Review   Quilts with Style - July 1, 2007
EDITOR'S CHOICE "Designed as a series of lessons, you'll work your way through the creative process. Each chapter focuses on a specific method or technique, ending with an exercise (homework) to help you practice each new skill. The
authors assume that you are already familiar with most quilt making techniques and do not include basic instruction. Rather, the focus of the book is on growing your creativity while creating a series of small (9" x 12") art quilts. Topics include elements of design, using photographs, innovative piecing methods, thread work, embellishing, finishing and the
business of being an artist."

Review   Quilting Arts Magazine - July 1, 2007
"Fiber artists Jane Davila and Elin Waterston share a friendship, a passion for textiles, and a clean design sensibility that makes the collaboration on this workbook a match made in heaven. Readers who are new to art quilting and those who have tried a few but wish to improve their design and detail skills will find this book especially useful, as in each chapter the authors provide a supply list, practical exercises, references for further exploration (books and artists' websites), "thinking" exercises, and homework, as well as numerous illustrations and samples of their own work. Jane and Elin begin by covering the basics of inspiration and design, color theory, composition, and borders. The middle of the book
deals with fabric collage, paint effects, threadwork, embellishing, and finishing. The book closes with notes on the business of being an artist, a gallery of the authors' students' work and a host of resources."



Review By: Martha Sielman,   Fiber Art News - May 1, 2007
"This is the best teach-yourself-to-art-quilt book that I've seen. Jane and Elin cover the basics of color and design and then provide guidance in choosing images, innovative piecing, using paint, threadwork, and embellishments. Each chapter provides definitions of the topic's parts, examples of the different types available, exercises to help you experiment, other artists' work to refer to for additional examples and then homework so that you can make it your own. If you wish to grow as an artist, work through the exercises and homework in this book."



Review   American Quilt Retailer - May 1, 2007
"I really become intrigued with books that start with "how to use this
book." It tells me I'm going to learn more than the obvious. If I follow
the plan, the authors are going to lead me on their carefully prepared
journey and I'll come out the better for it. This is how Art Quilt
Workbook by Jane Davila and Elin Waterston (C&T Publishing) begins. Jane
and Elin want to teach readers how to "think and see" to become better
quilt artists. Chapters on color, inspiration, collage, innovative
piecing, paint, thread, embellishing and the business of being a quilt
artist lead quilters on their planned journey. This workbook would be a
good basis for an art quilt group or club. Include monthly meetings, lots
of sharing and show and tell."


Review   The Applique Society - May 1, 2007
"An important component in quilting is to develop your own "voice" as an artist. No matter if you prefer traditional quilting or you want to explore the world of the Art Quilt you can learn so much from this book that will help improve your finished product. "Art Quilt Workbook" is exactly that. It is a workbook that helps you explore exercises and techniques to ignite your creativity. The first part of the book covers principles of design and composition such as: inspiration, the creative process, working with a theme, visual elements of design and color theory. Exercises include the basics of collage and applique design, innovative piecing using curves and inset strips, as well as adding special effects. Painting, foiling, thread work, photo imagery on fabric and embellishing are all touched on with enough information to get you started working on your own project. The color photos throughout the book are inspiring with the instruction and reasoning behind what you are doing clearly spelled out. There is also a special guide to exhibiting your quilts as well as some discussion on marketing your work."

Review   Quilter's Home - July 1, 2007
"In this wide-reaching book on the art of art quilting, the authors avoid getting into too much B.S. and oversaturating the reader with useless, extravagant and artsy embellishment information. Yes, it's a non-traditional step-by-step course in various art-quilting technique mainstays, from the basics through collage, painting, threadwork, and innovative piecing, but it also includes a short business guide to being seen and selling your work, which is very different from the multitude of technique books out there.

"I find this book to be incredibly inspiring as well as educational. I know this is one of those books I'll refer to when I get stuck for some creative juice or a new way of doing something within my traditional quilting projects. I also like that you don't have to wear the art-quilter label to appreciate the lessons given in the workbook. All you have to do is be willing to play with your fabric, your machine, all the crafty toys you bought over the years, and your creativity. If you're feeling a little bored or stuck with your piecework, this is the book for you."


Review   Quilt Italia News - June 1, 2007
Reviewed in this foreign language publication.

Review By: Jocelynn Brown,   The Detroit News - July 3, 2007
"Challenge Yourself With the Art of Quilting

Your skills as a quilter have reached the level of "advanced." Now you're looking for techniques that offer more of a challenge, something that will guide you toward "putting the art in art quilts." Well, "Art Quilt Workbook, Exercises & Techniques to Ignite Your Creativity" by Jane Davila and Eline Waterston, may be the book you need to add more art to your quilt making.

The book offers advanced levels of creativity through techniques like thread work, embellishing, innovative piecing, fabric collage, along with ideas for finishing. It also explores things like "art as inspiration," "drawing from a photo," "photography in quilt design" and "reflective queries and thinking exercises."

If you sell your work, you'll be extremely interested in the chapter on "The Business of Being an Artist" which covers information on how to be seen, pricing your work, insurance, delivery and shipping, marketing, commisions, and more."

Review   Professional Quilter Newsletter - July 1, 2007
"Using a series of exercises, Jane Davilá and Elin Waterston teach you techniques and design skills to break out of the "traditional quilt box" and develop your own quilting "voice." While the authors believe technical skills and workmanship are important in art quilting, they stress that the foundation of good design is key to further development. The chapters are designed to be completed in order. Each introduces specific skills, such as color use and perspective, collage, thread work and embellishing. Each chapter includes exercises to develop the skills and homework in the form of a 9" x 12" quilt. The authors suggest choosing a theme and completing the quilts as a series. Each chapter also includes references for further exploration — Web sites of quilt artists, quilt and art books, reflective questions and thinking exercises and a list of fine artists whose work reflects the concepts of the chapter. A plus is the chapter on the business side of being an artist. I liked the structured format, yet think it is loose enough to allow for individual, personal development."


Review   Publisher Review - July 1, 2007
"Quilting is a sewing hobby, but it's also an art form. And to produce good work you must be skilled at both. And this book teaches both. It also has a short chapter on exhibiting your work and selling it at art shows, fairs and other outlets.
Most quilting books seem to feature repeated geometrical patterns, this one is much more into art for its own self. It covers the basics of design with a specific orientation to fabric and sewing. Within that limitation, the book goes into many different types of art on fabric. This includes foil, decorative stitches, pictures (printed onto fabric), freehand and stamped design, appliqué, collage, and an interesting little section on attaching found objects to the quilt. This is not a large book, but it includes a wide range of ideas that reflect the authors concepts. It is not a pattern book but an idea book, a book that tries to get you to implementing your own designs onto quilts. Both of the authors teach art quilting, and this book is the result of their teaching the subject for several years."

Review   New Zealand Quilter - July 1, 2007
"The do-it-all guide to putting the art into art quilts. The scope is wide and includes design, collage, thread painting, innovative piecing and photo imagery. Many of the pieces are raw edge applique and there are plenty of exercises to get you started. A chapter on the business side of making quilts is an added bonus."

Review   Quilter's Newsletter Magazine - September 1, 2007
"Anyone who wants to explore art quilting techniques will benefit from this step-by-step primer. Each chapter includes exercises to help you explore new skills and homework to allow you to apply those skills to a small, finished quilt. Collage, embellishment, photo transfer, and the business of being an artist are some of the many topics Jane and Elin present. They also offer references for further study and thoughtful questions that will make your creativity blossom."

Review   Library Journal - August 1, 2007
"This series of lessons focusing on creativity is an ideal starting place for study groups and individual quilters wishing to explore the techniques of art quilting. Each richly illustrated lesson covers a specific aspect of the subject, e.g., color theory and photo imagery. In the course of studying the book and completing the exercises and homework assignments, readers finish a series of small art quilts and come away with a wealth of practical information. Resource lists of pertinent web sites, books, and artists to study accompany each lesson. While not for novices, this should be a popular addition to all but the smallest quilting collections."


Review   Quiltnieuws - September 1, 2007
Reviewed in this foreign language publication.

Review   Sylvias-Studio.com - September 1, 2007
"The title and subtitles of this book say a lot about what it contains: Art Quilt Workbook: Exercises & Techniques to Ignite Your Creativity, The Do-It-All Guide to Putting the ART in Art Quilts. Authors, Elin Waterston, Jane Davila have met a great need in the art quilt community, every curious about art quilts with this book. Quilters eager to reach out to create their own designs for creative art quilting will welcome it. The book takes the mystery out of, “How do they that?” and guides readers instead to, “Here’s how. We will hold your hand every step of the way.”

The authors waste no time telling readers their goal for witting this marvelous book immediately after their Introduction. Fascinated by it, (I could not put it down,) I can reassure you that they more than meet their stated goals. “This book is as much about thinking and seeing as it is about fabric and sewing,” they tell us. “We hope that you will use it to begin a journey toward developing your own unique artistic style and finding your ‘voice’ as an artist.” The authors keep their promises.

“We strongly recommend that you follow this book chapter by chapter in consecutive order because it is designed as a course of study with skill building on skill in a logical order,” they add. They more than keep this promise in incredible detail.

From explaining and illustrating the seven visual elements of design, color, line, line direction, shape, size, value and texture, the authors guide even quilters who have never made an original quilt before to those who want to reach out to define the process, and continue onto learning how to design on commission.

Indeed, the book is a course of study complete with homework assignments, creating samples, working on exercises to embellishing, finishing, bordering and binding a quilted work of art for yourself or to offer for sale. Nothing is left unsaid.

Now that I have read every word, as I always do when writing a book review, I plan to read it again for the pleasure of it all thought it takes time, I warn you. There is much to learn from this extraordinary, comprehensive book on the topic and it is not an overnight read. I plan to take the time to study every Web site provided by the authors for what they call, “Reflective Queries and thinking exercises.” I expect you will to do the same."



Review   Quiltemagasinet - August 1, 2007
Reviewed in this foreign language publication.

Review   Patchwork-Quiltjournal - September 1, 2007
Reviewed in this foreign language publication.

Review   Patchwork & Quilting - December 1, 2007
"This beautifully illustrated book encourages experimentation with composition and technique in quilt making. It is a course of study, initially involving simple exercises but later leading on to 'homework', that is, making 9" x 12" quilts, at the end of each chapter. It is a book about 'thinking and seeing,' recording inspirations and collecting them in a journal. Many techniques are taught, stamping, foiling, embellishing etc. with references to other sources for further exploration. This practical book gives advice on exhibiting, marketing, insurance and accepting commissions. A useful book for students of design."

Review    -


Review   Untamed Threads - July 5, 2008
"When I did my first post about it [The Art Quilt Workbook], I got a comment back from Jane Davila, one of the co-authors. Made me gulp a little, to say the least--but the great thing was then getting to check out her blog--and all the sites she has noted (I could spend days snooping & reading, but time allows only a little at a time!)...But I digress: the next task of the workbook dealt with Inspiration From Images... The great thing about this chapter, though, is recognizing the potential and learning/engaging with the techniques for image use; I'm always long on ideas and short on techniques. I'm behind in completing all the homework, but one of the exercises was to work with a pattern of a pear that was provided (and it was fun to see how many different variations on THE pear came back to the meeting!)."

Review   Seams So Crazy - August 2, 2008
"What can I say - I LOVE this book!
It is so important to stay motivated and inspired. I have been distracted by all of the things of summer and I was finding it hard to become inspired with a new project. I went through my bookshelf and found this book.
First it has lessons. It takes awhile for your brain to begin to relax into the creative side so the lessons provide a way for you to shift gears from every day life into creative thinking. None of the lessons were too hard and most are things that I have done before but it gave me a small practical subject to work on.
Usually I walk around thinking; I should work on this, or maybe that. Or that project needs to be started and that one needs finishing. But if you are like me you can walk around thumbing through your fabric waiting for inspiration or motivation to kick in and then before you know it it is time to start dinner and you haven’t done a thing.
Well no more, I can begin in the homework assignments that consist of me completing a series of small quilts using a variety of techniques. So far I haven’t completely finished any of the assignments but they have gotten me started on a project that I need to do. Not just need to do, WANT to work on. That I consider a success!
Another nice feature of this book is the extensive list of online links to other quilt artists. I have only had a chance to visit a few of them but it definitely helps to put me in the creative mood.
I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have."

Review    - November 6, 2008
"This is a frequently recommended book in the field of mixed media, although, as a newcomer, with a modest sewing machine, and even more modest sewing skills, and no experience in quilting, I was initially intimidated by the reviews, and not so sure this book was at the right level for me. I'm very happy that I finally came to my senses, and realized that there had to be a reason that every online bookseller, and every fiber art, art quilting, and mixed media site on the web, seemed to invariably include strong recommendations for this book! I can now join those who vouch for the Art Quilt Workbook. From my perspective it's an ideal book for the beginner who wants to jump right in and "make stuff"! There are lovely visual examples included for each of the techniques, although for me it was important that the book was also strong in the text portion as well; the descriptions are well written, and thorough enough to keep the trial and error (i.e. mostly "errors", in my case!) to a minimum. There is specific information about the materials and tools one would want to have on hand, in order to be able to enjoy, and to have some early feelings of success, on the journey towards developing an ability to produce projects that express one's ideas and feelings, and that one can also feel proud to display."