I discovered that the LibraryThing script widgets used to power The Library are not working properly due to a problem with the tags on the books at LibraryThing. I have an email in to LibraryThing, so hopefully it’ll be a short lived problem…

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I discovered LibraryThing a couple of weeks ago, and I’m in book lover’s heaven! I could instantly see major potential here, and I’ve already started to get a couple of long-term goals accomplished. Ever since I started writing at Quilt Epiphany, I’ve wanted to make a Library page, showing all the quilt books in my collection, and either linking to my review of the book (if there was one) or to the book at Amazon.com, or both.

I do have a Worpress plugin called Amazon Media Manager (AMM) which makes it possible to insert a pretty picture of a book or product into my posts and have it linked directly to Amazon where readers can buy it. Oh, and the veritable river of cash that flows from the Amazon Associates account into my wallet is staggering, as well. However, while AMM works great for one at a time inserts, or lists of two or three books or CD’s in the sidebar, I just couldn’t see spending the amount of time it would take to input 140 quilt books into my AMM list, and then program the thing to display them on a separate page. Never mind.

Here’s why LibraryThing is such a killer app. I made a free account at LibraryThing (a one step, two word process, believe it or not), and added a couple of books to my Library. It’s a simple process, since you can either enter the ISBN of the book, or search by title or author, and then select from a list to add the book to your Library. You can see the contents of your library, add tags, write reviews, share your profile with other users, see what other users are reading, etc. This is social networking for book lovers, Read the rest of this entry »

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Quilters Ultimate Visual Guide,
by Ellen Pahl, Editor

I’ve owned this book since it’s first publication in 1997, when it was only available in hardback. I have to say I’ve never regretted the $35 I spent, as it’s saved me time and time again since then. From A to Z—Hundreds of Tips and Techniques for Successful Quiltmaking is the subtitle, and it absolutely doesn’t exaggerate. I’ve had bookmarks in the following pages that I use all the time since I bought it:

• Page 90, Drafting
• Page 200, Rotary Cutting Half-Square and Quarter-Square Triangles
• Page 227, Setting Triangles
• Page 251, Triangle Squares

I’ve used it countless times to quickly find out measurements for setting and piecing triangles, as well as quick look-ups of other things like marking, prairie points, appliqué, biscuit quilting and Seminole patchwork. It’s loaded with easy-to-understand instructions and pictures for all of it’s A to Z techniques, and it has an index to help you quickly find what you need. It’s the all-in-one reference that no quilter should be without!

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