The Uncommon Quilter

The Uncommon Quilter
By Jeanne Williamson
Published by Potter Craft
ISBN: 978-0-307-38122-4
Price: $25 (approx. £12.99)
Review by Bron Ellis

Jeanne Williamson is well known for her journal quilts, having exhibited in galleries throughout the world and been published in many books and magazines. In 1999 she took the decision to make a small art quilt every week in order to expand her creative horizons, she placed no limits on either the materials or the techniques used for these 365 very varied and personal works. From here grew a worldwide journal quilt fraternity culminating in the Journal Project organised by QuiltArt online and the selective catalogue Creative Quilting.

In The Uncommon Quilter Williamson illustrates 52 projects intended to inspire the reader’s own creativity. The type of medium or technique used for each divides the projects: Paper, Plastic, Fiber and Surface Design. Alongside anecdotes about her inspiration for the quilt, each one has a list of materials used and detailed instructions about how to produce it. However the basis of the book is to encourage readers through their own process of observation and artistic development at that point in time and suggest ways to achieve that. The book is very colourful and well produced with good close-up photographs of Williamson’s quilts and materials. The book will inspire the reader to look differently at everyday freely available materials and use them in innovative ways.