Simple Friendships Book Review

Do you like traditional pieced quilt designs with a touch of appliqué? If so, you will love Simple Friendships by Kim Diehl and Jo Morton. 

The projects in this book are not large bed quilts, but rather smaller, but not small, wall hangings. These projects work well as block swaps and information on how to use them in that way are included in Simple Friendships.

In addition to the beautiful designs in the book there is information on wool appliqué, invisible machine appliqué (Kim Diehl's favourite method) and more. 

Watch the book review video below or on my YouTube channel.

While the majority of these quilts use muted tones, Civil War reproduction type fabrics, they would just as lovely in more modern fabrics. 

I liked the idea of using these projects for block swaps with friends or in a guild and appreciated the advice that was included in the book about doing so. The additional technique information at the back of the book was comprehensive and adds value to this book, in my opinion.

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If you're a fan of Kim Diehl or Jo Morton, you will definitely want to add Simple Friendships to your quilt library.

Creatively, 

P.S. If you aren't already a member of my private Chatterbox Quilts Facebook group, please join us. I'd love to chat about quilting related topics with you.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon affiliate and as such will receive a small amount of compensation if you purchase by clicking through any of the links in this post. Thank you for helping me to continue to create free content.

A Change of Seasons Book Review

Spring has finally arrived so it seems appropriate that I'm taking a look at A Change of Seasons by Bonnie Sullivan. 

I love seasonal projects. I love to decorate my house with wall hangings, table runners and mug rugs based on the season or holiday, so this book is perfect for me. You know I'm an appliqué girl and this book is chock full of appliqué projects. I'm sure you'll love it too!

Most of the projects in A Change of Seasons use wool, which makes it easy to finish the appliqué edges as you don't have to worry about fraying. If you haven't used wool in your projects before, Bonnie includes information on how to work with it. The book includes a variety of projects, including table toppers, wall hangings, banners, quilts and even little stuffies, which I adore! A great variety to use in decorating your home.

The projects in this book are whimsical, yet elegant, a design aesthetic that I really enjoyed. I also felt that there were so many wonderful designs in this book that could be combined in different ways to create even more new projects.

If you can't already tell, I really liked A Change of Seasons. This book had me at the first page - I guess that would be its "hello". 

Watch the video below or on my YouTube channel to see the sweet designs in this book.

If you like elegant, adorable designs and decorate your home on a seasonal basis, you'll definitely want to add A Change of Seasons to your quilting library.

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I almost forgot: I'm taking a break next week but will be back with more informative content the week of April 3, 2017. Happy Spring Break, y'all!

Creatively,

P.S. I'd love you to join me in the private Chatterbox Quilts' Facebook group. Just ask to join and I'll add you right in.

Full disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small amount of compensation if your purchase by clicking through links in this blogpost. Thank you for helping Chatterbox Quilts to continue creating free content.

The Big Book of Fat-Quarter Quilts Book Review

I love to collect Fat Quarter bundles - I find them irresistible (and you can tell that by the number of them in my fabric stash!). My problem is that I don't have one resource where I can find lots of projects that use Fat Quarters. Now I do! The Big Book of Fat-Quarter Quilts by That Patchwork Place (Martingale) contains lots, and I mean, lots of patterns that use Fat Quarters, 66 of them in fact. No excuses for me now!

There are a wide variety of designs in this book: seasonal, elegant, funky, whimsical, you can find patterns for all these styles. Patterns for both pieced and appliquéd quilts are in The Big Book of Fat-Quarter Quilts. What you won't find in this book are small projects, such as table toppers or wall hangings. The patterns in this book are for quilts. 

For a closer look at The Big Book of Fat-Quarter Quilts, watch the video below or on my YouTube channel.

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Get your own copy of The Big Book of Fat-Quarter Quilts and start using up some of those fat quarters that you've been hoarding - or is that just me?

Creatively,

Full disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small amount of compensation if you purchase items by clicking through the links in this blogpost. Thank you for helping me to continue creating free content for you.

Crazy at the Cabin Book Review

I wish I had a cabin by a lake so I'd have an excuse to make some of the projects in Crazy at the Cabin by Janet Rae Nesbitt. My brother does have a cottage in Ontario,and I could definitely see a few of these quilts gracing the cottage walls.

I first thought that this book was about crazy pieced designs, although the design on the front cover certainly didn't look like a crazy quilt! Once I opened up the book and read about the technique that Janet is using to create these projects, I realized that this was not the case at all. The technique used in the book involves layering fabric one on top of the other and cutting out design shapes from them and then recombining them into the finished design. At least that's my interpretation of it, although Janet explains it much better than that. It's sort of like shuffling a deck of cards - you get a new and unexpected arrangement.

There are a variety of projects in this book from wonky, funky designs to more elegant, traditional looking ones: something for everyone.

I thought that this was a very interesting technique and found the projects appealing. These patterns were reminiscent of Buggy Barn designs; no surprise there as Janet was the designer behind that hugely popular pattern company.

To see more of Crazy at the Cabin, watch the video below or on my YouTube channel.

Purchase your copy of Crazy at the Cabin to add to your quilting library.

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to get the latest content delivered directly to you. You can find me at www.youtube.com/chatterboxquilter.

Creatively,

Full disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small amount of compensation if your purchase an item by clicking through the links in this blogpost. Thanks for helping me to keep developing free content for you.

Book Review - One Bundle of Fun

This week I'm taking a break from quick quilt blocks to share a book review with you. If you like to create pre-cut quick quilts, this is the book for you!

One Bundle of Fun by Sue Pfau isn't a thick book, but it is packed with great quilt designs and the best part is that they are all created with pre-cuts - and that's it! This book appealed to me as you could actually create all of the quilts in One Bundle of Fun without adding any additional yardage - except for the backing, of course. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of wonderful pre-cut books on the market, but I get frustrated when I'm ready to make one of them and then realize that I still need to have several yards or metres of additional fabric for sashing or borders. Not the case with this book at all.

I also liked the designs that were created. I found them intricate and interesting and there were several levels for beginning to more advanced quilters. 

To see more of One Bundle of Fun, please watch the video below or on my YouTube channel.

Purchase your own copy of One Bundle of Fun and start clearing our your stash of pre-cuts (or am I the only one with these?!) 

If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up on YouTube and subscribe to receive all my future videos. I'd be so grateful if you would also share this video with your quilting friends.

Creatively,