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The Quilt Library
Oct. 7th, 2019 08:53 pmI have another thirty five or so quilt books from the dime cart, and a problem on my hands. Quilt books tend to be very thin - ranging from magazine width and staple-bound to a centimeter wide and floppy, with the odd hardcover outlier. I have well over a hundred of them now, and I can't find a damn thing I'm looking for. I have had to institute several more sections.
History: analysis of historical quilts or regional trends such as Baltimore Albums or those goofy centennial eagle appliqués I love
Pretty to Look At: I will never in a million years make these masterpieces but they're nice to look at, just like it's nice to look at pictures of fancy baked goods I won't be making.
Quilting: technically all quilts are quilted, but these books focus on the actual technique of quilting (which is stitching the layers of front, back, and fluff together) not just the patchwork or appliqué of assembling the quilt top. It's fascinating how much of an effect quilting has on the final look!
Patchwork: putting multiple pieces of fabric together to make a patterned quilt top. Also known as piecing. The more common variety of quilt, especially in the US. (The others are wholecloth and appliqué.)
Appliqué: putting little pieces of cloth on top of a bigger piece of cloth to make a patterned quilt top.
Traditional: these are the old pieced or appliqué quilt blocks with the individual names - log cabin, drunkard's path, hither and yon, Rose of Sharon, Irish chain, bear's paw, that sort of thing. I love those things. It feels like a secret code, and I'm always thrilled to uncover a new name.
Stained Glass: a style of quiltmaking where the final effect looks like a stained glass window. Very cool if you can pull it off. You can do it with appliqué or patchwork, depending on how angular you want it to look. I have not yet made one, but I live in hope.
Scrappy: quilts designed to take advantage of a lot of small amounts of different fabrics, instead of the more usual designs that require large cuts of just a few different fabrics. The trick is, you do actually need a large variety of fabrics to make these look good.
Paper Piecing: a variety of patchwork in which the fabric is sewn directly to a pattern printed on paper (well, the American version, anyway. English is different.) Not as complicated as it looks, and very good at making novelty designs.
Dolls & Toys: I have a few excellent rag doll books I paid good money for, and a few miscellaneous stuffed animal and doll books I got off the dime cart.
Misc.: home decor, woodworking, cross stitch, garment sewing, and other crafty enterprises.
Anyway, with more sections and a lot of post-its, I have a decent shot at remembering what's where. I have made a small pile of the dime cart quilt books I don't want to keep, and I'm going to give them away at the guild meeting tomorrow.
History: analysis of historical quilts or regional trends such as Baltimore Albums or those goofy centennial eagle appliqués I love
Pretty to Look At: I will never in a million years make these masterpieces but they're nice to look at, just like it's nice to look at pictures of fancy baked goods I won't be making.
Quilting: technically all quilts are quilted, but these books focus on the actual technique of quilting (which is stitching the layers of front, back, and fluff together) not just the patchwork or appliqué of assembling the quilt top. It's fascinating how much of an effect quilting has on the final look!
Patchwork: putting multiple pieces of fabric together to make a patterned quilt top. Also known as piecing. The more common variety of quilt, especially in the US. (The others are wholecloth and appliqué.)
Appliqué: putting little pieces of cloth on top of a bigger piece of cloth to make a patterned quilt top.
Traditional: these are the old pieced or appliqué quilt blocks with the individual names - log cabin, drunkard's path, hither and yon, Rose of Sharon, Irish chain, bear's paw, that sort of thing. I love those things. It feels like a secret code, and I'm always thrilled to uncover a new name.
Stained Glass: a style of quiltmaking where the final effect looks like a stained glass window. Very cool if you can pull it off. You can do it with appliqué or patchwork, depending on how angular you want it to look. I have not yet made one, but I live in hope.
Scrappy: quilts designed to take advantage of a lot of small amounts of different fabrics, instead of the more usual designs that require large cuts of just a few different fabrics. The trick is, you do actually need a large variety of fabrics to make these look good.
Paper Piecing: a variety of patchwork in which the fabric is sewn directly to a pattern printed on paper (well, the American version, anyway. English is different.) Not as complicated as it looks, and very good at making novelty designs.
Dolls & Toys: I have a few excellent rag doll books I paid good money for, and a few miscellaneous stuffed animal and doll books I got off the dime cart.
Misc.: home decor, woodworking, cross stitch, garment sewing, and other crafty enterprises.
Anyway, with more sections and a lot of post-its, I have a decent shot at remembering what's where. I have made a small pile of the dime cart quilt books I don't want to keep, and I'm going to give them away at the guild meeting tomorrow.
