I have read a lot of quilting books. I don't want to confuse you by pretending to have finished, from plan, to piecing, sandwiching, quilting, and binding very many, but oh, the UFOs I've started. They are numerous, and of varied quality. I have grown up enough to admit that one or two were really just learning experiences- very expensive learning experiences.
As a bibliophile, I'm all about letting the books around me take some of the misery out of the learning process, so for every quilt I've started, I've probably read at least two quilting books. In the last week a friend who has sworn off sewing dropped two paper grocery sacks of quilting books off on my porch. Most of them were a touch more traditional than what I typically go in for, but nearly every one had a specific pattern that I'd long been curious to learn. Cathedral Windows.
Of course, I'd been long intimidated by the first complicated write up I'd ever read of the process, so I sat down and flipped through each book to their directions on how to make the Cathedral Windows block, figuring, whichever books made the process make sense would probably do a better job of explaining the other projects as well.
So that's my new litmus test for traditional quilting books- does it write up a decent explanation of Cathedral Windows, or does it leave the quilting hobbyist rocking in the corner of her sewing dungeon in some upright variation of the fetal position? If it's clear, then it might need to remain on my shelf, if not... well, my shelf space is limited, and I like to support the library's annual book sale.
More on which books I'm keeping and which I'm not even bothering with in days to come.
As a bibliophile, I'm all about letting the books around me take some of the misery out of the learning process, so for every quilt I've started, I've probably read at least two quilting books. In the last week a friend who has sworn off sewing dropped two paper grocery sacks of quilting books off on my porch. Most of them were a touch more traditional than what I typically go in for, but nearly every one had a specific pattern that I'd long been curious to learn. Cathedral Windows.
Of course, I'd been long intimidated by the first complicated write up I'd ever read of the process, so I sat down and flipped through each book to their directions on how to make the Cathedral Windows block, figuring, whichever books made the process make sense would probably do a better job of explaining the other projects as well.
So that's my new litmus test for traditional quilting books- does it write up a decent explanation of Cathedral Windows, or does it leave the quilting hobbyist rocking in the corner of her sewing dungeon in some upright variation of the fetal position? If it's clear, then it might need to remain on my shelf, if not... well, my shelf space is limited, and I like to support the library's annual book sale.
More on which books I'm keeping and which I'm not even bothering with in days to come.
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