City Quilts: 12 Dramatic Projects Inspired By Urban Views [Paperback]

Cherri House (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 2010

Discover Endless Design Possibilities in Everything from Parks to Parking Lots!

• Create city-inspired quilts by piecing together simple geometric shapes
• Beginner-friendly project designs are inspired by modern urban architecture and landscapes
• Learn how to achieve dramatic looks with more effective use of color, value, and placement
• Work with traditional blocks like Flying Geese and Log Cabin in a new way

Turn your love of urban cityscapes into beautiful quilts. In this book, you'll discover the secrets of minimalist design-how to find beauty in the basic elements of your environment. These projects deliver exciting, vivid results with solid color fabrics.

City Quilts was named one of the Best Books of 2010 in the Fiber Crafts Category by Library Journal, and is a finalist in the 2010 Foreword Book of the Year Awards.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Inspired by her admiration for historical quilts, Cherri House presents a fresh combination of traditional and contemporary quilt making in this collection of patterns for what she refers to as glorified utility quilts. After browsing through the images in the book, you will never view an urban scene in the same way. House has a brilliant eye for pulling basic patterns from everyday city sight - the sides of buildings, airport runways, tires, and even barcodes - and transforming them into fabric. She translates these sights into simple, geometric quilts whose patterns are achieved through the repetition of basic shapes and straightforward construction techniques, often sewn together in horizontal rows. While House's easy-to-follow instructions make it possible for quilters to re-create her patterns exactly, she also encourages individuals to interpret the designs loosely and use them as jumping-off points for their own unique work. Whichever approach you take, House's patterns will train you eye to discern the underlying quilt patterns in the most unexpected of places. (Quilting Arts, August 1, 2010 )

As quilters, we frequently find ourselves looking for and discovering hidden geometries in the most unusual places. City landscapes present themselves as a quilting wonderland, particularly for those of us who gravitate towards angular quilt designs. Designer Cherri House has captured her love of urban architecture in her new book. This straightforward book presents 12 clean quilt designs that, as described by her daughter Lizzie, perfectly marriage form and function. This book is great for beginning quilters, modern quilters and quilters looking for non-fussy design. Cherri's use of solid rather than patterned fabrics keeps the emphasis on the quilt's architecture and design. Color placements in many of the designs have a decidedly masculine feel which makes this book perfect for those of us constantly o the lookout for quilts we can make for the men in our lives. (Quilter's World, October 1, 2010 )

This book was so worth the wait! One of the first offerings from C&T's new imprint, Stash Books, City Quilts just drips with mod style, which is defined by quilts made with lots of solids, simple lines and easy construction methods. What's even cooler is Cherri takes us through her design process. Surveying her hometown of Houston, Texas, Cherri shows us how to hone in on repetitive images in urban architecture and translate those images into quilts. The quilts may be simple in concept but they come off as sophisticated because of the overall design. The patterns come from the play of solids, not from printed fabrics. Should you buy this book? Even if you don't luv the growing return to solid quilt fabrics, you'll learn more about how color and pattern work together. Worth it! (Quilter's Home, 10/1/10 )

About the Author

Cherri House is a quilt designer and co-owner of the Cherry House Quilts design company.    

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: C&T Publishing (June 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157120847X
• ISBN-13: 978-1571208477
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars City Quilts for the Urban Quilter, May 28, 2010

By 

Tammy Gilley (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City Quilts: 12 Dramatic Projects Inspired By Urban Views (Paperback)

In City Quilts, one of my favorite quilt designers, Cherri House, demonstrates how basic geometric shapes and the use of boldly-colored fabrics can create the breathtakingly beautiful quilts. The patterns and textures of cityscapes, both architectural and the layout of a city itself, inspired these quilt patterns. The simple lines and shapes in these quilts coupled with the bold use of color provide a "wow" factor that is sure to delight quilters from novice to expert.

I especially loved Cherri's discussion on color, and her reference to "a quilter's palette". She gives a brief, but thoroughly informative discourse on color schemes, which serves as a springboard in one's own palette discovery or a challenge to an quilt dog to try some new color tricks.

In City Quilts, Cherri shows us how we can train our eyes to see more than what's in front of us, and to see a quilt in everything. Bravo!

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! You'll never dismiss the cityscape again!, June 12, 2010

By 

Laura Lake - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: City Quilts: 12 Dramatic Projects Inspired By Urban Views (Paperback)

got my copy of out own Cherri House's book, "City Quilts" yesterday and it is lovely! Although it has patterns with yardage, etc, the part I found really wonderful was the in depth look at Cherri's inspiration, discussion on using solids in a painterly fashion, and the eye candy quilts. The quilts take their inspiration from urban landscapes, and I found them absolutely wonderful. I am planning on making almost every quilt in the book, albeit without the usual level of attention to the quarter inch.All of the quilts look as though they would be just as wonderful made in a liberated fashion, and all of them use solids. The directions look clear, with the caveat that I never really follow directions, so I may not be the best judge, (smile)

Worth buying for the photos alone!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great new quilt book!, June 1, 2010

By 

J. Waldman (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: City Quilts: 12 Dramatic Projects Inspired By Urban Views (Paperback)

I love this book! Cherri House has a wonderful design sense and explains her process well. Her patterns are simple but very effective and the colors just sing! I've never quilted with solid fabrics before but now I'm itching to go out and create a whole new stash -- and to start paying more attention to the designs in my own city.