Customer Reviews

Karen K. Stone Quilts

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book 2 weeks ago and I cannot stop paging through it. Ms. Stone's amazing sense of color and design are awe-inspiring. The directions are clear, the photographs georgous, and there is a pullout of all of the paper-piecing templates for easier photocopying (I hate it when you have to take your nice expensive book and destroy the binding while trying to get it to lie flat on a photocopier.)

These quilts are not for the faint of heart, as most include very sharp point and/or curves, but even a beginning quilter will be inspired by her reinventions of traditional blocks, and her designs for highly original new ones.

While it's true that this book is not for the faint of heart, please don't write it off just because the quilts are a little scary. If you have any experience with foundation piecing, you'll find that all of those sharp points aren't just manageable, they're actually - dare I say it - EASY. Because you're sewing through paper on clearly marked lines, you don't have to worry about perfect cutting and perfect 1/4" seams. The foundations do the work for you. The more difficult part is the curves, and even that can be managed with a little practice.

I just took a class with Ms. Stone, and I watched her complete a block in about 15 minutes. It was the most basic of the New York Beauty blocks, but it still included 5 spires and three curved seams. I don't expect to be able to do the same any time soon, but I have confidence that with a little practice I'll be on my way to completing a New York Beauty quilt.

Fabric selection is as much a part of these quilts as the piecing of the blocks. She explains how she goes about selecting the dozens of fabrics she puts in her quilts, and the logic behind their placement. It makes sense, whether you're doing a New York Beauty or any scrappy quilt.

I highly recommend this book, both for the patterns and for the color suggestions.

Karen Stone's quilts take foundation piecing to the utmost. I've seen quilts in other books on her patterns which made me want to see her own work; definitely inspiring.

The book contains patterns for 11 quilts. The one on the cover, Cinqo de Mayo, is by far the most complicated, and is a stylistic extension of her Lady Liberty, also included. Mostly pieced, some applique.

The book contains an interesting interview with the author about how she manages her fabric selection and block construction. She's of the "100 fabrics make a better quilt than 10" school, and she moves her colors around the block parts in a seemingly random but actually controlled fashion, which she explains clearly in the book.

Pretty pictures, astounding stash; vibrant colors that are a step muted compared to Moran & Marston.

4 stars for the fact that if you're not actually going to make one of these exact quilts, it's a good book to look at but maybe not own.

No instructions come with this book. If you know what you are doing for example from doing a 'New York Beauty' then you will be on the right path. If not, making these squares will be a long difficult process. Lots of wasted material, frustration and ripping along the way. Better to take a class along with the book if you are not an experienced sewer. Hope this helps. Beautiful pictures and inspiration!

This author/designer presents several designs that will challenge your paper piecing skills. Using scrap fabric and fat quarters. I'm two-thirds through piecing Cinco de Mayo and loving it. I've only been quilting a little over a year so don't let the the design complexity scare new quilter. This has turned into great fun.

This is a wonderful book. Hopefully it will inspire me to do some paper-piecing again. Absolutely love the Cinco de Mayo pattern. Batiks are sooo awesome.

Those who know Karen Stone, know her quilt designs are full of colors, colors and more colors, yet still cohesive. Don't let the apparent complexity of the designs scare you. Not only do you get pattern instructions, but Ms. Stone gives wonderful instructions on how to chose your colors and coordinate them. I've been a quilter for over twenty years, yet still found this part of her book to be full of new information for me. For those of you who don't know Karen Stone, be aware that much of her patterns are foundation pieced (sometimes referred to as "paper piecing", not to be confused with the English method of paper piecing), so you have to have knowledge of this technique. It's not difficult, and it's this technique that gives you those perfect sharp points! (All the paper foundations are included.) All in all, this is an amazing book - fantastic quilt designs; detailed, easy to follow instructions; great illustrations.

I love, love, love this book! It's been on my wish list for a long time, waiting for me to justify the price, but now that I have it I wish I'd splurged years ago, as it is worth every penny and more. I have spent hours paging through, drooling over the photos, and dreaming of what I might do with these patterns (er, just as soon as I finish up a few things in the UFO pile).

My husband, who is no more attuned to the finer points of quilting and interior decor than most guys, grabbed this from the kitchen table and sat down with it, saying, "Wow. Why don't you make something like this for our house?"

It's unlikely I will follow any of these patterns exactly, as I buy quilting books for inspiration rather than specific patterns, but based on these patterns I have begun to plan something spectacular for the front hall. Probably it will be years before it's done, at the rate I finish things (um, that UFO pile?). However, I expect to enjoy many more pleasant hours indulging in the pages of this book throughout that time. Even if I never get around to making anything from it, it will remain among my fave quilt books forever.

Everything about this book is terrific: not just the quilts themselves, but the photography, layout, discussion, and instructions are all very well done. Excellent.

If you love paper-piecing and lots of color, this book will not let you down!

Excellent book. Bought to take a class. Didn't need the class other than encouragement and creative inspiration. Book is step by step and even describes how to get creative with pattern changes. Most patterns are already 100% so no inconvenient copy machine blunders trying to blow up patterns. Highly recommend.