I love this book! I am a beginner sewer and dollmaker and I found this book to be easy to follow and understand. I can't stop making the adorable pocket dolls Jodie teaches in this book. TEACH YOURSELF CLOTH DOLLMAKING has a lot of cute little dolls, in color, featured throughout the whole book, created by different students and readers who used Jodie's patterns. It is fun and inspirational to see the many different kinds of dolls created from the same pattern. What I like most about the book is how the reader/dollmaker can create their own individual doll with it's own little personality. If you are new to dollmaking like I am I highly recommend this book! Easy to follow and easy to do!

This book is a wonderful place to start to learn how to make soft dolls. The patterns and instructions are well written and easy to follow. After following the author's patterns, new ideas were easy to incorporate. I have made angels and dolls for all of my family. Every Christmas, an angel inspired by this book looks down from eight different trees. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to start making cloth dolls.

This book is a godsend to those who want to learn about cloth dollmaking. Each step of making a doll, from basic sewing, to making the face or hair, to choosing fabrics and making clothing is covered in great detail. There are also patterns included for several dolls, each slightly more advanced than the one before it. The patterns cover several types of dolls - simple pancake dolls, a baby and 2 toddler dolls, and fantasy type dolls. It's definitely worth owning, even if you are an experienced dollmaker

Compared to most other foundation piecing books, this is a super bargain! Each block is not only pictured in fabric, but also in a full design so you can see what the overall effect will be once it is finished (which is great when deciding on fabric placement).

In addition, most of the blocks are shown in alternate arragements and have a 4" and 2" size to photocopy (which helps cut down on photocopying costs and design angst, as it reduces the amount of enlarging/reducing you have to do).

The designs range from very basic to the more complex, although there are not any extremely difficult ones. You may find some of the basics are repeats if you own other foundation piecing books, but the other hundred or so designs you won't have will make it well worth your while. This is a MUST HAVE for any foundation piecer's library!

This is a very good book on Foundation Piecing, but if you already own Davis/Schiffer's other three books in the Foundation Piecing Library, you do not need this one as it appears to be a subset of the three. ("Garden-Inspired...", "Hearts and Flowers..." and "Victorian...")

This book is a great how-to. Starting out with information on basic sewing techniques, it continues on with stitching, pattern making, dying fabrics, and sewing and stuffing dolls. The doll patterns are for 16 1/2" dolls, and the clothing patterns are for 1) Little Red Riding Hood, 2) Little Bo Peep, 3) Hansel & Gretel, 4) Goldilocks, 5) Cinderella, 6) Fairy Godmother, 7) Witch, 8) Pinocchio, 9) Little Mermaid, 10) the Three Bears, and 11) Humpty Dumpty. Each section includes patterns, and step-by-step instructions.

Everything you could want is in this book, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I just got this book, and the patterns in here are so unique - ranging from hearts and flowers, to other designs such as mugs, cups and saucers, animals, and borders. Gives great layout ideas for combining various squares as well. Very well done!!

This book is recommended for ages 10 and up but as an adult I found it exciting and useful as well as a child would. There are step by step instructions on how to make a 16 inch teddy bear (which is rather large) in clear and concise instructions. The first part teaches you how to make a teddy bear much like a cookie cut out in just one piece. The second part details how to make a 16 inch teddy bear. The last part of the book illustrates how to make simple clothes to dress your bear.

There are informational boxes scattered throughout to explain the terms used like how to make a dart. I found the instructions to be readily understood and I successfully made my first teddy bear.

The only drawback is that the only color photo is on the cover of the book. The book only contains black and white line drawings inside. It would have been helpful to have had more photos to use as a guide.

I absolutely love this book. The patterns are beautiful and very unique. I am a beginner and I never thought that I could make quilts like these as my first projects! Jodie describes everything you need to know to make a quilt, in her delightful easygoing way, with words and drawings. This makes it very easy to follow the instructions. There are over 36 patterns of flowers, butterflies, birds and more. The patterns are very beautiful and the colors are fantastic. I love the pictures of the patterns and the quilts they really motivated me! I am sure that both beginners and advanced Quilters will enjoy this book as much as I have and have fun making the quilts. It may even inspire you to design your own quilt with these patterns. What a wonderful book, thank you Jodie!

This book gives very clear, detailed directions for 8 lovely bed quilts. My favorites were the one on the cover Poinsettia Basket, Songbird Serenade (featuring paper-pieced cardinals and bluebirds on a green background) and Wedge Log Cabin shown in a beautiful variety of blues. The others are named Rose Dream, Spinning Wheels, Dancing Ribbon Stars, Diamond Windmill and Potted Posies. Directions and yardage information are given for twin, queen and king quilts for each pattern. This would make an excellent text for a beginning paper-piecing class - especially the Songbird Serenade. I was very pleased with the templates and the book in general. I would recommend getting it spirally bound at an office supply store so you can lay it flat to copy the templates.

"Putting on the Break" has helped several of my students/clients understand what is really happening when they can not stop. One student's mom said, "This is the first time I see Laura interested in a book, any book. She explained why she has trouble paying attention like a pro. Thanks." The book gives the children a perspective they can relate to. Adults can be too wordy, the books helps them "see" and "feel" about ADHD. Thanks for making the book available in Spanish. We need more for the Spanish- speaking population.

This book is an invaluable aide for parents, educators, and professionals dealing with the challenges faced by AD(H)D students in school. It is a book that can be given directly to students as well. Written in a clear, visually appealing format, it presents worksheets and quick exercises that guide the late grade school, middle school or high school student to an understanding of how this disorder affects their ability to learn. It provides information such as how to choose and adopt various study techniques that will help children with AD(H)D become successful students. It coaches students in using active study techniques to remember what they read, or to develop written reports. Students are not resistant to using the concepts because of how they are presented and is a book that has application to non ADHD students as well. I highly recommend this workbook and have found it much more much more useful that the "Putting on the Brakes" book by the same authors. Of all the self help books I have lent out to people, this is one that people use so much they forget to return it! I just keep buying more copies because I don't want to be without the book.

I too was surprised by the other customer reviews and I feel the need to defend this extraordinary book that touched my life as no other before it has. There are many underlying messages in this novel that may remain unseen by one who reads what is merely on the surface. The imperfection of human emotion, the inexplicable forces of attraction, and the chains of one's past are all important issues that Ms. Walker delves into with style and grace. Yet at no time did I feel I was receiving too much information. On the contrary, I couldn't put the book down because I was so thirsty for more. The everyday, and not-so-everyday struggles of these amazing characters made these stories so touching and real that I found myself talking about them as if they were familiar friends. I feel that one of the most important issue that Ms. Walker deals with in this novel is the very true and very devastating change from the worship of the goddess to the god. She explains this transformation in such a way that any woman - or man for that matter - can understand and feel this pain as they should, for it affects all of our lives - now and forever. For those of you who have not read this book, please do so with an open heart and mind and I promise that you will receive the message that is meant for you. For those of you who have read it and did not understand it, I urge you to read again and again. You will see things that you never knew were there: in the book as well as inside yourself.

Alice Walker is a genius... she has a few problems with developing the male characters...but aside from that...PURE GENIUS. The messages were powerful and pure...the characters, particularly Lissie and Fanny was inspiring and the pace of the book left me hungry for more. It took me several weeks to read this novel because I didn't want it to end. I fell in love with the characters, the messages and myself. I know it sounds corny...but this book has changed my life...the way I think, the way I speak, the way I love. Those people who are satisfied with living a life of comformity will not like this book. Those who are rewarded for misusing others will not like this book. Those who are weak in mind and spirit will not like this book. Those who live with the guilt of causing misery will not this book. Those who want to be free...mentally, spiritually, and physically will "live" and "love" Temple of my Familiar.

I purchased my version of Temple of My Familiar when I was working in Frankfurt, Germany. I didn't speak the language and stumbled across a kiosk in the center of the city that sold a few books in English and this was one of them. Not having read any Walker before, but knowing her reputation as a wonderful writer, I purchased the book and devoured it in one sitting. At first hungry for English, I realized I was savoring a masterpiece. Walker deftly intertwines the lives (and past lives) of numerous characters from the US, England, and Africa and gives incredible perspectives of many different perspectives of the native/colonial African experience as well as the experience of men and women in the racially divided US. I ended up rereading the book numerous times while in Europe and I periodically find myself rereading it every few months. Each character is on a personal journey to find themselves and honesty and caring for others is a key component to their discovery. A great message and a skillfully written book.