Craft Book Month: Gnomas in the Window

September is Craft Book Month at Craft Buds, so today I joining in and re-sharing a recently finished quilt top that allowed me to try out a new technique from Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen. 

Courtesy of Interweave Store

I originally made my Gnomas in the Window quilt top for the Winterkist Blog Hop in August. When I was planning this quilt design, I wanted to find a way to recreate the look of stained glass through my piecing. As luck would have it, I knew just the guide to help me achieve that. I had purchased Quilting Modern a few weeks prior to starting this project and was so impressed and inspired by the improv techniques that the book describes that I wanted to jump right in and give crazy piecing a go. This happened to be the perfect project to use this technique on as it really helps to achieve the look of stained glass in fabric. 

I found the diagrams and instructions in this book to be very clear and easy to follow along with too. I had never done improv piecing like this before, but after immediately jumping into making my blocks, they seemed to come together pretty effortlessly--in part because I could easily see how to do each step. I really like crafting books that make their instructions visually rich rather than relying only on great written instructions. This book thankfully has both! 

The way the instructions are written also lend themselves to being adapted to other projects. While there are many complete and beautiful projects to make in Quilting Modern, this book is equally useful as a technique guide. I know that many more projects in my future will benefit from having such clear instructions and fun ideas to creatively rework into new, original designs.

Stop by Craft Buds for more Craft Book Month festivities (and giveaways too!)