Sarah Fielke

This is a beautiful, glossy odyssey through quilting that is ostensibly about how to make the quilts that the authors present, but really is about the journey from inspiration to artwork. Yes, the majority of the text is pattern/procedure, but the real heart of the book is the tiny paragraphs at the beginning of each section and pattern.

Apart from the obligatory 'how patchwork and quilting works' section, the book presents pairs of quilts made independently by Doughty and Fielke from show more combined inspirations. These inspirations include a collection of related fabrics, a vintage quilt pattern, and a specific block pattern.

As an enjoyment/exultation of quilting, it is a fabulous book, and I greatly enjoyed reading through it. As a source of inspiration and patterns, I think it has failed for me. I've bookmarked four pages, but three of them appear to be about specific techniques that I will probably use in different contexts. The final one is about the assembly of a small section of one of the quilts, and there is a distinct possibility that I will extract out just that section and experiment with it, and completely ignore the applique that goes with it. Although I'm planning on putting it on the crafting shelf with the rest of the patchwork books, I predict that it will be read as a comfort book for looking at the pretty pictures, and as motivation to get out there and find something I want to make when I run short of inspiration, and that I won't ever take one of the patterns and attempt to recreate it. show less

This is a beautiful book that has a deceiving title. I bought the book because of it but there is very little reference to hand quilting or even quilting using your own sewing machine in it. In fact, on page 139 Fielke recommends using "a professional quilting service for a couple of good reasons". Hogwash. Out of the 16 projects in the book, only 3 or 4 of them were hand quilted and the rest were machine quilted. None of the ones that were hand quilted have more than one sentence of show more explanation of how she quilted them. Simply "Quilted With Love" would have been a more accurate title. This book is basically 16 lovely quilt top patterns intended to be pieced on your home sewing machine, then sent out to a quilting service to be quilted. The photographs are lovely and the colors are cheerful. show less

A beautiful book that inspires one to sew and sew often! Quilt projects are divided by difficulty levels and include patterns and notes for all projects. Much of a quilt is the color scheme and the author has a great 'eye' for color layout. Unfortunately that subject is not covered in the book, but the 23 quilts included will definitely lift your spirits if not your mind/creativity in designing your next quilting project!
There is a book two - heard it is just as wonderful as this one.

Notice that I didn't wait too long to order book two! -Just as inspirational as the first. The authors take a 'single' idea and each designs a quilt from it. The diversity is incredible. Not sure I will every do half the quilts, but on a cloudy, gloomy day the photos of the colorful quilts definitely can brighten your day!