Civil War Legacies: Quilt Patterns for Reproduction Fabrics

I might need to buy a second copy of Carol Hopkins' newest book Civil War Legacies; after just 10 days I have traversed back and forth through this book to cover more distance than when I was lost in the lower levels of Penn Station and could not find a street-level exit.All of the quilts here are on the small side, with the largest being about 36 by 43 inches and the smallest being 20 by 22 inches. Many finished block sizes are a mere 3 inches square. Don't worry, despite the small size you will be using the familiar scant ¼ inch seam and not the 1/8 inch seam used in authentic miniatures. Some patterns are more beginner-friendly than others, but in all cases accuracy is crucial. Half-square triangles are abundant, and because they are so small you might want to forgo Ms. Hopkin's individual sewing approach and use a multiple-mark-and-sew first, cut second method. (Edit 5/1/2012 - The author let me know her reasoning for this: she has an ample enough collection of prints and did not want any duplicates.) A bias square ruler will be helpful to have in your tool supply. My favorite pattern is "Stars To Freedom" and it contains over 190 half-square triangles. (Here's a hint I use to keep those pesky little things flat before I am ready to piece them: I stack them with the seams alternating in different directions and weigh them down with one of my old pre-electric heavy flat irons.)If you love Civil War color combos like blues-and-browns or pinks-and-browns, you'll have fun playing with Minnie's Moustache and Martin's Pennies; both are simple in structure yet grandly showcase all our favorite fabric lines, such as Marcus Brothers' "Charleston", any of Windham's "Colonies" lines, or those terrific Jo Mortons from Andover. All of Ms. Hopkin's fabric choices are scrappy, and you might discover that the smaller prints will perform best, given the very small finished block sizes. Even those difficult cheddars and poison greens will find a happy home and become endearing.Never has any other repro book sparked my interest so keenly in shirtings and other backgrounds; I have been combing the internet non-stop for treasures to collect. I guarantee that Civil War Legacies will have you searching for your own gotta-haves and you too will be thumbing through this book repeatedly. Please feel free to email me or comment below to share some great repro fabric sources. Now I am off to search for a few striped prints, which I never thought I would need. And how could I not already have enough of those gorgeous sky blues?P.S. If anyone can identify the fabric line used on the border of "Papa's Birds" (page 24), I will be eternally grateful. (Update: Thank you to the author for identifying this lovely fabric as one of Judie Rothermel's Sturbridge lines for Marcus Bros.)

If you love vintage quilts or mini quilts or both, you will want to get your hands on this book. It has only been in the past year that I have ventured from making full bed-sized quilts to creating little miniatures that can grace tabletops, and decorate walls. This book gives you 15 patterns of beautifully crafted small quilts to enhance the feel of any room. These little quilts are not just one standard size block with a bunch of borders slapped around it, like some so-called minis I've seen. These designs are truly tiny blocks (the smallest I could see is a 1 1/2" finished 4-patch in "Mo's Suspenders) combined to create sweet quilts. The designs are not complex, so they are not above the ability level of a beginner, but when creating miniatures you are working with such small pieces that accuracy in sewing becomes critical. A beginner would need to be very careful to get accurate seams. The full-color instructions are clear, though not lengthy. Since the designs aren't complicated it doesn't take a lot of instruction. There is a six page section of quiltmaking basics at the back of the book that would be helpful for less experienced quilters.Anything created with Civil War reproduction fabrics catches my attention, but not everyone does as nice a job at combining the right prints with the quilt designs as the author has done here. I want to make several of them right now, but have too many projects in the works already. I do know that this won't be a book that just sits on the shelf without getting used.Even if you are not particularly smitten with Civil War fabrics, but love little quilts, these designs would look great in any fabrics, from scrappy to a designer collection. I would recommend, as has been stated in another review, that you use smaller scale prints or the design will be lost when cut into small parts for the quilts. Some medium scale prints would work for the borders that are on most of the quilts.I seldom buy a quilt book without actually looking through it first, but this is one book that I pre-ordered and I am definitely not disappointed.

I won't be able to improve on S. L. Smith's thorough review, but I want to add my agreement. My copy of "Civil War Legacies" arrived yesterday, and I have already devoured every page at least twice. I showed my copy last night to a friend who is also a beginning quilter, and we're so excited to get started with these quilts.I love the personal stories Ms. Hopkins tells about each of the quilts, and the lovely photographs that make the quilts come to life. Although they look intricate and difficult to a beginner like me, each quilt is actually composed of fairly simple elements.I do agree about the half-square-triangle technique in the book being a bit more trouble than the sew-then-cut method, and will probably use the latter for all of those tiny blocks.The pictures do a good job of showing the quilting patterns as well, so I may try my hand at machine quilting these, since they are relatively small.I love all the patterns, and would be happy to make any of them. But I am particularly drawn to the Stars to Freedom, Papa's Birds (on the cover), and Miss Mary's Pinwheels. It will be a difficult decision as to which to try first.

Achtung: kleine Quilts und daher auch entsprechend winzige Blöcke sind hier in der Mache! Für Anfänger gut um den Blockaufbau zu durchschauen, für Fortgeschrittene in jedes Maß umwandelbar. Repro-Stoffe mit heimeligem Gemütlichkeitsflair des 19. Jahrhunderts. Nettes Seitenlayout, etwas gequält erfundene Namen für die Modelle, aber doch schön anzusehende Quilts. Alles geht auch in anderen Stoffen, Farbgefühl ist aber ein Muss. Kann man hier lernen. Für mich nicht so wirklich neu, aber trotzdem ansehenswert.

ich mag die Stoffe, ich mag vorallem die Muster (wenn sie auch nicht neu sind) - es ist ein tolles Buch. Die Blöcke sind sehr klein, als nicht unbedingt ein Anfängerbuch, wenn man sich an die Maße halten möchte. Anleitungen sind auch mit wenig Englischkenntnisse gut zu verstehen.

Des grands et petits modèles dont les couleurs ravissantes des reproductions de tissus anciens donnent envie de tout faire.Pour toutes celles qui aiment le patchwork classique avec des couleurs chaudes et surtout d'anciens modèles sublimes, ce livre est indispensable, tellement raffiné !

Assez déçue par le rapport qualité/prix.C'est une revue plutôt qu'un livre et une revue vaut 10 euros ...Les modèles, on peut les trouver sur Pinterest donc aucune valeur ajoutée à acheter ce livre.

livre comprenant 15 explications de quilts différents, très frais et gais, où les tissus "civil war" sont mis en valeur, un plaisir pour les yeux, les explications sont claires, en anglais bien sûr mais faciles à comprendre si on fait du patchwork. On peut, de plus utiliser avec ces modèles tous nos petits bouts de tissus, je recommande ce livre