Miniature Books

This has some lovely patterns for making quilts for dolls and dollhouses or other miniature uses. (The only book I know about on the topic, actually.) It gives instructions for cutting the fabics and sewing them together as well as the patterns themselves, so is good for both beginner and someone more experienced. There are over a dozen quilting patterns and some other projects as well, such as name tags, eyeglass case, needle case, checkbook cover, pincushions, etc., and the instructions are very clear.

I hadn't done much quilting, so Ms. Libal's book was a great A - Z lesson for me! Not only did her book introduce me to 26 different patterns, but Ms. Libal's great sense of color and beautiful fabric choices really encouraged me to be bold and have fun with my quilting!

This tiny, pop-up book depicts how love is not as perfect or as glamorous as maybe we'd like it to be. Using just a few words and lots of whimsical, three-dimensional artwork, Love Stinks parodies love's many challenges. A great little girlfriend gift.

I've got to say, this thing is cool. It'd make a great stocking stuffer for almost any age, from a 7-year old to a 25-year old (like me). I expected to find a junk toy, but then was so fascinated by the way that the magnets interacted --- before I knew it I had been playing with it for 30 minutes. It's tiny, just about two inches by an inch, but surprisingly curious to play around with. I like mine so much I bought two for my brothers :-)

Bob Bard's book gives us a snapshot of state of the art toy soldier/ military miniature collecting as it was in the American 50's. This book was ideal in it's day, though a bit too generalized for modern tastes. That all the images are in black and white, and bit too high contrast hurts the overall usefulness, but still I enjoyed looking at some rarer soldier figures, including the Wax figures from the West Point museum. The real highlights are it's short section on modeling and casting figures from scratch, an aspect of the hobby sadly overlooked today with our easy access to professional figures of high quality. There is an introductory chapter on Wargaming which lays out the concept and some suggestions, but is not in itself a set of playable rules. If you want old fashioned rules look into the books of Featherstone, Morshauer, and Little Wars, or maybe visit the Armymen Webpages of Thor Shiel.

This book is well written with good diagrams and helpfull information. I have no book making background and it was easy for me to understand and learn from. A good choice for your collection of "art" books.

Marbles have been around thousands of years: this provides the basics of various simple marble games, from tournaments to specific games. Also included are projects such as how to make a marble bag, along with plenty of terminology explanations for all ages.

After peeking inside (don't you just love it when quilt book publishers have enough faith in their contents to let you see first, before purchase?) I was sure I'd like the book, even though it is a hard-cover.

Okay, I prefer paperback's but for this one, I'll make an exception -- at least until they print a pb version. The book is superb, and that's a word I don't use frequently, especially when referring to my quilt books.

Frankly, over the years I've bought way too many that turned out to be "not for me" or plain old boring. I'll admit to preferring the newer books with lots of color photographs -- and I do have a partiality to decent paper, well-bound books that won't have pages falling out if I sneeze in the vicinity, et al.

So, I'm "selective" (that's a nice way to say picky, er, nit-picky) ...

And, I like little things -- so this book Marvelous Miniatures (Rodale's Successful Quilting Library) had appeal from the get-go.

From the beginning to the very end, this book is a pure delight.

Open the book, and the end pages (normally blank) show an "Anatomy of a Quilt" so right away even a novice will have a clear understanding of terminology.

Inside the illustrations are profuse, in color, clearly explained, and *helpful* -- plus the tools are so cool! Okay, I'm a gizmo-holic, and these appeal to my sense of "ooh, I need that too" though truth to tell, there aren't *that* many toys, er, tools that I don't have already!

Aside: the author does not promote one brand either -- you've all see the books no doubt that are so clearly trumped by ruler companies, that double as "informative" but really leave a feeling of "I paid perfectly good money to be spammed"?! Ugh. Marvelous Miniatures doesn't fall into that trap... I just opened the book (pages 40-41) and see scissors, a 1"x6" generic ruler, a rotary cutter, Mini Cut & Press cutting board/iron pad, one of those miniature irons, and a green cutting mat -- the 8x12" one.

Advice: sniff your cutting pad before purchase. If it stinks in the store it'll stink at home MUCH WORSE. Ask me how I know that! And no amount of fresh air will cure it either. (mutters at self for going cheap/and getting exactly what I paid for)

But I digress... and back to Marvelous Miniatures... the pages explain/show, give measurements for, patterns, and thorough instructions for success. It explains how to mini the full sized quilts we may have. The book offers specifics -- not just a shrink this to these dimensions. There are tips too ... little things that we'd learn in practice anyway, but definitely of the nice to know first variety.

Included are sections on Foundation Piecing and English Paper Piecing for those that are so inclined. Not my thing, but I mention it anyway for those that do prefer that. One thing I liked is that there is so much variety and information within these pages, and frankly, my biggest problem will be where to start. They are all that good. Everything from string quilts to mini crazy quilts, Baltimore Albums and more. Gosh, there are lots to chose from. Fun, fun, fun!!!

There's even a section of what to do with our miniature blocks -- everything from needle cases to dollhouse chair cushions, rugs, eyeglass cases, and sachets... any of which would make a great gift. Note to readers: I likes presents! (wink)

Just prior to the index is a section entitled Miniatures Glossary, and it's a nice idea/good thing to have, especially if you're drawing a blank or just beginning. Frankly I could easily see a doll house enthusiast buying this book -- it's not just for quilters. The list of suppliers (everything from Clotilde to Sudberry House and Thangles -- and lots in between) is conveniently located near the index. As for the index and it is thorough.

The final end pages show quilting styles -- everything from fans to in the ditch, meandering, one reminds me of Cathedral windows, some feathers, echo quilting and more.

I'd definitely buy Marvelous Miniatures again. It's MARVELOUS.

I was lucky - I got this book when the exhibit was at the Metropolitan in NYC so I was able to see the actual miniatures. For those who couldn't or didn't see the exhibit, this book is a must have for history buffs of the medieval period.

This is a surprisingly good book that I purchased not knowing what to expect. It offers detailed plans and instructions to recreate several historical/classical buildings and structures, its furnishings and accesories. There are also some projects that can be made more or less whimsical according to personal preference. All in all, a well rounded book.