Product Description

More than half of the projects in this book can be completed in less than 8 hours

In an age of mass-produced, look-alike merchandise, there’s no greater pleasure than to receive—or to give—a handmade gift. To make gifts for family and friends testifies to your esteem for them and to your loving dedication of precious energy and time.

And there’s the rub. These days, few people have time to create elaborate hand-fashioned gifts. Understanding the demands on contemporary crafters’ schedules—but understanding, too, their wish to express their love and care in this very personal way—led Joelle Hoverson to write Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. Now, in the follow-up to that extremely successful 2004 volume—with nearly 80,000 copies in print—Hoverson and photographer Anna Williams present Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts.

The book—designed for use by both first-time and longtime quilters—features 30 patchwork and quilted projects organized according to the amount of time it takes to complete them: less than 2 hours, 2 to 4 hours, 4 to 8 hours, 8 to 12 hours, and 12 hours or more. The gifts are inspired by Amish, Appalachian, and Japanese quilting traditions, among others, and range from easy pillowcases and covered scrapbooks to simplified (but heirloom-worthy) log cabin and crazy quilts. Hoverson also shares an overview of her approach to color as well as the tools and techniques she used to complete the projects in the book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16343 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

About the Author
JOELLE HOVERSON is the author of Stewart, Tabori and Chang's Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and the owner of Purl (a yarn shop) and Purl Patchwork (a fabric shop) in New York City. Before opening Purl, she worked as a senior style editor at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and as a freelance stylist. She holds a master of fine arts degree from Yale University. Visit her website at www.purlsoho.com.

ANNA WILLIAMS is a freelance photographer based in New York City. Her work appears in Martha Stewart Living, O, The Oprah Magazine, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Real Simple, and other national publications. She is the photographer of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson.

Customer Reviews

My go-to how-to book
I bought this book for the inspiration and beautiful photos, and it's worth having for those qualities alone. The author's taste is impeccable (without being imperious), and she often combines fabrics in fresh ways. I love the melding of modern and traditional sensibilities.

I'm fairly new to sewing and quilting, and this book has become a real resource for me. I have made several projects from the book, and found the instructions to be clear and easy to follow. I also found the designs easy to adapt to suit my own preferences.

Great projects, instructions so-so...
I was so excited when I found this book. All of the projects are practical, hip and fun. They have made great gifts for my friends and family. I really enjoy that the author divided up the projects by time needed to complete the project. As an intermediate sewer I found the times given to be true.

The only problem I have encountered is that the instructions are not detailed enough. As an example, I have made three elephants so far and not once do they turn out exactly like the picture. One passage tells the reader to "carefully pin the wide end of the Under-trunk to the Belly front." The problem I had was with the "carefully pin" part, what does that mean exactly for this section? You have one straight piece and one V-shaped piece, carefully pining it really doesn't mean much to me. It would have been nice if the author indicated HOW she wanted me to carefully pin it.

Overall I am very happy with the projects in this book. I would love to give it the full five stars, but found some of the instructions too frustrating.

Lovely
I love all the quilts and combinations of fabrics on this book. The colors and patterns are awesome and I can't wait to see if the projects are so easy to make as they seem. There are a lot of interesting things, from the most simple details to projects that one should keep for herself (all those crafters who give every little detail they sew must know what I'm talking about) because of the simplicity and inspiring combination of shapes and colors make them so cute that you wouldn't like to loose them.