Dragon
Threads Presents
Quilting
by Improvisation:
Exploring Curves, Openwork and Dimension
by
Vikki Pignatelli
Dragon Threads Publishing
176 Pages
ISBN: 09641201-9-4
$29.95
Innovative quilt artist, international
teacher, and author of Quilting Curves, Vikki
Pignatelli, leads readers on a journey of inspiration
with her newest work Quilting by Improvisation:
Exploring Curves, Openwork and Dimension. Throughout
the book, quilters are motivated with patterns and detailed
instructions for embellishing their wall quilts with
an array of the author’s newest techniques: one-of-a-kind
openings, fabric pleats, wrinkles, tubes and other dimensional
enhancements. She gently encourages the reader to develop
their own creativity and imagination to design quilts
that reflect individual personalities and personal philosophies.
Vikki
begins with a review of her “Crazy About Curves”
technique, an easy method for surface piecing curves
and angles into quilt tops to create graceful, breath-taking
wall hangings, and then introduces her new techniques
for embellishing wall quilts with unique fabric manipulations.
Vikki demonstrates how much fun it is to make improvisational
quilts by adding an assortment of fabric manipulations,
to add texture and dimension to quilts. Some of the
manipulations are sewn to the quilt surface; others
are assembled into a created piece of fabric, or montage,
using Vikki’s innovative top surface strip-piecing
method. The montage is then cut into patches and fashioned
into an improvisational quilt.
Vikki
loves to “scrap the pattern” and quilt by
improvisation. She presents her quilt, Promise of Spring,
with its charming willow tree branches gently creating
ripples in a stream, and outlines in detail how it came
into being as a germ of an idea and proceeded to take
on a life of its own, “telling” her what
it wanted and needed to be. Not surprisingly, the end
result is a far cry from what Vikki envisioned when
she decided to start her quilt and see where it would
lead her.
In
a separate chapter Vikki introduces her unique method
of creating quilts with openings on the quilt surface.
She includes patterns and instructions for adding even
more creativity and originality to quilts by inserting
into the openings, a latticework of thread lace, decorative
threads, small tubes or other ornamental materials.
Instructions and suggestions are supplied for fashioning
the lace and the easiest methods of entwining the threads
into the openings.
Another
stop along the quilter’s journey is a section
devoted to techniques for adding individuality and character
to quilts by using three-dimensional patches. Vikki
uses facings to finish the backs of some patches and
allows them to dangle freely from the quilt, an especially
effective process when using accents such as leaves
or flowers.
An
informative chapter on the philosophy of color for quilters
details how to choose fabrics to influence the mood
and focus of quilts, how to blend fabrics to achieve
a painterly quality, tips to achieve luminosity and
how positioning color can affect the appearance of a
quilt. Using her simple pattern, “My Star Dances”
as a hands-on guide, Vikki illustrates her conversational
discussion of color theory, including its terms and
applications.
The
last chapter is devoted to designing uniquely shaped
borders--think curves, wedges and other shapes--inserted
around the quilt perimeter. New ways of binding odd-shaped
quilts include envelope, faux-binding, whole cloth faced-bindings,
and bindings that can be faced to either the front or
the back of quilt. Additionally, Vikki presents a painless
method of mitering corners with straight or even curved
edges that is easy, accurate and on target every time.
Vikki generously shares her quilting
knowledge and expertise through sections called “Explorations”--
her tips, aids and suggestions for expanding the processes
presented within the book and how to apply those methods
to the reader’s own projects. It’s a graphically
exciting book with numerous illustrations and photographs
of breathtaking quilts that add clarity, inspiration
and motivation to the quilter.
For more information, or to order this book, contact:
Dragon
Threads
490
Tucker Drive
Worthington,
OH 43085
614-841-9388
(phone)
614-841-9389
(fax)
e-mail:
Linda@dragonthreads.com
www.dragonthreads.com
