PREFACE<br >WELCOME to our selection of country quilting projects. Many were<br >created especially for this book by accomplished quilt makers and design-<br >ers， while others come from their own or private collections. Some projects<br >you may recognize as having appeared in national quilt magazines， which<br >we re sure you ll be glad to see here as part of a more permanent collection.<br >The advantage of gathering everything together into a book is that there<br >is space for full-size patterns， detailed instructions， and Lots of diagrams.<br >More attention can be paid to every aspect of making each quilt.<br > Ever since I started writing how-to books on quihmaking， I ve been<br >dedicated to providing easy-to-follow instructions and accurate， full-size<br >patterns that include seam allowance. When I was working on my first<br >book， there was a tense moment when the art director told me that if all<br >the patterns were full size it would look like a coloring book. "Then it will<br >looklike a coloring book，" I said， determined to spare the reader the chore<br >of enlarging patterns. I was prepared to drop the project if he insisted.<br >Fortunately he agreed to my request， or my career in quilting books might<br >never have gotten offthe ground! I ve been working this way ever since.<br > The process of creating this book started three years ago， when Rose<br > Hass began the search for fifty of the best country-style quilting projects<br > she could lind. As the projects came in， I drew each design to size and<br > redrafted the patterns in pencil， which I checked against the originals. I<br > also made sketches for lots of diagrams to accompany the written instruc-<br > tions for quick visual reference.<br > Then everything was sent to our writer， a very fine quilt maker， Cheri<br > Tamm Raymond， who wrote the instructions， checked the numbers and<br > dimensions， and figured out the yardages. Our work was then meticulously<br > gone over by our editor， Suzanne Nelson， who has an impressive back-<br > ground in needlework and a keen eye for detail. Even the artist， Pat<br > O Brien， who did all the final drawings for the patterns and diagrams，<br > made sure that the numbers added up and all the pieces fit together， just<br > for his own satisfaction. Clive Giboire， who designed the book， made sure<br > that all the diagrams were placed right next to corresponding text in the<br > final layout， so you won t have to hunt around for them. Working with such<br > PREFACE / xi<br >