I’m pretty new to patchwork and quilting – I’ve been dabbling with it for around 18 months now, and am very keen to develop my skills. So when New Holland Publishers offered me the chance of reviewing Love…Quilting I jumped at the chance. It’s taken me a while to get round to writing it though, because I wanted to have a go at making one of the 18 projects listed in the book, so I could give a proper opinion of the project instructions.
Most of the projects are for fairly large items – the majority are quilts or throws , so I decided to make a mini version of a throw called Spring Fever by Marion Patterson (& here it is – I’ve used fabrics from La Petit Ecole collection from French General). 
I picked this one because I had the fabric available, and because it looked fairly complicated! A good test I thought…. And I was really impressed by the clear instructions, backed up with lots of colour-coded diagrams so that the complicated piecing was very straightforward. It’s well written and covers everything you need to know to complete the quilt. The other projects look to be equally well explained.
The photography in the book is lovely, with a good mix of fabrics chosen to make the projects. Each quilt is illustrated with 4 different colourways showing how changing the styles and designs of the fabric used can have a huge effect on the look of the finished article. I think this is really helpful – especially for people who are not confident or well-practised with how to combine colours and patterns. A couple of projects that I was a bit doubtful about at first suddenly started to grow on me when I saw them in different fabrics.
Some projects from Love...Quilting
A wide variety of quilting techniques are covered, both modern and traditional, and there’s also good introductory information about the basics of patchwork and quilting. This isn’t a book for a total beginner though, because sometimes a bit of background knowledge is required. For example, the Spring Fever throw suggests that you use a Jelly Roll, but there’s no mention of what a Jelly Roll actually is (here’s an explanation if it’s new to you). Of course, you’d soon be able to find out, but it might put off the complete newbie to the complicated world of quilting jargon. However, that’s on a par with a lot of quilting books out there, so don’t let this put you off.
Actually this is an ideal book for someone like me, who isn’t a *total* novice, but would feel a bit panicky if faced with anything too complicated. Most importantly, the projects are all very attractive and do-able. I particularly like the Fan Quilt designed by Sally Ablett (made with gorgeous reproduction 1930s fabrics), a lovely traditional star-pattered quillow (a quilt that can be folded into a cushion – this would be so useful on summer camping trips) by Sue Warren, the Portuguese Strippy by Marion Patterson (pictured top middle), and the very funky charm square bag (pictured bottom left), by Sue Warren, which I’m really looking forward to trying. All in all I think this is a great book for someone who is just starting to build up a library of quilting and patchwork project books, and I’d highly recommend it.
Thanks again to New Holland Publishers for sending it to me for review.
