Wednesday, August 19, 2015

New Book

A while ago Kathie Loomis asked if she could use a picture of my quilt "Fiesta" in an upcoming book about making Rail Fence Quilts.  Of course I said yes.  Firstly, I know that Kathy is a fabulous writer having led another life as a journalist before she became a full time quilt artist and she writes a terrific blog.  Secondly, Fiesta is one of my favorite quilts.  I made it to hang over the couch in my family room and I have received a lot of compliments on it.  It has also been juried into the big show at Houston and it has been in another book and I am happy to share it with other readers.

I received my complimentary copy of her book the other day and I now am extra proud to be a part of it.  It is a great book!


Kathy's premise is to show people how to make a Rail Fence quilt, in its many variations, without using patterns; she hates using patterns. I particularly liked her comparison to cooking in this passage:

With a general pasta plan (see mine on my blog at tinyurl.com/kbvsx8o), you could serve pasta
every night and never repeat yourself exactly. Or you could broaden your repertoire and in addition
to your general pasta plan, have a general soup plan and a general salad plan and a general
boneless chicken breast plan. The same can be true for quilting. One of my favorite general plans
for “contemporary” or “original” quilts is rail fence. And just as I could serve a different meal for
many nights in a row from my general pasta plan, I could make a lifetime’s worth of bed, lap, wall
and baby quilts from my general rail fence plan.
The pasta plan calls for four essential components: pasta, liquid, solids and flavor. The rail
fence plan does, too: rails, blocks, an overall organizational structure and a color/fabric scheme.
Just as the pasta plan allows for many possibilities in each component (for instance, the solids
could be broccoli, cauliflower, or ground beef) the rail fence plan does, too (for instance, there
could be two, three or four rails per block; the blocks could be square or rectangular; the colors
could be high-or low-contrast…). By choosing a different set of possibilities each time you make
a quilt, you can make each quilt unique, and your very own. And by following the general plan,

you can be assured that the quilt you spend so much of your precious time on will look just fine.

While this book would be great for a beginning quilter, as an experienced quilter I found a lot of good ideas that I could use, too.  If you want to make a quick and easy baby quilt or charity quilt, one of her plans would be a good way to go.


She used my quilt for the Chapter 3 heading.




And she also gave a full page to each artist's quilt included in the book .
.


If you've ever used any of Kathy's free tutorials on her blog, as I have, you will know that she is an excellent  teacher. You can buy her book by going to this website.  I would be a nice gift for a beginning quilter or a welcome addition to your library.


6 comments:

quiltedfabricart said...

This is a good example of Nina's post today about simplicity . The rail fence, one of the most simple blocks,with the right thought and artistic flair can be extraordinary! Your quilt is one good example - which is why she wanted it for the book. Congratulations :-)

Heather Pregger said...

I love "Fiesta!" It's a beautiful piece, and I can see why Kathy asked to include it. Congratulations!

Shannon said...

So happy your piece got to be in Kathy's book-- It's a lovely quilt and really exemplifies where you can go with a starting point.

Teresa Duryea Wong said...

Love these quilts! I have been doing more and more improv and your quilts are very inspiring! Primarily your use of color makes them very special.

Sarah said...

How exciting, but well deserved. Fiesta is a really great quilt!

sonja said...

Yes, congratulations to you for making your wonderful quilt and for Kathy L selecting it for her book! what a great example of a simple pattern to an art quilt I love "Fiesta!"