A Thread Runs Through It
By Barbara Dieges
American Quilter's Society

"Choose from more than a dozen traditional pieced quilt projects, some with applique for every skill level." This statement hardly sums up the wonderful projects and stories that are in this jam-packed book. In between the projects in the book are some "glimpses into the 1800's life of a mountain quiltmaker, whose homespun stories underscore the connection between quilters of every generation."

These stories are about a woman who married and lived in the mountains with her husband and their family, precluding each of the patterns. Barbara's mother's memories inspired these stories.

Some of the quilt patterns are set traditionally, and others are used in combination with an alternate block. There is even a different twist on a few of the settings for the quilts, adding some applique or using unusual settings or fabrics.

Barbara has included some general instructions on applique, cutting, piecing, basting, quilting, borders and also techniques like: flying geese, half square triangles, quarter square triangles, square on point, 4-patch on point. All of this is done is a very readable fashion with lots of good illustrations for us visual people.

Each quilt design includes a full photo of the finished project, a chart for the fabric requirements, and cutting, and very clear instructions with many color illustrations, again for those of us who work best from visuals.

This book is a "must have" for your personal or guild library. I do love the stories, and when I saw those, I just had to read each one to see how the story of "Anna" unfolded and how it ended. It reads like a mini novel, with a quilt relating to each story. Check your local quilt shop for this wonderful book.

Publisher Name: American Quilter's Society

Publisher Address: P.O. Box 3290
Paducah, KY 42002-3290

Publisher Website: www.aqsquilt.com

Author Website: www.bdieges.com

©2003 Dori Hawks (Reviewer)
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