Intuitive Color & Design :: A Book Review

2017 was the first year that I worked at Festival of Quilts and I did not get much time to view all the quilts.  One gallery I did pass through numerous times, on my way to and from the stand, was that of Jean Wells.  I was just struck with how wonderful her quilts were - the composition, the colour choices, in fact just everything!  I know she does do workshops sometimes in the UK but have been sadly unable to make one yet.  So what's the next best thing?  Her book of course!

Intuitive Color & Design Adventures in Art Quilting was published in 2017 and is an updated version of her book from 2009. It is published by C&T Publishing, and is available in the UK through Search Press.  Oh the joy to get my hands on a copy to review!  Jean Wells is a an author of 30 books, a teacher and the founder of one of the first quilt shops in America, which is still running today in Sisters, Oregon.

What did I find inside this gorgeous cover?  So much inspiration but also the tools to create new works myself.  The subject is broken down into manageable chapters covering such topics as Inspiration for Quilt Design, Launching the Design Process, Nuts and Bolts of Quilt Design, The Design Process and the all important Tools and Techniques.

A photograph is just one of the journalling tools Jean uses to create quilts ....

I always enjoy looking at quilts, either in person, in print or online, but what I like even better is to know more about the quilt, such as its story or the design process or how it was constructed.  You learn a lot about the quilts in this book which I love.  I think that it is by knowing how someone created something that you are able to start your own journey taking the piece or the artist as inspiration.

The photo above is inspiration for an abstracted design below ....

This is a book you could flick through but I am actually reading it from front and back because the content really speaks to me.  It has already sparked a lot of ideas and has bought home to me the value of journalling and sketchbooks.  I have had the pleasure of talking to several world class artists and quilters and they all observe, record, sketch and draw almost constantly.  I don't view myself as an artist and very rarely draw anything although I do constantly observe.  I would like to start this practice and, as is quite often the way, I already have some blank sketchbooks to hand after being inspired by a quilter several years ago in a class!

Both the natural and man world world are referenced in the book and from both the use of line is discussed.  Breaking down the whole into its constituent pieces and sometimes finishing up with a piece that doesn't resemble the original inspiration at all but you can see how it has been influenced.  I have always been a avid photographer and have lots of design inspiration in them from the UK, New Zealand and from backpacking.  Now all I need is more time.  If any of you know how to get more hours in the day then I am all ears!

I always keep an eye out for UK teaching dates and still hope to take a class with Jean some day.  Until then I will be reading, re-reading and referring to this book as I continue my life long journey in quilting and creating.

Stitched Textiles: Nature - A Book Review

Well it certainly has been a long time since I have been here - where does the time go?  I have not been sitting idle it's just most of the day to day things get posted to Instagram and then I run out of hours in the day to write a blog post .... sound familiar? 

A recent fun day out was to the Handmade Fair at Ragley Hall.  I had the pleasure of meeting Stephanie Redfern and seeing her gorgeous work and so I am delighted to have got my hands on her book Stitched Textiles: Nature, which was released in April by Search Press.

The book covers the materials Stephanie uses in her work, which she describes as textile- and mixed-media-based, design and inspiration and process and practice.  Having been drawn into her stand at the Fair by her wonderful appliqued art it has been great to read about how she goes about the process of creating a piece.  I do not come from an art background and so I am always interested in how other people create especially with paints and printing.

The chapter Themes contains more inspiration ideas and design advice and step by step projects.  I haven't had the time to get started on one of these yet but have decided that it will be a summer project with my daughter once the summer holidays have started.

In summary, I think this book has a great balance between detailed how to and more general design  information which could lead you down your own path to creating truly unique textile art.  I have been really inspired to seek out natural images from when we lived in New Zealand and to begin to use them in some art pieces.  It may be some time before they appear so don't hold your breath!

If you are interested in finding out more about Stephanie's work she is running a two day workshop at the RBSA in Birmingham at the end of August - sadly I am already busy that weekend otherwise I would have signed up straight away!