This giveaway is now closed. The winner is Sonia.
Today I’m reviewing the book Modern Quilt Perspectives, written by Thomas Knauer. This post is several hours later than it should have gone up, not because I’m lazy, but because I was sort of afraid that it wouldn’t be good enough. So I have to let you know that Thomas is a dear friend of mine. He is one of the first ‘famous sewing celebrities’ that ever sent me fabric personally (I didn’t know him at the time, but I sent him a message on Facebook asking if he would send me two prints from his ‘Flock’ fabric line for a bag for my first book, which was kind of scary since I didn’t know what he’d say). I named the pattern in the book the ‘Bee Sweet Bag’ after his daughter, Matilda, whom he sometimes calls Bee. He also took one of my first pdf bag sewing patterns (the actual bag, that is) to I think the first time that one of my bags ever appeared at a major quilting event, that being QuiltCon (the bag is pictured below in Thomas’s ‘Asbury’ fabrics, with him and my best friend Kim), and it was displayed in the Andover booth. So anyway, I thought this post had a lot to live up to.
So anyway, on to Modern Quilt Perspectives. I think it is funny, because Thomas’s moto is “Go Make Shit”, which perhaps might lead you to believe that you should just go slap some stuff together. I’ll get to that in a moment. But the book is filled with some heavy stuff with a lot of meaning (and I’ll get to that too).
So “Go Make Shit”, what does that mean? To me, it means stop letting your fear of the task at hand prevent you from making something amazing. Stop being scared of not being good enough, not being perfect, just stop it. If I sat here and tried to sew bags so that they would be completely perfect, I would have about 10 bags a year and that’s it. I’m about making something cool and getting it done and not being fixated on every single stitch being a perfect and exact 1/2″ (now I’m not telling you to disregard pattern instructions, but I think you know what I mean, lol). Just make something! Make something that’s important to you and be happy with it!
So that brings me to my favorite quilt from the book (pictured below) which is called ‘Cinderblock’. I saw advance photos of the book quilts, and I chose this one and said that I wanted to make it (like, last year). Unfortunately, somehow things always got in the way, but I will still make it. I’m a big solids fan, I also like large-scale prints, and I thought this quilt would be an awesome combinations for showcasing both those things. And I also love the idea of the curves.
My next favorite quilt is called ‘Palimpset’, and it’s a rainbow cacophony of scrappy goodness. So, what I said before about heavy meaning in this book, this quilt is related to the social argument of same-sex marriage. Thomas combined the idea of the Pride Flag and combined it with something more traditional, that of the Double Wedding Ring quilt (I’m not sure if you can see from the photo, but the quilt is longarmed with the double wedding ring across the entire thing). There is another quilt in the book, called ‘Excess’ that has 1,600 quilt blocks, each block standing for one of the 1,600 women and men that are killed in acts of domestic violence in the United States each year; that quilt is 13 feet long. So while quilts are steeped in great tradition, Thomas is taking them and using them in ways to express a lot more.
And the next quilt that I’m going to talk about is a quilt that I saw kind of early on. Thomas and Lisa Sipes, who longarmed every quilt in the book in something that I can only say is truly amazing, were sitting together at Quilt Market squealing over something on a laptop; they turned over the screen so I could see and it was a photo of a quilt that they kept calling ‘Martha’. The quilt is officially called ‘In Defense of Handmade’, and it’s a gigantic UPC symbol of a quilt that was manufacturered overseas in a factory from a handcrafted pattern. And if you look at the quilting on this, it’s crazy ruler-work and all the letters and numbers of the quilt are also quilted (which is crazy if you think about it because the lines do not continue through any of the patchwork, letters, or numbers). So I think this one means a lot to me, because as quilters, you know that you probably spend a minimum of 20 hours on a quilt from start to finish…it is a big deal to make a quilt. When someone could buy a quilt for 100 bucks at Urban Outfitters, you’re making something that maybe costs $100 in supplies alone, but it’s something that will last for many generations and be something special.
And lastly here’s a photo of Thomas’s daughter on the last quilt from the book, ‘Urnh’. I think it speaks a lot when a book is clearly so dedicated to someone’s wife (his wife Katherine) and children (Simon and Matilda). I think that’s pretty awesome.
So clearly, this book review is kind of biased. I hope that doesn’t sway you from taking a look at it. The quilts are pretty awesome, the commentary on them is great, and the instructions are clear and to the point. Thomas has put together a great blog hop which you can visit all the other stops on.
March 14: Thomas Knauer http://www.thomasknauersews.com/
March 15: Lisa Sipes http://thatcrazyquiltygirl.com/blog
March 16: Robert Kaufman http://www.swatchandstitch.com/
March 17: Victoria Findlay Wolfe http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com
March 18: Katy Jones http://imagingermonkey.blogspot.co.uk/
March 19: Bill Volkening http://willywonkyquilts.blogspot.com
March 20: Kelly Biscopink http://stitchyquiltstuff.com
March 21: Audrie Bidwell http://blueisbleu.blogspot.com
March 22: Mary Rachel Kolb http://maryonlakepulaski.blogspot.com
March 23: Rachael Gander http://imaginegnats.com/
March 24: Sew, Mama, Sew http://www.sewmamasew.com/
March 25: Cloth Paper Scissors http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/blogs/clothpaperscissorstoday/default.aspx
March 26: Cheryl Arkinson http://naptimequilter.blogspot.com
March 27: Quilting Daily http://www.quiltingdaily.com/blogs/barb/default.aspx
March 28: Fat Quarterly http://www.fatquarterly.com/blog/
March 29: Pellon/Erin Sampson http://pellonprojects.wordpress.com/
March 30: Sew Modern http://thatswhatshesewed.com/
March 31: Rachel May http://quiltingwithamodernslant.com/
April 1: Quilty http://www.heyquilty.com/blogs/
April 2: Amy Smart http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/
April 3: Quilter’s Connection http://quiltersconnection.ca/blog
April 4: Teresa Coates http://www.crinkledreams.com/
April 5: Generation Q http://generationqmagazine.com/
April 6: Cloth Paper Scissors http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/blogs/barb/default.aspx
April 7: Sara Lawson https://www.sewsweetness.com/
April 8: Kim Niedzwiecki http://gogokim.blogspot.com
April 9: Rashida Coleman Hale http://www.iheartlinen.typepad.com/
April 10: Thomas Knauer http://www.thomasknauersews.com/
Would you like to win a copy of Modern Quilt Perspectives? Please click on the link below to enter the giveaway. You have until Friday, April 11th at 7pm CT to enter! Good luck!
