Vintage Quilts Collecting, Dating, Preserving and Appraising by Bobbie Aug, Sharon Newman and Gerald E. Roy

Bobbie Aug became involved with AQS in Paducah, Kentucky, at the 1989 American Quilter's Society Show. She was in the first group tested and certified as quilt appraisers by AQS. Bobbie serves as a member of the AQS Appraiser Certification Program Committee. She learned to sew on treadle sewing machines in Illinois. Bobbie Aug was inspired by the quiet, dignified beauty of nineteenth-century quilts and began making quilts 30 years ago. She became a quilt dealer, quilt collector, quilt shop owner, and quilt show consultant and producer, focusing on anything related to quilts and quiltmaking. Bobbie lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband, Norm. Their family includes son Tony, daughter Carrie, Brittany spaniels Angel and Sandie, and a nasty cat named Phannie.

Reader Reviews
First the pros: lots of quality photos, covering a wide variety of patterns and eras. Cons: basically, this book needs to be titled just "Vintage Quilts". The "Collecting, Dating, and Preserving" material is limited to just 4 pages at the beg. of the book. The rest of the volume is a "Value Guide", with a short description under each quilt photo, a notation as to "excellent condition", "fair condition" etc, and a dollar value estimate. The problem here is that nowhere in the book do they state their definition of what they consider to be good, excellent, etc. There's no excuse for this--both Aug and Newman are listed as judges in the book bios--defining their terms should have been covered in the opening pages. Without that, it makes their appraisals pretty much useless to the reader. (The photos are not large enough to show the quilt's condition.) The other thing I thought was odd is that they don't compare individual quilts. I.e. show us two twin-size Bowtie quilts and explain [what they're worth.] In other words, show us how to appraise and value individual quilts. Which IS the whole point of the book, according to the title anyway. (Dang it, now I'm annoyed all over again!) Needless to say, I'm returning my copy.

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