material obsession

Here's my first Park Avenue Sweat Shop book review. It will take a lot for me to actually buy a book-- I'm a giant library champion, and when it comes to craft books, I'd rather spend my money on fabric or fun tools. So this book, Material Obsession: Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke, came to me from my local library. I think that quilt books *can* be judged (at least a little) by the cover. And I like this cover, a lot. There are 23 (!) different quilt projects inside, arranged from very easy to advanced, and I like that they put the obligatory "quilting basics" section in the back-- having the basics covered, I like to get right to the good stuff.

The fabric combinations are really refreshing-- one of my pet peeves is seeing quilt books showing quilts done in all one line. Of course those look great, when they were designed to go together. Seeing fabrics from all over come together and mingle is much more special-- to me, at least.

Just about all of these are hand-quilted, and some have applique that looks kind of optional (on some blocks, but not all) which is also inspiring to maybe try.

My favorites: Retro Starburst (easy); Out the Window (intermediate); Fanciful Flowers (advanced) and Dotty for Dresden (advanced, and also the gorgeous quilt on the cover).