15 Minutes of Play

Hurray for Victoria Findlay Wolfe (aka V aka Bumblebeans) and her new book, 15 Minutes of Play. Today is my day on the blog hop to celebrate the book.

Do you know the common denominator in my favorite quilt books like Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking and Roberta Horton's Scrap Quilts? No patterns, lots of quilts, and lots of words. And woohoo, V's book is all of that. It's like sitting next to V and listening to her explain how she made her improvisational, scrappy quilts. Her inspiration and enthusiasm are so contagious.

In the book, there are multiple techniques for making "made-fabric" by free-piecing, using paper as a foundation, and the quick way. I love that, because not every one likes to work the same way. For instance, I love using paper foundations and don't mind ripping all the paper off while other people can't stand that. There are directions for some of the blocks in the book and multiple challenges to get you started playing.

Okay, I am admittedly biased about this book because V is a friend, we love a lot of the same quilts and quilters, and woohoo, I have a quilt in the book. Starburst, the quilt V and I collaborated on because I'd made all those string star diamonds and was anxious about the Y-seams involved in getting it all together. V is fearless and actually loves Y-seams. AND she has a tutorial on them in the book, so I'll have that the next time I have to face that task. Anyway, Starburst used to look like this:

but sure doesn't anymore. You'll have to get the book to see the final quilt. It doesn't come with a photo of Pokey though...

More than that, there are quilts by some of my favorite bloggers, like Nifty Quilts and Fiberliscious Mary Keasler amongst others, and quilts by V's grandmother that are just amazing.

You can win a copy of the book 15 Minutes of Play right here by leaving a comment on this post. (US winners receive a hard copy of the book. International winners receive a Electronic copy of the book, direct from C&T.)

Or, you can buy a copy directly from V at her shop  or from Amazon

These are all the folks who have or will participate in the blog hop:

Nov: 26: "Victoria Findlay Wolfe", http://www.15minutesplay.com/
Nov 27: "Bonnie K Hunter", http://quiltville.blogspot.com/
Nov 28: "Alissa Haight Carlton, http://www.handmadebyalissa.com/
Nov 29:  "Pat Sloan", http://patsloan.typepad.com/
Nov 30: "Kimberly," http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/
 Dec 1st: "Karen Griska",http://selvageblog.blogspot.com/
Dec 2nd: "Angela Walters", http://www.quiltingismytherapy.com/
Dec 3rd:  Generation Q, http://generationqmagazine.com/
Dec 4th: "Tonya Ricucci", http://www.lazygalquilting.blogspot.com/
Dec 5th: "Michele Foster",http://quiltinggallery.com/blog-posts/
Dec 6th: "Scott Hansen",http://bluenickelstudios.com/
Dec 7th:"Amy Ellis", http://amyscreativeside.com/blog/
 Dec 8th: "Rachaeldaisy",http://bluemountaindaisy.blogspot.com/
Dec 9th:"Jackie Kunkel", http://cvquiltworks.blogspot.com/
Dec. 10th: http://www.ctpubblog.com/

Quilt Blocks Go Wild

Hey all ya'all. I gotta do a little bit of shameless self-promotion. See this?

 

Shazam! It's the block I redesigned for the book Quilt Blocks Go Wild just published by Leisure Arts.

It's my version of Rail Fence. You know my Dr. Seuss Christmas Quilt? Well this is the way to make it. The easy way I figured out how to do years later...

I've got a mixed opinion of the book. Of course there is my block--which is fabulous-- and made UnRulily. That is, no marking or real fussing - although you do have to pay attention. I love that we were allowed to use photos to illustrate the steps, so I think it's pretty clear. (If not, give me a holler.) I love Malka Dubrowsky's Drunkard's Path redo. I love that the book shows you alternate methods for working.

But. But there are some methods in the book that do not appeal to me in the least. Freezer paper and templates. So this book isn't about Liberation. It's about how to step outside the traditional zone in baby steps. And of course not everyone loves Liberation and UnRuly so hopefully they'll find a way to play that they do like.

The book will be available on Amazon (Quilt Blocks Go Wild) and at JoAnn's stores. Possibly other places as well.

While I've got you all here, can I make a request for blocks? I know I don't deserve them since I still have several UFOs-worth of wonderful gifties from readers. I do, I know. If you don't worry about it eventually becoming a quilt and just think of it as a gift to Lazy Gal, who looks at it and feels loved... I'd appreciate it. Not that I'm trying to guilt you into anything ;-)

I'd like to make a love quilt for Pokey. I still miss her so much.

I have a quilt in mind. I know what the components are, but not how the quilt will look. I'd love to receive Pokey-colored blocks. White, cream, all those lovely shades of brown and dark brown/black accents. I called her my cappuccino girl - coffee with cream. And of course turquoise/cyan for her beautiful eyes and pink/red for her nose and paw pads (and love).

And the type of block? It's a love quilt. UnRuly L-O-V-E letters and UnRuly XOXOXOXO hugs and kisses. And wonky hearts.  Individual letters, or joined together. Just one or several. Nothing too big please unless you're piecing the letter fabric. Any questions, just ask.

Summary: UnRuly Letters (as found in Word Play Quilts)  E, L, O, V, and X and wonky hearts in white, cream, and all sorts of brown with hints of turquoise, red, pink, and black. (not that you have to have all those colors in one block). The goal is to have a quilt for the next book (yes, I'm finally working on one) so it's gotta be UnRuly.

If you make some letters/hearts and they don't come out well? Don't throw them away. Send them anyway. The UnRuly Orphanage takes in all sorts of strays.

To be even more obnoxious: as always, I'd love any spare orphan UnRuly letters you'd care to send. And teensy bits of ugly ugly fabric in light colors. I've got way too many dark fabrics in my stash...

I hate sunless, overcast days. This blog post makes me sound so sad and dreary and that's really not the case. I'm enjoying the Olympics and sewing. Yes, I'm sewing again and book plotting. woohoo! And enjoying the company of the cats. Even the little stinkers, Annabelle (or should it be Annabowl?):

and Cooper:

They both love the dishwasher, why I don't know. Shiny cave to explore, oh boy! These are older photos, amazing how much they grow in just a couple of weeks.

Later, gators!

Get it While You Can

I can't believe I forgot to include this in yesterday's post, but holy cow there is an incredible sale on the  book Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown. It's only twelve dollars for a bargain book. I paid a loooot more for my copy and it was worth every penny, so believe me when I say it's a SERIOUS bargain now. I actually bought a second copy, couldn't pass it up.

I think this means that it's time for another Liberated Amish Get-Together. It was sooo wonderful the first time to see the amazing quilts that folks made. Really impressive. Maybe starting in February? But this time we'll use the UnRuly Blog so I don't have to make up another one. Sound fun? Maybe I'll actually make one this time!

You don't have to buy the book to participate, but I recommend it wholeheartedly nonetheless. You can see a bunch of the quilts on this website for the Browns Amish Quilt collection.

I figure I'll be more flexible this time about the guidelines so that folks can interpret it how they want, so that they push themselves - you all know where your own boundaries are. Can be any size that you want. I think it would be fun to make an Amish quilt as interpreted by a Gee's Bender. (Gee's Bendie? hee hee hee). But the goal is to still see the inspiration in there. For instance if they were ever hung in an exhibition together you'd want it to make sense...

Picture of Lily from awhile back, cuz I needed something to go in this post. I do still love this UFO - need to work on it some more. When I'm reunited with all the bits and pieces that is.

Oh, and I also can't believe I neglected to mention that I am thoroughly engrossed in the second season of Downton Abbey. I do so love that show!!!

p.s. You can click on the link for the book on sale here:

At Long Last

Finally, a blog post. First off, I taught a class on crumbs to the Martin County Quilt Guild. It was fun and a really good way for me to see how people take different approaches to making blocks. We put all the blocks together, so much fun to see how all the personalities can blend to make a really fun quilt. The green carpet gives it a groovy sashing:

I felt like a harpy because I kept trying to nudge folks into using fabrics with more contrast. I did contrast so poorly for so many years, that it's just really glaring to me now. I wasn't sure how much of that I should do in class and finally decided that was part of my job. To nudge though, I didn't actually smack anyone around or hide their fabrics...

I've received more fun ugly fabrics in the mail. These are from Patti. I love the bicycle fabric and think it's a hoot that she included an e-coli pattern. I gotta guess that's the bottom left print.

Up next is Michele. Woohoo! Elvis and florida fabric. but yes, those cherubs are pretty ghastly.

Marge included this fabulous Halloween fabric, which is making me happy. Hee hee hee, skeleton reapers and mummies.

Not only did Lynette send me wonderful fabric (some of which I actually LOVE and wish I had more of - not ugly at all) but she also made me a crumby heart and some O-O-V-E

From Kathy W. Love the rooster fabric and the cocktails! Wonderful selection, thank you.

Cheryl sent me some fabric too. I'm not sure but this hunting outdoorsy fabric may just be the ugliest fabric ever. Seriously awful.

The package from Cheryl actually arrived the day I finished sewing my lego quilt together. Woohoo on the top finish, but sad I didn't get to include any of this fabric in this quilt. Definitely another one though!

Thank you to everyone who mailed me fabric goodies. I love thinking of you as I work with them. Also thank you to those of you who've emailed me, to make sure I'm okay. So sweet of you.

I've actually been struggling the last few months. I don't want to go into all the details in this post, but I've been struggling with an inflammatory arthritis that I've had for years, it kicks my ass, and I still haven't gotten a doctor to diagnose. Fingers cross that is going to change shortly - I think there is now enough evidence for the diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis, a form of inflammatory arthritis, which I've had for 19 years now.

It's one of those horrible diseases that's hard to pin down, has remissions and flare-ups. I've been in a flare for the last while. I got a new symptom of tension headaches/ migraines which act up after I've been sewing or cutting or ironing for a few hours (or even less). Needless to say, not good for a quilter. That's on top of all the back and neck pain I've had for years.

But one of the worst things is the fatigue. It's not just that my body doesn't want to be active, but neither does my brain. Makes thinking difficult, and writing. Which is why fewer blog posts and emails etc. All I want to do is sleep, watch tv, play on Pinterest. Lately at least I've been enjoying hand quilting again, so that's an improvement.

Fingers crossed I get my official diagnosis when I visit the rheumatologist next Friday. And if I don't get it from him, the search will be on for another doc. I'm soooo tired of this. I'll try to not whine too much, but wanted to let you know what was going on.

Okay, back to quilting news. Got Gwen Marston's new book 37 Sketches. here's a sample page

It is a beautiful jewel of a book. Very finely made. I hate to say that I don't love all the quilts in it, because I really wish that I did. There's a lot of influence from Jean Wells and it is fun to see how Gwen takes that on board and plays with adding some of Jean's techniques to her own arsenal. I just wish it were Gwennier. But wow, love seeing all of Gwen's sketches together in the report that The Little Red Hen wrote about this years BIQR reatreat. wonderful.

My appearance on The Quilt Show is coming up shortly - September 26th for subscribers. You can see a slideshow of pics from the episode here. Ya'all will be able to watch that episode free for a week (October 3-9), but you do have to sign up as a basic member.

So the link to watch the show for free, from October 3rd to the 9th is here

So anyway, that's what's going on with me. I try to not whine too much, but I'll let you know how the doctor's visit goes.

cheers.

twelve by twelve

I have a beautiful book to share with you. Twelve By Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge.

The book is about the 12 x 12 group and their challenges to make 12" square quilts. Rather than go into the details, I'll just send you to their blog to read more. As far as the book goes, it's published by Lark and they always do such a gorgeous job with their books. It's my favorite kind of quilt book = wordy. That is, there are stories to about how the challenge topics were chosen, how the quilters picked what to work on, their techniques for putting the quilts together. Plus, I LOVE pictures of quilters' studios and collections and the book even includes that, as well as biographical details. So much information packed in here.

Holy Cow, the Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge is actually 50% off at Amazon right now. I highly recommend the book anyway, but at this price? Go, go, go. 

My longtime blogging friend Kristin LaFlamme is a member of the 12 x 12 group. Kristin and I actually got to meet in Houston - woohoo! I was also lucky enough to meet her darling (but tired after the long flight from Hawaii and now we're at a quilt show) kids and her generous husband, who is known in Internetlandia as IBOL guy. IBOL = Iraqi Bundles of Love, in which quilters (knitters and anyone else who wants to help) send sewing products and fabric to share with Iraqis, to try and show some love and generosity. Read the IBOL blog to find out more.

So, this is me (on the left in my new Just Bobbin Along necklace that I bought at the show but you can buy here) and Kristin:

I have been working my way through the 12 x 12 book, savoring it slowly, but not doing much fiction reading. I go through booms and busts. Partly because once I get really hooked into a novel I can't put it down and I stay up until 3am reading it (just like I did all throughout my school years - not very bright).

TV has been really pathetic lately. When my sweetie was home we finally got to watch the rest of Burn Notice season 4. I hope he's not reading this, but I thought it was really disappointing. The whole Jesse thing just took too much time away from the main characters whom I all love. Not to mention that I am so tired of the whole Burn Notice thing. Let it go already.

Also finished The Closer's most recent season. (Can I just say how annoying it is for some of these summer programs to take a break in the middle of their already short season? gah). That show just doesn't intrigue me or make me laugh the way it used to. Always have too many kinda preachy episodes. But it did have one of my favorite episodes ever, The Layover, with Flynn and Provenza. I love those guys.

Hee hee hee. I was looking for a Closer clip to show you and came across this Sesame Street takeoff. It's short and a hoot:



Have ya'all seen Downton Abbey? Fantastic show. I had to order the dvd before the show even finished airing on Masterpiece Theater. Here is a quote from Jace Lacob's Daily Beast article on the show

Downton Abbey offers a lavish take on the period drama, depicting the lives of the wealthy Crawley family and their servants at an English stately home just prior to World War I. When the sinking of the Titanic takes the lives of the next two heirs to a vast estate, the Crawley family is left with a dilemma as the next in line to inherit is a distant cousin, a middle-class solicitor whom none of them know.

Whee, so looking forward to the sequel, filming soon in the U.K.  Man, it's gonna take forever to get here!

Okay, so not only do I have a thing for shows made from Jane Austen's books, but also for shows set in this later time. The writer of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellows, also did Gosford Park which I love and is set in the same time period. Edwardian, right? Speaking of which...

Has anyone else ever seen the U.K. series Flambards? It's about a teenage girl Christina who's been orphaned and sent off to live with her mean uncle and his two sons. The elder is very virile and horsey and the younger, William, is crippled and extremely intelligent (and of course despised by his father and brother). Oh, and the good looking stable boy. So there are horses, early motor cars and aeroplanes and it's just fabulous. And uh oh, World War I is looming...

The show aired on PBS when I was about 16 - the perfect age for the show. I sooo loved it. Taped it on the VCR and watched it over and over and over again. When it played ten years later, I watched it all over again, sucking a roommate right into it too. Just writing this makes me realize how much I loved this show and the books (starting with Flambards) it was based on. I had to go see if it was on DVD and it looks like there is an old crummy transfer available and a new dvd set is coming out next month. But has it been remastered?

So funny thinking about this show as an adult because there is all this romantic tension between Christina and her cousins. Kinda icky. Hmmm, maybe it was a step-uncle or something. It appears I don't remember the ENTIRE thing as well as I thought. I could certainly tell you all the plot points though and about the adventurous Dorothy in her motor car....

Okay, that's enough of a novel to write for today. Oh wait. If I forget to put kitty pics in a blog post (again) my husband will kill me (with his sadness). While he was home, he managed to get some rare shots of all four kitties in the same place. Of course there was sunshine:

ah sunshine

Can It Be Even More Bahful?

Yes, I am still alive, just a terrible blogger. The next time I am due for surgery (and boy does there always seem to be a next time) I need to schedule a block thingie so that all you wonderful people send me "presents". I can't even begin to tell you how fabulous it is to open envelopes and packages from all over the world and get these marvelous blocks. This is what Bah Humbug looked like as of February 27th:

There are a couple of items on the left hand side that aren't part of the future quilt, including the sweet postcard that Joe Tulips sent me. [By the way, J is currently working on a lettery geocaching quilt, it's wonderful and Holly G. in particular, you'd love it!]

My husband had a hard time believing it had actually come through the U.S. mail, despite seeing postage and a cancellation stamp on it.

I finally got so many blocks that they just won't fit on the design wall anymore. So this photo shows you a couple of the blocks that are in the previous photo (but didn't get nearly enough attention) plus the latest ones which arrived yesterday:

You can find out more about the blocks and their makers over at the UnRuly Quilting blog. Plus you can check out these two really fun UnRuly Letter quilts that Diane is working on here and here. Diane also sent me an extra block for me to use however I like in an UnRuly project:

I love the subway fabric. Diane works at City Quilter and this fabric is specially made for their store. Wheee, I've actually been on some of those routes. 

Along with the outrageous toothy Bah, the always joyful and fun Em sent me a great buggy glass dish. I love it, thank you!

Um, for those of you planning to do a Bah Humbug block, might I suggest that if you haven't already started it, that unless you are really excited about it, maybe you could um, not do one and wait instead for the next exciting project that we do. cuz holy cow, this quilt is going to be huge. I wish I had the skills of Victoria to make king-sized quilts with ease.

This blog post doesn't have the smoothest transitions, sorry. To refer back to the UnRuly Quilting blog, hey you can post any UnRuly project you're working on there. it doesn't just have to be the Bah Humbugs. I keep hoping Hedgehog will come and share some of her fabulous placenames at the UnRQ blog but meanwhile you can visit this wondeful project at this post.

Speaking of places you can show off UnRuly Letter projects: send an email with a photo of your project to Karen at kburns@martingale-pub.com to go into the Martingale photostream AND into the Word Play Quilts set. on Flickr.

I admit I haven't been commenting on blogs as much as I used to, for all sorts of reasons. But I managed to delete my entire blog subscription list (argh) and it's taken awhile to rebuild. There are some blogs which I would have sworn I'd resub'ed to that nope, still weren't turning up. Soo eek, if you haven't heard from me in awhile, feel free to poke me with a stick.  

I've gotten more fun prezzies in the mail, but I can't fit everything into this blog post, which is already rather unwieldy. But I definitely have to mention this. Wooohooo, Bonnie Hunter's new book Scraps and Shirttails II:

Wheee! I think my favorite quilt is Fair and Square:

I am so drawn to the strings and tiny squares. Lovely. If I were smart I'd cut out a bunch of those little squares so I'd finally have a leader ender project going.

I'm slowly getting better after the knees surgery. The second week after the surgery I was doing great and thought recovery would be such a breeze. Of course now I realize that had something to do with my husband waiting on me hand and foot and the lovely pain meds. Sigh. Now he's back to work (not to be seen in these parts for quite some time) and I'm having to take care of myself, the cats AND go to physical therapy. ow. It will someday be nice to walk without limping, which I realize I've been doing for years, compensating for the stupid evil tumor in my knee.

I've managed to do some sewing at last - woohoo! my husband got me a rolly chair, I put a mini rotary cutting mat on my table and set up on ironing station (tv tray covered with a towel and my beloved Rowenta Compact Iron.)

So I haven't gotten a LOT sewn, but at least some. I much prefer to stand while cutting, but you gotta do what you gotta do. But that's all secret...

I'm ever so grateful to have a laptop to work on while I recline with ice on my knees. I've been doing lots of sudoku as well, especially my newfound love Sum Sudoku aka Killer Sudoku. It involves math, which is hardly my strong point, but I've printed out cheat sheets to help. yes, pathetic as it is, I need to look up what combinations add up to 13 etc. I can do the easy puzzles and some of the moderate ones, but after that, whew, out of my depth.

So thanks again to everyone who has sent a block, card, present etc to me. It means a lot, even though I'm completely terrible about sending out thank you notes!!! I think this is enough of a novel, so signing off now. Later, gators.

Student Names and Letters Progress

Wheee, I'm having fun. Mostly. First, the fun part. I put all the student name blocks I received up on the design wall (can't remember the time frame and want to do this post instead of search the blog archives for dates). The blocks look soooo fabulous. I didn't crop this photo just so you could see the size of this:

Whee, those are up and the letters are down because I've got big sections now. To give you an idea of that, here's a photo I prepared for you earlier.

What you see in the photo is a Slither row, a Hope row, an Orange/ Purple row and a Dub big block.

I think I think I think I can get this done after one more day of sewing. Fingers crossed because I'm at the point of not-having-any-fun-hating-this-project. Got harder at the end to fit things in and not everything made it, although there is a chance I might add another row. Okay, two more sewing sessions to finish this top...

So that's what I've been up to with the sewing.

The book (Word Play Quilts) still hasn't arrived at very many quilt shops. Which is a bummer. But it has been wonderful to get feedback from those of you've seen it. I greatly appreciate it. One thing that would help? If you HAVE seen it, go write a review at Amazon and any other online place where there are book reviews. Even if you hate it, that's still good. For instance, Amazon keeps track of how much time people spend at the page reading the reviews and that all factors in to how popular a book is. Negative reviews just help people know that there isn't a fix in.

Thanks, Roz, for being the first reviewer. Notice she even included a photo of an UnRuly Letter quilt in the customer images section. Oh and for an absolute hoot, check out how much used copies of my book are offered for. Someone wants $147.77 (yes, almost a hundred and fifty dollars) for a copy that's Like New. Not even new or plated in gold, but Like New.

Hee Hee Hee. Wonder if I could sell them for that much?

Later ya'all.

Book Recommendations and a Few Good Links

I've been thinking about books lately. hmm, wonder why... Figured this was a good opportunity to recommend some of my absolute favorite books.

Of course, Pokey approves of them all too.

Some of these books will be familiar to my faithful readers. Wade through those and you'll get to some you might not have seen before. Maybe.

First and foremost, is the one that changed it all. Gwen Marston's original Liberated Quiltmakingbook. I can't help myself - I have a strong emotional connection to this book. I love Gwen's style and how she describes the techniques and lets you make the quilt yourself. Right now this out-of-print book is available for $50 and it's worth the price.

Gwen's more recent book, Liberated Quiltmaking II is also excellent (and hey, I have a quilt in there) with a bit of overlap with the first one, but still a lot of new stuff to see.

For the hand quilters out there, oh boy, Gwen Marston and Joe Cunningham's fantastic but also sadly out of print classic Quilting With Style: Principles for Great Pattern Design is available used for hardly any money at all. A serious bargain. I love the book intensely and I've only ever done the freehand fans, so that tells you there is a lot of quilting eye candy in there. This book shows you how to draft quilting designs so you don't have to buy templates.

Speaking of hand quilting, Gwen is now doing a series of hand quilting lessons on her homepage.  Check it out here. And while you are there you can buy some books directly from Gwen herself, including Ideas and Inspirations and her collaborative books with Freddy Moran.

Roberta Horton's Scrap Quilts: The Art of Making Do is another old standby favorite that you can READ since it's not a pattern book. Definitely the kinds of books I like.

Alright, you'd almost have to be living under a rock to not know about the Gee's Bend quilters, the fabulous improvisational quilters of Alabama. If you haven't gotten it already, run and grab The Quilts of Gee's Bend: Masterpieces from a Lost Place. Gorgeous coffee-table book with moving stories of quilters taking hardship and turning it into beauty.

You say you've already got that book? Well then how about Just How I Picture It in My Mind: Contemporary African American Quilts from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts or Accidentally on Purpose: The Aesthetic Management of Irregularities in African Textiles and African-American Quilts. Both are high-quality books of wonderful improvisational quilts.

I own a ton of books on Amish quilts. Far too many books only have the pretty and perfect quilts but the Amish had some rebel quilters. Try these books: Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brownwhich led to an awesome class we did called Liberated Amish. Eve Granick's The Amish Quilthas some great liberated quilts in it too.

I also love Illinois Amish Quilts: Sharing Threads of Tradition which you can buy directly from the author, Janice Tauer Wass. I admit I'm biased because I got to see some of these beauties in person, but the book is wonderful.

Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovation and Artistry in American Quilts features quilts from the International Quilt Study Center. It's an unusual book because it shows a quilt, explains how it's made but mostly it's a conversation by the contributors of what made each quilt "wild" for its time and what they like about each quilt. Features some great antique quilts.

Another historical book I treasure is Album Quilts of Ohio's Miami Valleyby Sue C. Cummings. This is a low-priced book for what you get - all these beautiful pics of loosy-goosy liberated, just put these puppies together quilts. I wrote a post about this book here.

Quilts by Paul D. Pilgrim: Blending the Old & the Newis another out-of-print beauty but at the moment you can get it for a decent price. I've written a glowing blog post about this book before, it's one I really love. It shows how Paul gathered together old blocks to put them together, using partial blocks and innovation. Marvelous.

Do you ever buy a book for just one fabulous quilt? Then have I got the book for you. Mississippi Quiltsby Mary Elizabeth Johnson. Honestly it has some other great quilts in here too, but this red, white and blue star quilt blows me away:

So many of the state history books ignored string quilts, but not this one, which is why I love it. I was about to say that Mississippi Quilts is my favorite state book, but oooh I also love New York Beauties: Quilts from the Empire State which has great antique quilts with WORDS. Great used prices at the moment, so go grab it.

On to something completely different. Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang. Lynne of Patchery Menagerie recommended this book and boy was she right. Okay, yes, it's a childrens book, but that doesn't matter. Very effective and it's recently been reissued and the price is great.

Another book on design that I love is Design!: A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists & Craftspeople by Steven Aimone. For a ridiculously low price you get a huge bunch of photos of interesting objects etc (including quilts) and well-written instruction.

Design includes a couple of embroideries by one of my favorite artists, Renie Breskin Adams whose work is so full of humor and joy. Ooh, her website has a collection of her work, which you can click on and explore BIG.

Hmm and now I have to direct you over to another fun embroiderer, Caroline Dahl. She's been doing some awesome Day of the Dead work, and I think my favorite is Laundry Day of the Dead.

Speaking of humor and joy AND knowing you just need a project to include UnRuly Letters, try Mary Lou Weidman's Out of the Box: Unleash Your Creativity Through Quilts (That Patchwork Place). Lots of bright inspiration and wheee color.

Feel like having some fun that has absolutely nothing to do with quilts? then try the book Bent Objects: The Secret Life of Everyday Things. These pics make me laugh. The blog of the same name is loads of fun too. Did I ever show you my favorite? Zombie potatoes.

Okay, I can't think of anymore.  What books would you recommend for your favorite liberated, UnRuly quilters?