Make & Love Quilts

April 7, 2014
Fons has cobbled together a delightful book of instruction for making—and loving—quilts. Her quilts are “scrappy,” comprising little bits of fabric to create big (and hence time-consuming) bed quilts. “For those who want a quick quilt fix, this book will make an excellent coaster,” she jokes. Fons, editor of Quilty magazine and daughter of quilter Marianne Fons, backs her tops with grand swaths of yardage, and, unlike many quilt teachers, she shows those backs as part of the instruction package. The first part of her love letter to quilts covers “Theory + Practice,” with attention to fabric, design, and construction. She discusses quilts in this century, cotton broadcloth, and, in her straightforward writing style, why not to prewash fabric; she considers the “Patchwork Quartet” (cutting, sewing, pressing, ripping), as well as assembling and layering. Within “Finishing Up,”she often adds humor to directions, for example, after sewing and layering “Northbound”: “Crawl under for a long, deep sleep.” A dozen projects fill the second half, with romantic quotes added to the love lessons.