Book Review – 100 Quilts

Textile Art Book Reviews

At Mr X Stitch we love to review textile art and embroidery books for you. There are so many great books to discover, packed with needlework inspiration and textile techniques, so we dive into each book to find out what’s good, what’s bad and let you know why you should pick it up.

Use Scraps, Sew Blocks, Make 100 Quilts by Stuart Hillard is published by Pavilion Books.

Lets meet the author.  Stuart Hillard is a columnist, fabric designer and television presenter, so he has a variety of experience to offer within his field.  He began designing patchwork quilts over twenty years ago and has written for the magazine ‘Popular Patchwork’ since 2012.  Think you know his face?  He appeared as a contestant on The Great British Sewing Bee back in 2013!

This hard back book has 270 pages, so there is plenty to explore…..

Who is it for?

It does help if you have a definite interest in quilting!  Due to the books content, it is weighted towards patterns specifically for building quilts.  So if this isn’t your thing, then this one will go over your head.

Content

The book features 100 patterns as suggested….

Look at that list! This one will keep you busy…….

All of the patterns are listed in the contents page, so we can immediately turn to the one we want to begin with.  Each pattern has suggestions for colour schemes and borders, so we feel guided through the whole process.

Book Review - 100 Quilts
Hillard explains every part of the technique, including what he means by certain words, such as ‘scrap quilts’.

What makes it special?

There are some really unusual ideas, take this as an example:

Book Review - 100 Quilts
So you sew it up with thread and the pattern you are doing is…yup you guessed it!

Not every quilter will be good at choosing the colours to mix and match.  Hillard advises us on this area too:

Book Review - 100 Quilts
Advice on every aspect, even the colour choices.

However as per his intro statement, the designs are to become our own, so we can choose the fabrics to ‘liberate’ from our scraps!  Thus this isn’t just a book we need to follow by the letter.

Photography

Well designed imagery can be observed throughout.  Each quilt pattern has its own image so we can visualise the result.  Stylised photos like the examples below, showcase how the designs can have real use and look rather tempting:

Book Review - 100 Quilts
We all want a room like this one to photograph beautifully (the quilts are lovely too)!
Book Review - 100 Quilts
Seeing the finished object enables us to imagine what ours could be like. The colours don’t look like they should go together, but they do.
Book Review - 100 Quilts
Clarity is key through this educational tome, the photos really help us to understand how to make each quilt .

What is wrong with the book?

Nothing as long as you like the subject matter!

There is even a section for the tools we will need and how to use them, making this a book for all levels of experience

Conclusion

Cosy days in lined up?  This book certainly wont leave you bored, its just a question of which one to try first. Oh, and what scraps you are going to rescue from the depths of your hoarding!

Use Scraps, Sew Blocks, Make 100 Quilts by Stuart Hillard is available to purchase right here!

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