The Big Book of Civil War Quilts: 58 Patterns for Reproduction-Fabric Lovers

I needed another quilt book like I need a hole in my head - but, I'm glad I have it. Lots of inspiration to be had - Civil War repro fabrics are my favorites, so it'll come in handy.

The Big Book of Civil War Quilts contains a broad – and at times odd – selection of Civil War era quilt designs. The editors wisely chose to include a range of sizes and skill-levels: from miniature to over-sized and beginner to unchallenging for an experienced piecer. (Yes, there is the occasional Y-seam, but it is rare. Ditto for any special rulers, noted below.)But the selection is from a surprisingly limited pool of designers. And how would you even know? The editors do not list the designers in the table of contents, nor are the sources identified or credited.These “Big Books” are irksome in that regard. I want to know whether I already own the patterns before I buy a compendium. You’d have to do your own bibliography. And who is crazy enough to go through all 58 quilts to figure this out?? Right … So I made an ordered list by BOOK name that matches designers to quilts to the books they were selected from. I also included sizes. This bibliography is in the comments section so as not to clutter up white space here.Some quilts had me doing a double-take, wondering if they truly are era-based. The strip-based “Blooming Stars” (62”x62”) by Deanne Eisenman is from the book Scrap Quilts Go Country. The text contains no references to the period.Nearly every quilt is scrappy and repeats 1 or 2 of the same blocks. An extreme example is Biz Storms’ “Guest Room Quilt” (72.5x72.5). It contains 372 of the same block in 2 sizes: 4”x4” blocks around a center medallion made of 2”x2” blocks. The directions do not include speed-piecing the hour-glass block. Instead, they call for manipulating 1488 triangles. Similarly, “Civil War Log Cabin” (50”x66.5”) by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesesne involves building 48 log cabin blocks which are each made up from 21 individual logs. That’s 1008 logs in a small space. In fact, each block is only 8.25”x8.25” finished.A fabulously beautiful example is “Confederate Courtship” (84”x105”) by Evelyn Sloppy. It is well-placed as the very last quilt in the book. It has been on my bucket list for years, and is about the loveliest quilt setting in both this book and Ms. Sloppy’s book Log Cabin Fever (2002). It uses Courthouse Step blocks, but with posts and an intricately pieced center block.Any special techniques?Mostly there is nothing more complicated than folded corners, ½-square triangles, repetition, bulk-maintenance (managed with drawings and directional arrows for seam pressing), and an abundance of seams that will need precise matching. However, a few quilts are more difficult.One tricky example is “Buckwheat Star” (64.5”x64.5”) by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene from their book Civil War Remembered (2015). It requires set-in seams aka Y-seams (with the requisite pinning, backstitching, and dot-matching) to piece foundation-based strippy diamond units into an 8-pointed star. There are 1 or 2 more, but I don’t want to scare anyone away from what is a worthy collection of quilts.Any special tools required?A 15x15 grid ruler is good to own for squaring off blocks. A 6”x12” ruler with appropriate markings and masking tape can help you avoid having to use the triangle template needed for “The Bars Quilt” (75”x80.5”) by Biz Storms. This quilt alternatively uses Qtools Cutting Edge Strips to generate the necessary 3500 triangles. “Hexagon Flowers Doll Quilt” (16”x19.5”) by Kathleen Tracy – from her book The Civil War Sewing Circle (2011) – uses English paper-piecing. As such, it calls for cardstock and a single-hole paper punch to remove the paper later. Either template plastic or a 45 degree Kaleidoscope Ruler are needed for “Antique Angles” (63”x76”) by Julie Hendricksen from her book Remembering the Past (2015).All in all, a good selection of designers, quilts, techniques, blocks, and settings. But a disservice is done to both readers AND designers by not including a proper bibliography. See the first comment to check your library against the bibliography I put there. Turns out I already own 98% of the books these patterns were pulled from. I have no regrets in buying The Big Book of Civil War Quilts, but you might wish to make a different purchasing decision. I rated the book 4 out of 5 stars for leaving out this important detail.

I don't really care about the civil war. I just like pretty quilts. This book is filled with stunning quilt patterns. My copy already has every other page dog earred with the quilts I want to make. I'm so excited about these patterns, I am writing this review and I'm only half way through looking at the book for the first time.I wish I could speak to the technical parts but I haven't gotten that far yet. But even at a glance the patterns appear very informative. I also can't speak to the historical value of this book as it's not an interest of mine.I would definitely recommend this gorgeous collection of quilt patterns and can't wait to get started making them.

This book presents itself as Civil War quilts, while it does use some of the basic blocks used in the period. These are all newly designed quilts using reproduction fabrics. This should be known in the title. I was disappointed, as I was looking forward to actual Civil War Quilt designs from the period. If not actual quilts. The instructions are well done, if my intention was to learn how to make a quilt this would be a great book.

A good variety of beautiful Civil War blocks/quilts. I bookmarked about 15 of these for potential projects. Some of the instructions are for yards, some for yards or fat quarters. As a new quilter I have only used fat quarters and had already purchased the Moda fat quarter Civil War collection. Some of the quilts call for tiny blocks, and many of them. As an impatient beginner I will be looking at the quilts that use larger and fewer blocks. There is something for everyone in this book, which also smells good.

To begin, I do not need any more quilt books! Most of my fabric stash is Civil War reproductions, so I am always interested in patterns. I tried to ignore this book, but I was couldn't get it off my mind. I ordered it and It came to day and I love it. So many patterns of beautiful quilts. I have enough history quilt books, and I wanted patterns. Some books have maybe one or two quilts that I like, but one has at least eight or ten. .. I highly recommend this book.

Love this collection of reproduction quilt patterns!

I gave it four stars for the patterns. I will be able to use many of these. I was thinking there would be more history involved, there is not. Basic designs that modern women have used. Nice but not a actual civil war quilt or any background stories.

What a beautiful book! I just love it.

Nice reference book with useful illustrations

At least 50 of these are MUSTs to make!!!

Excellent resource

simply awesome