Quilt Book Review: Lori Holt’s Spelling Bee
I’m a big fan of Fat Quarter Shop for their great fabric selection and fast shipping. Their publishing arm is called Just Sew Emma, and they recently sent me a review copy of Lori Holt’s new book, Spelling Bee.
If you’re not familiar with Lori Holt, I’d like to introduce you. She is the creator behind Bee in My Bonnet, a blog where she shares her quilt-related ideas along with thoughts on family and faith.
She often hosts sew-along events where you can enjoy making progress on one of her quilt designs along with other quilters. If you’re not in a local quilt group, this is a good place to become part of an online quilt community and make some new friends from across the country and around the world.
Lori designs fabric for Riley Blake Designs. Aren’t the colors nice? I think of them as fresh, happy, vintage hues. They’re at many local quilt shops and online at Fat Quarter Shop.
You may have heard of Lori’s Farm Girl Vintage book, which has spawned hundreds of interesting quilts by happy sewists the world over.
I’m happy to say that Spelling Bee is chock-full of the user-friendly patterns that Lori is known for. There is a complete pieced alphabet in both upper and lower case. I gave the capital D a go and it went together without a hitch in just a few minutes. There are also numerals and even punctuation.
You can spell out anything you want, or use some of the ideas Lori presents. And there are many!
“Sew” with a pink machine may be one of my favorites. And yes, the machine pattern is in Spelling Bee, too!
Is this not the cutest easy baby quilt pattern? You can personalize it for your recipient! You can switch out the sailboat for another block if you like, as there are many to choose from.
I really love “Home.” Here’s another cool thing: As in many of Lori’s books, the blocks are presented in 6″ and 12″ sizes, which further expands the possibilities.
The book retails for $34.95 which may be a little more than you’re used to spending on a quilt book, but with nearly 200 pages of patterns and fresh ideas, it is worth every penny. You’ll use it over and over, and you’ll have a great time in the process.
Farm Girl Vintage 6″ quilt blocks made by Paula Stoddard. Used with permission.
My friend and former Managing Editor of Quiltmaker/McCall’s Quilting/Quick Quilts Paula Stoddard made these Lori Holt blocks at a retreat last winter, above. They finish at 6″ and they are over-the-top adorable. They’re from the Farm Girl Vintage book.
This is my Christmas version of another Lori Holt quilt from her book called Quilty Fun. I made it when the patterns were presented free online, one at a time, several years back. I have just the outside borders to add and then I can quilt it.
You can see that Lori is a talented designer. I’d recommend you pick up one or more of her books today. They’re great for scrap quilts, and the more fabrics you use, the better!
A note from Diane at Stash Bandit: I am not affiliated with Lori Holt or Fat Quarter Shop and I do not receive compensation for my honest reviews or posted links. I receive review copies of new books from It’s Sew Emma.
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