Applique Inspiration in Books!

I'm a huge fan of books...and can spend hours just browsing them and dreaming of things to create! This past week, I've been playing with some applique and that has caused me to pull several inspirational books from my shelves.

Thought you might like to get a quick look...and explanation of why I love these specific books.

Hand Applique with Embroidery, by Sandra Leichner - This first book is the source of the little rose & bird in the above project that I'm presently working on. It is a wonderful book. The author, combines embroidery...detailed embroidery...into her applique items. Not just the standard "stems and such" either...but in-depth additions to every applique piece that really makes her work awe inspiring!

Little Brown Bird by Margaret Docherty - Similar in style to a Baltimore Album type of quilt, this book documents the create of a single...amazing...quilt. The border alone makes me drool as I'd love to recreate this. It is "once in a lifetime" kind of project that I dream about working on. While I'm not a real fan of BA style applique quilts...this border just is the stuff of fantasy.

Floral Applique by Nancy A. Pearson - An older book but my first one that resulted in a love of applique. While no longer available unless you find a copy in a second hand book shop, it is a wonderful source of designs that are large enough for a beginner to attempt. I'm a fan of the style of applique and have used it to create my own "logo" for Shawkl Designs. 

Piece by Piece Machine Applique by Sharon Schamber - While this is a machine applique book...the preparation of the applique pieces is very similar to what I do myself today for hand applique. Just the method of attaching the applique to the fabric background is the real difference. So, the quilt in this book would be a very cool project to do by hand or hand/machine. The colors are vivid and just make me happy to sit and review the photos alone! Plus, Sharon is a "Master Quilter"...seriously, she has been awarded that title (one of few in the USA that has it)...so, what better source for a "how to" reference too!

Do you have favorite appliqué books? I'd love to know what they are...as I can always add to my library. Ha!