Christmas Quilts and Crafts, by Eleanor Burns

This book has great color pictures, excellent instructions and definitely enough inspiration to get a few very personal, very special gifts made for the holidays.  It has patterns for stockings, ornaments and even crafts you can make in one afternoon.

Handmade Gifts from the Heart, by Pam Black

Our guild member, Pam Black, created this wonderful book for our guild library just in time for the holidays.  It is packed with wonderful ideas for gifts--some quick and easy, others that require a little time and patience. She organized her ideas by the alphabet and there is a fantastic gift idea for each letter.  From Appliqué and homemade fabric Apples to getting some Zzzz's to yourself, you will find some great ideas in here for your friends and family.

Lone Star Quilt and Beyond:  Step by Step Projects and Inspiration, by Jan Krentz

This is a colorful, beautifully illustrated book that takes one beyond the basic steps of the classic eight-pointed star quilt that is also known as the Star of Bethlehem or Morning Star.  From the simple, basic pattern to more intricate, complex designs, the author challenges quilters from beginners to very skilled artists.

Personal Imagery in Art Quilts, by Erika Carter (107 pages)

There may be a hidden quilt artist inside you searching for an outlet.  This book is a chronicle of art quilts by Erika Carter showing the development and progression of her personal imagery.  After she was introduced to the "art" of traditional quilting, she began her journey into the creation of her own designs.  The photography of each of her quilts is striking and will certainly inspire any quilter who is searching for self-expression in their quilts and is willing, or anxious to step outside their comfort level.

Press for Success, by Myrna Giesbrecht (52 pages)

Do you plan your "traffic pattern" when setting pieced blocks?  This informative and easy to read book tells you how and why you should.  If you've ever wondered how to press a seam allowance without breaking any quilting "rules", the author will answer that question and make you feel better about breaking those rules.  You will discover the techniques for pressing your quilt to produce a professional look.

Quilted Animals:  Continuous Line Patterns, by Marta Amundson

This has very limited instructions, but excellent patterns for continuous quilting.  This is an excellent resource for machine quilters.  There are 27 patterns such as whales, caribou, alligators, kangaroos, buffalo, and wallabies.

Quilted for Christmas:  A Collection of Festive Quilts for the Holidays

This book has great color pictures, excellent instructions and definitely enough inspiration to get a few very personal, very special gifts made for the holidays.  It has patterns for stockings, ornaments and even crafts you can make in one afternoon.

Scrappy Duos:  Color Recipes for Quilt Blocks, by Donna Lynn Thomas

Excellent resource book.  Colorful illustrations throughout.  The first half of the book has samples of quilts to illustrate different combinations of colors.  The second half of the book is patterns of squares.  The patterns do not have a lot of explanation, but do have good illustrations to follow.

Stack a New Deck:  More Great Quilts in 4 Easy Steps by Karla Alexander

Karla Alexander creates 18 very different quilt using the same easy "Stack and Slash" technique.  Her book focuses on stacking squares of fabrics on top of each other, rotary cutting through the stack in different angles and in different patterns, "shuffling" the fabric and sewing the squares back together for very easy but very dramatic results.  The illustrations are very good and the directions are easy to follow.  This is an excellent book for some fun, funky, and easy ideas to create very dramatic and unusual quilts.

Patterns include:  Bent out of Square, Square Dance, Garden View, Cottage Quarters, Garden Path, Saturn, Salsa, Red Onion, Aunt Bessie's Kaleidoscope, Hopscotch, Sushi, Joker's Wild, Old Glory, Crazy Curvy Patchwork, Funky Curvy Rail, The Daily Grind, Tumbling Triangles, and Lounge Lizards.

Time-Crunch Quilts, by Nancy J. Martin--CD-Rom included

Excellent, colorful illustrations and very easy to follow directions.  A great book for wall hangings, but very few full-size patterns.

Three-dimensional Pieced Quilts, by Jodie Davis

Black and white with a colored center section with finished quilts.  The instructions are pretty easy to follow and there are many helpful tips tucked throughout the book.

Two-Hour Mini Quilt Projects:  Over 111 Appliquéd and Pieced Designs, by McKenzie Kate

This is a very colorful and well-illustrated book.  If you like Folk-Art Appliqué, this book is for you!

Wedgeworks, by Cheryl Phillips--Wedge tool included

Wedgeworks has excellent and many patterns with clear illustrations on how to cut the fabric for the technique.  There is a middle section in the book with color pictures to see the final results, but the rest of the book is in black and white.

Women of Taste:  A Collaboration Celebrating Quilt Artists and Chefs

This is a wonderful book for inspiration.  One quilter or textile artist paired up with a chef and designed a quilt together.  The influences from the chef's culinary style is reflected in the quilt artist's vivid depictions of cuisine.