Quilt Books You Will Enjoy

Book reviews by Patricia L. Cummings
 

Below are listed some descriptions of recently published quilt books, and one other book, that are enjoyable and informative.

The Quilt That Walked to Golden by Sandra Dallas is a delightful book of historical fiction that is enhanced by many authentic nineteenth century photographs, such as one that is captioned, “airing the quilts," and another that shows both black and white women convicts learning sewing at the state penitentiary. If any of you have read Persian Pickle Club, by the same author, you know her to be skilled at story-telling. In this book, she tells of the “lives, trials, and friendships of generations of Colorado women who recorded their stories in the quilts they left behind." This hard cover book is very enjoyable!

Minnesota Quilts: Creating Connections with Our Past is the result of quilt documentation done by The Minnesota Quilt Project. The foreword of the book is written by Helen Kelley of Quilter’s Newsletter magazine fame. The jacket of the book is intriguing in itself. It pictures an elaborate Crazy Quilt that is quite unusual. Loaded with great color photos and quilt history, this book is certainly a treat for the eyes and one of the nicest state documentation books we have seen.

Mary Schafer, American Quilt Maker  is a thick book, loaded with good information and photos and written by Gwen Marston, well-known quiltmaker and a friend of Mary Schafer. If you love history, you will simply adore this book! The cover of the book calls it, “The story of the woman who helped create the modern American quilting revival.” You will be amazed at the book that Gwen has put together. There are some quilt patterns included at the end of the book.

Ontario’s Heritage Quilts by Marilyn I. Walker is complete eye-candy for the quilter. This oversize book shows quilts photographed in many different ways and in many different settings. Many early quilts from the late nineteenth century are shown, as well as later quilts. They range from very traditional to quite unique, one-of-a-kind examples. This is a lovely book, even if all anyone wanted to do was to leaf through to look at the quilts. There are detailed captions provided, and fine descriptions and a lot of historical background given. This is a fun look into the habits of Canadian quilters!

Celebrate Great Quilts! Circa 1825-1940 by Karey Patterson Bresenhan & Nancy O’Bryant Puentes features the International Quilt Festival Collection. This book features the stories of more than 75 quilts that span a time period of more than a century. Featured is information about fabric printing, quilting techniques, and the patterns and colors of each era of quilting. You will delight in seeing the various quilts. This book is a look into the evolution of quilting through time. Every quilt collector will want this book!

Civil War Cookbook by William C. Davis. While this is not a quilt book, it is an overview of what types of food soldiers ate during the Civil War, and shows many photos of soldiers on duty, in the field. We picked up our copy at the Vermont Country Store, on the “sale” table. I like this book because it contains simple recipes that I’ve eaten since I was a child. My mother was from Georgia, and so, I suppose, I’ve always been used to a combination of southern and northern cooking. The recipes had to be simple during the War, and not contain too many ingredients. We thought that you might like the book, too, as the recipes would be quick to make, for busy quilters like us!

Have an old favorite, or a book on textiles that any of us textile fanatics would love? Let us know.

Send your comments to: pat@quiltersmuse.com