Review By: Brandy Wine,    - December 5, 2009
"... It looked like something I've been thinking about since seeing these curtains on the Anthropologie website. I have been thinking about making them since the summer but, just never had the energy. My next thought was to make a quilt using the same idea because I do not have good warm blankets. Well, I only have one. When I saw the Anthropologie curtain I knew immediately where the motifs came from. I have two books with them inside. The "Tile Quilt Revival" book took my idea to another thought because it suggests drawing a picture, cutting out the different shapes and leaving space between them. C&T has it so you can see a preview of the book. If you are in the market for a new reference book I recommend this book. I like to work with large pieces which is why the Anthropologie curtain appealed to me. I put it all together and came up with this."

Review   American Quilt Retailer - January 1, 2010
“…are bringing back an old technique in Tile Quilt Revival. Appliqué is placed, leaving margins between the pieces like tile grout or stained glass. Think needle-turn appliqué or simple fusing. Lots of potential here.”

Review By: Megan Fisher,   Complete Craft - January 29, 2010
"...There have been a number of quilt books published in recent years about patchwork designs inspired by fabulous tiled floors in churches, cathedrals and other old European buildings. This is not one of those. For authors Jones and Finley, a tile quilt is one created by appliquéing fabric shapes onto a background fabric so that the background ends up looking like grout between coloured tiles. This means that their tile quilts aren’t dissimilar to stained glass quiltmaking – but instead of appliquéing the black ‘lead’ strips on top of the coloured fabrics, the coloured fabrics are sewn on top of the ‘grout’. I believe that some people call such pieces ‘mosaic quilts’. The book includes a brief history of tile quilts made in this manner, with photographs of a number of examples held in American museums and private collections. There follows a chapter about the generic techniques involved in making a tile quilt. The authors make theirs using needleturn appliqué worked by hand, and several pages are devoted to explaining the technique. However, they also provide an overview of machine appliqué and fusible web appliqué as workable alternatives...Instructions are included for five tile quilts, ranging in size from wallhangings to full bed quilts. All templates are provided at full size on a pattern sheet inserted inside the back cover of the book. There is also a gallery of 10 contemporary tile quilts, which will provide further inspiration to help you create your own masterpiece...This book could stimulate those who love appliqué to take their designs in a direction that is slightly different from the mainstream. So, if you’re looking for inspiration and something a bit out of the ordinary, give a tile quilt a go."

Review   All About Applique - March 3, 2010
"At the Road to California show in January, I had the excellent fortune to sit at the breakfast table with Carol Gilham Jones and Bobbi Finley. Several friends of mine were staying at the hotel, and they were also friends of Carol and Bobbi, so introductions were made–on a first-name basis–and Bobbi was flabbergasted when I asked her, “Are you Bobbi Finley??” That was a very familiar name to me after years of hanging around with active members of the American Quilt Study Group. Carol and Bobbi had a special exhibit of their tile quilts in the show. Passing these at warp speed as I did the first time, these beautiful pieces have a stained-glass look, but lighter and airier. Bobbi says that a lot of people compare them to stained-glass quilts, but they’re not. Construction-wise, instead of “leading” applied over the raw edges of the shapes, these shapes are finished with turned edges, and the background is left exposed to create the spaces between shapes.Tile Quilt Revival: Reinventing a Forgotten Form is Carol and Bobbi’s fascinating, educational, and inviting book that reintroduces this “unique and somewhat obscure” form of appliqué quilt.Tile quilts are explained this way: Traditional tile quilts… are constructed with small pieces of cotton fabric appliquéd in a random manner to a white background, leaving a narrow space between the pieces; this white space serves as the “grout” between the tiles or “mortar” between the pavers or stones. The books starts out with a brief history of tile quilts, with great photos showing examples from the past. Then comes a section on how to make a tile quilt, reinterpreted for today. When I read the following, the heavens opened up and I heard the heavenly choir! The tile quilt technique, with its large and simple shapes, creates an ideal showcase for bold, contemporary fabrics. Interesting, large-scale prints are will suited for the tile pieces. If you’ve ever found yourself admiring some of the daring prints now available but wondering how to use them, a tile quilt is an idea project for putting them to good use. Hallelujah! I have a tub of fabrics in my stash labeled “Modern” that has been… well… sitting there.Now my “daring” prints have a destiny! The techniques used in the book are so simple they’re ingenious! No need to consider seam allowances, to reverse patterns, or to figure out where to place the pieces. Another really great thing about this book is that it has fantastic appliqué instructions… needle-turn by hand, turned-edge machine-appliqué and fusible machine appliqué too, all expertly explained and illustrated. If you’re reading this blog, you probably like appliqué already, but how about this section where the authors say: Even if you don’t love to appliqué or don’t consider yourself to be skilled at it, chances are you will enjoy the tile quilt process because it is not exacting. The tile-and-grout form is quite forgiving, and the inevitable deviations from strict uniformity in the grout add to the visual interest and appeal of a piece. How cool is that?? Get your A-word friends to take a look! After the appliqué information, there are instructions for several projects with full-size pull-out patterns.Then there’s a Gallery of Contemporary Tile Quilts. These are fun and inspiring to look at as you see what quilters of today are doing to reinvent the form...."

Review By: Andrea Zuill,    - February 24, 2010
"On my trip to Texas I was able to spend some little time exploring the town of Las Cruce, NM.  I stopped by a cool quilt shop called Organ Mountain Quilt Shop.  I bought a bunch of fabric and a book called,  Tile Quilt Revival: Reinventing a Forgotten Form, by Carol Gilham Jones and Bobbi Finley.  Tile Quilt Revival book gives a nice history of this rare type of quilt.  The instructions on how to create your own tile quilt is very clear and quite easy.  And, to my extreme excitement, this quilt is best done by hand!  EEEEEkkkkkk! So, to sum up this book,  wonderful and easy techique,  interesting history, beautiful patterns included, hand work prefered."

Review By: A Nudge,   A Quilting Reader's Garden - April 2, 2010
"Tile Quilt Revival by by Carol Gilham Jones & Bobbi Finley. Published by C & T this March. I've always been drawn to murals made out of tiles and this quilt book is right there to satisfy my predeliction for them. This type of quilt was popular in the 19th Century. The ones in the book use contemporary fabrics to modernize this charming quilting tradition that I was not aware of. Oh, I've seen some quilts that look like mosaics, but these look more like tile when you browse the 6 projects they include. I look forward to making a tile quilt in the near future. If you've seen one or two, tell me about it. I'd like to learn more about these beauties. The one here on the left is made by Carol - doesn't it look like a tile mural?"

Review   California Bookwatch - May 1, 2010
"Tile Quilt Revival is a 'must' for any quilter's collection because it reinvents a nearly forgotten quilting form, and won't be seen in every quilter's guide. It offers 6 projects teaching about design and construction of tile quilts modern and traditional, including a history of the quilts, a photo gallery, and tips for using a favorite applique method to achieve them. Large-size patterns in back make this a fine choice for quilters seeking something different."