Charm school 18 quilts from 5" squares : a beginner's guide

Shuck the heels and peel the hose: this is not your grandmother's charm school. Goertzen's title pun springs from "charm packs," a stack of 5" x 5" fabric squares used for quilting. Her "school" concerns quick and easy piecing for beginners and more experienced quilters. Goertzen, a pattern designer and founder of Lella Boutique, advises quilters to exploit charm packs, fat quarters (stacks of quarter-yard material), and scraps, and to customize charm packs. She focuses on the basics of beginning (selecting fabric, supplying tools, learning the language) over finishing touches (batting and basting). Mostly, she concentrates on the specifics of pattern assembly, organizing her patterns and projects by geometry: square, rectangle, corner triangles, half-square triangles, and quarter-square triangles. Her projects are accretive, and beginners can work up from the simple squares to the final chapter. Each project comes with a paragraph from Goertzen's life and includes tips and measurements, photographs, and illustrations, all encouraging and playful. Goertzen invites her charm school pupils "to work in pajamas or jeans!" Color photos. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A charm square, a popular fabric precut, is a five-inch square that can be used on its own or subcut into a variety of shapes and sizes. Quilt and fabric designer Goertzen's lively collection explores the versatility of charm squares. She begins with quilts that use these squares with little or minimal subcutting, then demonstrates how to use them as rectangular and triangular components. The style is best described as "modern traditional," with the majority of the quilts applying a standard, symmetrical grid layout. Pieced as presented, the majority of the quilts are throw-size, but the simple block construction makes the quilts easy to resize. VERDICT These cheery quilts demonstrate the versatility of charm squares and will inspire quilters to make use of these popular precuts. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.