Favorite Quilting Books
August 30, 2007 § 3 Comments
We all have favorite, tried and true books that we return time and again. I thought that I’d share some of my favorites. My book buying habits lean towards resources rather than trendy and new. Don’t get me wrong, I love the newest hip books. I just wanted to explain some of my possibly strange book choices. *grin* And, if you find any of them interesting, you can check out their full descriptions at my new aStore. For easy reference, I’ve also made a page at the top to my favorite books.
Okay… so, where to start? I have knitting books, quilting books, sewing books, and baking books. I love to bake bread. It doesn’t always turn out fabulous, but when it does… There is nothing like fresh bread out of the oven.
Maybe we should start with quilting books since I’ve been in a quilt finishing mood lately.
Passionate Patchwork was the very first Kaffe Fassett book I bought. It took me awhile to warm up to his style and this book did it. When his books and fabrics first started appearing in quilt shops they were a little ahead of their time.
This book has some good examples of how to achieve his style without always using his fabrics. That’s what attracted me to this particular book of his.
While we are on the topic of Kaffe Fassett, I also love his Museum Quilts book. I really enjoy quilt history and his interpretation of antique quilts is interesting. If you like quilt history, you may like this book too.
The technical ability required to make the quilts in this book range from the very simple to the very complex, so there is something for everyone.
If quilting the quilt top interests you, Machine Quilting Made Easy is considered the best place to start. There are practice lessons in the front of the book to perfect the technique of straight-line quilting with a walking foot as well as free-motion quilting. The end of the book has extensive charts with types of threads and the needles and tension settings that Maurine found most successful.
And, if you ever get to take a class from her, it’s totally worth it!
Quilting Makes the Quilt is an amazing book! The first time I saw this book, I was fascinated. Lee Cleland makes each quilt 4 times and quilts each one differently. It’s amazing to see how important the quilting is in setting the mood of your quilt. I refer to this book all the time for inspiration.
A Fine Line by Melody Crust and Heather Waldron Tewell demonstrates how to audition and test out different quilting options before you actually put needle and thread to fabric. I refer to this book often for inspiration as well. Sometimes the finishing is the hardest part to quilt design. And if you get the chance to take a class from either of these of these ladies, do it!
Okay, that’s all I can manage today. But I will periodically take a short look at more of my favorite books on my bookshelf. There are a quite a few good ones out there!
Bloomin' Workshop 
Oh wow. I agree and have a lot of the same books. I think this is a perfect topic for a blog. You’ve inspired me to take a picture of my bookshelf.
I’m also drawn to Kaffe Fassett’s color sense mainly. I like his fabric line, most of it.
And the quilting makes the quilt is one of the truest titles in quilting. It can add a whole other dimension to a quilt.
Just found your blog, and I can’t wait for time to go prowl through your ‘really old stuff’ LOL. I love baking breads, quilting, playing out side in the garden, wienie dogs, BOOKS, hmmm, lots of things. 😀 I have most of the books you listed, and I need to pull out those on ‘quilting’ to prowl through again. Thanks for reminding me that I have them. 😀
Hi, Anita! I’m Marcia from Brazil and I like very much your blog. I’d like to knows, how I can get the Dear Jane Journey, like your’s. I don’t speek english very well, but we can to be friends. I have a blog too, it’s: http://colmeiadaarteira.blogspot.com
I see you there. Thanks for your atencion. Marcia Eliza.