2+ stars, not rounded up

Ferons starts Modern Day Quilter with a solid introduction, stating that “In this book, you will find sections of various quilting techniques.” Unfortunately, the author tries to do too many things without good photos. She starts with simple patches, introduces projects with half square triangles, adds applique, and moves on to foundation paper piercing. Many books focus on just one of these techniques. I believe beginning and perhaps intermediate quilters would be confused and overwhelmed.

One of Ferons’ projects is to make a reusable fabric ‘chain’ using Velcro, (like kids would make paper chains). I had no clue what she was describing until I saw the photo at the end of the instructions. Photos should be put in the beginning of the sections so that learners can visualize the project from the onset! 150 squares for a 30-link chain seems like an awful lot of work for a not very usable project. The author uses abbreviations like RST, (right sides together), and then later defines them. Do it when it is first mentioned! For another quilt which uses 16 blocks, the author gives over 5 pages of detailed instructions, but photos or diagrams were not included in my ARC and directions were very confusing. (I am not a novice to quilting, having made several quilts, read many quilting books (history and techniques), and learned from videos and classes.)

A few more reviewer complaints: For the pincushion project, Feron suggests crushed walnut shells as a possible stuffing. I looked it up – walnut shells can stain fabrics and other items! That would be a waste of time and fabric. I really like Ferons’ peachy and soft color palette, but she uses only solid fabrics, and her quilts don’t have the pop/ wow factors I see in many modern quilts. They are ‘pretty’ more than memorable. She includes hashtags to see examples and have readers post their projects. A website would be much more accessible for many readers. Other projects include adding ‘pieced patches’ to jeans or a softball cap. Not fashionable these days.

In “About the Author” Ferons writes “I went to college in Idaho and got my degree and my husband. Score!” Setting women’s progress back decades, in this reviewer’s opinion. I think that there are more accessible technique books for Modern Day Quilters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Modern Day Quilter provides basic and clear instructions. There is a good variety of projects for someone who is leaning to quilt and wants to give modern quilting a try.

Modern Day Quilter
16 Patchwork Quilts and Projects for Everyday Life
Full-Size Templates and Step-by-Step Templates and Step-by Step Instructions for Quilts, Pillows, Wall Hangings, Home décor, and More
Kiley Ferons
“The point of this book is to show modern quilters how having an arsenal of skills in your back pocket can broaden your horizons and dopen doors to so much more creativity and joy. Even though many of these techniques are as old as time, it is the vision and execution that make them modern.”
Favorite Tools: Creative Grids’ Ruler, rotary cutters, large cutting mat, iron, ironing surface, thread, batting, fabric, thread snips, pincushion with pins, washi tape, hera maker, point turner and a seam ripper.
When you make Half-Square-Triangles you can do them one at a time, two at a time, four at a time or eight at a time. All seams are created at ¼”. Before you get started always read all the directions. There will be fabric requirements and cutting instructions. When you are making Flying Geese there is a traditional method and a “No-Waste” Method. There is a pattern for a Runway Quilt, Mod Curved Pillows. The Rope Swing Quilt uses curved pieces and so does the Focal Point Quilt. There is an Intro to Applique’. There is an Intro to Improv which can be used on clothing. The Flow Quilt is beautiful and one I would like to try. There is a lesson on FPP )Foundation Paper Piecing.) This is just a few things you will find in this book.
I have been quilting for several years and I learned several things from this book. Parts of this book are challenging which can be good! We learn new things when we are challenged.
Thank you to Netgalley for a review copy of this book. My reviews are my person opinions.

Very good and nice to follow. Good images. Will look forward to getting creative using this book. Thank you to netgalley for this arc.

This was a fresh look at all the major types of quilting. As a new quilter most of these should be noted as intermediate or advanced, but an ambitious beginner could sink thier teeth in as well. The photos are gorgeous and color pallette is soft and modern.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This quilting book features a variety of different designs and ideas, along with beautiful photography and clear computer-generated diagrams for each pattern. I appreciate that the author repeats some key ideas throughout the book, so that you can jump straight into whatever project interests you without having to flip to the beginning to see all of the techniques and abbreviation translations.

The author includes templates in the back, and for every project, she shares detailed charts for the mathematically challenged, explaining how many pieces you'll need and what they should measure, and how much fabric you'll need. There is also a conversion chart in the back for metric measurements.

1.5 / 5.0

I am not one to rate a craft book low because so much of creativity is about inspiration. But there’s “inspired by” and then there’s derivative that borderlines on copied.

Several of the projects in this book are different techniques used to recreate projects previously published, which makes them “not copied” but really, the creative heavy-lifting was done by another and just changed enough to sell here. Additionally, the ebook copy is poorly edited and all of the diagrams are missing.

I would not recommend this book for my quilting/crafting/artistic friends. There are many more out there that are better written with original content that give direction to a better finished project.

Until Next Time,
MC

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC

Even though I am not supper interested in modern quilts I did really like this book. It broke down standard techniques very nicely in an easy to read manor. I loved there suggestions for projects other then quilts. This would be supper good book for someone just getting into the hobby.