Along with the usual flowers, give your mom a sewing or quilting book.
Make this holiday really special. Along with the usual flowers, give your mom a gift that she’ll enjoy for years—a book on sewing or quilting.
From Indygo Junction comes “Scrapworks” by Paula Joerling with ten appealing appliquéd and embroidered designs for embellishing clothing, pillows, wall hangings, and other items. For each project, this color illustrated pattern book has full size patterns, a list of the materials needed, and illustrated, easy to follow instructions.
Indygo Junction also released “My Country Season” quilt book by renowned designer Cheri Saffiote-Payne. These homespun scenes from country life will appeal to free spirited folks. There are full size pattern pieces for the appliquéd and pieced blocks along with illustrated, how to instructions and diagrams.
The American Quilter’s Society released a number of titles that would make wonderful Mother’s Day gifts. “Birds n’ Roses” by Margaret Docherty is part of the Applique Masterpiece Series. Lushly illustrated in full color, this has full size pattern pieces for a host of realistic garden quilt designs for eleven different flowers and eight garden birds. For each project, it has step-by-step directions from start to finish, including embroidery and other embellishments.
“Mystery Quilts” by Rita Fishel from the American Quilter’s Society is suitable for beginners. This book features quick and easy blocks along with intriguing quilting stories, tasty recipes, and details on how to organize mystery quilt events. For each of the 15 quilts, she gives complete, illustrated instructions, and a list of the materials needed.
Stackpole released “Projects for Fiber Art Lovers.” This has 17 whimsical, versatile designs that can be used for embroidery, quilting, rug hooking, and painting. These projects are suitable for novice and experienced crafters alike. For this book, Rug Hooking magazine and The Quilter magazine combined their efforts. The projects feature full size pattern pieces and easy to follow directions.
“Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match” by Susan Briscoe from Kodansha America offers a delightful change from the traditional pieced blocks. This title features 132 extraordinary quilt blocks, including appliqué, patchwork, and sashiko designs along with complete instructions for each technique. For each block, this has a complete list of materials, cutting instructions, ideas on mixing and matching, and the level of sewing skill required. Because all of the blocks are the same size, they can be mixed or matched at desired.
Among quilters and sewers, C & T Publishing is a leading source of information. In “A New Look at Log Cabin Quilts,” innovative designer Flavin Glover shows how to turn ordinary log cabin blocks into villages, street scenes, and exquisite landscapes. This title features nine cutting edge projects with color illustrated, easy instructions and diagrams.
For busy folks, designer Nancy Johnson-Srebro's series on Big-Block Quilts from C & T is a godsend. Using quick and easy squares and rectangles, "Big-Block Quilts by Magic" has 30 eye-catching projects and 14 quilting designs. For each project, there is an easy to use chart and diagram with complete instructions and a list of materials for each quilt size. Among the projects are pillows and matching pillow cases as well as wall hangings.
