Archive for the ‘Books for Quilters’ Category

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Drafting for the Creative Quilter

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

Sally Collins has just published a new book, Drafting for the Creative Quilter, that sounded like one that would be nice to add to my library. I like reference books. I may not need it today, but sometime along the line, any book of this kind comes in handy. I was not disappointed when the book arrived from amazon. One of her other books I did not purchase right away and when I decided that I just must have it, I had to pay dearly for it on the secondary market. So, I’ve learned a lesson. If you see a book or fabric that you really think you might want, do not hesitate. Both go out of print, sooner than you think!

I really enjoy buying books from amazon because they arrive in a “brand new” condition, not in a worn state as you are likely to find in some shops (for the same amount of money, or more)! This is the reason I also like books on CD. They are not shop worn or previously handled.

If you ever thought that you might like to try drafting your own pattern, Sally gives you all the information you need to do so! Projects are included in the book. For more information, check out the amazon listing below.

I think that you will find this a very useful addition to your personal library of quilting books or for your guild library!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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World War II Quilts: A New Book by Sue Reich

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

The colors of Red, White and Blue are predominant in the new, patriotic book by Sue Reich that honors the textiles made during the most astounding war… ever! The author provides dozen of quilt examples, photos of ephemera, and photos of individuals to accompany the marvelous text she shares. Individual fabrics, close-ups of old quilts, and poetry add to the mix of images. Very unique items are included, such as the embroidered record of Aldora Howe’s son’s service in the Coast Guard, during World War II. This large quilt measures no less than 75″ x 100.”

There is no doubt about it. The mothers and sweethearts that stayed at home cheered the “boys” with letters and packages, while doing the work of the men, in factory jobs they’d left behind. This hardcover book, published by Schiffer Publishing in 2010, is a charming look at a variety of textiles, not just cotton quilts. War was on the minds of all who lived through that period. Who could escape it? Service banners were hung to demonstrate that one or more “stars” (sons) were serving in the Armed Services.

The first thing I noticed about the book is that it can be considered “eye-candy,” yet, in delving into it, one can readily see that it represents a whole lot more than just pretty pictures. If you want to understand the War a little bit better, acquire this book as a permanent record of some of the ways that patriotism and love were expressed via textiles. This book was worth the wait!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Classic Quilts from The American Museum in Britain

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

A newly-published book, Classic Quilts from The American Museum in Britain, is a 128 page paperback book that features many wonderful photos and close-up of both pieced and appliquéd quilts from an extraordinary collection. Even before taking the time to read all of the descriptions and history, it is like eye-candy just to leaf through the pages of Hawaiian quilts, chintz blocks, hexagons, Log Cabin quilts, and even what I’d call a “Primitive” Redwork quilt. Crazy Quilts are shown as well as an Eagle quilt, Baltimore Album style quilts and blocks and a Cigar bands quilt. Wholecloth quilts are present, as are close-ups of their surfaces.

This book, a collaboration of Laura Beresford and Katherine Hebert, Curators at The American Museum in Britain, is a testimony to the hardworking American quilters who, for the most part, hand quilted these beauties. Among the 55 quilts showcased in the book is an unusual piece, a “Tumbling Blocks Star” quilt. A gorgeous “Chalice” quilt, another unusual design not seen often, is in the mix. Beautiful and elaborate appliqué quilts grace the pages of the book.

The photography is excellent and I am so happy to have ordered this book! I can’t wait to find some time to enjoy reading it, perhaps while sitting on the summer porch with a cold glass of lemonade.

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Book for Children Features Historic Crazy Quilt

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Yesterday, I was delighted to see a book titled, Helen, Ethel & The Crazy Quilt and couldn’t resist picking it up, even though it is a book for children. The true story is about the friendship established by mail, between two little girls. One was Ethel Orr who lived on Bailey Island, Maine and was home-schooled. The other was the famous Helen Keller. Both girls were the same age, and at the time, 1890, Ethel’s mother was just finishing a Crazy Quilt that she had started the year before. Photos of the actual quilt are included in the book!

The letters from Helen, in block printing style taught to her by her teacher, have been preserved. The quilt is now located at the Maine State Museum at Augusta. Published by Mayhaven Publishing, Inc. in 2007, the book is beautifully illustrated by Dawn Peterson, and is a charming story for people of any age. The book was written by Nancy Orr Johnson Jensen, a descendant of Ethel and author of a non-fiction book titled, Bailey Island: Memories, Pictures & Lore.

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New Quilt Book Explores Bringing New Life to Old Quilt Blocks

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

A Quilt Block Challenge: Vintage Revisited by Mary Kerr, with a foreword by Pepper Cory, is one of the latest books published by Schiffer Publishing in 2010.

To create this book, Mary Kerr asked 22 of her quilt friends to create new artistic quilts using vintage blocks as points of departure. The book is a colorful tribute to all of the resulting quilts. Each time one looks through the book, another quilt catches one’s eye. Provided with each photo is a little summary of the design decisions made by the artist.

The book is fun to peruse to see the new spin that each artist brought to otherwise cast-off blocks. All of us who have been quilting for awhile have blocks and unfinished quilt tops that we despair of ever finishing. They are begun and left because some new project took our attention, or they were just a sample from a class, or we didn’t get around to buying enough backing fabric or perhaps ran out of one supply or another. It is nice to think that someone might come along in the future and want to “do something” with a textile that is a UFO (unfinished object).

The camaraderie among these friends is apparent in the book. Many of them are fellow quilt appraisers who have lots of experience in seeing vintage and antique quilts. It is clear that they had fun with this ingenious project envisioned by Mary Kerr.

Mary, congratulation on achieving your goal of completing this book! It is sure to inspire other quilting groups to attempt to do something similar, perhaps as a guild challenge. Two thumbs up on this one! Thanks for sharing the fun with us!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Old Quilts

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

When people learn that I am a quilt historian and that I wrote a book about quilt care, storage and display, they often want to ask questions about how to care for a family heirloom. Usually, they don’t know the age of the quilt, and often, they guess at which family might have made it. Just the other day I received a question about quilt care, but sight unseen, it is impossible to determine what kind of “life” this quilt has lived. Has it been in heavy service? How well was it made, in the first place? Does it have “fancy fabrics” or embroidery? Where has it been stored, or used? Has it been around animals or children? Had food spills? Or, was it given as a wedding gift and then, stored in a cedar chest for years and years? Has it been exposed to mothballs? God forbid!

hexagon quilt repro. shown in my book

This hexagon miniature quilt is based on an antique quilt in my collection and is shown in my book, Straight Talk About Quilt Care II, along with the original 19th century quilt. Of course, I had to use at least one fabric that is out of sync with the times to make sure that people knew that it was a 20th century reproduction. With 1,039 fabrics, only two fabric pieces are alike, reminiscent of the time when charm quilts of this type were in fashion. Quilt made by Patricia Cummings/ photo by James Cummings

I have not seen the latest quilt in question but since it is reportedly in pastel colors and features a “tulip pattern,” it is safe to assign it a circa 1930s date. Light pastel fabrics of yellow, pink, blue, lavender, and mint green (think Easter) were not produced until the early 20th century.

There have always been trends in quilting, just as there are swings in fashion design. The changes in the types of fabric manufactured really helps quilt historians to be able to give a ball park date as to when a particular quilt was made. It is a science unto itself, but luckily for us, today, there are many books on fabric styles and quilt history that can aid us in determining dates of quilts with an unknown provenance.

My e-book on CD, Straight Talk About Quilt Care II, Display, Cleaning, and Storage of Quilts, Needlework and Textiles, can be viewed on any computer. It is available to purchase in select museum shops and from other vendors, as well as from my own website, and amazon.com (for those who prefer that venue). The book was thoroughly updated earlier this year, and remains a timeless resource, unsurpassed elsewhere in the scope and breadth of knowledge it presents.

Individual pages can be printed out, or the whole book, for that matter, for your personal use. Many textile educators have relied on this book in preparing their own paid presentations, using the information I have provided. As with any of the books published by Quilter’s Muse Publications, they are not bulk-produced. Each book is created especially for YOU.

For more information, see this page: http://www.quiltersmuse.com/straight-talk-about-quilt-care-II.htm

Patricia Cummings

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Louisa May Alcott Remembered

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Most of you may remember Louisa May Alcott as the author of Little Women. During her lifetime, she accomplished much more. Brought up in a Concord, Massachusetts neighborhood that was home to a number of well-known writers of the mid-nineteenth century, her father was a teacher who hobnobbed with a literary crowd who became known as the “Transcendentalists.”

A balky child, Louisa loved to write and kept a diary since childhood. She adopted the causes of her day: abolition, suffrage, and women’s rights. Before the Civil War, her family even harbored runaway slaves, although her father, Bronson, often had more ideas than money.

After beginning to read the book, American Bloomsbury, by Susan Cheever and enjoying what she has to say about Louisa May Alcott, I happened to notice a book on my own bookshelf. Oddly enough, I have no recollection as to where I collected it. Louisa May Alcott: Quilts of Her Life, Her Work, Her Heart by Terry Clothier Thompson (Krause Publications, 2008) provides a way to honor Alcott by making an appliqué quilt with quilt blocks that recall her life. Snippets of history are a charming part of the book.

It has been a very long time since I read Little Women. I may have to revisit it sometime. Thompson was lucky enough to buy a book at an antiques auction titled, Life, Letters and Journals – Louisa M. Alcotts. Included are writings from 1832 to 1888. These inspired the fabric “cameos” of Alcott’s life. What a wonderful book!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Riding the Rails for Free – Results in a New Book

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

My mother always told the story of how, during the Great Depression, her southern cousin would hop a train and head north to Manchester, New Hampshire to visit the family. He might not have looked like a hobo, but for all intents and purposes, he was. In her words, he would come to come to “leech off of” her family (of 13 people). My grandmother was always gracious and would feed any stray kitten, or so the story goes, and she welcomed this fine looking young man with open arms. Trouble is, he would most often overstay his welcome.

I am anxiously awaiting the release of a new book by Debra G. Henninger titled, Hobo Quilts: 55+ Original Blocks Based on the Secret Language of Riding the Rails. This book is due to be released in early May 2010 from Krause Publications. Debra has prepared designs to be made with the paper piecing technique, and several of the pages of the book shows the symbols and their meanings. The 256 page volume includes historical photos and reflects the author’s fascination with railroads. This book looks like a lot of fun, and contains a number of projects.

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New Quilt Exhibit at the V&A Museum Attracts Viewers

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Currently, there is a quilt exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London that has some folks here, across the pond, hopping the closest airplane to go see it. Part of the exhibit, located in the Renaissance Gallery, is the showing of a quilt rarely seen by the public, the Tristan quilt, sometimes called Tristram or Tristam. In fact, the name has many mutations because it was part of a medieval legend that was carried about Europe by storytellers: the legend of Tristan and Isolde and their star-struck relationship.

The piece is one of three pieces executed in the style of trapunto. One piece has been collected by the Bargello Museum in Florence, and the other quilt piece is in private hands. The most notable feature of this quilt is that it is the oldest extant European quilt example, made between 1360 and 1400 for a wedding gift, an elaborate one at that!

The curator of the V&A exhibit, Sue Prichard, has edited a new volume of quilt history, published by V&A Publishing, that highlights quilts in their collection. The book, Quilts 1700-2010: Hidden Histories, Untold Stories is currently being distributed in the U.S. I received mine today from amazon.

The 240 page book with its many enchanting color photos and illustrations is very impressive. I can’t wait to savor the information it contains. If, like me, you can’t get to England to see the exhibit in person, perhaps a book is the next best thing! Here is a link, just in case you agree.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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French Novelist Announces New Book Related to the Textile Factory in Oberkampf

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

This is an announcement that I received from French novelist, Christophe Baillat, about his latest work inspired by the toile de Jouy textile factory in Oberkampf.

book cover

A novel about the toile de jouy. Le roman de la Toile de Jouy.

Je suis heureux de vous faire connaître mon roman paru chez L’Harmattan et consacré à la Toile de Jouy.

I’m happy to present you my novel, released by L’Harmattan, which is about the toile de Jouy.

Présentation du livre “Le neveu de l’abbé Morel”

Dans le Paris du XVIIIe siècle, l’abbé Morel enquête sur l’origine des crues de la Bièvre, cette rivière dont dépendent de nombreux métiers. Sa parfaite connaissance des lieux l’amène à conseiller l’entrepreneur Oberthur, dans lequel on reconnaît aisément le célèbre créateur des toiles de Jouy (Oberkampf). C’est alors le départ pour un long périple dans le royaume, financé par le Bureau du Commerce. Au cours de cette mission, l’abbé Morel côtoie les inspecteurs des manufactures, ancêtres méconnus des inspecteurs du travail.

In Paris during the XVIIIth century, Abbé Morel investigates the origin of the floods of the Bièvre, this river on which depend numerous professions. His perfect knowledge of places brings him to advise the entrepreneur Oberthur, in whom one recognizes easily the famous creator of toile de Jouy (Oberkampf). It is the beginning of a long trip around the kingdom, financed by the Office of the Business. During this mission, Abbé Morel encounters the inspectors who are the ancestors of the labor inspectors.

Recevez mes sincères salutations. Greetings.

Christophe Baillat
http://cbaillat.skyblog.fr

This announcement is brought to you courtesy of Quilter’s Muse Publications

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