A Book Review: Fresh Fabric Treats

Whew! I was gone awhile! We had a vacation, an engagement, a houseguest and much much more, but hopefully, now our lives will return to regularly scheduled programming over here in the fox household!

In the meanwhile, I have been perusing these books, trying to figure out how to give the best sum-up I can. The MBS book, Fresh Fabric Treats is going to go first. I have to start by gushing about all the amazing talent that contributed to this book! Amanda Jean, V of V&Co, John @ Quilt Dad, Sweetwater, the list just keeps on going! I feel like the authors of these patterns have contributed so much and been so generous within this world of quilting that I would support them regardless of what the book contained. The fact that it contains gorgeous pictures like this one of Rachel of PS I Quilt’s yummy treat just makes it even better!

If I had to sum up this book, I would say it is aimed at beginners or busy mama’s like myself who want to whip up a quick project. Each pattern uses moda precuts (of course) which I love! However, I will confess to you that I may not ever use more than one or two patterns in this book. I really love the quilt pattern John contributed, a cool variation on the traditional rail quilt.

And this little cutie that Vanessa whipped up yields one really fun idea of what to do with a charm pack

My only issue with this book is that many of the ideas are patterns that can be found elsewhere on the internet as a tutorial or that are repeated in other books. For example, how many times have I seen a pattern for a wonky 9 patch (although this one uses it for a bag, rather than a quilt)

And there are some pretty fab tutorials for making string quilts. This one uses a bella solid layer cake as the base, which is a bit more expensive than I can usually afford although the resulting quilt is very pretty! And I do love Amanda Jean’s style 🙂

So, I guess my thoughts on this book go back to the nature of ‘free’ and the culture of the internet. I was a bit disappointed with the patterns in this book because many of them are available for ‘free’ elsewhere on the internet, given by generous bloggers who love to share what they do and encourage others. And yet, at the same time, I want to find ways to support those same bloggers, so they will keep blogging and sharing and challenging me. While this book doesn’t have too many patterns that I found inspiring, I am very very glad to have purchased this book and hopefully supported this amazing community of generous crafters. And in the bargain, I got to enjoy some time flipping pages and looking at yummy fabrics. It seems like a great deal all around.

And if you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend the article I linked to above. It made me really appreciate all of the wonderful bloggers who have shared so much so freely!