Free-Style Quilts: A No Rules Approach

I'm a quilter who hates to spend hours with tiny precision piece work. I like to see results that are inspiring, freeform and fast. This is the book for me. Susan is a gifed artist and her method takes the fear out of attempting what would otherwise be a terrifying project. I like landscapes and her method lends itself beautifully. Although she gives you several projects to work on, I encourage the reader to quickly go out on your own and take a chance on your own design. This method is pure fun.

I really loved this book -- it's one of my very favorites now. It's easy to read, and the photos are gorgeous. Susan Carlson shows you how to take colorful, textured fabric and turn it into a fabric portait of anything -- from fish, to butterfly, to flowers, people, anything! Her technique is easy. Use templates to cut out fabric, layer it, glue it together, then free style machine quilt over it. Great for embellishing. Then frame and hang your fabric art masterpiece on your wall. Her quilts are vibrant, colorful, rich in texture and detail. Splendid!

I bought this book after I'd already started a pictorial quilt using techniques I learned about in Focus on Features by Charlotte Warr Andersen (highly recommended, too!). The quilt was coming along nicely and I was glad to see that a couple of techniques I'd worked out for myself are also used by the Author. The coolest thing about this book is its ability to inspire you to loosen up and just try things. I was struggling with the sky portion of my quilt, and following the author's advice, just started free-cutting pieces and layering them. It came together very quickly and I am happy with the results. A fascinating thing about Susan's quilts is this: they LOOK really complicated, but if you examine them very closely, you'll see that they are not. Her choices of fabric and quilting are the key to realistic portrayals and lively artistic qualities. I did find myself wondering how many layers of fabric there were in some areas of her Elements quilt. This is definitely a book that needs to be on your shelf if you enjoy pictorial quilts! I agree with other reviewers on this, though: techniques are not covered in much depth. That's okay...because in my opinion it encourages people to gravitate toward whatever technique works best for them, whether it's needle turn applique, fusible web applique, complicated piecing, etc. The whole point is to be creative and not get stuck working within the confines of another quilter's approach.

If you like applique, fabric and fish you'll LOVE this book. All photos are colour and a good size so you can see plenty of detail. The majority of the work shown is of FISH, although there are also examples of portraits, flowers, butterflies, animals and "mystic" applique creations by mainly Susan Carlson, but also her students. Susan details her creation process for one of her coral reef commissions which really interesting. It is all very, very inspirational and exciting as her techniques simplify the, at times, labourious traditional applique techniques for a still stunning but much quicker result. Susans use of tulle (net) sewn over the top of a fabric to give it shadow or highlight is an excellent idea.With lots of photos demonstrating ALL techniques discussed you don't really need to read the text, as the photos "convey" it all. But, it is worth reading the easygoing and consise text as it makes you feel like you are having a conversation with Susan herself! I really liked the layout of this book with the placement of text by the corresponding photo as it is very easy to find any info you want to review.Beginners this is definitely a book for you as it guides you through the full process from choosing fabric to putting the finishing touches on the completed work. Advanced sewers may feel they already know many of the techniques, but as this book documents the process and Susan's tried and refined methods you will save yourself much time in experimenting and discover many a useful tip.This is an easy to read and understand book with lots of fabulous photos and would be a worthwhile addition to any bookshelf.

As a fabric artist myself, I've become quite jaded with most of the quilting books out there, but Susan Carlson's book is a truly exciting and innovative exploration of the potential of fabric as an art medium. I'm familiar with Susan's work and have taken her class. This book is a wonderful extension of both. This book not only explains in detail her unique and exciting techniques, it also showcases her astounding fabric artwork. I found the instructions to be well-written and clearly developed, very similar to how Susan actually teaches her class. She is a very patient and encouraging teacher, and those qualities shine forth in her book. Her writing style is warm and personable. The book shows her development as a fabric artist, from early collage works based on snapshots of her family and friends, through beautiful fish collages derived from bookplates in an antique book on tropical fish, and ending with her creating her own images using Adobe Photoshop software. All of these designs are then translated into fabric, using Susan's free-form and organic quilting techniques. A truly inspirational book, from a truly inspirational fabric artist!