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Hidden Block Quilts
by Lerlene Nevarill

The author explains that the concept for this book came to her as she was making a scrap quilt using the Arizona block.  She noticed that a nice design remained when she changed the outer row of the colored triangles to the background color.  This new “hidden block” worked well with the original, yet left a more open feel to the quilt pattern.  Once this idea came to her, she found that many blocks could be altered slightly and used with the original block to make a unique quilt.  Of course, once that door was opened, it was opened to even more possibilities.  By shifting the location of elements, changing the color of just some of the shapes, or altering some shapes, hidden blocks kept cropping up.

Chapter one teaches you how to bring a block out of hiding as you retrain your eye to see not just the block, but what it might have been or could be.  In that chapter alone she shows you how to make forty-five different quilts from five basic blocks and their hidden assets.  But of course, she doesn't stop there!  Next comes how settings change each block’s potential.  It isn’t until chapter five that the author actually gives nitty-gritty instructions, but by then, you don’t even need them. Check it out!

Hand-Dyed Fabric Made Easy
by Adriene Buffington

When I review a book, the first thing I check is the index and I knew I liked this book right at the start.  Page four was listed as Introduction and page five was How to Use this Book.  This section explains that a “color family” is a group of six or more related colors of hand dyed fabrics.  There are eight color family projects.  This one page made the whole idea of dying fabric, a subject way beyond my comprehension, or so I thought, absolutely understandable to me.  The author then progresses to the basics of dyeing, equipment needed, and then to projects starting with simple techniques to more complex dyeing methods.  There are easy to read instructions throughout with safety tips along the way in gray boxes to make sure your eye goes there before a problem arises.  And of course, there are projects to make the most out of your new, beautiful fabric.  I never felt I needed to be out in the middle of a field in order not to destroy my home while dyeing fabric – indeed I felt I could do it safely right in my kitchen.  Check it out!

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Needles and Notions is perfect for this time of year.  This is all sewing room themed paper piecing.  There are great ideas and patterns for small gifts for your friendship group stocking stuffers: a new name tag perhaps, with a rotary cutter which looks real; or a luggage tag with a sewing machine.  The blocks are scaled to four inches and six inches but could be rescaled to your needs by the copy machine we all rely on these days.  Another great way to use them would be to paper piece, say the needle and thread block, and on the back print out a saying so you have made your own greeting card which the recipient will know was made just for her.  There is even a perfectly shaped and recognizable seam ripper to be pieced!  Of course, you could always make a row quilt from all the different blocks.  This really is a fun book.  Check it out!

All Quilt Blocks are Not Square has been calling to me for months.  The quilts are a bit more complicated looking than usually appeals to me, but still, it calls.  Chapters on curves, diamonds, and hexagons were of particular interest to me.  Candy Swirl is an intriguing quilt pattern with lots of movement, and the Nine Patch Diamond that makes three dimensional looking blocks is wonderful.  I may just have to try this book.  Check it out!

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Flannel is the key to this book. And we are coming to flannel season! I have more people surprised to know you can use flannel as the back of a cotton pieced front. Curl up starts with a whole page about flannel , its idiosyncrasies and its delights, how to treat it, quilt with it and to everyone’s delight, the comment that flannel needs less actual quilting than other quilts –thus great for the home domestic machine quilter. Patterns using flannel, because of its properties, are simpler, quicker and more casual. Perfect for late Christmas quilt gift projects. In fact, on page 17 are some delightful flannel pin cushions, the perfect gift for your friendship group buddies. Both appliqué and piecing of flannel is addressed in this book. And the appliqué patterns are on a separate pull out sheet for easier tracing. The book is just delightful eye candy as well. What more can you ask? Check it out!

Let’s face it, I chose this book because of the season and the title. And then when I opened it I was intrigued. Such wonderful fall season patterns, from table runners, welcome signs, wall hangings to great fall table covers. All small projects perfect for decorating the house for the coming months. The table runner starts with 5 bear claw blocks on point and then large, simplistic oak leaves appliquéd. A quick eye catching project. But the best part of the book are the wild appliqué patterns of Halloween mask type heads for placemats or to be combined for a kid’s seasonal quilt. As stated on the back of the book, “appliqués to charm your heart and tickle your funny bone”. It certainly did mine. Check it out!

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I love flowers in my garden, yet have never been a floral fabric person. This book had to be exceptional to catch my attention and make me want to review it. Many of you have purchased great floral focus fabrics with beautiful large flowers, and once home you didn’t know how to use them. Oh, this book has great ideas. Basically, Pamela has provided lots of patterns where the quilt is a traditional pieced quilt and choosing colors complimentary to the focus fabric. She fussy cuts the big flowers and creatively appliqués them or even finds a way to easily piece them into the quilt. For those who “think” they hate fussy cutting due to waste, Pamela addresses that issue – and she has made a believer out of me. I may even have to take another look at floral prints. Pamela’s quilts are absolutely beautiful to look at, yet her directions make all the quilts very “doable” for most any level quilter. Check it out!

When reviewing older books, one must remember they were forerunners of our modern fast quilting techniques. Authors often had to explain in simple terms, because the techniques were so foreign to quilters of the time. Such is this book, but it has so much to offer that it shouldn’t be overlooked. For one thing, the quilts are shown in black and white. So, why is that good? Because it makes you look at the quilt pattern and not the color. So often we select or reject a pattern because of the colors chosen by the author. If you don’t like the colors you automatically don’t like the quilt. The warning on the first page explains why I think this book is well worth checking out: “Warning! This book is content-rich! Consume in small doses over a long period of time!” On page 9 she explains how to use the book, how the margins contain extra tips, history of the quilts, etc., and both verbal and pictorial directions are given. Check it out!

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Knockout Blocks and Sampler Quilts 
by Judy Martin

Once again Judy Martin has a great quilt book and has expanded her block concept.  As usual, the block patterns are given in several sizes giving the quilter many options.  Another feature in this book is the many layouts for various blocks, combination of blocks and a seemingly infinite variety of quilts.  But beware!  These blocks, as advertised, are knock out blocks and take some careful cutting and piecing, but the results are more than worth it.  I never realized how many star variations can be made.  I also noticed in reviewing the book, that some stars will be easier or harder depending on the size of the star chosen.  This is a book I may need to get for my own library as a staple, it has so many ways to use blocks, from a simple but stunning layout for a quick baby quilt using a complex block with simple additives, to a show stopper, prize winning one of a kind using many coordinating but different complex stars.  Check it out!

Block Party
by Marsha McCloskey

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Shadow quilts begin with a traditional, basic block. By repeating the image in smaller and larger scale, a layered, shadow effect is created. The secret, once again, is not in beautiful fabric colors, but in choosing fabrics with perfect value contrast. The technique can take scrap quilting to a whole new level, yet still be a very controlled color scheme.

One of my favorites in the book is a simple wall hanging of a pine tree that is one big tree that fills the whole on-point hanging, yet all the boughs and part of the background are made up of that same shaped tree only in smaller scale and visually pleasing contrasting colors. This is a perfect technique book, as in the beginning it explains how to design your own shadow quilts, but also has many different quilt patterns if you want to just use their patterns. Check it out!

This book contains fifteen simple folding techniques (remember Origami while in school?) as well as five other folding techniques. There are eleven projects with complete, well illustrated patterns, but also a showcase illustrating other ways to use the folded fabric techniques. You can use these techniques for borders, in your blocks, or just here and there for a whimsical approach. Making a child's quilt? Make a folded envelop block and you can leave notes for the child to find. Now, how fun is that! This book is wonderful in that it shows use of folding techniques using quiet, traditional fabrics and blocks and some eye opening, bright visual eye candy type quilts. Check it out!

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In the preface of this book Dianne explains that the book derives from a class called, “come PLAY with me,” a class for students wanting to do innovative piecing, color play, and spontaneous design. These are not “games” in the usual Monopoly form, but games using fabric, machine, and imagination, with each game having three sections or rules. First is the Object, or goal for that game; second is Game Plan, or strategy; and finally, Your Move, the way you personally create your game.

The best part of this is that you use your scraps which excite you. You select a certain number of scraps, then you must add a wild card – a fabric you wouldn’t ordinarily use – or one that can replace and make your selected fabrics exciting. The suggestions for games are wonderful and mind expanding, yet as I call it, “do-able.” I’ve seen some projects from students taking a class based on this book and they were each so different and were so wonderful. Check it out and PLAY the Game!

Designing New Traditions in Quilts by Sharyn Squier Craig

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