When I volunteered to review a book for the LMQG I was overjoyed when “Modern Bee” turned up in my inbox! I am an avid reader of Lindsay’s blogs “Lindsay Sews” and “Craft Buds” plus it was a happy coincidence having last year taken over as Bee Mama for my own quilting Bee – Bee Europa.

Lindsay talks about her own Bee “Mod Stitches” and as soon as you see the names of the Bee members you know this is going to be a winning book with members such as Jeni Baker, Elizabeth Jackson, Amy (Sukie) Newbold to name a few! One thing I also liked about the book was the extra snippets about the members such as how they got into quilting, why they love quilting and so on; I love those little extra insights!

This is a fantastic book with lots of advice and tips on how to run your own online quilting Bee, how and where to get started, the different types of Bee’s, what to do if there is a problem and so on.  There is a wonderful selection of quilt block designs that work through different levels from beginners, confident beginners to intermediate. The blocks are designed so that they could be used as part of a Bee; they come with excellent construction details and even how much fabric you need to send out each month!

The photography is bright and clear and shows not only individual blocks step by step but also how they can be sewn into a quilt. The section on finishing a quilt talking about backing, the quilt sandwich, basting, quilting styles and binding was really useful to someone like me who has only ever made one baby sized quilt.

One thing that should be noted about this book is even if you are not intending on starting a Bee or taking part in one this is still a wonderful book with lots of lovely quilt designs and great quilting tips about tools, sewing techniques, colour choice, pre washing fabrics the list goes on. There is everything in this book and definitely one I’ll be referring to when I make my first big quilt!!

Happy Stitching and reading – Cara @ Pink Stitches

Modern Bee, published by C & T Publishing, all photographs © C & T Publishing.