Marianne Fons

Four stars for its historical context regarding quilt history. Quilts owned by the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan are held up as examples in this history, and some patterns are provided. Will I actually make one of the quilts from one of the patterns in this book? Probably not, but this is a keeper.

This is one of the best I've seen to learn how to make traditional pieced or appliqued quilts. Fons and Porter cover tools and supplies, basic piecing methods, drafting blocks, using a rotary cutter, settings and borders, and both hand and machine quilting. Their directions are clear and easy to follow, and there are abundant pictures to illustrate the techniques they present. All along the way there are small projects for the reader to complete to practice each new skill.

My copy is falling show more apart because I've referred back to it so often over the years. show less

Not all to my taste, but several of the patterns are ones that I'd try. I'm not a fan of the "country" color schemes of the fabrics they tended to select, but some of the patterns would really pop in the right contemporary fabrics.

This is a nice collection of quilt patterns collected from Fons and Porter's magazine, Love of Quilting. Fons and Porter have clear, easy to follow directions and plenty of advice for making each block. Many of the quilts shown in the book are made with reproduction fabrics, but you can, of course, substitute your own fabric choices for theirs. I've seen some stunning quilts using old quilt patterns but made with contemporary fabrics.