Quilting Books - what have you purchased lately??
 

I just got Carolyn Forster's book from the UK called, "Utility Quilting". Had to pay retail price 27.95 & that was a pretty big ouch for me. Purchased it mainly for the big stitch quilting method & found she just skimmed over topics without going into any detail.

List of contents:

Getting Started Supplies

Preparing to Quilt

Utility Quilting Designs... (this chapter was the largest one), mostly how to create your own utility designs using simple templates & even your elbow for reference. No purchased templates listed at all, which I think she is emphasizing this is another facet of "utility quilting".

The Stitches....samples of different stitches used to quilt & baste

Binding & Other Edge Finish Techniques

Projects...10 simple quilt patterns plus pictures of each & one pattern for a mug cozy.

Overall opinion of the book....lovely pictures of the quilt projects, quality paper. I thought there was some mystique to this thing called "utility quilting". Well, folks, I did not find any thing here that is not already out on the internet somewhere. But I am a book lover, so I fell for the title. In reality, utility quilting is nothing more than trying to get the job done in the fastest method possible & still have a quilt to be proud of.

Ms Forster has another book out called, "Quilting on the Go"...not sure how this differs from "quilt as you go", or if there is any difference at all. Can't find out much about that book. Perhaps someone out here has purchased that book & would like to comment on it.

Not sure about the book "Quilting on the Go" but to me that would mean projects you can carry with you to piece by hand such as grandmother's flower garden for example.
What I have seen with "big stitch quilting" the stitches are around an 1/8" long and the same distance apart. I have seen some great looking quilts done this way. Wool quilts and primitive quilts look good using this method. I've wanted to try this just have to put it on my list and hopefully get to it eventually.

I just bought a book each of sunbonnet sue patterns and overall boys patterns from grandmasattic.com . They haven't come yet. I am collecting these so I have a lot to choose from when I finally get around to doing them!

Most of my books are purchased from Amazon with Prime so I don't have to pay shipping. It is very easy to return a book on Amazon. Usually, though, I can tell from reader comments if I am going to like a book or not. The reviews are very helpful!

I looked up Quilting on the Go on Amazon, but there are no reviews of it yet. Reading the description, this is not a book I would purchase because I do not like English paper piecing. (I do my hand piecing of the GFG pattern by hand using a regular running stitch, which I prefer both for looks and for ease of sewing.) This book is about English paper piecing only, as far as I can tell from the description.

Edit: Oops! Sorry, the above refers to a different book by the same title but different author. The one by Carolyn Forster is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Quilting-----g...dp/1935726056/
It's all about how to break down a large quilt into smaller pieces for hand or machine quilting. For this type of technique, at least for machine quilting, I would instead purchase the book by Marti Michell on Machine Quilting in Sections.

The last couple of quilting books I purchased were by Edyta Sitar. I saw her on "The Quilt Show" with Alex Anderson and Ricky Timms and fell in love with her quilts. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! But she uses a lot of 1.5" squares/strips. She has lots of kits, books, calendars out. Gorgeous works! "Reason To Make Quilts" is the name (I think) of the book I so enjoyed reading that I sent it home with my daughter to read.

I have so many books and magazines, also over 300 free patterns from the Internet so I rarely buy one any more. I am also trying to design my own. I did just get the twister ruler and the book Lets Twist, but prob be long time before I buy another.

The ones I ordered recently have been out for a while, but were recommended by some delightful ladies who were doing a trunk show of some of their quilts.
French Braid Obsession by Jane Hardy Miller
Reversible Quilts by Sharon Pederson
Wonderful 1 Fabric Quilts by Kay Nickols
Stars By Magic by Nancy Johnson-Srebro

I think that is pretty dang good for a whole book. I just paid that much for a pattern. Moi ami, it is a darling paris images pattern for applique. The shop in florida put it into the mail today.

The favorite book of mine for quilting is, " Machine Quilting Solutions". Sorry I can't remember the author off hand. Edited to say the author is, Christine Maraccini. No wonder I couldn't remember!

Bought one today, 101 Fabulous Small Quilts. Love so many of the patterns.

I also got that 101 Fabulous Small Quilts. I have made 22 and have two others in process (English paper piecing style). I have a personal challenge to make all the quilts and use only stash to do it. The rail fence pattern uses 5 inch pieces and I used some of the ugliest 5 inch squares of Xmas fabric. It turned out so cute. I post pictures on Facebook and my friends tell me they enjoy watching the progress of the challenge.

So I am learning new techniques, getting my 1/4 inch seam practice, using very old fabric and making a bunch to practice my quilting skills on. A great book. Amazon had it for 40% off.

Excellent reviews & comments Prism99. I have never done any machine quilting, just hand quilting, so I guess I better stay away from quilting in sections.

I have been wanting to make a whole cloth quilt and in researching I found British Durham quilts and Welsh quilts and fell in love with them. So I have been buying books on those subjects. Most are history books with wonderful photos. I have on order now a book on French Boutis. This look appeals to me, but don't know if I will ever be able to do it. Also, have a lot of scraps and ordered Judy Martin's Log Cabin book to get some ideas for using my scraps. Boy those are not your regular log cabins -- stunning!

No books for a long time now.
But just bought the Quiltmakers 100 Blocks magazines. All 6 of them. These are collectors items to have.

I just bought an older book at a Half Price Book store called "Threadplay" by Libby Lehman. It was published in 1997 but doesn't seem to make a difference. You could play for a year with her examples. The book has the usual basics re thread, fabric, machines, needles, tools, stabilizers and construction which I just skim over nowadays, but then you get to the Techniques! Ribbon Illusions, Sheer Stitching, Applique and Embroider! Good instructions, easy to follow. Well worth the $5.99.

I haven't bought any recently, but I think the last book I bought was Simply amazing Spiral Quilts by RaNae Merrill. It came with a CD-ROM, but I don't know where that is right now.

Some of my more memorable books are Designing Tessellations by Jinny Beyer, and one on Bargello Quilts.
My daughter bought me the one on 501 Blocks.

I have a number of books with catalogs of blocks, a few paper piecing books, and a few on basic techniques.

I go years without buying quilt related books, but have gotten four in the last three months that I just couldn't resist. All are technique books, not pattern books.

1) Vibrant Quilt Collage: A Spontaneous Approach to Fused Art Quilts by Bethan Ash so I can work on being more innovative with my designs and not so 'up tight'.
2) Print with Collage and Stitch: Techniques for Mixed-Media Printmaking by Val Holmes so I can (finally) learn how to use my etching press to print collagraphs on fabric.
3) Fabric to Dye For by Frieda Anderson so I can start dyeing my own fabrics to get the 12-step color gradations I want.
4) Imagery on Fabric by Jean Ray Laury so I can experiment with the full range of image transfer techniques. This out of print book by the ground breaking Jean Ray Laury is one of the best, most complete references for image transfer ever written.

I feel like a kid at FAO Schwartz the week before Christmas, I'm that excited to start all kinds of new things this Spring!

I just bought Modern Patchwork, and love it. Beautiful patterns! However, in going through the book and showing my favorites to my husband we realized he doesn't share my love of modern quilts. It's funny when you think you know all there is to know about someone and then you show him a modern quilt book and it's all out the window! Haha! ;)

I have bought one book one just a few weeks ago and one a couple of months back. Yet maybe 6 or 8 months ago I gave away at least 10 books. Most of them were ones I picked up years ago when I first started to quilt, many of them had the same blocks/patterns and/or technique so I just kept a few which had the most technique and blocks for refence.

The one I picked up 2 weeks ago is "Story Times" by Kim Gaddy $25.95 it's a picture quilts to stir a child's imagination. It contains 8 quilts and a project. Each quilt has a story and the blocks tell them in the quilt. One called Birds & Bubble Gum "Watch along with the little bird as the wise old owl learns to blow a bubble. The bubble gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and pops." each quilt tells a story, so cute! I'm sure I'll enjoy making some of the quilts for children.

The other book I bought a few months back: "Quilting-On-The-Go" by Carolyn Forster $24.95. I am very happy with my purchase of this book. It is easy to read and has pictures included to show you what you are reading. The first few chapters are the Basic which if you have been quilting for awhile you most likely aready know on picking out fabric, tools, sewing the block and batting. From there it goes into quilt as you go. The last part of the book includes 15 quilt patterns, not that I need any more patterns but all around it's written well.

One of the quilt books special to me is "In Love With Quilts" from the 1980's. An article showcasing a folksy quilt was in my antique inventory when I was an antique dealer and Ann Childs, editor. bought The quilt from me. It was a very unusual quilt with schoolhouse blocks and various other blocks in no particular order. The fabrics seemed to be from the early 1900's. Just amazing what has been done with quilts in the past.

Gayle Bong's Save the Scraps quilting book. I love it and have tried 2 of the patterns.

Shirley Botsford's "Daddy's Ties" after a friend recently posted that she loved a large dresden one that she saw and wanted to know if any of her quilting friends wanted a project (facebook posting). To which I replied that if she had the ties, let me know, and then we could talk about background, backing, binding, etc materials. Strange, I haven't heard anything from her about it since... ;P

Libby lives in Houston and I took her Threadplay class at Quilt Festival several years ago. Lots of fun! Someone asked her what batting she used, and she said she got it at Walmart - convenient and they are always open. :-)

Yep, my DH is the same way, if it is not the nine patch pattern, he thinks it is too modern looking...wish I would have never pointed out the nine patch to him. I do have to admit you could make quilts the rest of your life just using variations of that pattern. Not such a bad thought after all!

"Quilting On the Go"...is this book teaching the same methods as "quilt as you go"? I have never done this method of quilting & don't really relish making a quilt that you can easily see where blocks were joined together...just am on the fence about purchasing that book. Thanks for your description of the book.