Tag: Book Review

OH  MY GOODNESS! You would not believe what happened to me on Friday morning. I was sitting at my DH’s computer (my laptop is dead), watching a Quilt Out Loud episode (Yes, I did find my login and password) and avoiding preparing the taxes.

The doorbell rang and I thought “who the heck is at our door midmorning?” People don’t generally come to visit us unexpectedly. Most of the people who come to visit just walk in while shouting “Haaaalllooooo!” The other group that routinely knocks are The Child’s friends. Kids are all in school (or should be!) at the time, so I knew it had to be a door-to-door sales person or a delivery. I couldn’t remember ordering anything and we don’t encourage people to send us things unsolicited to our house. I am not big on surprises, in general.

My best guess: door-to-door sales person. I hunkered down by the computer not wanting to be the one who gave the bad news that we wouldn’t be buying the new latest and greatest home security alarm system-vacuum cleaner combo today. Without me even saying anything or the doorbell ringing a second time DH ran down the stairs, and opened the door. I heard a brief chat with the person and the door close.

Hhhmm.  I was almost home free. Next I heard steps coming toward the laundry room (where the boy computers live). Uh-oh.

It was a package. A relatively large bulky package. My darling sister has been sending us weird things that she thinks we need (Waterpik showerhead last week) so whether she had sent us something was his first question. I looked at the label and it was addressed to me at Artquiltmaker Blog and was from someone I didn’t know.

Huh? I don’t really make a business of my blog at the moment, except for the Amazon thing (which is slow so far), so I handed it back to DH who  proceeded to open the package. He is good that way. He was pretty excited. I was excited, too, but more cautious than excited. I work in an environment where getting something for ‘free’ means that you are usually giving something (often large sums of money) away.

Out popped two books and a very nice letter from Ray Hemachandra of Lark Books. Yes, THE LARK BOOKS!!!! The  Publisher lark Books!!!! A Publisher sent ME something to my little corner of the country.

As the above was happening, which took a few minutes at most, I felt confused. I did not order books from Lark Books (remember I hadn’t read the letter yet) and one of them was probably one I wouldn’t order without getting it from the Library first. The art quilt book has been showing up in my Amazon recommendations, but I hadn’t really tried to find it at the library yet so I could take a look. I thought it might be a repeat of the same old art quilts and it wasn’t a high priority….blah blah blah.

WRONG!

WRONG!

WRONG!

Part of the letter says:

“I am pleased to submit for your consideration two fantastic Lark Crafts quilt titles…”

and

“I hope you enjoy the books. Please contact me if you any questions at all. I’d also appreciate being sent notification of any blog or website posting, a copy of your publication or a tear sheet (no idea what that is), if you choose to review any of the books…”

I will do full reviews (of course, I will! They sent me FREE books! Why wouldn’t I??? I want to encourage more of the same), but first impressions are:

Pretty Little Quilts: great colors, different sorts of designs, interesting shapes, embellishment. I have to read the intro to see what the intent of this title is, but first glances tell me that Lark was thinking of smart quiltmakers. Yes, there are patterns, but again they don’t seem to be the same old pattern thing. There is beading included, hexagons with holes in the design, different types of thread work, etc.

500 Art Quilts: AWESOME format! No patterns. When I saw it on Amazon, I thought it would include  some more views of the seminal art quilts that I have seen over and over in other books such as Masters: Art Quilts: Major Works by Leading Artists or the book, The Art Quilt, by Robert Shaw. Nope. Wrong again. The quilts pictured look like quilts I haven’t seen before. There are some Name Quilters in it, but showing recent work. I also saw a lot of names I didn’t recognize and even a quilt from 2008. Again, I will do a more formal review soon-ish, but I am looking forward to getting more in depth with these books.

I know there has been much more squealing, yelling and excitement in this post than normal. It is so great to get a good surprise like this!

THANKS, LARK BOOKS!!!!

An Artist’s Book of Inspiration: A Collection of Thoughts on Art, Artists, Creativity by Astrid Fitzgerald

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This work is mostly quotations organized into themes. Each chapter has a different theme and the quotes fit into the theme.

The thing that struck me with this book was the preface. Often, not always, but often, I skip the preface just to get straight to the text. In this case, I only glanced through the text and really studied the preface.

I liked the preface because some of the quotes (below) made me think and question what I am seeing:

“Art constantly seeks to redefine itself, to find new and original modes of expression. But have we sometimes sacrificed meaning and essence on the altar of the innovative, the outrageous, and the politically correct?” p.xii

This part of the passage makes me wonder about the symbolism that we don’t understand anymore and whether it is valuable to know it still? For example, in years past, a portrait of a woman may have her holding a flower. Knowing the symbolism or meaning of that flower would give the viewer additional insight into the subject. As well, the items selected for still lives – e.g. the types of fruit – said something about the person who commissioned the work. Have we lost something by not knowing these meanings?

“We live in a postmodern era devoid of artistic standards. The movements of the last thirty years have successfully demystified art and the making of art. The role of art has not been clearly defined in recent times, and artists and students of art rarely gather to examine and discuss the call to creative work.” p.xii

As you can probably tell from my blog, I am glad that the making of art has been demystified and that everyone can make art now. I do worry about what we have lost, however, if anything. I also wonder about what is lost from people not gathering to discuss their calling to creative work? Do we discuss that in our blogs? Is it different from discussing in person? I think I am called to creative work by family tradition and by the need to do something completely different than my day job. I also think that I am called to my work because I can see patterns in improvement and progress, which is not always clear, or acknowledged, in my day job work.

“The art of our time seems to be self-destructive, broadening the gap between audience and the creative output. The eye of the artist has turned to the exterior, to the biennials and the market place, seeing direction, and thus we have art that moves further and further away from our inner nature. As a result, we have art that is based on concept instead of idea and inspiration, art that ends up comment on itself or upon the absence of values.” p.xiii

I find this part thought provoking as well. It makes me want to take another art history course and learn more about contemporary art. I know many contemporary works by their images (Wayne Thiebaud, for example) and not by meaning. A splatter piece of Jackson Pollack’s resides in my mind, but I don’t know the meaning behind it and whether it can be considered self-destructive. I do go to museums on a regular basis and often don’t understand the contemporary works just by looking at them. My impression is that a lot of contemporary work requires study.

This passage also provokes questions. “is art moving away from artists’ inner nature as more artists come on the scene and try to sell their work?” Does some external force (galleries, critics, Marketplaces like Etsy) encourage artists to move away from what they want to make towards what artists think they should make?

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Ruth B. McDowell’s Design Workshop: Turn Your Inspiration into an Artfully Pieced Quilt by Ruth B. McDowell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I love Ruth McDowell‘s books and have most of the books she has written. My favorites are Piecing:Expanding the Basics and Art & Inspiration: Ruth B. McDowell.

McDowell’s information is always good. I have to say that, initially, I was disappointed in this book. It seemed to be, mostly, a rehash of the Piecing book, which is one of my bibles, so I know it very well.

After sticking with the book (rather than abandoning it) I found a few good sections. Around page 50, McDowell discusses thinking through a different way of piecing her Muir Woods quilt, which she had done a couple of times before. I really like it when quiltmakers discuss their process and I am also pleased to see that McDowell is working in a series.

One section is about using fabric. Ruth McDowell has a lot of little gems about, which could be considered good ideas and rules to live by, including using and choosing fabric. This section has some commonalities with Lorraine Torrence‘s advice to “make visual decisions visually.” I think this is an interesting section because McDowell gives insight, again, into her process.

McDowell makes a comment [on page 61] that making a quilt is not taking a photo. YAY!! Finally, an author has the guts to come out and just say it. She follows that up with more advice on using fabric in landscapes.

I particularly like the “Flamingo Demonstration”. She really makes a good point about how foreground pieces can blend in to the background if you don’t take care to separate the foreground (in this case flamingos) pieces from the background pieces. McDowell says “regardless of your intentions you must be honest with yourself about what you really see.” It is a reminder to me that if I think “oh, this choice will be ok”, it means that I have been lazy and it will probably NOT be ok.

Ruth McDowell has an excellent discussion of background fabrics and creating backgrounds, especially creating light backgrounds. She talks about including what different scales and motifs adds to and takes away from a background.

Another thought about backgrounds that Ms. McDowell discusses is about balancing colors in the overall quilt. The backgrounds can be unrealistic if the fabrics are the right colors. She says that it is more important to balance the colors in a quilt than make a realistic quilt.

Ruth McDowell is a thoughtful quiltmaker. She really thinks about all aspects of the quilt and their design. After thoroughly discussing the foreground and background, the main portion of the quilt, McDowell launches into an excellent discussion of borders. You might think that borders are easy – just slap on a long piece of fabric and you are done, but McDowell shows how borders can add to the entire piece. She shows what a border is and how the border are part of the piece.

I really like the buffalo quilt on page 82. I am not a big fan of buffalo, necessarily, but I like and respect the way Ruth McDowell completes the composition by using a non-border border. The border in this quilt is so subtle that you don’t even know it is a border. She skillfully integrates the border into the overall composition. I love the fact that the quilt has a border, but it doesn’t scream border at me.

The book has the obligatory section on quilting, batting and binding. Fortunately, Ruth McDowell doesn’t try to teach people how to quilt, choose batting and bind in 3 pages or less. She makes this section her own by telling the reader what she does rather than trying to teach everything there was to know about quilting, binding, and batting.

I was also pleased to see a disclaimer saying that the fabrics may not be available.

Finally, this book has an index. Indexes are fabulous in any book with sections to which you might want to refer later.

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This is a really short review that I may beef up later. Pat Sloan’s book on color is easy to read, though it will take more time if you go through the exercises.

Pat Sloan’s Take the Fear Out of Color by Pat Sloan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked this book, because:
1. she had the same quilt pattern made in different fabrics. This is a great technique, because it is easy to dismiss a pattern when a quiltmaker doesn’t like the fabrics. By showing different fabrics, the reader can overlook one of the colorways that may not appeal.
2. she didn’t talk much about value. It isn’t that I don’t think value is important, but I think that people can get bogged down by value if they are just starting out with color. Pat really gives the reader confidence to make color choices.
3. she didn’t bad mouth other ways of choosing color. All ways are valid and Pat shows her way and doesn’t bill it as anything different.
4. she encouraged the reader to start with colors that s/he likes
5. she uses an inspiration notebook to start.

It is bright and cheerful book as well.

There are projects included which I just used to expand my view of what the author was saying.

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Yesterday was a travel day for me as I jetted off to the Pacific Northwest for a week of sewing, writing, relaxation, and, yes, some work as well. I arrived in Seattle under clear blue skies and crisp fall temperatures. The pilot announced the temperature and I immediately thought of my cozy Polartec scarf languishing in the scarf/hat/gloves basket at home.

After a minor car confusion, we headed off to begin my vacation. When we arrived at TFQ’s house, I was confronted with a lovely pile of books in which she had gathered together for me to review, peruse, read and flick through.

I have seen a number of these books here and there, but some were new to me, such as A Year of Mornings by Maria Alexandra Vettese. She and her co-author, Stephanie Congdon Barnes have also written  A Year of Evenings.

A Year of Mornings: 3191 Miles Apart by Maria Alexandra Vettese

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
My good friend is a great source of new books.

This book is the culmination of a year long joint blog project in which the authors posted a morning picture each day. I liked the idea of this book. It was mostly pictures and could be a source of inspiration. I can imagine putting a piece of tracing paper over one of the photos and tracing an outline of the shapes to get me started on a quilt.

The photos have a certain color and ‘Shabby Chic’ aesthetic, which I think demonstrates the authors’ style as well as their surroundings.

One thing about this book is that it is a celebration of the every day. There are rumpled beds, half eaten bowls of oatmeal, braids and small children reading Calvin and Hobbes at the breakfast table. I like that about this book, because I, sometimes, think that we look for the special and extraordinary outside of our lives and try to draw it in without looking at the specialness of the every day IN our lives.

TFQ pointed out, in the Gwen Marston book, Abstract Quilts in Solids, that the first line is something like “This is a quilt book for grownups.” I love that line, because she goes on to explain that the book does not have patterns, that it is for inspiration and that most people have simple quilt directions in a myriad of other books. Thank you, Gwen Marston!

I don’t want to give anyone the impression that there is something wrong with patterns, because there isn’t. I don’t, however, want to make a quilt just like someone else’s. Also, I am not capable of it. Did you read the wine bag post? Typical of me to change the pattern out of the gate! I know this is an issue that I go on about often. I am still trying to find the right words to express my feelings about patterns, which seem to be complicated!

Quilting Art: Inspiration, Ideas & Innovative Works from 20 Contemporary Quilters by Spike Gillespie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
To say that I read this book would be just a bit of stretching the truth. I read parts of this book and scanned others.

Letter to the publisher and author: To Whom it May Concern: please write and publish other books like this. I love the lush colors and descriptions of the processes that the artists go through to produce their quilts. Thank you for not including patterns by each of the artists as I do not want to reproduce to their work. You have provided spectacular inspiration for me and I greatly appreciate it. I look forward to perusing this book further and frequently. Sincerely, JL.

This is a book of artists and their work. Among the artists are Pam Rubert, Lisa Call, Jane Burch Cochran, Deidre Adams, Joanie San Chiraco and others I had never heard of such as Joan Dreyer, Angela Moll and Boo Davis.

Each artist is pictured, along with her quilts and, in some cases, her studio, her sketchbook or her surroundings. Details of the pieces are in abundance. The processes of the artists are described as well. The artists talk about how they get their ideas, how they got to where they are and, additionally, where they are going.The reader gleans some hints about the personal lives of the artists as manifested in the work. One of Lisa Call’s pieces, Structures #10 is colloquially referred to as her divorce quilt. There is a definitely a story there.

The detail shots are great. In some cases you can see the stitching up close and personal, which I love.

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Quilters Guild Collection: Contemporary Quilts, Heritage Inspiration by Bridget Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
While this book does have projects, the focus seems to be on looking at artists’ process and inspiration. In this case antique quilts were selected by various British artists from the collection of the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. Each artist selected elements from the quilts and went through the process of making a new piece inspired by the old quilt. One point I picked up is that the author, in conjunction with the selected artists, was trying to encourage people to look at quilts and elements in quilts in order to give confidence to people in designing their own pieces (rather than using a pattern).

There are different techniques discussed. One quilt, Up the Stairs (pg.5) is covered with trees. The branches of the trees are highlighted with white circles in the background. The half circles in the background really make the branches stand out, without the white screaming for attention. There are a number of fabulous examples of quilting. The quilting in the Triple X Quilt (pg.21) has the most wonderful feathers, and a great stylized egg shaped pattern in the inner border.

Within the first two pages, the author talks about keeping a sketchbook/journal with things that inspire in it. As the book progressed, there was a lot of information about process.  I liked reading about different artists and the process they went through to create their new piece. The book talks about being inspired by old quilts rather than dismissing them out of hand as too old.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of the process some of the designers went through. Dinah Travis’s sketchbook is laid out and included, page by page, which really gives insight into her design and quiltmaking process. Hilary Richardson does something in her process that I would like to try. “When Hilary begins a quilt on a specific theme, she seeks clues in the dictionary definitions of words connected to the theme. She will often make a list words and topics that relate to the theme. She then collects photographs, cuttings and printed material…” (pg.57-58).

One of my favorite artists, Laura Kemshall is also included in this book.

There are sidebars that discuss various topics related to the quilt in the chapter. Many of these sidebars discuss historical aspects of British history.

I would love to see the Electric Quilt Company look at historic quilts, like the 1718 Silk Patchwork Coverlet (pg.7), and create patterns in their software for these pieces.

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After listening to the tote bag episode of the Quilted Cupcake podcast, I went to the Library and checked out a couple of books on tote bags. They didn’t have the Lexie Barnes books, but they had the title below and another, called Bag Bazaar.
Simply Sublime Bags: 30 No-Sew, Low-Sew Projects by Jodi Kahn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really only glanced through this book as it is due at the library, but it was a thorough glance! Sadly, I am not going to have much time to get to know it intimately before I have to bring it back. One of the things I like about it is the tone in which the author writes. Her introduction is really nice in that she tells the story of her sewing life.

As with many project books, there are a few projects that I really like and others that I would never make. Still, Jodi Kahn talks about the project in a conversational way. She tells the reader why he is having them do things and gives tips about the materials. There is an undertone of encouragement in the writing, which I like.

I also like the novel materials that she uses. One thing that I thought was a great idea was the t-shirt bag. She uses Duct tape a interfacing, which I think is ingenious.

Definitely worth a look.

Bag Bazaar: 25 Stylish Bags to Sew in an Afternoon by Megan Avery

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I mentioned the introduction in my review of Simply Sublime Bags 30 No Sew Low Sew Projects as being one of the highlights of that book. In this book, the introduction is perfunctory and fairly generic. However there is a section on basic bag making techniques, which I think I really stellar. I especially like the part on creating zippered pockets and making gussets. These hints are very useful!

My favorite project is the Bailey Baby Tote. I don’t have a baby, but it could be modified very slightly to make the pattern into a nice messenger type bag. I saw a similar bag in Amy Butler‘s Little Stitches, but didn’t want to buy that book for one project. This is a suitable substitute.

I also like the Mooney wine tote. It would be wonderful for gifts of wine. I’ll see about making one of those a well.

There are lovely drawings in this book, but no photographs. One shortcoming, which is common in bag books, is that there are not enough detail shots. I want to see what the inside looks like, what the outside pockets look like, what the back looks like, etc.

Megan Avery has really thought through her projects and I found there to be a lot of useful bag types in this book.

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A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Evelyn is having a rough year and this book doesn’t sugar coat her problems. The book is about how Evelyn gets help getting over that rough year, which includes opening her quilt shop. The difficulties she encounters seem like real difficulties that any normal person could encounter. The way she resolves the issues seem like real resolutions as well.

I really enjoyed this book and I think it may be a book that I would want to read again. I enjoyed the sections about the Quilt Pink project, because I think it gets a great project out to people who may not know much about the quilt world. I also thought the book incorporated the quilt aspect very well without shoving it down the readers’ throat. I think this tactic wold make this book appeal to people who are not quiltmakers.

It is a typical feel good chick-lit book, but is written with depth and doesn’t seem to include any affectations. I like books about real people where the things that happen to them seem like they could have really happened. There is a scene or two which made me raise my eyebrow, but this is still a great page turner and doesn’t dwell too much on the medical aspects. I enjoyed the way the characters learned from and helped each other. I want to read about these characters again. I hope Marie Bostwick doesn’t make the mistake that Jennifer Chiaverinni makes when she recounts the previous 3,4 or 5 books to catch readers up with the story. That tactic makes the books seem repetitive.

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Terri Thayer, author of Wild Good Chase, Old Maid’s Puzzle and, the latest in her Dewey Pellicano series,  Ocean Waves, has written in her recent blog post at Killer Hobbies, about a book called Comfort Quilts, which has projects specifically designed to provide comfort and give away.

This isn’t the kind of book that I would normally be drawn to purchase. I am pleased that I got a little exposure to it. It reminded me that it might be time to share some of my good fortune. Also, it occured to me that my Grama may appreciate some patterns since, at 87, many of her friends might be able to use a walker bag or a lap quilt. Her birthday is coming and I might buy it for her as a gift.