Whether you are looking for inspiration or instruction, quilting books can guide your design process and help you master new methods. These books can offer techniques and tips to fine-tune your craft in a range of quilting styles from traditional to modern to expressively arty. Whatever your skill level, we can help you find a book to inspire and enhance your future quilting projects. Peruse our picks of the best, below.
1. Quilting 101: Master Basic Skills and Techniques
This book for beginners covers essential tools and materials and provides step-by-step instructions with color photographs on basic quilting methods. Offering a firm foundation on which to build skills, this book guides readers through a range of projects that become progressively more difficult.
2. Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern: Fresh Techniques for Busy Quilters
Perfect for those wanting to break away from precise quilt patterns, this book offers techniques for creating improvised designs. Suitable for both beginners and experienced quilters interested in learning the quilt-as-you-go approach, it provides clear instructions on how to construct modern, abstract, or other types of quilts from start to finish. It includes 13 projects and 25 ideas for quilt designs, with many beautiful illustrations to inspire the reader.
3. Quiltmaker’s 1,000 Blocks: A Collection of Quilt Blocks From Today’s Top Designers
This book offers a comprehensive guide to block-making techniques such as appliqué, foundation-piecing, mixed techniques, and piecing, as well as helpful tips for turning blocks into finished quilts. Great for advanced beginners to intermediate quilters, it includes lots of inspiring quilt block designs from traditional to modern. As a bonus, the book comes with a CD of printable PDF templates for featured quilt blocks.
4. First-Time Quiltmaking: Learning to Quilt in Six Easy Lessons
This book is like a teacher’s little helper. Through a series of lessons, first-time quilters can learn the standard process and end up with a finished project. Especially helpful is the use of quilting vocabulary, which is immediately explained in full so novices can learn what they need to know before moving on to more advanced patterns. Beyond formal education, it’s a great book to recommend to novices outside the classroom, since it’s full of the kinds of little tips that good instructors give, like marking and storing old rotary blades until you have a set to dispose of.
5. Rulerwork Quilting Idea Book
This is a great book for quilters who want to learn about rulerwork: using rulers to create beautiful topstitch designs. It provides an introduction to the basic skills, with information and tips on how to effectively use both quilting rulers and ruler feet. Covering a variety of ruler-generated designs, it gives instructions on six basic ruler shapes to generate the 59 designs featured in the book.