Book Review and Giveaway: Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner

The first time I saw Anna Maria Horner's fabrics, I was blown away. Her patterns are fresh, the colors saturated and fresh. Each time she comes out with a new fabric line, I am equally bowled over. She always manages to out do herself. For us, that is a very good thing. Her newest book, Handmade Beginnings, is wonderful addition to any craft book library. While the book focuses on 24 sewing projects to welcome baby, it is more than that. I love that it is so versatile! I asked Anna Maria a few questions and I am excited to share our chat with you.

E: First, congratulations! I really like your new book.

AM: Thanks, I'm so gladyou like it!

thank you notebook

E: It has a wide range of projects and they are all so cute. Whatimpressedme the most is that this book is great for new parents and it's stillfantastic for those of us who don't have babies at home. How did youcome up with such versatile projects?

AM: Well as I wrote the book I was going throughthe very motions of both expectinga baby and also wanting to provide for the rest of the family. A new baby is aperfect time tonot only make goods for the new one and for the mama, but its really acelebratory time in your life when you can do a sort of preparing yourhome (also known as nesting!). I think of it as sort of like preparingfor company. You might spend some time on what your new guest willneed, but also make sure everyone else in your family is provided for. Iam just very lucky to have my own big family as inspiration. The keythings I asked myself with everyproject idea though is, would I make this for someone else, or is thisstill useful or beautiful even when not expecting a baby? So if I couldanswer yes to one or both of those questions, then it passed the project test:)

E: I really like that you talk about your color choicesfor each project. Why did you want to write these color notes?

AM: I provide the colornotes with the hope that it provides insight into how I put thingstogether, which seems to be one of the more popular questions that Iget. I did this also in Seams to Me, bc I really want the reader tofeel like they're right there next to me in the studio, flipping throughpiles of fabrics and hearing some color/design logic behind mycomposition decisions. I think its just that little something extra forreaders to feel involved in the process and therefore, hopefully, moreinspired about theirown fabric selection.

swaddled baby love

E: It's great that you includeprojects for siblings and even Dad. And everything in your book ispractical and beautiful,too. Do you think having a large family influenced the way youapproached Handmade Beginnings?

AM: Asmentioned above, most definitely! I have thought before how differentthis book would be if it were written during my first pregnancy, or even duringthe third pregnancy! Every pregnancy is different and each one hasbeen a beautiful time, with a new wisdom all its own. For mepersonally, I feel like I've really come to appreciate not only what anew baby brings to mom and dad, but I have watched and marveled at howit transforms the family as a unit and its left me in awe. I wantedthere to be a project for each and every need, detail, sibling,relationship and nook that a baby transforms simply by arriving. Andone book can't do it all, but I certainly hope that it provides astarting point and lots of home& heart centered inspiration.

center of attention quilt

E: Thanks, Anna Maria!

AM: Thank you so much forsuch thoughtful questions, and I am in love with your Sixth Times theCharm Quilt!! Beautiful job and you didn't even have to have 6 kids tomake it. Good thinking! Have a great weekend all!

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I'm giving away 2 copies of Handmade Beginnings! For a chance to win, leave a comment on this post before Monday, May 17 at 3 pm EST. Wiley Publishing is also running a drawing for 1 SINGER® Confidence™ 7470 sewingmachine, 5 yards of Anna Maria Horner fabric, a copy of the book HandmadeBeginnings:24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby. Details andhow to enter can be found here. Finally, you can read much more about this great book by following Anna Maria on her blog tour.

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