It's a book with minimal text -- there's an introduction and a chapter on the essentials of rotary cutting, sewing and pressing. Then each block gets a page to itself, with clear colour photos of four different versions of the block (mostly colour variations, sometime with different embellishment), a chart listing the different shapes needed, the colours they're needed in, how many to cut, and the size to cut them to make a 6", 9", 12" or 5" block. If you're used to working in metric measurements, I wouldn't bother trying to convert the imperial measurements in this book, I'd simply buy myself a new ruler and work in inches.
At the bottom of the page there's a piecing diagram, with the different shapes labelled (by letters) and as many other step diagrams as are needed to show you the order in which to piece. These are very clear and no-one should have trouble using them.
The last 40 pages of the book are taken up with quilt maps, which direct you through the assembly process from beginning to end. So once you've made some blocks from the first part of the book, you've got instructions (including yardage and cutting charts) on assembling a quilt. Even if you're used to assembling a quilt top, this section is interesting to page through to see how someone else has placed their blocks.
Block Magic is a great book for any quilter looking for new patterns, as well as being ideal for beginners as it uses quilting's easiest shapes.
Block Magic is published by C&T Publishing and can be bought directly from their website or the other big on-line bookstores. ISBN 1-57120-120-3.
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