Susan Beal

A worthwhile book for someone who wants to start sewing and wants to master the basics. If you're budget-minded, the small number and simplicity of the projects may prompt you to wait for a discount or to borrow from your local library. The projects are so simple that grade school kids could easily create the patterns in art class. Despite those drawbacks, this book explains what to buy (and why) if you're just starting to seriously sew. The major strength of this book is the large, detailed drawings that clearly highlight basic techniques such as sewing on a snap and pinning project sections. I'm showing my age when I say that blogs that show how to rough cut a thrift store dress and whipstitch a hem to make a simple top are a terrific way to encourage newbies to try sewing. However, the sewing basics covered in this book will give that newbie the foundation to create future well-constructed intermediate and advanced projects that will outlast trends and withstand real world abuse.… (més)

There aren't a huge number of step-by-step illustrations and most of the patterns need to be enlarged, but the techniques and projects are great. The author explains them very well without making them sound intimidating, provides lots of options for creativity, and finally helped me understand techniques I'd read about in other books. I especially liked the way the author broke down each project into a combination of techniques, which were all explained at the beginning. This is a good starting book for quilting methods (along with other types of sewing).… (més)

Anyone who regularly reads my reviews knows I'm obsessed with quilting, even though I'm not, you know, an actual quilter or even much of a sewer. Still, I have to get my hands on every single quilting book out there.

I enjoyed this one. It includes a section on how to quilt, and the actual instructions for a variety of projects. Like I said, I'm not a quilter, but the instructions to me looked easy enough that even I could follow them & really makes me want to try a quilt. I love the fact that all of the quilts use wool, a fiber I love and a fiber often not used in a world of cotton and cotton blend fabrics. Just thinking about how cozy a quilt would be made with wool makes me want to dig out my sewing machine.

There's also a great little section on the history of Pendleton wool, which I found really interesting.

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received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review… (més)