Book Review - Simple Graces

Hi everyone:


It's a snowy day in Calgary - just the type of day to spend indoors browsing through your quilt books and picking out your next project. If you need any suggestions, here's a book to try!


Simple Graces: Charming Quilts and Companion Projects by Kim Diehl is another book filled with wonderful projects. This is Kim's fifth book with Martingale and Company and as expected this is another book chock-ful of exciting pieced and appliqué designs. This particular book includes not only bed quilts, but also other patterns for companion projects, such as a pincushion, lampshade and table runner, just to name a few. A great way to coordinate your entire house!

Not only are there a variety of projects in the book, but you'll also find quiltmaking instructions as well as information about appliqué techniques, including using wool in your appliqués. Kim includes various "Pin Points" throughout the book (as she has in her previous four books) to provide you with additional tips to help you create the projects in the book - or any other project, for that matter. 


There is lots of interesting and informational reading in this book while you're drooling over the beautiful designs. 

One of the projects that I really like is "Bittersweet Briar". I love the motion in it and think that the circles in the flying geese border add a unique touch. Kim provides instructions for making this quilt in both cotton and wool: the light version in all cotton and the dark version in a mixture of both fabrics, using the cotton for the background and the wool for the appliqués. 

One of the larger projects in the book is Petal Pusher", with its cascades of Dresden flowers. I like how Kim has added vines and berries to give it a softer and more updated look, while still retaining its old-fashioned charm. 

She also updates the churn dash block in "Front Porch Posies". The addition of flowers, vines, berries and 
leaves gives a charming look to this 
traditional pattern.

The variety of projects in this book will appeal to quilters who would like to make a small project for a gift or to try a new technique. You can try your hand at wool appliqué by making one of the pincushions or perfect your piecing skills while constructing "Pie in the Sky". Whether you're looking for a table runner project or want to make a bed-size quilt, you'll find lots of choices in Simple Graces.