Hand-Stitched Quilts: Choose from 27 Block Designs and Hand-Piece Your Own Unique Quilts

Patchwork instructor Forster (Hand Quilting Techniques for Farmhouse Style) details how to sew quilts by hand in this cozy manual. To follow the block design templates included with the book, Forster recommends gluing each unique shape onto card stock or a thin plastic sheet, cutting it out, and then using the piece to trace and cut that shape from fabric, leaving a quarter inch all the way around for the seam allowance. Forster explains how to make 27 blocks that readers can mix and match to create quilts. The designs range from the relatively simple, including a four-square checkerboard and a “simple block of rectangles around a square,” to the more complex—the “sunburst” design features 48 angular pieces arranged around a circle to resemble the rays of the sun and the 60-piece “carpenter’s wheel” features interlocked concentric rows of squares and diamonds. The author also provides two “quilt sampler layouts” showing how one might assemble the various blocks in a quilt. The designs are visually appealing, and beginners will appreciate the comprehensive photo illustrations showing how to thread a needle, make stitches, and sew seams. Readers will warm to this. (July)