Review By: Megan Fisher,   Complete Craft - November 16, 2009
"...The first edition of Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Appliqué was published in 1993. It followed her Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, which had become an essential reference for serious quiltmakers, including as it did 4000 designs. The appliqué volume has been out of print for a number of years. This new edition includes the contents of the original with updated information about pattern sources, as well as information about trends in appliqué history and instructions to make five appliquéd quilts. The majority of the 2000 designs included in the Encyclopedia were printed in books, periodicals and catalogues published between 1835 and 1992 (although there are only a small number of designs that originated after 1960). The remainder are patterns that Barbara found on antique album or sampler quilts. This book will be of relevance to those who interested in the history of quiltmaking, those who would like to identify particular appliqué designs, and those who are thinking of designing an appliqué quilt using traditional motifs. The designs are only hand drawn sketches, published 16 to a page (see the sample page below right). That means that each one is only about 4cm square. So, if you want to replicate a shape or a whole design, you will need to draw it up yourself, using Barbara’s sketch as a reference. The five quilt projects that have been included in this edition all use traditional appliqué shapes. They assume a good working knowledge of appliqué – this is not an appliqué primer. Three are wallhanging size and two are full bed quilts."

Review   The Applique Society - January 1, 2010
“Quilt historian Barbara Brackman first published her “Encyclopedia of Appliqué” in 1993. The book was Barbara's first attempt to categorize and index appliqué blocks and has been out of print of several years. With this newly released version of her “Encyclopedia of Appliqué” Barbara updates the pattern index and also features 5 quilt projects. 2,000 traditional and modern appliqué patterns are indexed in this book by design rather than name and from there she has grouped the designs into classes. Anyone with an interest in appliqué block history or in collecting blocks will want this wonderful resource in his or her quilt library.”