No comments about Stitch, Cloth, Paper & Paint: Mixed Media Ideas & Inspiration.

No comments about Favorite Traditional Quilts Made Easy (That Patchwork Place).

5 comments about Fabric Shopping with Alex Anderson: Seven Projects to Help You: ¥ Make Successful Choices ¥ Build Your Confidence ¥ Add to Your Fabric Stash.

1. Alex Anderson's Fabric Shopping displays seven projects and advises on choosing perfect fabric combinations for projects. From basics which should be in every quilter's drawer to guidelines for buying, this packs in important shopping tips.



2. I have been quilting for many years and have never found a book as helpful as this in choosing fabric. It can be very intimidating going into a fabric store and seeing thousands of bolts of fabric. Alex's book gives great advise on picking out a focus fabric and going from there. I would recommend this book to beginners and experienced quilters alike.



3. We all start out life as little artists. All parents have at least one wall with crayon to testify to this. Yes somewhere along the way that little artist gets lost. The joy of getting 64 crayons is too much, so when faced with a fabric store of 1000's of colors, people need to reconnect with their love of colors and that is where this book succeeds.



4. I LOVE Alex on HGTV, but I was disappointed in this book. I thought she would give advice on what KIND of fabrics to purchase for quilting, NOT what colors. I found it lacking in the information that would have helped beginning quilters like myself.



5. I just recieved this book and think it is an excellent place to start for someone just starting out and building a stash. I also think it could be helpful to the more experienced quilter who is looking to put that extra "sparkle" in their quilts with the use of color.

1 comments about Magnificent Molas: The Art of the Kuna Indians.

1. My wife is a fiber artist and I am the webmaster of her site. We own nearly 4.000 books and we have gladly added Magnificent Molas by Michel Perrin to our collection. It is difficult to imagine that anyone could do better than Perrin. His Magnificent Molas is a remarkable book in every sense: illustrations, text, layout and printing are all of highest level and come together in a well documented and passionate praise of the magnificent textile art of the kuna indians and their culture. It is even well written, so it makes pleasure to read. This book is a must for those who are interested primitive and textile arts.
   Gösta & Agostina Zwilling, Verona, Italy

1 comments about Machine Quilting Primer (Quilt in a Day) (Quilt in a Day).

1. Fantastic book. If you are just starting, or need an update on machine quilting this is the book to own! Well explained and lots of diagrams and photos. A must have book!

2 comments about Cat Quilts and Crafts.

1. Only thing I ever made out of this was an appliqued sweatshirt--fuzzy side out.
   
   Easy. It looked good after I finished. I wore it for years.
   
   Fortunately it didn't look anything like her samples.
   
   And that is why I only gave it 4 stars. I loved her cats, I hated her fabric choices.
   
   Not the first time this has happened. And that's better than the other way around, where the pictures are dazzling, but not really usable.



2. If you want templates for realistic cats, this is the book for you. The word "quilts" in the title is a misnomer! There are only a few pages in the entire book about quilts. The majority of the book is filled with page after page of templates. There are only about 22 pages in the beginning of the book dedicated to crafts. If you are a novice in sewing or crafts, this isn't the book for you. There are very few illustrations and those are not great quality - hard to figure out exactly what is what. The instructions are extremely short and very limited. Only an experienced crafter who LOVES realistic images of cats will find this book useful.

No comments about 120 Great Fashion Designs, 1900-1950, CD-ROM and Book (Dover Pictorial Archives).

5 comments about Classic Millinery Techniques: A Complete Guide to Making & Designing Today's Hats.

1. Lovely compelation of photos that go hand in hand w/ technique.
   Gets you to jump right in making hats starting w/ basic techniques. An easy to follow learning method that moves you along starting w/ the basic cut and sew and moving on to more advaced methods.
   Follow her suggested guide lines for using the book.
   Are you the hands on type? Get this book. Youll be wearing a hat you made in no time.



2. This book covers most of the techniques needed for making hats. It is beautifully bound and tasefully illustrated.



3. Ms. Albrizio based this book on the courses she used to teach at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is now 93 years old and retired from the millinery business, but I have never forgotten her spirit and determination to teach the future milliners of the world and to inspire all her students to wear their creations with flair. I spent a decade in the millinery business because of her instruction and had some great fun. I highly recommend this book and will always remember Ms. Albrizio, the Grand Dame...all decked out for the NY Easter Parade with her students...all wearing their favorite creations. Great fun!!!



4. This text features incredibly well photographed images and clear diagrams. The writing itself is very easy to understand. Naturally it helps if you have a basic understanding of fabric (such as bias and fabric content) and at the bare minimum basic sewing skills (sewing machine, hand sewing and lots of patience.) This is a very thorough text.
   
   This book features highly on the list of millinery resources that I reccomend to people. The others being From the Neck Up and Hats on Heads.
   
   Please note that it doesn't refer to sinamay work, but techniques can be adapted. Nor does it address the blocking of hats such as felts or straw (only covering them if memory serves...). You would require a basic block to shape the lining fabrics for some cocktail pieces.
   
   Classic Millinery Techniques is a beautiful and virtually priceless book that will compliment your millinery work, hobby and studies. It's an astute investment and very inspirational.



5. This book is a comprehensive book on making hats. It is well written, very informative, highly detailed, and is a "must" for beginning milleners. The price was the best on the internet!

4 comments about Shibori: A Beginner's Guide to Creating Color & Texture on Fabric (Diy Network).

1. For those of us interested in the hands-on techniques of modern shibori, this is a great book. It's full of stunningly colorful illustrations that give the reader/artist very clear examples of what one can expect from a wide variety of dyeing techniques. I own one of Ms. Caldwell's weavings (she also works in ikat), and can attest to its real-life subtlety and beauty. Much of the book is, of course, given over to the basic craft of shibori. But the joy of it is in working inside Caldwell's bold, adaptable, and idiosyncratic style. Learning about the variety of materials and methods - and about how everyday objects, experiments, and even accidents contribute to art - make this a book worth having.



2. Very useful for new Shirori dyers. Simple to read and understand. Could have used more information, but a good place to start.



3. This book has many good basic sections of information on how to make shibori fabrics easily at home. It is clear and concise, with good illustrations. Very importantly, the author discusses different dye types and methods, which is very important in shibori because, let's face it, we're not all going to go out into our backyards and indigo dye the old fashioned way. I've been doing shibori for years but I loved this book and found it full of good ideas.



4. This is a beautiful book unfortunatly it is not the one I was looking for,I needed a more basic informaiton book, still it is a beautiful and once I get some ground floor basic knowledge, this will be a great book for my needs.

5 comments about Annie Sloan Decorative Gilding: A Practical Guide.

1. This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in guilding techniques including metal leaf, brozing powders, dyes, and tortoiseshell. Highly recomended!



2. In a market overcrowded with books on decorative paint effects and techniques, Decorative Gilding is far and away one of the best. Particularly useful (and unusual) are two formatting
   layouts used by this author. The first is the inclusion of "Pitfalls", text boxes which include common problems in applying the technique described. The second is the identical application of the particular finish on different kinds/colors of backgrounds. From my own experience, a gilding technique will have a very different appearance, depending on the background color used, from item to item. The photography is excellent, the text clear and concise. A must for any serious artist's library!



3. Gilding with metal leaf is just the start for this author. The other major technique covered is the use of bronze powders (aka metallic powders).
   
   Other techniques covered include: gilding on glass, hand painting on metal leaf, paint effect, tortoiseshell effect, sprit dyes to create mottled effects, verdigris, metallic waxes, distressing and incising.
   
   Many excellent photos are included along with concise instructions.



4. I agree with the other reviewers who say there are some good features: the "pitfalls" sidebars, the parade of innovative techniques and materials, etc. What bothered me about this book was careless editing, i.e. a caption that describes a "water-based" paint, yet the picture is of a tube of oil paint (which to believe?) or a series of gilded chips with underpainted tones that have mixed up captions that might cause some confusion. Annie obviously knows what she's doing, but her editors could use some lessons.



5. Please note that this is a Reader's Digest book, a feature that I failed to notice. I was looking for an introductory text and practical guide to the application of gold leaf. I thought that a book entitled "Decorative Gilding: A Practical Guide" would serve nicely. To apply gold leaf you need to know basically two things: (i) how to do it, and (ii) where to obtain the tools and materials needed. With regard to the usefulness of this book in answering these questions, I can do no better than to quote from the book itself: (i) "We do not demonstrate the use of loose real gold leaf in this book, because it is too difficult for the novice gilder to handle. Despite these concerns people often prefer loose leaf....etc" (ii) "How to Find Supplies. The tools and mateials you need for the techniques demonstrated in this book are generally available from specialty art supply and paint stores. To find a store near you, try looking in your local telephone directory..." Is there anyone out there who needs to pay good money for this kind of information?