Wednesday craft book review

 If it's Wednesday, then it's book review day.  But this week I decided on a bumper blog post featuring not one, but three books.  All newly purchased in the last few months, and bought partly because I had a book token burning a hole in my pocket.  I couldn't resist spending it.  So, here's the first of the trio.  It's one I had high hopes of.  'Inspiring Improv' by Nicholas Ball.  

With quilt books, and craft books in general, I'm always on the look-out for something that will be read and re-read, and dipped into for years to come.  The type of book that becomes a familiar old friend, and one that continues to spark ideas and suggest new colour combinations or patterns.  

Let's describe 'Inspiring Improv'.  It's a lovely book to handle, a decent size that suggests you'll find lots of content to do as the title suggests and inspire you.  The layout and photography are of a high standard, and the book's divided into three main sections.  Planning.  Practice.  Progress.  

The planning section is the nuts & bolts bit, including where to find inspiration for your work, what tools to use, colour theory.  Part two is the practice of quilt making.  Techniques, such as making curves and adding inserts, the improv 'jigsaw', binding and troubleshooting.  The third section is progress.  Here are twelve projects, including some modern takes on classic patterns like log cabin.  

Okay, here are the positives about the book.  The quilts featured in section three are varied and appealing to look at.  Whether you're into modern minimalism or prefer homespun style, I think you'd find a pattern here you'd either want to copy or to tweak and create your own version of.  However, my problem is with the - how can I put this? - the lack of really, really inspiring content in 'Inspiring Improv'.  

Each individual project is prefaced by a few paragraphs about what inspired the maker to come up with this pattern.  Each project is accompanied by a photo of a cork notice board, pinned to it are small swatches of fabric and a drawing of the overall design.  The same format - the few paragraphs, the cork noticeboard, the neat little swatches - is used again and again.  That just gets - I'm sorry, but it's how I feel - boring.  

It's too structured for a book on improv.  Too restrained.  If the cork notice board was pinned with images torn from magazines, art postcards or travel photos, a length of ribbon, a piece of ethnic jewellery or fabric, anything that summons up a mood, an atmosphere, it'd be freer, more spontaneous.  

For me, 'Inspiring Improv' isn't the type of book I'd dip into for years to come.  I love the 'Shoal' design, and want to replicate some fishy blocks, and I think the tree rings quilt featured at the very end of the book is truly original and challenges preconceived notions about what a quilt should be.  But to be honest, it's a book that'll remain largely in the bookcase.  

Okay, after that less than enthusiastic review let's move on to book number two.  'Scrappy & Happy Quilts' by Kate Henderson.  

Who doesn't like a scrappy quilt?  The cover's so pretty, and this book by The Patchwork Place seems guaranteed to make you smile.  

I knew from the start it was going to be a very practical kind of book, not the fattest of volumes but presented in a bright and accessible kind of way.  

There are 13 patterns included, along with templates you can scan and print, or use tracing paper to copy.  

Most of the quilts are in vibrant, zingy colours and have a fresh unstuffy look about them.  

The instructions seem clear and easy to follow.  

Overall, 'Scrappy & Happy Quilts' is an inexpensive, cheerful kind of a book, featuring patterns you can genuinely see yourself making.  Nothing too 'out there' or fiendishly complex.  The book would make a nice present for a quilting friend - or for yourself - and is ideal for anyone who has a Mount Scrapmore to conquer.  It's a thumbs up from me!

Right, let's keep going and review my third book, 'No Scrap Left Behind' by Amanda Jean Nyberg.  

This author's also written 'Sunday Morning Quilts' which the blurb on the back cover assures me is 'wildly popular'.  

This is quite a hefty book, and contains 16 patterns in all, mainly for quilts but with pincushions and fabric decorated cards too.  There's a wide variety of designs - squares, triangles, rail fences, strings and lots of stunning fabric combinations.  The author's got a real artist's eye for colour.  

Before you get to the patterns, there are several pages detailing how to organise your scraps, choosing a colour scheme, troubleshooting when things aren't working out, and so on.  Also, attention paid to the back of your quilt, and adding interest to that.  

'No Scrap Left Behind' is a beautifully compiled book, and there's a joyfulness and creativity that comes across in its pages.  

It's a book I'm glad I bought.  Another thumbs up!  

Right, that's my Wednesday blog post done with for another week.  I hope those reviews have been useful to you.  They're subjective, obviously, but might give you some pointers before you potentially splash out and buy a new quilting book for your no-doubt overloaded crafty bookshelves.  

Feel free to let me know if you've read any of these books and what your opinions of them are.  Thanks for stopping by.