The quilted home handbook Transform your space with the art of quilting

Chow (Urban Quilting) takes readers through all the quilting steps from rotary cutting, perfecting quarter-inch seams, sandwiching the top with batting and backing, quilting on a domestic sewing machine, and binding. The only knowledge assumed is how to use a sewing machine. The author does a great job of listing the basic tools needed to get started. This book is also not the fussy little calico prints and traditional blocks that define quilts for many. Instead, the quilts are clean, modern designs in vibrant colors and neutrals that would appeal to the accomplished quilter as well as the novice. Smaller projects such as coasters and cushions provide a great entry before jumping into a bed-sized quilt. Only two projects are quilts, with instructions given for making them baby-, twin-, queen-, and king-sized. Some of the space given to choosing one's own design aesthetic and identifying the exact fabrics the author selected could have also been used to show how to resize some of the cushions into full-sized quilts. VERDICT The illustrations are excellent, as is the glossary. This is a first-rate textbook for beginning quilters.--Debbie Bogenschutz