A Quilter's Ark: More Than 50 Designs for Foundation Piecing

Rating:
Summary: So Easy! Even for a beginner!
Review: I had been looking for an "Elephant" quilt for my elephant crazed 3 year-old for some time. I finally decided I would probably have to make him one myself. I have intermediate sewing skills but had never quilted before. This foundation piecing method is the way to go! The blocks turn out beautiful everytime. It is so easy and very addictive! There are so many different animal patterns in this book, from farm animals to zoo animals, to Australian animals and more. Something for everyone!!

Rating:
Summary: Artwork, not patchwork, beautiful quilting easily done
Review: The cover of this book really does not do justice to the designs inside. They are truly beautiful works of art--unique and magnificantly simple in their construction. The Noah's Ark quilt is a classic. Particularly helpful are two examples of the same animal square with the different types of fabric. One can easily see the dramatic difference that selection of fabric and color make in the final design. As my first project as a quilter, I made the rooster from fat quarters as a birthday present for my sister. If I do say so myself, it looks fabulous! With Ms. Rolfe's techniques of foundation quilting you do not have to worry about cutting exact shapes (except once for the entire block), nor about grain of the fabric. Instructions are clear and easy to follow. For Xmas, I plan to make pot holders from the designs as gifs. I'm even thinking about tackling the Noah's Ark quilt--for myself! I ordered more of her books because I enjoy her easy-going manner to quilting and the professional looking results!

Rating:
Summary: A Fabulous Introduction into the World of Foundation Piecing
Review: With this book you learn to easily foundation piece cats, cows, lions, monkeys, elephants, chickens, bunnies, pelicans, eagles, peacocks, butterflies, cardinals, hummingbirds, kangaroos, and soooooo much more with readily understandable instructions.

The book is a great reference for other sewing projects and consists of 112 pages so it's rather thin. The book covers basic embroidery stitches (chain, french knot, stem, and more) with directions and illustrations, ways to add borders with directions and illustrations, assembling the quilt top, binding, and quilting of the finished work. There's a section pertaining to fabric selection and sewing materials/equipment.

I'd never paper pieced in my life and this book covered all the bases to complete these mini-quilts in a short period of time with professional looking results. I've surprised several family members with my work!

If you need a quilting book with easy to make animals, purchase this book as you will not be sorry.