Hand-Stitched Quilts - by Carolyn Forster (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Make your own patchwork quilt by hand with these 27 creative quilt block patterns and bite-size lessons on quilting for beginners, from a bestselling author and teacher!

Slow stitching and mindful crafting are more popular than ever, and with just a few notions you can peacefully create a stunning 27-block quilt entirely by hand, in your own time and at your own pace. As the quilt is made up of blocks, you can work on your quilt a block at a time, making it more portable so you can patchwork on the go.

This wonderful quilt book includes everything you need to return to the roots of traditional patchworking and quilting:

- 'Bitesize' chronological lessons so you can build your quilting skills as you go, with techniques like hand stitching and big-stitch quilting
- Templates for creating shaped blocks
- Detailed guidance on how to cut out your fabrics with and without templates
- Illustrated instructions on how to construct and bind your quilt at the very end

With dozens of fresh blocks to make, and useful and inspirational information throughout, this is a beautiful book that will take the mystery out of making hand-stitched quilts and spark your quilting ideas for years to come!

Review Quotes

Creative Book Awards 2024 Highly Commended Sewing Book - from Crafts Beautiful Magazine

Publisher's Weekly
"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".

Library Journal
"Quilter Forster (Hand Quilting Techniques for Farmhouse Style) takes a traditional approach in this introductory guide to quilting. Hand stitching, she rightly states, can allow one to quilt without a sewing machine, which makes it something one can do on the go. It's also simple enough to give crafters the opportunity to let their minds wander in other creative ways as they work. This technique is an easier way to achieve curved and y-seams, and this book includes patterns for quilt blocks that take great advantage of that. Though some pieces can be rotary cut, quilters can use templates from this book and transfer their work to card stock or plastic for more durability. Excellent instructions are given with pictures on how to transfer these shapes to the backs of fabric, stitch them to join the pieces together, and iron the sewn block. Choosing fabric, preparing the project for quilting (a step missing from many guides), utilizing simple or elaborate patterns, and binding are all noted well in this book. VERDICT An excellent guide for beginning quilters and for those wanting to return to basics."

About the Author

Carolyn Forster is a best-selling author on quilting. She started making quilts when she was a teenager and went on to study Textiles at the University of Bath. Since graduating, Carolyn has taught patchwork and quilting both in the UK and the USA and has had her quilts featured in a number of books and magazines, including Fabrications, Popular Patchwork and Patchwork and Quilting. Carolyn lives in Tunbridge Wells, UK with her husband and son.