Smashing Sets: Exciting Ways to Arrange Quilt Blocks [Paperback]

Margaret Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

Hundreds of ideas for combining unexpected designs, easy piecing, and fabric savvy.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Once you've put lots of time and effort into piecing traditional quilt blocks, you can assemble them in the traditional way--or you can take a more adventurous approach for a change of pace. Margaret J. Miller's Smashing Sets: Exciting Ways to Arrange Quilt Blocks offers lovely color photos of about three dozen innovative quilts, derived from an assortment of conventional blocks. But that's where tradition gets left behind: accented with unexpected fabrics and assembled in surprising arrangements, these blocks come together in exciting quilts. The complex designs belie the fact that they are relatively easy to assemble, because they all employ only straight-line piecing. Good directions and extensive diagrams explain the piecing process and demystify template-making. Gridded drawings of 16 of the book's featured quilts, accompanied by design and piecing notes, allow readers to re-create some of Miller's imaginative designs, and her advice on fabric choices, design principles, and pattern variations helps quilters to develop their own "smashing sets." --Amy Handy

About the Author

Margaret J. Miller, the author of Easy Pieces and other quiltmaking books, lives near Seattle, in Woodinville, Washington.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: C&T Publishing (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571201106
• ISBN-13: 978-1571201102
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,041,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended by the Accidental Quilter, March 3, 2001

By 

Mary Z. Cox (Tallahassee, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Smashing Sets: Exciting Ways to Arrange Quilt Blocks (Paperback)

I've got lots of quilting books, but not many that offer innovative settings for the sampler square collections that I'm beginning to acquire. This book is for me. Layouts for sixteen quilts and all of them use straight line piecing. There are full color photos and advice on fabric choices. Best of all there are sample layouts to play with. I've always liked Margaret Miller's approach of playing with design by breaking a block down to a couple basic shapes and playing with it. I'm glad that she's extended this method to quilt settings.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Innovative but Static, June 5, 2002

By 

D. Faylor "opera fan" (Washington State, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smashing Sets: Exciting Ways to Arrange Quilt Blocks (Paperback)

The premise of this book, setting traditional blocks in innovative and creative ways, was what drew me to it. I was quickly disappointed to discover, however, that really what you get is one innovative setting idea. The instructions provided are good, however there is little here to inspire.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the basics, October 14, 2001

By 

L. Carey "quiltnstitch" (Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smashing Sets: Exciting Ways to Arrange Quilt Blocks (Paperback)

This book is not for beginners, but more for those of us that have a lot of unused quilt blocks sitting around. It is also good for the experienced quilter that is board and wants a new twist to making quilt tops.