Intentional Piecing Book Review

Hello, hello!!!

So happy to have time to sit down and blog, it's been a minute and this one is good! A while back, I received my dearest Amy Friend latest book, Intentional Piecing, and I couldn't put it down.What  I love about this book is the countless projects (with instructions and paper piecing templates) that features. I really liked the Tumble 'Round quilt that made a mini version of it, using Amy's method.

Paper piecing, as Amy states, is a conscious, deliberate process of fabric selection to suit a particular pattern design or aesthetic. Each choice is considered in order to find the best use for a special piece of fabric or fabrics that will highlight a pattern design. If you are afraid of working with stripes and directional prints, then forget about, because this book will guide you in everything there is to know about paper piecing.

I fond this book encouraging me to make thoughtful cuts from my fabric stash and also considering the inclusion of salvages, border prints and precise piecing for graphics which will lead to an amazing project. Oh lovelies, make sure to get your hands on this amazing book, by clicking here, and start making out of this world projects. Thank you so much Amy for giving me a copy of your book, I truly enjoyed reading it ♥♥♥

xo,

Pat B.

Book Review - Sew Organized For the Busy Girl

Hello everyone! 

How's everyone doing? I am getting ready for International Quilt Market preparations, I had been sewing so much lately with  #DareFabrics which is going to be showcased at Quilt Market Houston. The familiar excitement for the show is here and I couldn't be more happy!

But sometimes it is hard for us to find the time to sew and that's a killer! I was thinking why isn't there a book or something that could help me manage my busy schedule to incorporate more sewing projects and voila! When Heidi Staples from Fabric Mutt gave me this amazing book…I am going to be honest… I couldn’t take it down. As the name of this books states Sew Organized For the Busy Girl, I was excited and super happy that someone had created a book about this issue….yes trying to be organized when you are busy is super hard and therefore becomes an issue! Lol

Imagine when your to-do list for today takes up more than one page and you are trying to perfect the art of multitasking.  Heidi wrote this book because she understands the busy life, as she states in her book, she wants this book to be a like your personal assistant and comfortable old friend and it will give you a chance that sew more often!

I just have to say, this book is amazing! It will teach you from creating a space that works for you to how to fit sewing into your busy schedule and even projects for time a travel. While reading this book, I found the steps provided very helpful, for example, while creating a space that works for you, you’ll have to discover your workspace personality. Figure out what you need to organize your sewing space. Also, find storage solutions that fit your space, not every adorable storage that you will find in Ikea or Michael’s will work with your sewing space and Heidi explains you even more. In my case, I have so many fabrics laying in my sewing room that sometimes I don’t even know where they are. So according to Heidi, be prepare with project bags and this has helped me when I want to sew something quick and easy. I already have bags with all the materials needed for said projects…Amazing! 

A couple of weeks back, I had to do a remodeling in my home office and sewing studio, and this book helped me tremendously. Now I have everything more organized and ready to sew. This was a massive help due to the fact that International Quilt Market is just around the corner!

Everyone! If you love sewing and don’t have time to sew as much, make sure to get your hands on this amazing book!! It helped me a lot and will help you as well!

Thanks Heidi for this incredible book!

Pat B

Book Review-By the Block

Hello everyone, 

Oh the #QuiltMarketPrep is getting to me, so many ideas and so little time,but you know what, I love it! Doing what you love is truly rewarding, specially when you see your ideas come to life.  I'm leaving in a couple of days and I'm super excited to see everyone there. Quilt Market is truly and rewarding experience, it is there where I see face to face the people reaction' when looking at my collections, the feeling is mesmerizing. Even though I am a bit busy, I still manage to have time to read and after reading Sew Organized (check my last book review) I was hungry for a project that was fast and not so time consuming. As a very busy person and eager to be constantly creaing, this book was heaven sent! By TheBlock by Siobhan Rogers is the perfect book when wanting to create big projects in less time. Siobhan is a quilt teacher that realized that her students want to create massive and stunning quilts that look intricate but are actually very simple to create.  Even though, these students have a very busy life style, they still are enthusiastic to create quilts……raising my hand over here.

By The Block features eighteen different quilt patterns based on repeated blocks or units. It is also organized by theme….how cool is that?....such as construction method, type of block and much more. All of these are traditional quilting techniques given a modern twist. What I love more about this book is that all the patterns are versatile. Each pattern list a quilt and block size, so the reader can use the design that will fit their needs! Siobhan also includes general saving time hints in all her patterns, now that’s amazing! This book is also for those that are starving for ideas and delighted to have easy to follow instructions that will exactly tell them what materials to purchase and how many squares to cut. Siobhan states in her book, that she taught everyone from young medical students to retired grandmothers, all which share one same goal- they want simple quilts that are effective.

This book is like tacking a class with Siobhan, minus the students. All her patterns are perfectly executed and easy to follow and complete.  She will teach you the basic quilting techniques and tools such as choosing fabric, color tips, pattern and scale, preparing and cutting your fabric, piecing techniques, log cabin piecing and much more!

Thank you so much Siobhan for giving me eighteen surprisingly simple quilts!  

xoxo,

Pat B. 

Book Review: Modern Designs For Classic Quilts

Hello lovelies,

I love and enjoy reading tons, this is one of my many passions; especially if is an interesting and inspirational book! In this case I HAVE to share with you this wonderful book from Kelly Biscopink and Andrea Johnson, MODERN DESIGNS FOR CLASSIC QUILTS. 

I "met" Andie in social media long time ago; funny, right? There's nothing more delightful to admire quilters that share her passion and enthusiasm in each quilt they make; and I've admired Andie's talents for a long time! We met in person some time ago, and she told me was finishing her first book. I couldn't wait to see it, I knew it was going to be good. After printed, she sent me a copy and I promised I would read it and share it on my blog. I have to confess this was looong time ago; thank you Andie for being so patient... I feel very ashamed of myself!

Her co-author Kelly is her friend and I had the joy of meeting her at a past Quilt Market. 

These wonderful women are very committed to become great quilters and they cleverly used and love Double Wedding Ring, a classic 9-Patch, or a Drunkard’s Path blocks. But they also cater to modern quilters using unmatched seams, negative spacing, improvisational piecing and atypical color paring defining the aesthetics of a movement interested in freedom from the rules of quilting than being bound by them.

Hence the name, in this book modern meets traditional.  Kelly and Andrea book is assembled around mixing elements from the traditional and modern communities that are as representative of our past as they are indicative of our quilting futures.

I love how they mix past and future! Each project is more interesting and grows in well thought color stories and layouts that sing! I'm also happy to say they have used some of my fabrics in their quilts.   

Using a block technique based on a string quilt, Andi created a magnificent Spider Web Quilt which she included pieces of Twilight Pound from my Paradise collection among others.  If you have some scrap fabrics that you just can’t stop thinking about where to use them, get ready to start sewing Andi’s awesome quilt!

You are going to love exploring this creative book and don’t forget to follow Kelly and Andie’s blog for more amazing tutorials. They are so good!   

Hope you get your copy to start quilting right away, xo

Book Review: A Quilter's Mixology

Hi Lovelies!

I am very delighted to share with you my dearest friend Angela Pingel’s new amazing book “A Quilter’s Mixology”. Her new book is filled with 16 beautiful projects using the Drunkard’s Path Block.

Angela will show you how this block can be assembled in different patterns that look different in every combination. As a die hard fan of piecing blocks with curved seams, it took no time to ask Angela if I could get a copy to review it and share thoughts my with you. I was absolutely delighted when I started going through all her projects featured in “A Quilter’s Mixology”.  Angela has a unique design aesthetic and cohesive approach on creating projects that will satisfy today’s sewers. I know Angela as a modern quilter so it is amazing how she uses this traditional block to reflect a more deconstructed, simple but elegant look!

She takes a straightforward and modern approach and her instructions are very easy to follow! To fulfill her innovative ideas and complete a fabulous project, she features AGF’s Oval Elements fabrics [Green Apple, Blue Lagoon, Saffron, Tangerine Tango, Mood Indigo and Cappuccino designs] in the most creative way possible....as paint slipping down the walls! 

If you are afraid of curved seams, think twice and see how easy she makes it… I definitely recommend this book to all of you quilt lovers, you will absolutely love it! Thanks Angela, can’t wait to start sewing some of your gorgeous projects! For more innovative ideas, please follow Angela's lovely blog!

Xoxo