Saturday, July 3, 2010

Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner & A Winner!

First off a very happy 4th of July to all our readers in the USA! I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

Second to the winner of the gorgeous fat quarter bundle of Tufted Tweets. I can not tell you how severely tempted we were to keep this for ourselves. It has been torturous for John to keep it in his cupboard until this day.

But now to get to the winner.......

Congratulations to Patty who said:-

"Lovely fabrics I'd like to see more complicated patterns, or traditional patterns with a fresh modern twist."

Please can you email us at customerservice@fatquarterly.com with your mailing address so we can get the Tufted Tweets to you.

And a big thank you to everyone else for your great suggestions for future issues of Fat Quarterly.

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And without further ado let me tell you a bit about Handmade Beginnings, the newest book from Anna Maria Horner from Wiley Publishing.

With 2 little ones of my own I was very excited to get my hands on a copy of Anna's book. Oh how I wish this book had been around when I was expecting!


This fabulous book is jam packed with 24 Sewing Projects and I can assure you that you will want to make most of them. The patterns are very thorough and are accompanied by sketches to illustrate what you need to do. There are full size patterns included in an envelope in the back and the book itself is of a manageable size and is spiral bound to make it extra easy to keep your place whilst sewing.

Anna cleverly separated the book into 4 sections:- Mama, Baby, Family and Nest. Everybody that is important during the pregnancy and arrival of a little one.
If you are pregnant now I recommend you go straight out and buy the book as the section for Mama has some great maternity patterns. And don’t panic about sizing as Anna explains clearly how to work out which size you need to make and has designed all her patterns so they can be adjusted for post pregnancy wear. The one that really caught my eye was the Four Corners Blouse perfect for nursing your little one, easy to use and perfect cover for being out in public.


The section on baby is packed with cute patterns for booties, trousers, a dress and a hooded top. The pattern that I am itching to make is the patchwork sleeping bag. I think this would make a great gift for new parents, easy to customise with fabrics of your choice and you could throw in some cute japanese prints as well.


I really like how Anna thinks of the whole family too in this book. When I had my second child I realised how important it was to spoil my first born too. A simple gift for the other members of your family can go a long way when all the attention is on the new baby. There is even a great pattern for a Dad Bag. This is just genius. My husband never complained but I could see the pained look whenever I passed him my flowery nappy bag!


Finally there is a section for your home. This brings back memories! I have never had as much desire to redecorate the entire house as I did in the final weeks of each of my pregnancies. I repainted pretty much every room just days before my youngest was born. If I had had this book I would have spent my time making nesting blocks, pillows, lampshades and more instead!


So if you are expecting a baby then quick, get your hands on a copy. You will not regret it.

But even if you are not expecting, this book is a perfect addition to your sewing library. It is full of inspiration and there are so many ideas for gifts for friends and family that might be awaiting the patter of tiny feet. And the photography is gorgeous - full of colour and super cute models!

2 comments:

  1. I'm past the baby years, but love everything Anna does! Can't wait to check this out.

    ReplyDelete