Quilter's Haven
Rosemount, Minnesota

 

Borderland in Butternut & Blue, A Sampler Quilt to Recall the Civil War Along the Kansa/Missouri Border by Barbara Brackman.  The publisher of this book is Kansas City Star Books. 

I have always been fascinated by the Civil War and this book is an excellent vehicle to understand what happened in Kansas and Missouri during that time period.  The book allows the reader a clear picture of the Civil War along the Kansas and Missouri border and utilizes quilt blocks to tell the story of the Borderland.  It describes how the title was derived from the color of the soldier’s uniforms – blue for the Union and butternut brown for the Missouri Confederate soldiers.  Each of the thirteen blocks is in memory of a woman who lived through the war.  The book is worth its price just for the quality of the presentation of the information, the pictures used in telling the Borderland story and then the quilts.  In addition to the blocks themselves, there are several projects that I truly like that will give you the opportunity to make your very own special quilt.  You will also have a better understanding of the block known as “Kansas Troubles”.  This book, in my view, is one to add to your library.  I know it will be in mine shortly.

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The Lincoln Museum Quilt, a Reproduction for Abe’s Frontier Family, by Barbara Brackman and Deb Rowden is also published by Kansas City Star Books.

This is a booklet that offers the reader an overview of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum that opened in 2005.  Barbara and Deb had informed the Illinois State Historian that the quilt covering Abe Lincoln’s parents’ bed was not correct for that era.  So they needed to make a quilt of the correct vintage and the quilt in this booklet is that very quilt.  Once again, this has very interesting historical information surrounding what would be appropriate for an 1820’s quilt.  The quilt consists of two blocks – a sixteen patch and a basic star.  The fabrics used in the quilt look like old “home-woven” cloth in plaid and stripes.  It is really pretty “cool”.

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Quilts Through the Camera’s Eye is written by Terry Clothier Thompson and published by Kansas City Star Books. 

There six quilts in this book and each is very traditional.  Terry says that she can’t write a book without including the history of women and this is no exception.  For each quilt there is a vintage picture that has a quilt in the background.  Terry has provided her version of that quilt using updated techniques to make the quilt.  The quilts are titled Oscar’s Girl, Nellie Stokes’ Bow Tie for a Beau, Baby Evelyn’s Crazy String Quilt, Tennessee Waltz, “Homemakers Club” Basket and County Fair Cotton Candy.  This is another book that is well done.

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Bits and Pieces by Karen Costello Soltys is published by That Patchwork Place of Martingale and Company. 

This is a book that I had previously purchased because I love those small quilts that you can make from fat quarters and scraps.  There is some normal piecing of the blocks, a bit of paper piecing and a touch of appliqué in the 18 quilts.  Many of them look vintage with a few surprises of contemporary fabrics.  The book is divided into four sections.  One Patch Garden has an Amish look; Plaid Coins is the Chinese coins pattern and Box of Chocolates looks delicious with many unique buttons are found in the Squares and Rectangles section.   In the Triangles section you will find Waste Not, Want Not, Sugarplum Stars using the Ohio Star block, Pastel Pinwheels, Sunny Lanes and Christmas Goose.  The Diamond section has 12-Karat Four Patch and Antique Diamonds.  Curves and Circles with Easy Appliqué include Japanese Circles, Maple Sugar Hearts and Sweet Pea.

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Sewflakes are papercut-appliqué quilts that Kathy Wylie has written a book about.  The publisher is C & T Publishing. This is kind of an intriguing book as the appliqués are made like the old fashion paper snowflakes by folding the paper and then cutting out the design.  The author has provided detailed information regarding how to fold the paper when doing these designs, making the design itself, determining how the center should look, the appliqué of the sewflakes, embellishments and using your sewflakes with pieced blocks.  There are completed project ideas to help you along in making your very own sewflake quilt.

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Alex Anderson has a new book out that she has written with Liz Aneloski titled Super Simple Quilts.  Now that is a concept that we all love.  The book is published by C & T Publishing. With any Alex Anderson book, you will get excellent instructions for the basics which make these good books for beginning quilters.  The pictures are very helpful in actually seeing what needs to be done.  This is a book of threes – “3 quilt designs in 3 fabric styles in 3 sizes with 3 layer-securing methods and 3 binding techniques”.  The projects are called Marching In Line, Hopscotch and Twist and Turn.  But the nice thing is there are several color ways shown of each so you have a clear picture of your quilt might look if you go in your own direction.

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You might think neutrals are boring but Alex Anderson in her book, Neutral Essentials, shows you that neutrals are anything but boring.  C & T Publishing also published this book. Alex gives you a real perspective of neutrals and that the way to succeed in using them is to understand their varying color, the value and the character of the print.  The projects are LeMoyne Star Appliqué Medallion, Crème Brule, Cinnamon Toast, Suzanne, Daisy Chain, Stars and Pinwheels and Mama’s Spool Box with Stars and Pinwheels as my favorite.

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A Black and White Garden by Kay M. Capps Cross is published by American Quilter’s Society.

I consider this to be fairly contemporary but I like it.  It is all about flowers and what is not to love about flowers.  There are a lot of black and white fabrics out there right now and this book utilizes them to their fullest then adds a touch of bright to the projects.  Batiks are also well used in this book.  The projects are shown in both the black and white version then the batik version.  I am hard pressed to say which one I like better.  The projects can be small wallhangings, table runners or put together in a large quilt titled Garden Goddesses which is a good descriptive title.  Garden Gate, Paper Posies, Till the Rows, Limetail, Leaf Dreams, and Balinese Beauty give you a picture of what is in the book.

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Ricky Tims has designed Baskets and Flowers as a design companion to his Rhapsody Quilts.  Once again C & T Publishing is the publisher of this book. The project in this book is named Heidenroslein and it is a glorious quilt.  One really nice unique thing about this particular book is that there are oversized ready-to-use freezer paper patterns.  The basic concepts for the construction of this quilt are found in Rhapsody Quilts.  One of the things I liked besides the quilt is that there are several examples of additional Rhapsody Quilts.

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Instant Bargello by Susan Kisro will give you an opportunity to see if you like the concept of constructing a bargello quilt but in a quick fun way.  What a good use of those novelty prints you sometimes aren’t quite sure what to do with.  Martingale and Company are the publishers of this book. The bargello basics are shown with good illustrations included.  You can make any size you want whether it is a wall hanging or a large bed size quilt.  The size of the strip depends on the design of the fabric you use and the size of the quilt you are making.  The projects in the book give you inspiration to try one yourself.

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