11/19/10

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

Good morning, and welcome!  I'm so glad you stopped by.

I think I may have asked you before whether someone taught you to quilt, or whether you were self-taught.  I'm mainly self-taught, although I did take one class at my local community college.  Still, I have plenty of books I still refer to.  So that got me thinking.  I started wondering what reference books you look to when you have a question about a technique, or if you have one "go-to" book that you like.  That's my question to you today:

When you have a question about quilting, where do you turn?  Do you have a favorite reference book?  Is it an online forum?  A person?  Do you have more than one that you like?

I think the book I refer to most often is:



I love the easy-to-follow photography in this book.  Whatever I'm confused about, I can always find it here, explained in a way that I can understand and follow.  I have probably used this book a thousand times by now.  But I also enjoyed making my second quilt from this book:


I wouldn't necessarily classify this book as a reference book, but it's a wonderful teaching book.  It goes through all the basics, teaching as it goes, but while you're learning, you're also making a quilt.  It's a nine-block sampler, and very pretty.  I always learn better by doing, and it's fun to have a finished product at the end.

So now I'd like to hear from you.  What quilt reference do you turn to?

18 comments:

Greg said...

I've been quilting off and on since 2000. I'm mainly self taught as well, but did take my first quilting class a couple of years ago. My wife and I are both avid quilters and refer to the BH&G book very often. That and I 'organic' quilter, meaning I make it up as I go along.

Greg said...

I'm a follower and your button is on my blog!

Flat Out Quilting

Kelsey said...

I generally just type the method I am looking for and tutorial into Google and use that to find a blog with a tutorial, boring a method as that is. :) But on the up side it also helps me find new blogs. :D

Laura said...

I don't have any one book I refer to - I have a couple on specific topic books that I taught myself from that I go back to. For the most part, though, I just rely on Google. It almost always comes up with exactly what I'm looking for!

Aliene said...

I suppose since I started quilting I mainly do my own thing. I do look at Tutorials on line to see a certain technique. Not that I am to that point yet. I just like to do it like Grandma and Mama did.

Aliene said...

Oh yes, I am a follower and I also have your button on my sidebar. i don't know whether to mention this each time or not.

robin said...

At this point I need to look up LOTS of things (newbie). I use Google a lot.

Irina said...

I have a couple of books I refer to, but sometimes I use other blogs and I might send an email to whom I find approachable...

quiltzyx said...

I am still attending quilt classes! I started out in an Adult Ed class, almost 20 years ago now (!) & continued there until this past year, when the school district started messing us up. Now we all pay our teacher & meet at the local VFW hall. We have a huge room, plenty of light & tables - and sometimes they even give us free hot dogs for dinner!
I also take workshops thru' my guild - the least expensive way I've even taken a technique class. I belong to one online quilting forum, and they are great at answering any other questions I might have. Plus we have some terrific tutorials there too. (www.quiltingboard.com)
I do have quilting books & magazines at home, but I don't seem to refer to them too often.

Happy Quilting!

Kathleen said...

I have been quilting off and on for 7 years..never took a quilting lesson ...so I think I am self taught..I do look on the internet if I need an answer to something...it is available 24/7..I don't really have any quilting reference books...thank you for the giveaway..

Lee said...

I a pretty new quilter - but usually I ask my sister in law who has quilted a long time or look up stuff at the library.

Cheryl said...

I really don't relie on alot of books ,I am mainly self taught but My Mom got me started so if I have any questions I ask her ,I useally make up my own patterns or design.
I do look at books and Magizines for ideas sometimes.If I have a really difficult problem I will look it upon the internet.

Cheryl said...

I am a follower

Cheryl said...

I have your button on my blog

LethargicLass said...

I don't have any one go to source... I go to the whole internet :)

caitlindevlin@hotmail.com

LethargicLass said...

I'm a follower :)

caitlindevlin@hotmail.com

Jennifer Joshua said...

I go to google for all clarifications. It shows me solutions of different people. I am a follower

Dana Gaffney said...

All of my quilting books are of patterns. When I'm not sure of something I usually google it, if I know what to call it. I'm self taught so I also will just dive in and figure it out for myself, which is often a disaster, but hey, I learned something.