Craft Books Galore! Review and Round-Up of Craft Books--Quilting, Embroidery, Paper Quilling, Origami, Knitting and more!

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books and kits in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of products that you purchase through them. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

As I have been doing the last few weeks I am trying to share all my books with you before Christmas. Although it is getting late now to order you can still get some by Christmas. So today I am sharing three craft books with you and then a round-up of the craft books I have to review still. We are going to start with our craft space and organizing it! 


Our first book is Love Your Creative Space by Lilo Bowman. Are you like me? Does your creative space need help in the organizing to make it useful? Mine is a mess and used mostly for storage or should I say a mountain of storage. This book intrigued me because I need help. I need inspiration and I need ideas. I think my first problem is the fact that I love making so many different kinds of crafts. I have fabric for sewing, fabric for quilting, yarn for knitting, embroidery, dollhouse kits and tools, paper products and so much more. This book starts with soft stuff--your fabric, yarn, threads, etc. It even has a section on sorting and purging. Something I know I have been working on. Then it moves on to tool stuff. This is your rotary cutters, mats, scissors, needles, etc. It suggests taking time to maintain your sharp tools so they will be ready. Next comes sticky stuff and then marking stuff. Both sections give ideas on how to best sort and store these. Then there is the blingy stuff. 

 After sorting your supplies and figuring out ways to organize and store them comes your space. Your space includes everything from where your main workspace is and what you want reachable from there to how you decorate it. It talks about paint as well as lighting too. This book gives you ideas on how to begin to organize and create the creative space you want and how to do it on your budget and in the space you have. Now I just need to get motivated to work on mine. I would love to see photos of yours!!





Next we are going to look at how fabric designers design the fabrics we love to sew and quilt with. The book is Modern Fabric by Abby Gilchrist and Amelia Poole. Have you ever wondered how they come up with the fabric designs you see at the store or even in a quilt, clothes, etc.? This book gives you a glance into the lives and eyes of twenty-five top fabric designers. Abby Gilchrist and Amelia Poole interviewed top fabric designers of fabric that is sold at Abby's store. Many of the designer fabric designers are here including my mom's favorite, Kaffe Fassett.


 It is so interesting to hear how these artists became interested and what their process is to design fabric lines. It is amazing to hear how different each of their stories are and how their fabric lines began and continue. The pages include information about the designer, photographs of the designer as well as his or her fabric. Then there is the story of how the designer became interested in fabric and began to design it. Some do it with paint and others with computers. There are so many different methods to the design. It is so interesting to read about it as a quilter and sewer. 




Finally we are going to look at some amazing women and a book to help us remember and create them in art. It is Bad*ss Women: History Makers, Trouble Makers, Sheroes, & More by Mora Penny. With the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg this year, there has definitely been a push for strong women. This little book of iron-on designs of famous women is perfect for creating and remembering strong women. I had big plans to embroider different women into ornaments or décor for my family, but it didn't really get there. I also noticed the idea of painting them and thought I would try it. I had watercolor paints out and decided to try them on the fabric. I ironed on the Nancy Pelosi decal onto white muslin fabric. Then I tried to paint it. 

The paints ran a little bit on the fabric, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I will admit I don't personally like Nancy Pelosi so I chose her as a trial with the paints since I wouldn't be upset if I messed it up.

My Facebook feed often shares A Mighty Girl posts with me and one day I saw this beautiful poster in my feed. It made me think of the women in this iron-on decal book.

Mighty Girl's She Series Poster 4

In fact I have most of the same women in the book. I had to change two of them because I didn't have Carrie Fisher or Joy Harjo. I chose Oprah for "Inspire" and J.K. Rowling for "Write". I am thinking I would love to embroider them and then make them into a wallhanging by adding fabric borders as well as the words. Then hang it in Hazel's room for inspiration and role models for her.

I love that the book has a large variety of cultures in it. The women have a huge variety of careers, race and more. Now I just need to get motivated to start stitching. 

Today I also want to share some other great craft books for you to check out. These are on my shelves to review and share with you. 

Embroidery & Stitching Books


1) Simply Sashiko: Classic Japanese Embroidery Made Easy

2) Butterfly Stitches: Hand Embroidery & Wool Applique Designs

3) Enchanting Embroidery Designs

4) Stitch a Masterpiece

For more embroidery and stitching projects check out here.

Quilt Books


1) Quilts with an Angle

2) Tantalizing Table Toppers

3) Sew Very Easy Quilt Favorites

4) Playing with Patchwork & Sewing

5) Harriet's Journey from Elm Creek Quilts

6) Korean Patchwork Quilting

7) Strip Quilt Secrets

8) String Frenzy

9) Love Jelly Roll Quilts

10) Stunning 3-D Quilts Simplified

For even more quilt book reviews check out here.

Paper, Yarn & More Craft Books & Kits

1) Paper Quilling Adorable Animals Chinese Style

2) Paper Quilling Chinese Style

3) Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machines Kit

4) Japanese Wonder Knitting

5) Show-How Guides Hair Braiding

6) Mind-Blowing Paper Puzzles Kit


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