Book Reviews and Give A Way

Oh Happy Day! I was so thrilled to be asked to review some books for Martingale & Co. I had my choice and chose what seems to be on the surface 2 very different books. But at their core is the opportunity to stretch your creativity.

Mary Lou Weidman has distilled her creative process and has articulately included it in Out Of The Box, unleash your creativity through quilts. This is truly fabric folk art with all of the how to's. Mary Lou offers extensive tips on how to come up with a theme, how to put together fabrics, putting words on the quilts and where to find inspiration.

You can't help but smile as you leaf through this book. The fabric color choices - plaids and polka dots and stripes - and the people depicted as caricatures, are bright and cheerful. These are combined to enable you to make a quilt that tells a story - the joy of becoming a Grandmother or a tribute to her Grandmother, the cowgirl. Included there are also lots of quilts created by her students. An added bonus is directions for preparing these wild scrappy borders, that she calls hoochy mama borders. But be warned, this book assumes prior knowledge and gives little instruction on applique - the predominant technique used for putting together the quilts.

Although you may be attracted to this book by the colorful quilts, all of Mary Lou's tips and techniques can be added to your quilt design toolbox, no matter what your color palette.

The second book is Pat Durbin's Fabric+Paint + Thread = Fabulous. This book involves the use of paint and threadwork to create nature type art quilts. It is a peek into the methods that Pat uses to maker her amazing landscape quilts. Since these techniques were new to me, I decided to give them a try. I went to my local chain craft shop looking for the paint that Pat recommends in her book - SoSoft Acrylic by DecoArt. I didn't find that brand, so I chose what I thought was a suitable substitute. For the threadwork, I already had the water soluble stabilizer and the spring loaded embroidery hoop and lots of different thread.

I love making trees, so I thought this might be a good opportunity to use Pat's method and make a little artquilt with a painted background. I started by painting an 8x10ish piece of fabric. I learned that less is more. Since you start with damp fabric, it is best to let the paint move a bit on its own.

While it was drying I worked on the trees. I thread painted a large one and 2 smaller ones. They were fun to make. To keep it simple, I cut the background to make 2 little pieces. I really didn't want to add any other elements.

I layered with batting, did a little free motion quilting, fused and stitched down the moon and then added the trees. I finished one as a postcard

and the other I bound as a little piece.

This was a lot of fun. I am happy to say that I have added some techniques to my toolbox. And I would like to share the fun with you. I want to give this book away! Leave a comment here before Thursday, April 22rd. On Friday, April 23rd at noon, EST I will pick a name from everyone who left a comment, with a random number generator. If your name is chosen, I will send you this wonderful book via US Mail. BUT, YOU MUST LIVE IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES. (Sorry to my overseas friends.) So check back here on Fridayto see who the lucky winner will be.