Easy Grid Quilts
Karen G. FIsher
AQS Publishing; $24.95

Most traditional quilts are grid-based. Karen Fisher took the basic grid and began an exploration with mathematical progressions, e.g., 1″ squares surrounded by 2″ squares surrounded by 3″ squares and so on. Then she started looking at how she could change other grid-based blocks. The result is 14 different projects done in five simple grid formats. The options are really endless when you combine fabric scale, color and contrast in the quilts.

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

The Sketchbook Challenge
Sue Bleiweiss
Potter Craft; $21.99

Do you have a blank sketchbook, i.e., one you bought with the good intention of using for sketching, only it’s still on the shelf and still blank? I’ll cop to that one. The blank book can seem daunting. With help from Sue Bleiweiss, you’ll soon be on your way to filling your sketchbook and adding a new tool to your artist’s toolbox. Subtitled Techniques, Prompts, and Inspiration for Achieving Your Creative Goals, Sue’s book came about after she started the Sketchbook Challenge to keep her own resolution to be more consistent with her own sketchbook. She invited a group of artists to join her, and soon others began participating on their own. By the end of the first month her website had more than 43,000 visitors. The challenge was a yearly project, and the book is set up to offer you 12 themes to challenge yourself. Each theme also includes a look at the sketches of two of the artists participating and a spotlight on a particular technique. Even the book shape with its smaller size and rounded corners is encouraging. So, take Sue’s challenge and expand your creativity. You’ll love your results.

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

No Sewing Until You Quilt It
Ann R. Holmes
AQS Publishing; $24.95

Long-time stained glass artist Ann Holmes turned to quilting in 1999 when she wanted to recreate some of her original designs into fabric without incorporating the lead line. What resulted is her No Sewing Until You Quilt It technique that incorporates fusible interfacing and glue-basted turned down edges to her appliqué pieces prior to any quilting. What she ends up with is the nice smooth edge of a turned appliqué edge. The book includes complete instructions for learning the technique followed by seven projects of increasing complexity. The accompanying CD includes patterns, an additional gallery with one of Ann’s stained glass pieces, and a discussion on inspiration.

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

Quilt Blocks Go WIld
Eleanor Levie and Celebrity Quilters
Leisure Arts; $19.95

I always enjoy books with a variety of techniques that stretch your skills and this is no exception. Eleanor along with five celebrity quilters (Karla Anderson, Pam Dinndorf, Malka Dubrawsky, Tonya Ricucci and Elizabeth Rosenberg) challenged themselves to take the classic quilt block and twist, tweak, slice and skew them. In other words start traditional and go wild. You’ll find the classic Drunkard’s Path with inset, random strips; an unorderly Rail Fence; a Log Cabin block split into a boomerang shape; and a wonky, winking traditional Star block. In all you have nine projects, and each can set you off on an adventure to try something new with a different traditional block. Elly also includes playbooks – hand-on exercises – for each block designed to jump start your creativity.

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

Quilt Blocks From Around the World
Debra Gabel
C&T Publishing; $21.95

Following up on the success of her first book, Quilt Blocks Across America, Debra takes you on a world tour, well, at least to 50 international cities. The finished six-inch square blocks can be used in a variety of applications, from small wall hangings to a sampler quilt of your travels. The book includes a CD so you can enlarge all the patterns, and almost all the gallery pieces are made at a large size. In fact Debra recommends enlarging 200%. You’ll also learn Debra’s Translucent Patterning technique that allows you to trace each piece and see color, positioning and overlap in one block.

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

Hexa-go-go
Tacha Bruecher
Stash Books; $23.95

Everything old is new again, and English paper piecing is seeing a resurgence. I love author, Tacha Bruecher’s take on it. She says, “Hexagons are so wonderfully portable – quilting’s answer to knitting! She starts you off with with detailed instructions on creating your paper templates, making the hexagons, and hand stitching them together. Once you’ve got the basics and a stack of hexagons, you’re ready to make any of the projects in the book. She offers you 18 projects ranging from a lovely rosette needle book to full-sized quilts. The projects are fun and I especially liked the “Stars and Stripes Quilt,” perfect for celebrating American holidays. If you decide to give hexagons a whirl, watch out. I hear they are addictive.

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

Thread Magic Garden
Ellen Anne Eddy
C&T Publishing; $28.95

Award-winning quilter Ellen Anne Eddy is well known for her free-motion thread work. In this book, she teaches you how to thread paint your own beautiful garden of flowers and some surprise creatures. At first glance, it’s clear that Ellen is a teacher. Using simple step-by-step instructions, you’ll learn basic skills that build upon each other, for example, special stitch techniques, building edge-to-edge color and progressive shading. Then she offers more than 20 floral studies to understand the shapes of the flowers. She notes that you cannot create a flower through fabric without first seeing and studying a real one, so she includes close-up photographs for this purpose. She also includes a good discussion on color theory. If you are interested in learning or expanding your skills at machine embroidery, you’ll enjoy this book and appreciate Ellen’s attention to detail.

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

Appliqué & Embroidery Fundamentals
Janice Vaine
Landauer Publishing; $27.95

With 45 years of sewing and needlework experience, Jan Vaine starts you in the classroom where she teaches you her Perfect Placement Appliqué method followed by lessons on the appliqué stitch, reverse appliqué and a variety of stitches. The instructions are complete and the illustrations are very large, a plus. The bulk of the book includes the letters of the alphabet each encircled by a floral wreath. Jan’s goal is for you to learn new embroidery and embellishment techniques as you work your way through the alphabet. She then offers 18 additional stitches and six additional projects for using the skills you’ve learned. I appreciated the supplies shopping list at the beginning of the book, too.

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

Exploring Dimensional Quilt Art
C. June Barnes
Interweave; $26.95

Since I talked about challenging your thinking, that’s what June Barnes does in this book. Most quilt art is two-dimensional. She urges you to create more dimension in your work. Some of what you’ll learn are folding techniques, stacking, curling, pleating and gathering. She includes some fascinating quilted pieces. I can’t call them quilts, because they are not flat. These include crescent-shaped pieces, prisms, cylinders and orbs. The book includes a gallery of work by fellow British quilters and textile artists. June attributes the increase in dimensional work by quilt artists to the introduction of categories such as that of Quilt Creations at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. She also includes a section on finding inspiration and a list of verb command prompts, such as squash it, make it obvious and be unrealistic. A great reference for expanding your art.

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

Are you a “What if?” kind of thinker? No, I don’t mean the kind of person who second guesses herself and stays stuck. I mean the kind of person who challenges statements and thinks beyond the obvious.

Last week, I was at a lab waiting to get my blood drawn for routine testing. A woman drove in on her motorized wheelchair and asked if someone owned the silver Buick parked in the back lot. The car was blocking her access to her van. (Before you think the owner of the Buick parked in the handicapped space, he was legally parked. She just needed more space on both sides of her van.) No one came forward, and off she went down the hall to the next doctor’s office. I’m not sure how many offices she had tried already. At this point, I thought that if someone just moved her van out of the space into the open lot, she could get on her way. That was my “What if?”  So I went to find her as she left yet another office. We went outside to find her van, and I backed it up. She was able to get into the van and was on her way. It was a rather simple answer to her problem, and one she had not considered.

What would you have done? Would you have tried to think of another possibility? (I should say I was number 27 in line, with 11 people in front of me, so I did have time on my hands.)

We are all in situations that can challenge our thinking. As artists, we are faced with choices every day, red or blue, solid or print, embellishment or not. As business people, we make decisions about where to market our product, which trade show to participate in. Next time you make a decision, make it and then ask yourself what if I try something different on top of the solution. For example, if you choose red over blue and a solid over a print, great. Now decide to do something different with the fabric. If you decide to exhibit at Quilt Market, ask yourself what you can do differently with your booth this time to make it different. Think beyond the obvious or what you’ve done in the past.

How have you challenged your thinking lately? Please share below.