Someone wanted to know about my favorite quilt books. I was brain dead that day and could not tell her the titles. I am getting quite old and forgetful, although, how I can forget Freddy Moran is beyond me. She is the most colorful person I never met!
Anyway,
Quilting and Color Made Easy, by Susan McKelvey and Janet Wickell, published by Rodale, Inc. is my first favorite book on quilting. It has the most overall coverage of techniques for quilting. It discusses batting, fabrics, everything you need to know about color. It is easy to understand, it is a thorough but not huge book. It is to the point and I have read it completely through once and revisited it a lot. The photos are informative and colorful, it covers different forms of applique, whether to use a steam or dry iron, and the list goes on. It has a fabulous index. Any book with a good size index has got to be good!
My other most favorite quilting book is not of the technical kind, but the creative kind. It is called
Collaborative Quilting, by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston, published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. I love it for all the wild inspiration and beautiful quilts. I like how they are each introduced separately; showing their different styles. I like the idea of a "Parts Department", because it turns out that I have one! It tells you how to make all the different blocks, and they are Liberated Blocks! I really like that! There is an entire section showing the quilts they have made, and what blocks you make to construct a similar quilt. Freddy Moran's color theory is: 10 prints don't work, but 100 do, excess is never enough, pure color works, and black and white makes it alright. It is an awesome idea book, for quilters who love to mix it up, or need permission to do so.
