Glorious Patchwork

Heavenly explosion of colour across every page excites the eyes and gets ones fingers itching! One of the most inspiring patchwork books I have seen, the quilts zing & colour combinations are fabulous. If you are new to patchwork and need a step-by-step guide, this book provides it more than generously. For experienced quilters it serves as an admirable ideas book, as it is brim-full of new ideas in design & layout. Although Fassett does not stitch the quilts, he collaborates with Liza Prior Lucy very satisfactorily. The book covers 8 Soft Pastel hued quilts, Bright "Circus" quilts, "Leafy Gardens" (my favorite section) containing 5 quilts, "Antique Stone" very traditional & quite elegant, and "Renaissance" quilts, which contain brocade & velvet combinations and all sorts of rich hues of saturated colour. All quilts have step-by-step instructions, and actual size templates are included for photocopying at the back of the book. A fabulous investment! I first borrowed this book from the library nearly 10 years ago, then purchased it 5 years ago, and I am still browsing through it. It is a great coffee table book and my guests are never able to resist it! kotori [email protected]

If you're enthusiastic about the use of color in patchwork, than this is the book for you. There are over 25 different patchwork designs that are pictured and displayed in gorgeous settings. There are no shortage of color photographs and most of the designs are pictured close up and then pictured again being used in the home decor.Kaffe Fassett puts a new spin on some of the traditional quilt patterns and his creations are fresh and original. Rich velvets and brocades are turned into 4-patch curtains which are suprisingly elegant. These same materials are used to make a luxurious throw that looks fit for a king. His "Red Diamonds Quilt" is vibrant with patches of sunflowers, grapes and a multitude of floral designs. Of course, the directions and suggestions are given for all of the projects in the book. He even gives ideas on how the pictured designs might look in other color schemes.I'm almost finished making my version of his "Frothy Table Cover" which is made of cotton in a combination of floral pastels cut into triangles. This particular design is photographed in a garden with the table set with china filled with fruit, flowers and confections. A feast for the eyes!The patterns in this book are really another dimension in creating patchwork possibilities. This is a beautiful book!

I think this is an absolutely excellent quilting book for anyone who needs a reminder of what one can do with color--I highly recommend it to anyone who is tired of the same old traditional color schemes and the not-so-inventive, often washed-out contemporary ones. When I first skimmed the book I was thrilled because I realized that I DO have a way to work through my huge fabric collection-- especially fabrics I was worried I would never use because they didn't quite "fit" the kinds of patterns I had in mind. Now, I see ways that I can put fabrics together that I would not have considered before. The key to all the patterns in this book is the saturation of colors, whether pastels, earth tones, or deep bright jewel tones, Fasset's favorite. Fasset shows what you can do by NOT contrasting fabrics, but instead by playing with the possibilities of putting three, four, or seventeen different reds, greens or pinks next to each other. What I really like is that Fasset's choice of colors makes wonderful use of simple patchwork designs such that the designs themselves become only a background for new, shimmering combinations of fabrics. There is a quilt based on the mosaic floor of St. Mark's in Venice, one that uses all flowered fabrics that seem to come from old-fasioned tea cups (without ever looking frumpy or frilly) and my favorite, one that uses all variety of greens to create a glowing emerald garden quilt. The book will inspire you to make quilts that don't pretend to be antiques, but will instead enliven a room in a distinctly modern way.

The point of this book is not complicated designs, it's what you can do with the simplest block and trinagle patterns. His color choices and ability to pull colors from scenes, buildings, collections, or just nature, are what make this book stand out from the hundreds of other quilt books. If you are into, art quilts or just letting the fabrics and colors do the work, you will love this book. I do quilts, mosaics, and knit, amongst painting and many other arts. The man is one of my heros.

Another beautiful book from a Master of design! Just as he did in his previous, wonderful design books on Needlepoint, Knitting and Home Decor, Kaffe Fassett has brought his exuberant sense of color and pattern to the design of quilts. When you see these gorgeous quilts you'll want to make them all - and you can. That's because the designs are based on simple, nearly traditional, geometric patterns. It's his choice of colors and fabrics that makes them sparkle and with this book as inspiration anyone can learn to see color as freely as Kaffe Fassett does. Heck, even if you don't quilt, you will enjoy browsing through this book for a lift. It is imaginatively photographed in lovely, scenic places and would be a fun book to find on a guest-room bedside table.