What do you think?
Rate this book
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Quilting
You're no idiot, of course. You know how to sew a button and can even stitch together a last-minute Halloween costume. But when it comes to making a beautiful quilt to hang on your wall, you can't tell one patch from another! Don't tear your hair out just yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Quilting provides you with what you need to know to put together a quilt without hassle. In this Complete Idiot's Guide, you get:
302 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1998
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 17, 2011
Complete Idiot's Guide to Quilting / 1-59257-201-4
I feel like I'm a pretty good candidate for anything directed at idiots, but this book is really not very helpful. I have quite a few second-hand quilting books and this one covers the quilting basics far less thoroughly than most of my "regular" quilting books, which is a terrible disappointment.
This was my first quilting book and it almost convinced me to give up the hobby before I started. The explanations are very confusing and only really make sense to me now in retrospect, after having quilted for some time. The book also heavily emphasizes hand-quilting over machine-quilting, which I think is a little myopic - how many "beginning" quilters in this day and age have the time and desire to commit to hand quilting? I would guess not too many; I myself hold a 40+ hour a week job, and I barely have time to machine piece. Along the same lines, most of the blocks and pieces presented here are not machine-quilting friendly and the book spends no time whatsoever discussing common machine piecing techniques, like speed piecing.
If you *do* want to hand-quilt, you still may be disappointed in this book. The instructions on binding are horribly confusing and the batting instructions aren't much better. In fact, a good portion of the book is taken up with color charts and explanations of why blue pairs better with yellow than with green.
There's really only three useful things about this book: firstly, the color inserts in the middle of the book are lovely and inspirational; secondly, the author introduces the reader to the definitive "Trip Around the World Quilts" quilting resource; thirdly, the section on measurements and bed quilt lengths is relatively useful. Pick it up if you can find it for a dollar somewhere - but don't let this put you off of quilting if you are a beginner.
~ Ana Mardoll
I feel like I'm a pretty good candidate for anything directed at idiots, but this book is really not very helpful. I have quite a few second-hand quilting books and this one covers the quilting basics far less thoroughly than most of my "regular" quilting books, which is a terrible disappointment.
This was my first quilting book and it almost convinced me to give up the hobby before I started. The explanations are very confusing and only really make sense to me now in retrospect, after having quilted for some time. The book also heavily emphasizes hand-quilting over machine-quilting, which I think is a little myopic - how many "beginning" quilters in this day and age have the time and desire to commit to hand quilting? I would guess not too many; I myself hold a 40+ hour a week job, and I barely have time to machine piece. Along the same lines, most of the blocks and pieces presented here are not machine-quilting friendly and the book spends no time whatsoever discussing common machine piecing techniques, like speed piecing.
If you *do* want to hand-quilt, you still may be disappointed in this book. The instructions on binding are horribly confusing and the batting instructions aren't much better. In fact, a good portion of the book is taken up with color charts and explanations of why blue pairs better with yellow than with green.
There's really only three useful things about this book: firstly, the color inserts in the middle of the book are lovely and inspirational; secondly, the author introduces the reader to the definitive "Trip Around the World Quilts" quilting resource; thirdly, the section on measurements and bed quilt lengths is relatively useful. Pick it up if you can find it for a dollar somewhere - but don't let this put you off of quilting if you are a beginner.
~ Ana Mardoll
August 14, 2012
I really enjoyed having a refresher course on quilting since I have taken quilting classes before. This book helps with basic terms and covering the fundamentals of quilting. It's a bit tough to grab all the concepts used especially for a newbie because not EVERYTHING is shown that is explained. This actually left me a bit confused at times but knowing what I know I was able to decipher a few things. Overall it really is a helpful book I really did enjoy this read and would recommend this book for those who would like either a refresher course or know a little of quilting. If you want to become a quilter I would definately recommend this book. At the same time I would also recommend not stiching everything by hand and using a rotary cutter and self healing mat whereas it's much quicker and easier (I believe) for a beginner to not become intimidated. At the same time knowing about all the hand piecing methods is important.!!
January 9, 2009
I wanted to learn how to quilt, and I thought that reading a how-to book was next best to actually taking lessons, which I didn't have time for. This book definitly gave me the beginners knowledge that I needed. I wish that some of the chapters had a little more in-depth details, but overall it was very helpful.
Read
October 7, 2008Very informative~! I wish there the illustrations were a bit more clear though.
July 12, 2013
It was pretty helpful with all the patterns in the back. I still have a ways to go before I'm capable of quilting without the help of this book, but I'm learning!
March 21, 2014
Helpful for the beginner. Lots of ideas on how to get started!
August 3, 2016
The book that taught me how to quilt!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews