Quilt Retro - book review - Inspiration Sunday

Today's book review is on Quilt Retro by Jenifer Dick.    I actually won my copy when I completed a quilt for the Hands 2 Help charity quilt drive back in the summer.  I was pleasantly surprised by the fun patterns I found inside.


Why do I like this book?

• The title says "Retro" but the 11 patterns in the book have a modern flair.  This is aided by the quilting patterns (some by Angela Walters), which are beautiful.
• There are 6 quilt patterns, 3 table runners and 2 smaller projects.  All fun, all different.
• The skills built in this book mostly have to do with machine applique and a lot of time is spent explaining her process so you can achieve similar results.  
• Bonus tips and hints are in the book - including some talk about color theory (my favorite tip in this section is "when in doubt, go with blue".  She has a laid back approach to her quilting and it makes you feel relaxed about trying out her projects.

There are also some additional skills that I wasn't necessarily expecting in this book:

• Choosing a quilt pattern that is either representative, contrasting, or matches the "feel" of the quilt
• A pieced binding technique to match up to sections of the quilt (this one I would really like to try)
• One other little bonus - FULL sized templates.  I didn't realize what a pain it is to enlarge things until I did a couple blocks from another book.

The project I can't wait to try...

• Outside My Kitchen Window - this is the quilt featured on the front cover above.  So simple, yet beautiful.
• Handyman - such a great pattern for MEN.  Luckily, I know several.

Do I recommend it?  

• Well......yes and no.  I think the price tag of this book is a bit high for 11 projects, especially when compared to some of the other books I've reviewed.  In fact, even on sale on Amazon, it is the most expensive of the books I've reviewed.  I honestly feel you will get more for your money buying one of Elizabeth Hartman's books or the Quilting Modern book.  Now, if you see this one on sale for about $1 a pattern, then I would recommend it, especially if you are at all interested in learning machine applique and want some fun projects to try out that skill.

Jenifer Dick blogs at 42Quilts.com. She has an ongoing feature on her blog of doing a different traditional block and a modern block every week, called Traditional Tuesday and Modern Monday.  These features seem to be the focus of her blog right now, BUT if you click on her page called "Quilt Retro Launch Party" you can actually see most of the projects in this book.


I hope you enjoyed this book review.  And speaking of Angela Walters, after receiving so many comments about free motion quilting and her book, I finally ordered it for myself!  I've only just started reading it, but I hope to write a review of her book soon!

Thanks for reading today,

Jen