Contemporary Curved Quilts: Curved Piecing Using the Quick Curve Ruler by Jenny Pedigo and Helen Robinson for Sew Kind of Wonderful
Here are a few basics about this book:
- it is a project book
- you need the Quick Curve Ruler to make the included projects
- this book does NOT include the ruler
This is a short Landauer Publishing book. The text is 47 pages long and the projects start on page 10.
The Introduction (pg.5) gives some minimal information about the inspiration for the book. It mostly discusses the projects with “marketing speak” such as “this book is filled with eight fun quilt projects with a curvy flair…” (pg.5). It isn’t bad; the words just aren’t informational.
The interesting part of this section is the brief paragraph about the authors. It gives some background about them. I didn’t know they were sisters.
I am pretty enamored with the Quick Curve Ruler right at the moment after my success with MetroScape. I discovered that not all the quilts using the ruler look the same. I found this out by looking online and at patterns. Until I received this book, I had never seen a group of the authors’ works all in one place.
The Techniques section (pg.6-9) shows how to make blocks using the ruler. This enables the maker to learn the basics and make his/her own designs. Once the technique is mastered s/he wouldn’t necessarily need a pattern. It gives plenty of information for the maker to make a group of blocks and then set them together in an original layout.
The patterns start right after the Techniques section. No messing around. I really like the first three patterns, Crazy Eights Pillow (pg.10-13), Midnight Mosaic Runner (pg.14-17), and Fresh and Trendy Quilt (pg.18-23). Part of what makes these quilts attractive is the quilting. While stitching tops and backs together is not the focus of this book, the quilting patterns selected and skills used enhance the appeal of these projects. Chic & Checkered (pg.44-47) is another project I would consider making.
The Sassy Stars Quilt (pg.35-37) and Argyle Abby Wallhanging (pg.38-43) are also interesting. There is something slightly off, however, for me about these two projects. It could just be the fabrics or colors or some combination. They both have appealing aspects. I’d love to see them in other colors. A medium-extensive online search brought up no additional colorways.
This is a short book. It doesn’t purport to be anything other than what it is: a project book and it excels at this goal. The projects are interesting and different looking even though they use the same specialty ruler. The authors have really used their creativity in pushing the uses for the ruler far.
Buy this book and the Quick Curve Ruler now and get making some curved blocks!
