Garden-Inspired Quilt Block Designs

First off let me tell any quilter that Foundation Piecing is the tops!!! If you have not tried it you realy should. This book is a very good basic book with extreamly easey paterns. I will say it would be good if you want to learn how to do Foundation piecing. However the blocks are very basic you realy need to understand that. If you are experienced and are looking for realistic blocks, I will tell you to look into the magazine Quilts With Style. The former Foundation Piecer, published by Zippy Designs at zippydesigns.com and no, I do not work for the company. I live in Worcester Ma. far from Newport Va..I do not know the publishers at all. I just love there work.. When I purchased this book 1 week ago today 11/19/03. I had found Jodie Davis web site & like her newer work. This books blocks are far les complicated than the paterns she had on the web site. I have been looking for realistic flower paper pieced blocks to make my 78 year young mom a quilt for x-mass. However I am confused as to the name of the book. It realy is not Garden blocks. The best fower is the Bird of Paradise Flower Block. The rest of the flowers are a strech of the imagination. It is hard to say oh yes that block is definatly a pansy. No, they kida look like the stated flower. However the birds are very good. But still basic!! The experienced paper piecers knows you can get the same details with foundation piecing as applique with very little ease. Trust me paper peiceing is the best!! I once would turn paper pieced blocks into normal pieced blocks, now I do the reverce. Why? no mistakes!! If you can sew a strait line your in!! I wish I learned foundation piecing first. Sadly there are a limited amt. of truely good realistic paterns. The best are in the magazine I mentioned & the book paper piecing the seasons ( not a beginers book )by the same people who produce the magazine. I have one beef with just about every foundation pieced book. They tell you to cut at least 3/4 inch Larger than the area you are trying to cover. This is not alway true. When you learn to do more complicated pitcher blocks you will have to piece some strange angles. Sometims I have thought I have had more than enough fabric and I was rong. Once I fliped & presed the fabric I would come up short. So be very careful!! I love the fact that you can use all you scraps in paper piecing. Once more this is a very good basic book to learn from. I like it better than Carl Doaks small "Teach Me to Paper Piece " book where she teaches you to piece a heart block. This is the first book on paper piecing I ever got. It is ok if you are looking for the most limited information posible. With Jodie's book Garden-Inspired Quilt Block Designs you will get much more. You will have more projecs in the beginer catagory than you will ever imagin. When you finish this book you will be ready for the real beautiful art pitcher quilts... I wish I had this as my first paper piecing book...!!!!!! I could have learned