Quilt National 2011

Lark Crafts & The Dairy Barn Arts Center

Lark Crafts; $27.95

Subtitled The Best in Contemporary Quilts, this catalog from Quilt National, which is held every two years, celebrates the best in contemporary quilts from around the world. From more than 1,000 entries, the three jurors were able to winnow the submissions to 85 quilts that comprise the show running May 23-Sept. 5 at The Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, Ohio. Each quilt is shown on a full page, and some have detail shots. The photos are accompanied by an artist’s statement about the work.

I love the diversity of style and technique, from those pieces that clearly have a connection to our patchwork roots to those that don’t. I also enjoyed reading the statements of the three jurors, Nelda Warkentin, Eleanor McCain and Pauline Verbeek-Cowart, about how they approached their task.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Jen Eskridge

Stash Books; $22.95

Who could resist this book title in a week with a patriotic holiday? At some point military uniforms become decommissioned, and quilter and military spouse Jen Eskridge takes the position that we should upcycle them to celebrate service members. Jen starts by showing you how to deconstruct uniforms then offers 23 projects for using your pieces, Projects range from the simple tote to quilts. Jen asks early in the book, “What matches a uniform?” She answers with, “Everything.” Yes, uniforms are a neutral and can be your light or dark. It was interesting to see how they just become the background among pinks and blues. The book also includes a techniques section that might be helpful for those who come from a non-sewing background.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon  if you would like to learn more about the book.

The AQS Guide to Quilt Care
Bobbie A. Aug et.al
American Quilter’s Society; $9.95

Written by AQS certified appriasers Bobbie A. Aug, Carol Butzke, Linda Honsberger and Gerald Roy, this revised edition of The AQS Guide to Quilt Care is designed to offer the reader guidance to protect their quilts, whether heirlooms or new. It covers basic quilt care, restoration or repair, displaying quilts, shipping quilts and insuring quilts. For the textile student, the book includes a glossary of terms and resources. I think this would be a handy reference for longarm quilters to provide their toppers with a completed quilt.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt retailer. Here’s a link to  Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Design Magic
Shelly Stokes
Cedar Canyon Textiles; $22.95

In this follow-up to her first book, Paintstiks on Fabric, Shelly Stokes continues exploring the possibilities of Shiva® Artist’s Paintstiks®. In this book, Shelly’s Design Magic method is based on a Japanese design principle known as Notan, which is defined as the interaction between positive and negative, light and dark space. The process includes creating a design, making a pair of equal and opposite stencils and then stenciling the images on fabric with Paintstiks. Shelly’s step-by-step instructions are very complete, down to cleaning your brushes. She includes instructions for stenciling whole cloth and patchwork images as well as instructions for five projects ranging in difficulty. If you prefer not to cut your own freezer-paper templates, Shelly includes one set of DesignMagic™ Stencils. You’ll find lots of inspiration from the gallery in the book, and if you want more, you’ll find it in the learning center on Shelly’s website.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Little Quilts for Big Occasions
Sandi Colwell
Leisure Arts, $9.95

With Memorial Day just passed and Independence Day around the corner, I enjoy using my red, white and blue wall hanging to add the right touch to the holidays. I also have a Christmas quilt and a Thanksgiving table runner. If you are looking for a cute wall hanging to celebrate holidays in your home, this collection of seven small wall hangings from Sandi Cowell will fit the bill. Sandi offers patterns with valentine’s, Easter, patriotic, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthday themes. Since I have a big birthday coming up next month, I have my eye on the sampler of six cupcakes.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Vivacious Curvy Quilts

by: Dianne Hire
American Quilter’s Society; $26.95

Wow, Dianne Hire likes to play with possibilities!

Once she gets you started with learning her curvy techniques, you are in for some fun. She begins with explaining how to cut gentle curves from stacked squares (or rectangles) and then how to piece them. After that the fun begins with where you cut your curves and the number of colors you use.

Design possibilities are endless as she leads you through 11 design projects. I had a favorite – circular curves with windmills. The book includes lots of photos for inspiration and some nifty tips, including one on using kitchen tongs to help with any fear of free-form rotary cutting.

Look for the book at your favorite quilt retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Simple Pleasures in Redwork
Kathy Schmitz
Leisure Arts; $19.95

If you have not tried embroidery, this charming collection of Kathy Schmitz’s patterns is a delightful place to start. The book includes 10 patterns ranging from a simple pincushion to an 11-block wallhanging.  The book includes instructions to embroider along with stitching diagrams for 18 different embroidery stitches. I particularly liked “Sing,” a hanging sachet with a caged bird worked in green, red and black floss.

Guide to Judged Quilt Shows
Andi Perejda, editor
National Quilting Association $20

Ever wonder what’s involved in putting on a judged quilt show? This guide written by eight NQA Certified Judges, including Scott Murkin, Professional Quilter columnist, gives you a behind-the-scene look at the process. The intent of the authors is to offer a guide for those guilds or organizations interested in holding a judged show. The book covers everything from finding your venue to hiring judges to handling the quilts’ acquisition and return and more. This will be a handy reference for those guilds ready to make the move from an exhibition to a judged show. It will also be useful as guilds expand and find the need for a more professional approach to judging. The Appendix includes an 18-month timeline to follow for judged shows, a sample contract for judging and sample judging forms.

The book is available from Amazon or directly from the National Quilting Association.

Lots of our IAPQ members have published books, whether that’s through a traditional book publisher or self-published. Today we can go even further and skip the printed page and publish solely in an e-book format. Regardless of the format you use, marketing is key. Yes, if you use a traditional book publisher, they do much of the marketing. To ensure the highest level of success for your book, you need to do marketing on your own. Here are tips to market your book.

1. Call your local quilt and book shops and ask if they’ll host a book signing for you. Look for unusual places to do signings. For example, maybe your quilt book features quilts with dessert names. Try a signing at a local bakery. I remember talking with a novelist who was doing signings at the airport. Talk about a captive audience. Don’t forget to promote the signing with news releases.

2. Sponsor a contest. If your book is about adding embellishments to quilts, have entrants post photos of their work on your website and award a prize. You could even have viewers vote to get more people involved.

3. Set up a blog hop to promote your book. I mentioned the blog hop recently in conjunction with a post on blogging. You approach several other bloggers and ask them to review your book or interview you about your book on their blogs, introducing you to a wider audience.

4. Print bookmarks that include the cover image, details about the book and a link to your website. Leave these on tables at shows, and ask your local shop owner if she’ll put them out with other literature. Be sure to include a link to your site on the bookmark in case someone wants more information.

5. Look for opportunities where you can be interviewed about your book. I can think of three right off the top of my head: Art & Soul Radio, American Patchwork & Quilting Radio Show (previously Pat Sloan’s Creative Talk Network), and Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski.

6. Get others to sell your book for you. Many other teachers or lecturers offer books to their students. If your book compliments their topic, ask if they would consider carrying your book. Several years ago I sold books in the IAPQ booth for one of our members who gave a “Meet the Teacher” talk in Houston. She didn’t have a booth and wanted to offer her students a place to purchase the book. As soon as her talk ended, I was inundated with buyers. This was definitely win-win for both of us.

7. Create a Fan Page on Facebook just for your book. This lets you promote the book and encourage conversation among the book’s fans. Encourage sharing of photos of quilts made from the book. Share your tips for success with the projects.

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include the blurb below.

Morna McEver Golletz is the founder and CEO of the International Association of Professional Quilters, an association to help quilters, fiber artists and other creative arts entrepreneurs build business success. Her weekly e-zine offers tips, techniques and inspiration to help you craft business success from your creative arts passion. You can sign up for a F.R.E.E. subscription at http://www.professionalquilter.com.

Quilted Symphony
Gloria Loughman
C&T Publishing; $29.95

If you’ve ever seen Gloria Loughman’s award-winning quilts and wanted to know how she was able to create such wonderful art, you are in for a treat with her book. She goes through the basics of design and composition and color and then focuses on the construction process step-by-step. She covers appliqué, piecing and embellishments, including painting, beading and stitching options. The book also includes four projects and a gallery of student work. I found myself so engaged by the book that I was torn between wanting to look/read more or getting right to my fabric. This is a definite keeper!

Look for the book at your favorite quilt shop or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.