Disclosure: I received a copy of the book "Quilting Happiness" for review. All opinions below are strictly my own. All photos used with permission.
Fair warning. Before I commence this book review, I'm alerting you to the fact that this review might well be unintentionally slanted. That's because I am personally acquainted with one of its authors. I have tried my best to be impartial. But it was tricky under the circumstances. So you be the judge, ok?
Under the microscope today is a brand-new book called "Quilting Happiness". Written by Christina Lane and Diane Gilleland and published by Potter Craft, it is a book of "projects, inspiration and ideas to make quilting more joyful".
Sounds promising, eh?
This book has two distinct facets to it: the Quilting part and the Happiness part.
First, the Quilting part. Like most quilting books, "Quilting Happiness" has an array of projects that quilters can make, including several quilts and smaller projects. Each project comes complete with cutting, piecing, and quilting instructions, and includes two handy lists. The first list, "Christina's Tips", serves to simplify the project; the second list, "Quilting Ideas", suggests a few quilting alternatives. Cool!
I love quilts, as you know. If I were to pick a favourite from this book, it would have to be the very cozy-looking, hand-quilted and scrappy, Plus You Quilt pictured above.
The Quilter's Tote Bag, below, is one of the small projects I could see myself trying from the book's pages. Pretty and useful, I could imagine doing it in random scraps or a completely different set of solids. I noticed in "Christina's Tips" a suggestion to use a tool I haven't tried before too. I like this sort of information. It opens the mind to what's out there.
And then comes the second facet of the book: the Happiness part. This part is what makes the book different from most. Sprinkled amongst the projects, hither and thither, are various "happiness-related goodies". These range from "creative exercises... inspiring stories... and practices to increase your enjoyment of quilting".
For example, one of the first exercises is creating a collage to help you define your quilting style. As part of this task, the authors pose a number of questions to help you "tease out" your style from within the collage's composition. In this age of too-much-information, it's easy to become overwhelmed with the quilty possibilities only to be left perplexed as to what you like or what your style might be. If an exercise like this results in a little clarity, it's probably worth a shot, eh?
Other thoughtful happiness bits include the block of quotes below the title of each project. These are not famous quotations, but friendly words from Christina and Diane themselves about the project in question. Another is the personal story such as that shared by avid quilters Kay Bailey and Rachel Hauser. And one very interesting aspect of this book (which I've linked to many many times in this review), is the website Quilting Happiness." As well as a ton more info about the book, you'll find other goodies there including, but not limited to: bits that were edited from the book, freebie patterns, the ability to purchase the digital version of the book, etc... Do check it!
So that, in my view, is what "Quilting Happiness" is all about.
Okay... To the GIVEAWAY!
It just so happens that I have an extra copy of the book. And it just so happens that I'm willing to give it away. For a price of course: ONE COMMENT! Leave your comment below and make darn sure I can reach you via email, okeedokey? Beauty.
I'll announce the randomly-chosen winner on Friday, September 27th. Best of luck to you!
♥M
