Since I’m away at Quilt Market this weekend, I thought it would be fun to share a book review with you! This is a tiny taste of what it’s like to be at market: checking out the new books, meeting some of the authors, and getting inspired to come home and sew. 🙂

Urban and Amish: Classic Quilts and Modern Updates is written by Myra Harder and published by Martingale/That Patchwork Place. (Yes, I’m a little bit biased towards Martingale since they are my publisher, too, so expect to see me sharing more of their awesome quilting books!)

All images are courtesy of Martingale. The beautiful photography is by Brent Kane.

The premise of the book is that the author starts with 8 traditional Amish designs and reinterprets them into a modern urban aesthetic, resulting in a total of 16 designs you will love to make. Here is just a sampling:

Ocean Waves, 71 1/2″ x 71 1/2″ – the Amish Version

South Pacific, 88 1/2″ x 96 1/2″ – a Fresh Interpretation

In the two quilts above, I love how the block design is the same, yet the borders and choices of fabrics create a dramatically different result!

In the two quilts below, Myra has chosen to reinterpret one of the most traditional and beloved blocks into something a little more urban.

Amish Nine Patch, 54 1/2″ x 65 1/2″

Southern Comfort, 86″ x 107″

I think my favorite paring from the book is the classic trip around the world and a re-imagined trip to New York. The quilts are dramatically different, yet they share similar construction techniques.

Trip Around the World, 60 1/2″ x 72 1/2″

Trip to New York, 50 1/2″ x 71 1/2″

I think the possibilities with these quilts can go even further. I can just imagine making the “Amish” versions in print fabrics, and the “Urban” ones in more traditional colors. As with any Martingale book, Urban and Amish includes clear, concise directions with plenty of color diagrams to keep you organized.

Myra has even included a section about Amish vs. urban fabrics, plus snippets of inspiration for each quilt and a section on finishing in the back of the book. Urban and Amish runs a total of 80 pages and can be found on line from Amazon or Martingale, and hopefully at your favorite local quilt shop. Enjoy the eye candy!

I want to give a quick thanks to Amy Smart and Martingale for giving me a review copy of Fabulously Fast Quilts so I can tell you all about it. First – a quick background: I got to know Amy when I used to sponsor blogs to advertise my online store (before I decided to switch hats from store owner to pattern designer).

I love Amy’s blog style, the content she shares, and her genuinely friendly manner. I finally got to meet her in person at Sewing Summit last year and appreciate how down to earth and “real” she is!

All images courtesy of Martingale. Photography by Brent Kane.

When I found out Amy was writing a book, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it because I knew it would be chock full of quilty goodness! Let me tell you – it does not disappoint!

Fabulously Fast Quilts is an easily digestible 48 page book full of 12 fresh and fun patterns, all designed by Amy. The designs are simple, yet striking, and I can honestly say I would enjoy making each one!

Crossing Guard, shown above is my favorite design from the book. It’s very clean looking and modern. Plus it includes one of my favorite color combinations – green and yellow! I also really like the scrappy goodness of Fast Four Patch, shown below.

I love how Amy is able to add depth and dimension in a relatively low volume quilt, as shown in Floating Shoefly, below. That pop of orange really sparkles against all the scrappy neutrals, and the border treatment makes for a very effective design.

The number one thing I’ve been learning about what makes a successful pattern designer is being able to create effective, interesting combinations with enough contrast to really make the design pop. Amy has nailed that with her book!

Although it’s a quick read (yes, I do enjoy “reading” patterns, LOL!), there is enough introductory information in the book to get you started on making these fabulous quilts in a hurry. The book is divided up into four sections: Strip Piecing, Quick Corners, Slick Slicing, and Stack, Slice & Shuffle. Each section gives patterns for 3 different quilts showing you how to utilize each of these techniques.

Butterfly Effect, shown below, is an example of using Slick Slicing to make an exciting scrappy quilt. Just think of how you can plow through your stash with this one!

Throughout the book, Amy has included tips and tricks for quicker cutting, piecing, and assembly. She’s even included size options on several of the quilts, which is always nice to have. I appreciate well-written instructions with good illustrations and this book has plenty of those, too.

So be sure to pick up your copy of Fabulously Fast Quilts by Amy Smart. You’ll be glad you did!

I’m back with another fun book review today. I recently finished reading Natalia Bonner’s Beginner’s Guide to Free-Motion Quilting. I ordered it from Amazon a couple of months ago (yay free shipping!) and finally had some time this weekend to sit down and finish reading it!

First let me tell you something special about Natalia if you haven’t made it over to her blog Piece N Quilt yet. She’s an amazing long-arm quilter and she’s teaming up with some very smart organized people to put on the Small Town Quilt Show in Utah next June. I can’t wait!

But back to her book…  It includes over 50 different visual tutorials to get you started, like this one shown below:

It’s extremely helpful for me to know where to start and stop stitching and how to form the shapes whenever I tackle a new quilting design. The back of the book is filled with pages of quilting motifs that you can use to copy the design onto your quilt with a water soluble marker (and a light box).

They are also wonderful to trace around with a pen or pencil to get a feel for the movement of the design. Once you’ve done that a few times, you can try quilting these motifs without marking. I personally enjoy collecting a library of machine quilting designs to try!

After you read though all the excellent information on the basics of free-motion quilting, the book includes 6 quilt projects to try. Each has a little bit of a modern flair and 5 of the 6 quilts feature machine applique (another one of my passions).

Quilts from Beginner’s Guide to Free-Motion Quilting

The book also includes a few basics talking about batting, basting and some useful tools (which I recommend also). There are some helpful pictures on getting those pesky ending strips to line up while binding so that’s an added bonus. 🙂

No matter which type of machine someone quilts on, I get really excited when they encourage others to jump in and give it a try.

Click here to see my other reviews and start building up your quilting book library!