Star Quilts II: More of the Legendary Kansas City Star's Quilt Patterns [Paperback] Review

this is apparently the second quilting book with patterns from the kansas city star newspaper archives of the 30s-40s.

now, in my opinion, just because a pattern was printed in the 30s does not necessarily make it a '30s' pattern--after all, a log cabin or lone star pattern printed in a magazine today is not a 21st century pattern. these basic patterns date to the 19th century. many of the pieced patterns in this book also date to the 19th or very early 20th century, but were printed in the k.c. star in the 30s. happily for me, there are several pieced patterns that have the flavor of the 30s, whether variations on tradition or originals.

the reason i am keeping this book in my too large quilting library is because, in addition to pieced patterns, there are twenty fabulous applique patterns from 1930 which are completely 30s in design.

there are some very nice aspects to the presentation of the patterns: a setting is shown both straight and on point (i first thought this was unnecessary, until i realized how convenient it is to see both side by side), there is a section showing various combinations of the pieced patterns, and there is a color picture of a newly sewn block and sometimes a complete quilt to illustrate the individual pattern.

unfortunately, the updated cutting instructions too often substitute half-square triangles for square-in-square patterns. i don't understand why contemporary quilters are considered less competent than those in the 30s.

there is a section of quilting patterns from the 30s included, and some are wonderful, but all are good. there is a two page section on making a quilt. good luck to absolute beginners!

each pattern is also paired with a short article or advertisement from the day it was originally published. these were very interesting, too.

so, taken all in all, there is a lot of value in this book. i gave it four stars only because of the inclusion of so many traditional patterns that can be found anywhere.

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Product Description:
From 1928 to 1961 The Kansas City Star published more than 1,000 quilt patterns, establishing a legacy among quilt makers that now extends around the world.For this book - The Star's second about its quilt designs - editors have selected 16 of the original patterns as published in the newspaper.Each pattern is accompanied by brand-new rotary cutting instructions and redrafts that were prepared and tested by expert quilters.But that's not all.Inside this colorful and easy-to-follow book, you'll find the 21 patterns for the beautiful Memory Bouquet applique quilt.And 12 quilting patterns.And much more that will please beginners and experts alike.

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