As you may know, I’m still getting my head around all this quilting mullarkey, but I know what I like. And I like Melanie Testa. Her book, Inspired to Quilt, is a terrific introduction to the process of making art quilts.
Melanie’s approach to quilting places a lot of importance on creating your own materials and textiles to be used while quilting. This seems like a daunting method of working, but Melanie provides practical guidance and wisdom on how to get started.
The techniques of how to physically create the materials are clearly explained, and Melanie’s experience enables her to provide clear instruction on how to achieve fantastic results, without getting too bogged down in technical detail. The chapters include topics on sandwiching and embellishing, and Melanie advocates using journals for collecting ideas and inspiration, as well as exploring personal creativity.
Recommended experiments are dotted throughout the book and Melanie provides ideas of how to apply the techniques to small works. The book is filled with inspiration – Melanie’s skills are showcased throughout the book, but the contents of the book go a long way to make these works more accessible. The design of the book creates a good learning environment with clear layouts and big pictures that help you appreciate the intricacy of the work.
In conclusion, although the subject of art quilts seems daunting, this work book does a terrific job of exploring the techniques and processes and should inspire any crafter to create their own mini masterpieces.
You can buy the book, via us, from Amazon. If you’re in the UK use this link:
Or in the US, this one:
