I love books about sewing and quilting and wanted to share a few of recommendations with you. There are so many books out there, it’s hard to know which one to get. This list is by no means complete, but if you are looking for some good basics to include in your library, check out the following books.
For some good beginner quilt books, I recommend the “Quilter’s Academy” series by Harriet Hargrave and Carrie Hargrave. Right now she has three books in the series (Freshman Year, Sophomore Year, and Junior Year), and the fourth book will be published in May. These are excellent books and they will take you through the quilting processes step by step. Each book builds on the one before, so if you want to get your Bachelor’s in quilting, these are a necessity. I wrote a review of the first book in this series – so read that for more information.
If you are interested in making quilts by hand, I recommend “Quiltmaking by Hand” by Jenny Beyer. This is also an amazing book and takes you through each step of the hand piecing and hand quilting process. Hand piecing can be fun and relaxing if you aren’t in a huge hurry to finish the project. I hand pieced this wall hanging a few years ago (still need to hand quilt it though!). The book has lots of pictures and clearing explains the specific techniques needed for each phase. Of course, I highly recommend Allie Aller’s Crazy Quilting as well, and posted a review of this last year.
If you like crazy quilts, check out “The Magic of Crazy Quilting” by J. Marsha Michler. This book includes several techniques for piecing the crazy quilt foundation, information on embroidery stitches, embellishments, and transfers, and several crazy quilting projects. The book has tons of pictures and a gallery of quilts at the end. You definitely will get a lot of ideas just looking at the pictures! She also has a companion book called “Motifs for Crazy Quilting” that includes hundreds of embroidery designs for your crazy quilts.
For a general quilting reference book “The Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Quilting” is a must have. This includes lots of pictures so the techniques are easy to understand. This is my go-to book when I have a question about how to do something or just a need a quick reminder.
What books do you recommend? What books do you have your eye on?
Keep it Thimble!
Keep it Thimble 
I love looking at the books. The colors, patterns and ideas are wonderful. However, I think there was so much more to quilting ” back in the day” when it was a wonderful social time for the women to get together and make something together. They all shared converstation and the finished product. I am suprised that there are not more quilting frames set up and people getting together to help each other. There is really such of love for this kind of work.
People still get together to quilt, they just do it online now – like a virtual sewing circle ;).
But if it is a virtual quilt the finished product is only done by one person. The beauty of the quilting frame and people working together is that the finished product is worked by many people. A special nice memory.
excellent choices!!!!!