Customer Reviews

Quilting Pieces of the Past (Better Homes & Gardens)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Better Home and Gardens knows how to produce a high quality book. The binding is nice, the presentation clear, and the photos are pretty. So why am I rating this book 3 stars?

Nothing in this book really grabbed me and made me feel that I really wanted to attempt to recreate it. I mean, look at the cover. Someone clearly went through a lot of trouble to make that avocado-colored T-Square quilt. And frankly I think it would look pretty bad on a bed. It looks nice in the photo, because you can't see most of it. Which brings me down to my second beef with this book- how the quilts are photographed. If a quilt is intended for a bed, why does the photographer crumple it and drape it over a chair? How can I tell what it looks like when its hidden? And its not just one quilt, but most of the photos are like that. Irrititating. Also, not a big fan of appliqué....

So, as a book with nice photos of plain-looking quilts this book is fine. But as a book of future projects I found it to unhelpful. 3 stars.

I love this book! It is packed with projects and pretty photos - and the historical information is a fun way to deepen your understanding of the history of this art form.

I took this book out of my library and plan to buy it. I think it's inspiring; I love the quilts and they make me think about ways to vary them. I enjoy the historical information. The book is a bit sketchy in its' isntructions in places. If one is a rank beginner, it might be frustrating. I'm an "endless beginner"; have never mastered finer points of patchwork and quilting and probably never will. Technical quilt piecing wizardry has never interested me.

I love Kaffe Fassett's books and this book, to me, is almost an American version of what he does; nothing really tricky, but good use of simple forms and materials to create impressive and generally bold quilts.

I've been looking to expand my collection of quilting books and find the reviews interesting; I suggest taking them all with a grain of salt. Everyone has their own taste. One persons' boring quilt is another persons' masterpiece.

This book is full of traditional quilt patterns. It arranges patterns according to the date it was popular from 1830 to the present. I think anyone who loves traditional design quilts would love this book

What a GREAT book to have in my library. There are so many projects that I want to do from this publication. I really need more hours. The instructions as well as the colored pages and the content has been thoroughly studied by the publishers.
Thanks Better Homes & Gardens for a wonderful book.

best book I own on patchwork and quilting can't wait to own more better homes and gardens quilting books

This book is divided into five periods in American quilting history: 1830-1860, 1860-1890, 1890-1920, 1920-1950, and 1950 to the present. Each section includes historical information about quiltmaking at that time, small photos of historical quilts from private collections, and project quilts that reflect the defining characteristics of the period.

This book has several positive attributes. Although not extensively detailed, the quilting history information would be informative to the more general reader but probably not to the avid, well-read quilting enthusiast. The timeline of facts in American history included in each section is fluff. No offense to Better Homes and Gardens, but not even those of us who are Iowans care if the company's founder, E.T. Meredith, was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture during the 1920s.

The quilting projects are not for everyone. I prefer quilts that have historical blocks in repetitive designs with few colors and lots of white space between and within the blocks. This book presents numerous quilts that are simple, spare, elegant and beautiful. There are perhaps a dozen quilt projects that would qualify as two-color or nearly-two-color quilts. Beautiful examples include the criss-cross quilt, checkers and rails quilt, and Colorado block quilt. Most of the quilts are bed-sized quilts, with a fewl table-top and wall-hanging designs included. The focus of the book is strictly on quilts; no sham, valence, or pillow pattern accompanies any quilt.

The book is sturdy, includes full-size patterns, and offers detailed directions for quilt construction, including piecing diagrams. Directions for some quilts include both strip-piecing methods as well as traditional pattern-template methods. Each project quilt is well-photographed so the quilter can see what his/her quilt will actually look like when completed. Bound into the back of the book are large, perforated pattern sheets that include pattern pieces that could not be presented on the 8 1/2 by eleven pages of the book; be sure to ask the amazon seller if these sheets are still attached.

If you own other Better Homes and Gardens books of quilting projects you might find it helpful to check this book out of the library and determine if the patterns in this book are already in other books you own. I was surprised to see that the quilt, "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul", was identical, down to the photograph and directions, to the quilt of the same name in the book "Two-Color Quilts", also from Better Homes and Gardens. I don't like paying twice for the same information.

I would recommend this book to the newer quilter who has either taken classes or made at least one quilt. Because there are so many lovely, simple quilts in this book, the book will be in my collection for a long time.

Very interesting!! Have checked it out from the library several times and will now be purchasing it for my own collection.

The book arrived on the day promissed. The condition of the book was far better than described; it looked new. I am very pleased and highly recommend the vendor.