for the beginner" books ... I can recommend "Quilting for Dummies" (seriously!). It has a lot of good instructions, reads easy, has great easy to see graphics, and covers a broad spectrum of "how to" for the beginner - from selecting the fabric all the way through storage/laundering your completed quilt 5 years from now.

Thanks, Sue, for all those great resources! I knew that there had to be some out there! :)

If you are computer savy I would go through the quilt books and pick out the patterns that you like and scan them to save space. Another good reference book is the Ultimate Quilters guide, I still refer to it after years of quilting, mine is so worn that I put it in a 3 ring binder. Also there are some Quilt magazines that are for beginners. Of utmost importance , learn how to properly use a rotary cutter and sew a 1/4" seam.Good luck and have fun.

Perhaps the shop has a 'block of the month' or sampler type program available? My LQS does a sampler/BOM each year that I have found to be very helpful. It's usually a minimal initial fee and if you complete your block each month, your fabrics for the next months blocks are free. You truly can end up with a completed top for about $20. It is a great skill-builder exercise. I am not doing this year's as I have a few other projects going that are taking up my time as well as having a few of those tops already that are UFO's.

But it could be a great way to get some basics under your belt without too much of a $$ or time commitment if your shop - tho far away - does this sort of program.