Design Your Own Quilts

by Judy Hopkins

Choose simple, stunning, or slightly offbeat…then stitch up a quilt that is truly unique! The author supplies a flexible framework of 12 “blueprint’ on which you can build quilts that showcase your unique style.

Genres: Quilting

94 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Judy Hopkins is a prolific quiltmaker and the author of five That Patchwork Place titles. She has also coauthored three books, including the bestseller 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite quilting books. If you've ever wanted to design your own quilt, but you just don't know where to begin, give this book a try. She gives you 12 blueprints and some basic principles, and the book includes lots of great examples explaining why the quilt maker chose that fabric or template, etc. I've checked this out from the library several times over several years and I may just finally break down and buy it. (Or maybe I could just put a whole bunch of quilting books I do own that are pretty much useless into the swap and try and request this one. It's a goodie.)

Another good one if you really want to go rogue and *gasp* rotary cut without a ruler is this one: Create Your Own Free-Form Quilts: A Stress-Free Journey to Original Design. This one is more useful if you prefer not to really have a plan, and you just want to cut a bunch of strips in different sizes and colors, sew them together and see what happens. (It's not quite that simple, but you get the picture.) The quilts in this book look more like art quilts, whereas in Design Your Own Quilts: One-Of-A-Kind Quilts, they tend to have a more formal look to them. Well, they were planned! It's plan-as-you-go, but the approach lends itself more toward traditional quilt blocks.

If you have no clue at all how to get started in quilting, here's a great classic book that will give you all the basics, along with some great patterns that run from wall-sized all the way to king-sized quilts: Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! : The Complete Guide to Quiltmaking.

I've made several quilts, but I still consider myself a beginner. It looks a lot harder than it really is. I say if you've always been curious about quilting, give it a try. You may fall in love with it. You never know where your next project will take you. It's quite an adventure!