Celebrate blooms and more as these bestselling authors combine the love of gardening and quilting. Two versions of quilts are presented, plus many projects.

A little handwork-and a few quick tricks-is all it takes to create these striking quilts inspired by old-fashioned Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts. Instead of sewing together thousands of tiny hexagons, make appliqué units instead! Start with one learning place-mat project, then get creative with ten quilt patterns. Take these perfectly portable projects wherever you go; appliqué units make it easy. Learn how today's inexpensive precut papers make the process a breeze-no need to draw and cut hexagons.

Award-winning quiltmaker Jane Sassaman is known for her bold designs celebrating the energy and miraculous beauty of garden flowers and plants. Joy and enthusiasm radiate from every quilt! Now, in her first book, Jane shares her methods and inspirations.

5 how-to patterns, plus photo gallery, feature rose, pansies, coneflowers, and apples

This the tenth in the series of Kaffe Fassett's highly successful patchwork and quilting books from Rowan, celebrating a decade of books from one of the foremost colourists of his time. It offers 20 new quilt designs that embrace a strong floral theme and use Kaffe's new fabrics. Photographed at Great Dixter, the 15th century English manor house home of Christopher Lloyd, the well known pioneering gardener and writer, is the sumptuous backdrop for the glorious collection of new quilt designs from Kaffe and his chosen designers. Kaffe's new printed fabrics, Brocade Floral and Pinking Flower, which are lush florals and Targets and Jungle Stripe, which are dramatic large scale designs. Spot and Aboriginal Dot are small-scale designs that quilters find particularly useful. Colours range from the rich and sumptuous to delicate pastels. New woven stripes from India come in rich earthy shades and are a welcome addition to the range. Country Garden Quilts is constructed rather like a cookery book with a sumptuous photo of the finished project, an ingredients list and written instructions illustrated with coloured diagrams, plus a 'flat shot' photo and all the templates needed.

At Play in the Garden of Stitch provides ways to think about how thread and fabric can bring depth to composition, texture to emotions and line to ideas. Kovarik has won numerous awards for her densely machine-stitched art in which the quilting line is used to draw intricate patterns and pictures. Simple exercises encourage the reader to approach each day with a curious mind willing to make a mess of expectations, embrace the wonky by letting the thread lead, and think in thread while making careful observations of the world. Heavily illustrated with examples and finished art the book provides quilters and artists with new ways to approach this medium.

Brighten Your Day with Playful New Designs from Piece O' Cake. Use just one block or all twenty to make pretty garden quilts. Have fun with these light-hearted designs. Includes ideas for using these blocks in other ways, such as a smaller twelve-block quilt, a purse, or a table topper. Patterns are great for solids and small prints in any color way. Blocks also look beautiful in bigger sizes and are easy to enlarge. Bring cheery flowers and cute, chirping birds indoors with Piece O' Cake's newest appliqué blocks. Mix and match up to twenty blocks to create unlimited quilt variations.

Barbara Brackman and Ilyse Moore present a pattern for a new interpretation of the Garden or medallion or, as Rose Kretsinger called it, The Paradise Garden. They've drawn from serveral applique masterpieces to present Ilyse's Paradise in Kansas.

Bring the great outdoors in with the lovely bouquet of quilts and projects blooming in Barb and Alma's latest book. The bestselling authors' quilts look at home no matter where they are displayed. They made their featured quilt, with lush fabric flowers, in three colorways because it's always a surprise to see what a change in color can do for a quilt. The trendsetters also have included rug hooking and cross stitch projects.

Combine your love of nature with your love of applique! Eight charming garden designs in pictorial applique are highlighted in Petite Garden Quilts, a 32-page booklet by Zena Thorpe. The designs, each a delightful challenge for avid applique artists, are small and, as the author states, not for the faint of heart. General instructions regarding embroidered details, adding borders, quilting, and finishing are included. The intricate designs measure no larger than 6 inch square; those shown on the cover are in blocks that are 9 3/4 square, including the bindings. OUT OF PRINT