New Reading Material and a Giveaway!

I love quilt books. That's primarily how I learned to quilt many years ago, along with all my friends in our church quilt group. Living in a rural area, quilting classes were few and far between. Between all of us in the group, we'd devour every quilt book and magazine we could {cheaply} get our hands on, try new things out and then freely share information. Ah... we were such beginners.

My new reading material

It's still really hard to resist buying every shiny, new quilt book that catches my eye! But I am doing better these days, trying to make sure to only buy the ones that will be much appreciated. I generally put them on my Amazon wish list and then wait, and wait, and wait.....! It absolutely helps me to be sure that I'm not wasting money. The top three books are my latest acquisitions, my I-can't- resist-you-books, but thought maybe now would be a good time to share too.

On July 19th, this little quilt blog will be 5 yrs. old! Woohoo! I started out blogging about once a week and now I average two or three times that. There are highs and lows, weeks of constant progress and times of slow, more like plodding, efforts. I believe my style has changed, morphed and grown. There is a confidence emerging in what I do that feels wonderful {uhuh, in spite of all my insecurities and whining} and I honestly feel like a true-blue quilter now, not just a wanna be! Here on the blog, I've slowly figured out the details of Blogger and blog etiquette and gently developed a blogging voice, with all the terrible grammar that goes along with it.*wink  And even though it's been difficult at times, I've tried to stay very real and true to who I am, someone who just wants to share a great love of the quilting process with people who are interested in the particulars. So much fun to have any one of you check in when time permits and generously cheer me on. It's really good stuff.

The giveaway books!

So... in the interest of sharing {like I did with my friends back at the beginning} and to celebrate 5 yrs. of stick-with-it blogging! I'm having a giveaway for two winners. First I'm going to give away my brand new copy of 'The 1718 Coverlet' book. It's a fabulous book and although I've been drooling, I don't think it's affected the book at all. I can already see that this book is an 'eye-candy' book to me and it needs to go to someone who desperately wants to make the quilt. Also, I'm giving away an older book straight off of my bulging shelf,  'The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt'. I've flipped through it several times in the last couple years, but it also needs to move to a home where it can be well used.

If you're interested in winning either of these books, leave a comment telling me the first time you jumped onto my blog. Or tell me how you share inspiration with all your quilty friends. A second comment from my followers telling me how you follow can be a second chance to win. Don't forget to tell me if you'd prefer one book over the other! And other than my name written in the flap, I promise you the second book {cd included} is in excellent shape! The giveaway will end at midnight of July 19th! The giveaway is open to international readers too unless the shipping winds up being prohibitive! Good luck!

A List of My Favorite Quilt Books

This afternoon I was working in my quilting room (a stolen corner of my boys very large bedroom), when I had to be amused at what I was hearing from the stereo.  Eric Clapton.  Chosen by my 11 yr. old son!  Hey, he's totally normal in every other way, but it got me to thinking about influences and how I got where I am today quilty-wise.

Air drying some quilts on a nice day.

I'd have to say that my Grandmother on my mom's side (an avid and talented quilter) was my earliest known association with quilting.  All of my oldest siblings and I have excellent memories of fighting over the best quilts at G'mas house when we got to sleep over.  That was when I was quite young.  But later on?  I'd say some great quilting books were the most genuine influence and, it almost goes without saying, inspiration.

I decided to put together a list of the best quilting books I have ever bought or received as a gift.  These are books that I have returned to time and again throughout my years of quilting.  I couldn't possibly be where I am today without these books sitting on my shelf.

• Plaids & Stripes by Roberta Horton
• Whimsies & Whynots: A Playful Approach to Quiltmaking by Mary Lou Weidman
• Out of the Box: Unleash Your Creativity Through Quilts by Mary Lou Weidman (a follow up)
• Spectacular Scraps by Judy Hooworth
• Transitions: Unlocking the Creative Quilter Within by Andrea Balosky
• Quilting With Style: Principles For Great Pattern Design by Gwen Marston & Joe Cunningham
• Setting Solutions by Sharyn Craig
• Great Sets by Sharyn Craig (even better than previous book)
• Around the Block by Judy Hopkins
• 501 Rotary-cut Quilt Blocks by Judy Hopkins (a more comprehensive follow-up book)
• Collaborative Quilting by Gwen Marston & Freddy Moran
• Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again by Gwen Marston & Freddy Moran (a follow up of previous)
• Wednesday's Best by Cheri Saffiote of Indygo Junction, Inc.

I also have many other books that I love to look through time and again by authors such as Barb Adams & Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs, Sue Spargo, Kathy Doughty & Sarah Fielke of the Material Obsessions 1 & 2 books, Mary Mashuta, several Amish style Quilt books, Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosies Quilt Co. , Kim Diehl 's books and of course lots more books by the incredible authors Roberta Horton and Gwen Marston.

I love books that encourage spontaneity, individual expression, the telling of stories, freedom from restrictive quilting rules, and the basics to finding and building personal creativity.  Pattern books alone cannot begin to cover all the information life-long quilters crave.