When shopping for quilters on your holiday gift list, keep quilting books in mind. There’s sure to be a perfect title available. The American Quilter’s Society is one of the leading quilting publishers. Here is a sampling from their selections.
Dating Fabrics
Anyone interested in old quilts and fabrics would love a copy of Dating Fabrics 2-A Color Guide 1950-2000 by Eileen Jahnke-Trestain. This hardcover with a hidden wire-o binding is lushly illustrated with over 1000 color photos of swatches. The prints are shown in actual size.
Easy to use, this title devotes a separate section to each era. Within the sections, the swatches are organized by styles, lines, and colors. At the beginning of each section is an informative history of the era.
The Calico Man
Calico Man-the Manny Kopp Fabric Collection by Bobbie A. Aug and Sharon Newman with Paul C. Kopp offers a delightful look at the life, legacy, and collection of this artist/designer. This world renowned collection contained swatches from the 1830’s through the 1920’s. Due to Kopp’s interest in historic fabrics, he became known as the “Calico man.”
After his death, his son collaborated with Aug and Newman on this book. This title has color photos of over 1300 swatches arranged pretty much like Kopp did in his original collection mostly by type of fabric or print. The appendix contains a helpful glossary.
Quilt Mavens
Quilt Mavens-Perfect Paper Piecing by Deb Karasik and Janet Mednick features a CD-ROM for printing the sheets that will be needed for each of the designs. Featuring fourteen, innovative, spiral and spiky projects, this title has easy to follow, color illustrated instructions. Among the patterns are ones for wall hangings as well as pillowcases and place mats. For each project, there are handy cutting and fabric charts listing everything that is needed for the quilt.
Mosaic Applique
In Mosaic Applique, Lorraine Carthew takes art quilts to a new level by creating seemingly complex, nature designs using very small appliqués that resemble the tiles used in mosaics. In the introduction the author covers the basic techniques involved. These projects are suitable for raw edge, stitched, and fused appliqué.
This volume has patterns for ten delightful wall hangings, including numerous flowers as well as birds and other animals. For each design, there are simple and easy, step by step instructions from start to finish along with a list of the materials and supplies needed. The three pull-out pattern sheets can be enlarged to the proper size.
