Skip to content

Quilt Book Review: Fresh Start Quilts

My quilt book came.  I’m so excited.  I just got Fresh Start Quilts by Mary and Connie of Country Threads fame.


I’ve been anxiously awaiting its arrival ever since Mary first published the video of the book.  You can see the video by pushing the play button.

The video is great.  I thought I would share some pictures of the quilts from the book.

There are 11 bed sized to lap-sized to wall-hanging quilts in the book plus 3 mini pillows.


I thought that was a pretty good bang for the buck.

Once I get a little caught up in the sewing room (as if that will happen) I’ve been tossing around the idea of actually making some quilts more as decoration for my house.  I’d love to have a couple of red quilts for Christmas.  The one below would be perfect for Christmas or Valentine’s.


This one is bed sized.  If you had a large-scale print fabric that you’ve been saving back but really love, this would be a great project for it.


This one is…a smaller wall-hanging-sized quilt.  I have some bonus triangles that would work great for this.

Next up is Windfarm.  There are a lot of wind farms in Iowa and southern Minnesota.  I love the little baby pinwheels in the sashing.


Another red one…of course I love it.  Red plus star blocks, what’s not to love??


This lap-sized quilt is called Grape Leaves and Figs.  It’s a great combo of colors.  It’s a one-block quilt so it can easily be made bigger if you’re looking to make a larger quilt.


This one is one of my favorites from the book.  I don’t really know why…just know that I love it.  I’m a polka dot lover so who knows…that polka dot fabric could be what is calling to me.


This mini pillow and the next are 8 ” x 8″.  When it said mini pillow, I didn’t know for sure what they meant as that could be anything from the size it is down to a pincushion size.

Both are really cute.


I’m not an applique lover so this one didn’t immediately jump out at me but the more I look at it, the more I would consider making it.  Remember I said I was thinking of making decorative quilts?  This would be fun to have up at Easter time.

I’ve been saving my VERY favorites for last.

I am totally in love with the next quilt.  If I didn’t have stuff all over my sewing room demanding attention, I think I would drop everything and make it.


I love this one…I really want to make it.  I think if I do, I’d make two at once and donate one to the pet rescue and keep one for me.  I also think I’d shrink the legs on the dog a bit and color him as a beagle.


I love this little pillow too.  So cute.   Another thing I’d love to make for the local pet shelter benefit.


I read Mary’s blog Chicken Scratch a bit ago and she thought Connie might host a quilt along with the quilt from the front cover.  I would totally be up for that and if they do it, I think I’ll join in.  The quilt is lap-sized so I’d have to think if I want to make it bigger or not.  Hmm.

I’ve had a few days of paging through and a couple of evenings before bed studying the colors.  I feel like I’ve already gotten my money’s worth of enjoyment from the book.  If I can get a quilt or two made from it, that’s double the value!!

Mary and Connie are selling autographed copies.  You can learn more about that on their blog HERE.  The books are also available through Amazon HERE.

Boy, I sure wish I had my deadline projects finished so I could jump right in and make one of these.  The Halloween-colored quilt would be the one I’d pick.  Oh, I love that quilt!!

Congrats to Mary and Connie on writing another great quilting book!!

11 thoughts on “Quilt Book Review: Fresh Start Quilts”

  1. A beautiful cover and beautiful quilts inside! It certainly is a departure from what Country Threads used to be all about. Sad to hear that Iowa is the largest producer of wind energy as that alternative method kills a lot of bats, raptors and migratory birds. I hate it.
    Thanks for the review of the book, Jo!

    1. MarianneK
      In northern Iowa the wind turbines are turned off day and night for migrating birds during peak season. Bird migration is detected and mapped by Doppler radar just like rainfall. I’m not sure what other states do but this is what Iowa does to help migrating birds.

  2. I agree with you Jo. The Halloween colored quilt in CT’s new book is the one I would make first also. However if Connie has a sew along I’m going to be tempted to join in too. Too many quilts, too little time.

  3. Wow, Jo! Thank you for such a glowing review! I, too, love the orange and gray/black quilt and would consider dropping everything to start it but it will have to wait – Connie actually made this quilt but I’d like to make it, too. This “departure” from our Civil War palette has been a nice change – I like too many quilts and just can’t get them all made. I thought of you at the AQS Show yesterday when I came across some wonderful cross stitch patterns. I will send you the pictures.

  4. Wonderful quilts! Oh I would like to make some of those. The orange one I like, but in different colors. I really like the Windfarm, probably because I really, really like the colors. Great book, maybe suggest to “somebody” that it would be a great Christmas gift.

  5. I need to order one still. I too was in love as soon as I watched the video! I have to wait another month or so. I love them all. They are so beautiful.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: