Monthly Archives: April 2015

“Stitch It Simple” by Beth Sheard is a cute book of 25 fairly simple projects which can be hand sewn or by machine. The emphasis of the book is on hand sewing, which is great, as it teaches a hand art that doesn’t rely on an expensive machine or electricity to accomplish. I first learned to sew in elementary school using some of the same stitches that are illustrated in this book and to this day, many years later, I am as likely to pick up a needle and thread to repair a seam as I am to pull out one of my sewing machines.

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“Handbag Workshop: Design and Sew the Perfect Bag” by Anna M. Mazur is a gorgeous book which walks the reader through the process of making handbags.

I have a lot of experience both in sewing and in crafting so many of the skills needed to make these handbags are ones that I am comfortable with. I would hesitate to recommend this to someone with no sewing machine machine experience though the crafting skills are ones that could be learned on the fly.

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This is a fantastic book on many facets of quilting. While the book focuses on modern quilts, the skills taught in the book apply to all genres of quilting.

As the book is a compilation of ten workshops, rather than a book written by a single author, each of the segments reads as a small book written by someone who is an expert at that particular quilting skill. The workshops include: The Principles of Color, Working with Solids, Working with Prints, Improvisational Patchwork, The Alternate Grid, Circles and Curves, Paper Piecing, Large-Scale Piecing, Modern Machine Quilting and A Study of Modern Quilts. Each workshop (except the last) includes a project or practice exercises that involve that particular field of study. There is also a good number of templates are included at the end of the book. The section on A Study of Modern Quilts has a large number of color photos of various modern quilts, along with a blurb by the quilt artist regarding the making, inspiration, or comments about the making of the quilt.

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This is a gorgeous book with 25 patterns of adorable hats for babies. The sections are divided by season with a great choice for each one. I really liked that the book included some hats for girls, some perhaps a little more for boys but the majority of which were fairly gender neutral.

I have crocheted hats for babies and for infants but have only knitted standard preemie hats. I have been looking for baby hats which would inspire me to try my skills at more advanced knitting.
I am an intermediate knitter with visions of someday being more advanced. The projects in “Holiday Hats for Babies: Caps, berets & beanies to knit for every occasion” look to be an excellent way for me to try new skills and techniques on smaller, easy to finish projects.

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“Hand-Stitched Home” is a beautiful and informative book by Susan Beal. The book tells the history of the Pendleton company and has many projects to make using their and other types of wool fabric.

The author gives many tips on how to work with wool, including what types of wool work for certain projects (primarily based on the weight of the wool), how to wash it, types of stitches that work well, as well as the types of tools you will need to create the projects in the book.

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