Cherri House

Pros: House's use of color, particularly in the project quilts, is beautiful. "City Green" and "City Fair," in particular, are what drew me to this book; I was planning to make the former for a wedding in a few months, but there are so many pieces that I need something faster. I think I'm going to go with "City Bank" - easy, but also colorfully stunning. I think it will go quickly, which is most important these days. Also: I really like the concept of this book a lot, what with the geometry of city design.

Cons: At points, this book feels like a less challenging version of the Modern Quilt Workshop. This was most obvious when I came across a picture of House's "Foreign Currency" quilt; is it just me, or is this almost exactly the same as MQW's "Plain Spoken?" I know they're both versions of the Chinese Coins design, as House says, but really? All I could think was "ripoff." My other main beef is that for all of the projects, supplies are only listed for the pictured quilt size - that is, yardage isn't extrapolated out for typical bed quilt sizes. I use quilt books so I don't have to do the math myself! Would it have been that much harder to include?… (more)

"City Quilts" by Cherrie House is new book hot off the presses at C&T Publishing. Since I love quilts that are both simple and make use of solid color fabrics I knew from the beginning that this book would hold interest for me. Having grown up in New York City the photos in the book were quite evocative for me. I think that Ms. House did a remarkable job of designing simple but dramatic quilts reminiscent of every day city living images. Although I love using solid colors I think that the quilts in this book also lend themselves equally well to using prints.

The beginning of the book includes a well done section on the basics - I like everything about this book and am looking forward to beginning one of the patterns. Also included is an excellent section on color choices, a bit of theory and tips on developing your ability to "see" patterns in everyday sights. I have collected quite a quilt library over the years and so there are not that many new books that come out that I truly want to spend the money on to add to my ever expanding collection - but this one is a good bet for your permanent collection! I don't think it will disappoint!… (more)