In the past couple of years of travelling around to craft shows, I have come to cherish seeing a certain couple of quilts that have been adaptations of photographs. They are art quilts, and truly deserve the title of ‘art’, as they are as awesome in their effect of thread on fabric as paint on canvas is. In fact, the ability to drive a sewing machine that well is phenomenal in itself, let alone choose fabrics and threads with such a true eye! Photo-Inspired Art Quilts by Leni Levenson Wiener, who also wrote Thread Painting, will help you understand how to create such masterpieces. I am attracted to this book because it is more of an art instruction book than traditional quilt book, and a DVD has been included to help you learn about composition, colour and value, as well as thread painting techniques. The technique throughout is raw-edge machine appliqué with thread painting, with the results being quite representational of the subject, rather than abstract. Areas covered include The Elements of Good Design, From Photo to Pattern, Building a Fabric Collage, Sewing It All Together, Creative Advice, and Patterns and Projects. Among the authors supply list of usual quilting supplies lurks a curious little tool that is often overlooked. It is essential for any self respecting quilter, but especially for this style - the Value Finder. Using it, you see only the values of the fabrics as they relate to each other, not the actual colours. Other useful gadgets for this technique are seam ripper, stiletto 6th finger, appliqué mat, freezer paper, fusible web, quilter’s gloves, and a design sheet. There is so much to be learned from this book! Grab your favourite photo and have a go.
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