My Quilting Library: Quilting From Every Angle

Last week, I shared a pile of books I’ve recently added to my (very small) quilting library. I made the comment that I rarely buy quilting books, because I love designing my own quilts and thus very rarely make someone else’s patterns. I also am a self-taught quilter, learning pretty much everything either from the internet (thank you, blogs!) or trial and (much) error. So I think these purchases at QuiltCon pretty much doubled what I already had! And I want to take the time to explain why for each book, because these books deserve to be shared. I want to start with this one, Quilting From Every Angle by Nancy Purvis.

This book was an unplanned, unexpected purchase. I hadn’t heard of it before QuiltCon, and only vaguely knew of Nancy via Instagram having seen her tag around the place – @owensolivia. But as I walked the quilt show, there were a few quilts that stopped me in my tracks and drew me in closely. Most of them were by the same quilters, so I kept seeing the same names on the labels, and Nancy was one of them. I loved her work with half-square triangles and half-rectangle triangles, and her use of colour/solids was inspiring. After stalking her down on Instagram and her blog, I found out that she’d just released a book, in which were many of the quilts that I’d loved! I tracked her down and purchased a copy off her, and I do not regret it one bit.

Quilting From Every Angle is first off a STUNNING book. The photography, the graphic design, the layout… Oh I could look at it all day! The art director and designer, Charlene Tiedemann, did a fantastic job. All the little triangles of colour emphasise the topic of the book perfectly.

The illustrations throughout the book are absolutely top-notch! I’m the kind of person who likes illustrations, as opposed to photographs, to demonstrate the tips and techniques, as I feel that it breaks down the concept to the bare essentials and with no lighting or fabric distractions. So I really appreciate how well-designed the illustrations are in this book.

And the photography, by Joe Hancock, is all beautifully styled. So beautiful! Each project includes a full-page stylised photo at the beginning, capturing the colours and angles in each quilt.

Each project also includes detailed instructions and diagrams for piecing the units and quilt tops, including for any special techniques like paper piecing.

And they also include close up photos of each project sprinkled throughout too, showing the quilting and piecing detail.

Other than being a visually-pleasing book, Quilting From Every Angle also includes some great technical details, such as noting how Nancy quilted each quilt, rather than just “quilt as desired”. It’s always nice to have some recommendations from the designer as to how and why she quilted it, but I appreciate the brevity – this book is about quilt design, not quilting. The projects also cover a wide range of techniques that are useful to have in your quilting skill arsenal, and that can be applied to any pattern outside those in the book – half-square triangles, inserting strips, paper piecing, half-rectangle triangles, Y-seams, and flying geese.

Quilting From Every Angle
Publisher: Interweave
Pages: 160 – 14 pages inspiration and tips, 123 pages projects, 14 pages templates
Projects: 16
RRP: US$27.99 (currently $20.37 on Amazon)
Format: Paperback, Kindle, PDF ebook through Interweave
Who should buy it: Anyone who loves having a beautiful book to peruse; if you’re wanting to brush up on working with angled piecing such as triangles, Y-seams, and paper piecing; inspiration for modern design takes on traditional methods and designs; inspire your own quilt designing to thinking outside the square/straight lines!

Post contains affiliate links. You don’t pay any extra, but I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase. All opinions are 100% my own.