Good Quilting Book - Need Advice
 

If you could only have one or two quilt books, what would they be?

I am looking for some recommendations for a sort of all-purpose quilting book. I just started to quilt a few months ago and have taken one beginner class and completed a couple of small lap quilt projects. My husband and I are moving to a farmhouse up in the hills in Ecuador at the end of the month and I won't have access to a quilting shop, so I have to take everything with me that I'll need to use.

I have an old Singer 15-91, so I can't do any fancy stitches, just straight stitches and I have really enjoyed piecing quilt tops but have only quilted with rows of straight stitches. I haven't learned how to FMQ yet and only bought one quilt pattern to take with me.

Thanks for your recommendations!

My favorite go to book is "Quilters Complete Guide" by Fons and Porter. It seems to have everything you ever wanted to know even after 25 years.
Slue

I agree with Susie!!!!

I can recommend two ...

"Quilting for Dummies" believe it or not is an excellent resource. Very good for a beginner who is self taught. Covers everything from buying fabric, using the right needles and thread in your machine, various tools to use. It will take you from selecting fabric and patterns all the way through binding your quilt.

Once you get the basics down a great book to hone the skills and improve accuracy is "Mastering Precision Piecing" by Sally Collins. I call it the "primer" for piecing. I also highly suggest the accompanying video along with the book.

You really can't go wrong with these two.

"The Quilters Ultimate Visual Guide" by Ellen Pahl, Editor. I use this book all the time. It is set up in alphabetical order and has well over 700 how-to illustrations. It's like having a quilting teacher with me all the time.

Quilter's Catalog. This has been out for years, so is not completely up to date as far as web info listed in it. Still, it's got so much other information, it's a great book, especially for the price. The name is misleading, as most people think of "catalog" as a shopping tool while in the title, it means a reference. http://www.amazon.com/Quilters-Catal...=1418506893064

Yes, I will have internet access (and I am very thankful for that). I just won't have access to any fabric stores or mail service. I bought as much material and as many rulers as my husband would let me and they all went in our shipment last week along with my sewing machine.

Thanks a bunch for your suggestions, I'll look these up and get something ordered.

Another vote for susie's suggestion - quilters complete guide - my dog loved it enough to chew the corner off so it gets an extra paw vote.

Vote #3 for Quilters Complete Guide. Love it!

I learned to quilt from :Quilts! Quilts! Quilts!" by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, and still like that book. However, "The Quilters Ultimate Visual Guide" is awesome.

I am also fond of "Quilts! Quilts! Quilts!". I liked their first edition better than the revised version.

Oh, please tell us why you are moving to Ecuador.... So remotely too......keep in touch with the board here and you will not get bored! Have a safe trip and be happy in your new homesite.....

The Art of Classic Quiltmaking by Harriet Hargrave and Sharyn Craig and

Heirloom Machine Quilting by Harriet Hargrave

Harriet Hargrave & Carrie Hargrave - Quilter's Academy series.

Very comprehensive - and the books from which I'm learning to quilt.

Cheers, K

Did you make sure your machine will work in ecuador I hope?

Yep another vote for Quilts! Quilts! Quilts! It's my go to when I need a really good pattern.

Our adventure is a Godly mission. We don't know what will be involved yet, but we have faith that it is where we are supposed to be and are thankful for the opportunity. My husband is retired and I recently retired in June. One of our girls graduated from nursing school yesterday and has accepted a job in Virginia and our youngest is staying at Florida State for her masters and then on to DC for a career.

With the kids gone, and the jobs shed, we sold the house, gave away most of our belongings and found an awesome farmhouse up in the Andes mountains in Cuenca Ecuador. We met some people when we were there in July and have kept in contact while we've been working on the move. It will be a very different way of life for us.

We bought the vintage Singer machine because it doesn't have a computer and my husband should be able to work on it if it gives me any problems. I scoured the thrift stores and discount bins for fabric because my stash will have to last for a couple of years unless I can talk one of our kids or visitors into bringing more down for me (or talk my husband into a trip back up). I have a feeling that quilting will be a big part of my life while adjusting to the new country and the quiet countryside.

My all time favorite books are 'Quilting With Bits and Pieces" from House of White Birches and the other is titles"Big Book of Scrap Quilts'. Both are full of patterns and how to's. I have made several quilt from each one.

I like the Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Quilting- it has photographs vs drawings.

I also vote for the Fons & Porter book. It's one of the books I go back to fairly often.

I don't have a book to recommend, but you can find so much information and free patterns on the Internet. I hope you also sent plenty of thread, batting, hand and machine sewing needles, rotary blades, etc. good luck in your new adventure!

For the first book, I would recommend a reference book, something like those suggested, or The Ultimate Quilting Book or Encyclopedia of Quilting. If you're into piecing or applique, the second book I would take is 501 Quilt blocks. Even if you have good internet access, there's nothing like looking at a book. But with good internet access, you could just take a good set of bookmarks including quilterscache.com.

Thanks so much for all your input. My fingers are doing the shopping to pick up a few of these. I am going to pick up a few more spools of thread to put in my carry on, but everything else is already shipped. I hope I have everything I need to last me a while. Maybe someone will open a fabric store before I run out. :)

Me, too! It was the first book I bought, and I've gotten lots of use out of it.

Cuenca is a good sized city, about 300,000 (and no sewing stores, go figure?). It is in a valley surrounded by hills and our house is at the top of one of the hills. We can see the city from our porch and the city lights at night will be beautiful. My husband is a retired marine and has lived all over the world. He has also done some of God's work in places like India and Scotland after his retirement (before we met).

To make a short story long, moving there is a calling for us. This sounds like a far fetched explanation, and before I met God, you would have gotten an eye roll and a snicker from me if someone had told me that, but we know it is where we are supposed to be. I was an atheist most of my life, and faith is a pretty powerful motivator.

Yes, as far as I know, it is a permanent move for us. Who knows, maybe I'll have an opportunity to make some quilts for the orphanage or for some of the street children.

I have all three that have been mentioned and find each one valuable for a different reason.

Where are you going that you don't have mail service? I buy a lot of fabric off the Internet, and even though I live in what is considered to be a rural area and I have to drive a couple of miles to pick up my mail, I do get mail service. So, I'm wondering where you are going.

Will you have internet? If so, you do not need books.

There is just one book that I recommend to all of my pupils and won't be without it myself http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...n=Rotary+magic and at a $1! It's a no brainer

Make sure you take graph paper, you would be surprised how many things will remind you of quilts.

The Simple Joy of Quilting, an older publication; but it has everything you could ever want.

Any book by Eleanor Burns....I think "Still Stripping after all these years" has the most versatile of patterns and of course she teaches well, and her piecing tricks make piecing dead easy.

the best book I can recommend from personal experience is "Eleanor Burns Irish Chain Quilt in a day". She not only shows step by step directions, she also shows how to break a quilt project into manageable steps. It was my first book, and was so easy to follow, on my own, that it caused my current quiltaholism. I still use mostly her methods, except her binding. (I found an easier way.)

My choice is The Complete Guide to Quilting by Better Homes and Gardens. I recommend it to all my friends and students.

The book only seems to be available secondhand these days. So far every seller on Amazon I have checked want around $35 for postage to Australia which is crazy.

Found a copy at Betterworldbooks.com for $8.98 with free postage to Australia. Bargain. :)

Most of Eleanor Burns Books. Easy to follow.

Another vote here for Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Quilting. Unlike the Fons and Porter book, in which you learn the techniques as you complete a particular project, the Better Homes Complete Guide covers specific techniques, not based on projects that you might not want to do. It's a great reference source I go to again and again, and it does have very nice photos rather than line drawings.