Wise Craft Quilts

Infuse your quilts with love--how to add your personal story and more meaning to your handmade quilts. In Wise Craft Quilts, celebrated quilt designer and crafter Blair Stocker shares ways to use cherished fabrics to make quilts with more meaning. Each of the twenty-one quilts featured here gathers a special collection of fabric, outlines a new technique, and spins a story. By using special fabrics as the starting point for each project—from a wedding dress to baby’s first clothes, worn denim, Tyvek race numbers, and more—the finished quilt is made even more special. Create quilts that have a story to tell and you’ll find a whole new level of appreciation for what they represent in your life and the lives of the ones you love.

Crisp, calm, and captivating--experience the magic of blue & white! From the editors of the best seller Red & White Quilts comes a fresh take on another timeless color combination. Thirteen dreamy quilts from famed designers and collectors include a mix of exciting new designs and sentimental favorites, and three antique treasures to remake using today's fabrics and techniques. From traditional Nine Patch and Album quilts to the pinnacle of patchwork, Tree of Life, enjoy spectacular blue & white quilts from: Lissa Alexander . Lisa Bongean . Julie Hendricksen . Sherri McConnell . Camille Roskelley . Laurie Simpson . Helen Stubbings . Debbie Roberts . Jill Shaulis . Nancy Mahoney . Paula Barnes and Mary Ellen Robison You'll be captivated by the creations that come from this humble two-color palette, as quilters have been for generations. It's an eternal classic that never goes out of style.

From two pioneers of today's modern quilting movement, Quilting Modern teaches quilters how to use improvisational techniques to make graphic, contemporary quilts and quilted projects. Explore seven core techniques and multiple projects using each technique--all presented with detailed instructions. Also included is step-by-step direction from Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen on tools, materials, and quilting basics, as well as expert advice on color and design. New and seasoned quilting artists will love making stunning bed, wall hanging, pillowcase, and table accessory quilts with this must-have resource. Quilting Modern is a field guide for quilters who strive to break free from tradition and yearn to explore improvisational work. Quilters can make the 21 projects in the book, but will also come away with the new knowledge and skills to apply to their own unique designs. In Quilting Modern, quilters will find the support, structure, and encouragement they need to explore their own creativity and artistic vision.

If you love working with precuts, you'll love these creative designs from Scott A. Flanagan. He has created eight stunning quilts using precut 2 1/2”-wide strips along with a bonus mini quilt for each quilt made from 5” charm squares. Choose the size you want to make—or make both. Find hours offun sewing within these pages. Start with your favorite pack of precut strips or squares and start sewing!

The 15 simple, striking projects in Handmade Style

Sew fifteen inspired designs with strong lines and quilted curves! Laced with retro-inspired circles and bold stripes, these modern quilts leave an unforgettable impression. Piecing circles, half circles, and quarter circles is easier than you think, and the authors will teach you to add movement and depth two ways—through easy strip sets or stripe-printed fabric. These aren’t your typical Drunkard’s Path quilts, but distinctive quilts for adventurous quilters! With block-based patterns, some improvisational piecing, and designs ranging from beginner-friendly to complex, there’s something for everyone. Move beyond common circle-quilt designs to tackle curved piecing with ease Add stripes to curved piecing and use color to add depth for a simple way to make complex quilts Piece block-based layouts and improv designs ranging from simple to advanced

An exciting new approach for beginning to advanced quilters who want to improvise on their own, with a friend, or with a community of fellow makers. Forget step-by-step instructions and copycat designs. In The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, Sherri Lynn Wood presents a flexible approach to quilting that breaks free of old paradigms. Instead of traditional instructions, she presents 10 frameworks (or scores) that create a guiding, but not limiting, structure. To help quilters gain confidence, Wood also offers detailed lessons for stitching techniques key to improvisation, design and spontaneity exercises, and lessons on color. Every quilt made from one of Wood’s scores will have common threads, but each one will look different because it reflects the maker’s unique interpretation. Featured throughout the book are Wood’s own quilts and a gallery of contributor works chosen from among the hundreds submitted when she invited volunteers to test her scores during the making of this groundbreaking work. “Wood offers a series of techniques, guidelines and lessons on color choice for those ready to explore improvisational quilting. Her book is loaded with full-color photos and examples to inspire.” —Dallas Morning News “Despite how it may “seam,” quilting isn’t all about rules! Quilting can be an exhilarating way to channel your creativity and express yourself. This book is focused more on exploration than explanation—a perfect mindset for beginners!” —Powell’s Books Staff Pick

Quilting has existed for thousands of years, spanning the globe, practiced by women as well as men, and bringing together communities and generations. F is for Friendship: A Quilt Alphabet examines the subject of quilting, as an art form as well as an item of utility, tracing its early history from a cave in Mongolia to patchwork bedcoverings transported in overland wagon trains to present-day exhibits at renowned museums. Topics include patterns, inventions, and fabric choices, as well as quilts as vehicles of American history. Helen L. Wilbur also authored Lily's Victory Garden and Z is for Zeus: A Greek Mythology Alphabet. A former librarian who now works on the electronic side of the publishing world, she lives in New York City. Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen has illustrated more than 20 books with Sleeping Bear Press, including the best-selling The Legend of Sleeping Bear and The Edmund Fitzgerald: Song of the Bell. He and his wife, Robbyn, live in Bath, Michigan.