Simple Quilts – From Me and My Sister Easy as 1, 2, 3 – Book Review

This month’s book is not so much of an instructional book on how to quilt. It is more of a compilation of simple quilt patterns. Although the patterns are super simple, the book does assume prior knowledge of sewing or quilting. The authors, Barbara Groves and Mary Jacobson (also known as Me and My Sister) have several books like this. They usually like using various pre-cuts to make the quilts come together quickly.

Let me give you a few quick definitions in case you are unfamiliar with the terms I will be using. Yardage is the fabric taken right off of the bolt and cut to the length needed. If you need 3-1/2 yards of fabric, the fabric is pulled off of the bolt and cut to a 3-1/2 yard length. Pre-cuts are packaged fabric cuts that most of the premium fabric companies provide for purchase. They can be all of one fabric (usually solids). Or they can be a grouping of all of the prints in a particular collection.

Pre-Cuts

Here is a quick guide to the various pre-cuts that are available. There are Charm Squares which are 5″ squares and Layer Cakes which are 10″ squares. They come in a package of 40-42 squares. There are also Jelly Rolls which are 2-1/2″ x width of fabric strips. These pre-cuts are convenient and come in 40-42 strips per roll. Then there are Fat Quarters which usually measure 18″ x 22″ and Fat Eighths which usually measure 9″ x 22″. A few less popular cuts are also available such as Mini Charm Squares which are 2-1/2″ squares and Honey Buns which are 1-1/2″ x width of fabric strips in a roll.

The Book

Simple Quilts is a 32-page soft cover booklet with a short introduction and 12 easy to put together quilt patterns. The quilts range from a super simple strip quilt to a somewhat more intermediate (but still easy) quilt that requires sashing and flipping of blocks. All the quilts contain yardage information as well as pre-cut info that can be used to make the process even quicker. Most patterns use a combination of yardage and pre-cuts. None of the patterns is longer than 3 pages and that includes the main page with photo, description and finished quilt size.

The Quilts

So far I have made two of the quilts with another few in the planning stages. The two that I have completed are Easy as 6 and the Easy as 10. Easy as 6 uses 10″ layer cake squares as well as additional yardage. Easy as 10 uses charm squares, jelly roll strips and additional yardage.

I love, love, love simple quilts so this book was right up my alley. I found the instructions to be very good and the quilts to be simple yet unique. Although the patterns don’t teach you how to finish the quilt, the authors do give you a website to visit which has more detailed information and instructions for “sandwiching” the quilt and attaching the binding. Sandwiching the quilt means to lay the backing face down, lay the batting on top and the quilt top over that right side up. The layers get held together with either basting spray or safety pins in preparation to be quilted. There are also many blogs and video tutorials that demonstrate this process as well as many ways to actually quilt it such as straight line and free motion quilting.

If you need to make a quick quilt, this book is for you. Or if you enjoy making simple quilts, this is the quilt book for you. I would love to see what you make. Hope this book inspires you to…

Make Something Beautiful Today!

You can purchase this book and most others that I have reviewed (or plan to) here.

If you liked this review, you might be interested in this one too…

I get commissions for some purchases made through links in this post.