Customer Reviews

Nickel Quilts: Great Designs from 5 Inch Scraps

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you are like me, you have fabric pieces of all sizes, from tiny scraps to major yardage, stashed on shelves and in boxes and drawers all over your house. This book is perfect for people like us. The quilts are beautiful and surprisingly simple to construct, for the most part. The authors devote the first part of the book to a series of techniques for converting 5" squares into checkerboard blocks, half-square triangle blocks, quarter-square triangle blocks, and "picket fences" as efficiently as possible. These directions are very complete and well explained. They also suggest buying a little extra fabric each time you shop, and ctting off a five-inch strip right away. Plus they give great instructions on how to hold a 5-inch square swap, including how to keep track of everybody's contributions.

Then, in the second part, they give directions for a series of quilts from very easy to a little more complicated (though none of them are actually difficult). Even the easiest quilts are surprisingly complex-looking, and all of them are designed to be made in three sizes. The color scheme of most of the quilts shown is medium-to-dark traditional prints on cream, but there is no reason not to choose a completely different scheme. (I am thinking about oversize splashy prints on a black-and-white background for one of the simpler quilts, for example, or bright plaids on batik.) Now all I have to do is start cutting...

This is a wonderful book. I bought it because I had previously bought a stash of 5" squares and thought this would give me some ideas for using them. The ideas in this book go well beyond that, though. By simply cutting your scraps into 5" squares, or cutting a couple of 5" squares when you use fabric for another purpose, you can develop a stash that can be easily used for these beautiful, easy quilts. I recently made a wall quilt from one of the patterns, and could not believe how easy it was. Not only that, but the technique for creating four-patch units produced perfectly matched seams, something I've had trouble with as a new quilter. As some of the other reviewers have mentioned, changing the color schemes used in the book gives an entirely different look for the quilts. The other thing I loved is the opportunity for easy creativity. By rotating some of the blocks, use of color, and designing my own border using their patchwork units, I made my quilt look entirely different from the example in the book (which was beautiful in itself). I can't wait to play around more with the ideas...I'm going to try making miniature quilts using these techniques...and using EQ5 (quilt design software) to play around with the different looks you can create by rotating the blocks. This book will keep me occupied for a long time...
12/5/2003: It's now over a year later and I am still making quilts from this book (along with others). Just completed one that I'm very happy with...it looks almost nothing like the example in the book that prompted the idea. My least favorite part of quilting is cutting out the pieces, and this book's techniques take a lot of the tedium out of that, leaving more time to play around with the design. I have other more beautiful books but have made more quilts out of this one than any other.

I love the techniques taught in this book. Simple for beginners and great for experienced quilter's alike. Have recommended it to several friends who are teacher's.

I'm addicted to this book! Nickel Quilts has MANY great designs for using 5 inch scraps, or cutting and designing your own quilts from scratch. I particularly like the Northern Lights quilt but the pinwheel and maple leaf quilts are beautiful to. This is a wonderful reference book! My quilting from this book has been very well recieved. I also like the author's choice of materials. Far less garish than most quilting books. Wonderful!

An absolutely wonderful book! What quilter doesn't have scraps laying around that they "are going to use one day"? This book shows many ways to use these scraps and the quilts are beauiful. A real bonus to have in your library.

I was a first time quilter and finished my first quilt in three weeks! I made the Millenium Star. The instructions were very easy to follow and the techniques made for quick assembly!!! A++++++ The BEST quilting book I've read yet!!!

All of these quilts are beautiful! You'll want to make each one. Most of the photos showcase traditional fabrics, but the designs can easily look contemporary with a different choice of fabrics. With all the many uses for 5 inch squares, you'll actually be able to tackle that stash!

I am new to quilting, so this book was a lifesaver. It explains great quilting shortcuts and provides designs for a variety of ability levels. I hope to start easy... and one day work up to advanced.

This is a must have book! And I would have to say that the second book More Nickle Quilts is just as good as the first. I have them both and love them! They have made me a scrap quilter over night. I was not a scrap quilter until these books.

I bought this, and made the quilt on the cover. While the pattern worked wonderfully, she said it was to be made by a beginner. Completely ridiculous. Each block took about an hour, and I am an experienced quilter. There are 29 squares in each block, you sew, then cut, then sew again, that's not a beginner level quilt. And the amount of fabric to cut for each square was also wrong. I have yards of cut fabric I didn't need. And I didn't check until I started my blocks, which was my own fault, but I looked at other patterns in here, and it was the same. Check on her sizes too. I have a king sized bed, and made her "double" quilt. It goes right to the floor. Lastly, it's really written only for you if you have five inch blocks. I really had to think hard how to make the cuts from fat quarters I had in any kind of sensible way. I think just a little section on how to do that would have helped the book a lot.

That said, I love the quilt. It's just the book was more a guide than I would have hoped.