"The Quilting Answer Book" by Barbara Weiland Talbert

On a recent visit to the public library, I was rewarded with a surprize....a quilting book I had not seen!
It went home with me. I'm going to have a hard time giving this one back!

This is a small  volume, measuring 4.5" x 6.25" but 1" thick, and it packs a lot of information into the pages. The writing is friendly and the Q&A style makes it easy to find the topic you need.
It begins with Getting Started, which deals with the basic parts of a quilt,and proceeds to work through the many types and techniques of quilting. Making choices and problem solving along the way provides the info you need right where you want it. There are many good diagrams and illustrations, a necessity for quilters (we are all very visual learners!).
The book ends with some of those very handy charts like what size of square to cut to get a particular triangle, as well as lists of online resources for shows, quilt museums, supplies and education. It also has an index, which many books neglect to provide these days.
Author, Barbara Weiland Talbert, has been sewing,quilting and writing for many years. You've probably read her articles in magazines. Visit her website at http://www.joyofsewing.com
This is the sort of book I wish I had written!
If you are looking for a covers-all-bases reference, or a gift for a beginner, you can chose this book with confidence that it won't gather dust on the shelf.

Color Mastery by Maria Peagler

Color Mastery: 10 Principles for Creating Stunning Quilts
by Maria Peagler, 2009 Willow Ridge Press



Quilters need to learn about color, and this book makes the subject easy to understand.
Find out for yourself by clicking the link (above) and reading a sample chapter.

There are many color books in my library, written from various perspectives. Maria has written this book in a way that breaks color into easy to understand families and ideas.
I think her most important move was leaving out how colors mix together. That information is what makes this topic so confusing to beginners & fabric lovers, as we really don't mix colors the way painters and lighting artists do.


Starting off with ten basic concepts and ten myths about color, Maria goes on to explain her excellent suggestion of keeping a Color Journal.
The truth is that you really have to get into some fabric and play around with it to learn about color. Reading about it will never do the trick! So why not keep a record of it in your journal? I love to go back over journals I have kept, and I bet you will, too.
NOTE: Journals are only for you! Make a mess, tear a page out, scribble like mad, glue-glue-glue! This is not an assignment you are handing in for a grade! Nobody else has to see it unless you decide to share it.



The book is filled with great color pictures that show you how to use your own fabrics to discover the color schemes you will like best.
A result of working with Color Mastery might be buying some more fabric, but you'll be selecting ones that really work with your existing stash.


One of the biggest problems quilters have with color is that they resist learning how to talk about it. You can tell if you like something or not, but without the right words and ideas, there is no way to describe the problem and understand how to change what you don't like.
Maria does a great job explaining--and showing!--what the color wheel and it's variety of combinations can do.


In the second part of the book, you can start to put your new ideas into action with some simple quilt patterns. There is a pattern for each of the main color "harmonies", but you could make any of them over and over using different colors, intensities and values as you learn what you like and how to make it look even better.


Use Color Mastery as a workbook. You'll already be started on your Color Journal!
And follow Maria's blog and e-newsletter for more insightful (and fun!) ways to make your quilts really show their colors!


So, you'd be asking, "What's with that photo???"
It's my copy of Color Mastery, purchased all on my own. I am reccommending this book because I think it is one you will use and enjoy.
What's that little thing sticking out of the top of the book?
A sticky note, of course, because when you have a really good book, you have to mark it!
And that striped fabric behind the book?
Oh, yes...that's about to be cut up and used for the backing on a quilt I am making for Mrs. Starbucks!


By the way, Color Mastery is published in a beautifully professional manner. You can order it through all the big online booksellers.
If you'd like a group discount for your guild, or to use this book in a class, contact Willow Ridge Press.