Jo's Little Favorites II: A Classic Collection of 15 Small Quilts: 2

Description

Popular author, Moda Fabrics designer, and small-quilt expert Jo Morton returns with another collection of favourite patterns that you'll be delighted to stitch. Whether you have a handpicked collection of reproduction fabrics just waiting to shine or want to discover new favourites, you'll love sewing and displaying each pretty little patchwork gem!  Decorate your home with little quilts--artfully styled photos will inspire you  Improve your accuracy with Jo's tips for precise patchwork sewing  Helpful hints include instructions about how to quilt each eye-catching project Review: Reliable seller - Excellent quality book. Review: Great quilts patterns that go beyond reproduction fabric - If you liked "Jo's Little Favorites" (book one) then you are likely to like this book even more. I found the first book nice to look at but most of the quilts were quite simplistic in design (like nine patches and one was simply three rows of flying geese). In this new book, Jo has successfully upped the design factor a bit ... and I like it. The book includes two quilts that have applique centers (one is 32.5" and the other is 43.5" square). Jo uses the back-basting applique technique. Fully pieced quilts range in size as small as 11"x12.75" to 49"x55.5". There is one very nice star quilt (on the book's cover, it's the last quilt on the right). Two quilts use only half-square triangles (HST). While those can be very simplistic, Jo pulls it off. The smallest of those quilts (11"x12.75") is named Leftovers and is laid out in a barn raising design. I guess I'm probably attracted to the HST quilts simply because I've been amassing a surprising number of HSTs that are left over from other projects (you know, those flippy-corner pieces that you just cannot bare to toss away. I also have a tendency to make HST of various sizes when auditioning border ideas for a project. By the way, I use a couple different sizes of Bloc Loc templates to square up HST. They take a little bit of getting used to using but once you do then squaring up HSTs is a breeze. (I use the 2.5" or 6.5" Bloc Loc depending on the project I'm working on. I've never had a need for anything bigger than the 6.5" ... that would be one big HST!). Back to the HST quilts. Jo's other HST quilt named Half-Square-Triangle Challenge measures 13"x15.5" and is shown in pinks and browns but of course you can use any color combinations you want. The HSTs are placed in diagonal rows of alternating pink and brown rows. The quilt is then bound (Jo uses a single-fold binding on all her quilts.) and that's it ... very simple ... very cute. As usual, Jo does a good job of using sashings, borders and border prints. (I have a tendency to collect border prints. Sometimes when I'm finished with a project, I have the small designs that usually appear between the main border designs left over and I'm at a loss of what to do with them. Jo's quilt, Manassas, has a final border that reminds me of how I can use those small border strips as a border or as sashing.) While all the quilts in the book are shown in Jo's reproduction-looking fabrics, don't let that hold you back if you are not into those kinds of fabrics. The quilts would also look lovely in other fabrics as well. At least three of the quilts in the book would look awesome in solid fabrics for a modern quilt. Batiks? Yes, I think those could result in successful quilts too as would even 30's prints. Don't let what you see in the pictures limit your mind's eye to create beautiful little quilts. Bottom line ... If I had to do it again, would I buy this book? Yes.