Something on Saturday

In the post this week...

A complimentary copy of Linda Seward's new book! ‘The Ultimate Guide to Art Quilting’

Some time ago Linda wrote a very successful book about quilting- The Complete Book of Patchwork, Quilting and Appliqué-, which is been considered by some to be a Quilter's bible. So, now she has done one for Art Quilts.

Linda included one or two images of some of my embellished Journal Quilts like a detail from The Copper Dragon (where the arrow points.)

She also used my piece, Holding it All Together, as an example of using a zipper as an edge treatment.

So, I was sent a copy by the Publishers!

My entry in the index! Actually the index is brilliant because even with all the artwork and techniques in the book, the text for the index is large enough to be read without getting out a magnifying glass!

My friend Jane Glennie was the designer for the inside book layout. I think it really works well because you can see at a glance what you want to know. The illustrations by Tom Messenger are clear, too, which appeals to visual learners.

This book doesn't tell you every thing you might ever want to know about techniques, but enough so you could try something out. Most laid out in a similar way as this page about exercises.

What a great idea to include these exercises! I will have to read this thoroughly! We all tend to carry on without thinking of the strain on our bodies til it gets to be too much.

There are images throughout of work by artists using the techniques for that category.

Besides smaller images of techniques throughout the book, Linda also includes pages in the back which show work of contemporary artists, giving an idea of how art quilting techniques work together to make a work of Art.

I haven't had time to read through the book, but I can already tell by flicking through, that I will find it very useful.

The book is very thorough. Linda has been able to make it work as an excellent introduction for a beginner to discover fascinating techniques used by art quilters around the world. But also, she has created a great book for those with more experience who may wish to challenge themselves with something new and to see how other art quilters are incorporating current techniques into their work.

I can see it being a wonderful resource for teachers. Rather than lugging a pile of books on each technique, you can take ‘The Ultimate Guide to Art Quilting’ with you, and then challenge the students to research their own interests in greater detail.

Well done Linda!

If you are interested:
The book is available on Amazon as of July 7th, but Linda will be in Gallery B30 at the Festival of Quilts, selling copies that she says she will be delighted to sign.
She also is to give two lectures at the Festival of Quilts - one on the Friday at 3:30 called The Creation of a Quilt Book which tells the story of how the book was conceived and published, from start to finish. The other is called Ultimate Art Quilters and it features half of the quilters who have work in the book (about 70). She will be showing their quilts (with close-up details) and giving information about how each one was made. That will be on Saturday at 3:30.

You can book tickets for the lectures and obtain tickets to the Festival Of Quilts here.