Art Quilts: A Celebration

Art Quilts – A Celebration
By Various artists
Published by GMC Group
ISBN 1 57990 711 3
Price £16.95 PB
Reviewed by Jenny Lewis
‘Art Quilts’ is a celebration of 400 stunning contemporary designs covering the years 1995-2003. These designs will delight, surprise, excite and even shock, but will not leave you unmoved. It is interesting that traditional quilting is not obliterated, but incorporated into many of the designs.

The concept behind ‘Art Quilts’ is basically, that it’s time to get that quilt off your bed and hang it on the wall. It could be classed as a wake-up call for quilters who are rooted in tradition, yet need the inspiration to inject ‘modernity’ into their work.

Contemporary quilting is a fine line between art, collage and textile design. In many of the quilts all three techniques are incorporated along with: hand dying, shibori, embroidery, beadwork, stencilling, painting, resist techniques, Polaroid transferring, airbrushing and even plastic fly sticking…! Each designer explains the techniques used and the idea behind the works.

Many quilts are exceptionally beautiful, such as ‘Mozzies’, ‘Sea Goddess’, ‘Wisteria’, and ‘Icarus’. Some are quirky – ‘Psycho Moms Bake a Cake’, while others are geometrical, colourful or ethnically influenced.

‘Art Quilts’ is a fine and fascinating collection that will tug your emotions, first one way, and then the other. It is a ‘can’t-put-down’ book in which ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’.