Book Review: Big Blocks, Big Quilts

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law handed me this book from the shop to review.

Big Blocks, Big Quilts by Suzanne McNeill has 11 patterns all using layer cakes. Disclaimer: I’m not a huge pre-cuts fan.  I mean you are never going to like every single fabric in a pre cut layer cake and I want to pick out my own fabric.  I may be sold on pre-cuts now and here’s why.

I made Wee Play Rainbow from a Tonga Treats layer cake.  I loved it!  It was super fast and easy, and I think using a layer cake pushed me to use fabrics I wouldn’t normally pick out on my own.

The book itself is a good resource.  The instructions for making a mitered border were really good, and there was a whole section on just basics like using a rotary cutter and layering a quilt.  I enjoyed reading through some of the basics, reminding myself not to iron but to press.  It would also be great for someone just starting to quilt as a reference book with some good patterns as a bonus. The author also included a few tips for sorting your layer cake.

I had to include this one to show off Linus is and my new couch!

I ended up pairing lights and darks in the quilt I made and I’ll share my own tip on sorting the two.  When I think I have my lights and darks figured out I lay them out on the floor at night* alternating between the two like a checkerboard.  Then I turn off the light in my sewing room but leave a light on somewhere down the hall.  In the dark you can only see value and not color helping you better decipher the lights from the darks.

There's a couple of more quilts in this book I really love, like Cranberry Wishes and Fresh Squeezed. Hmm...I might need to go shopping for some more layer cakes this weekend.