Customer Reviews

Flower Pounding: Quilt Projects for All Ages

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3 star:		(1)
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You may be wondering what in the world "Flower Pounding" is. Put simply, it is the process of transferring plant pigments to specially treated fabric via pounding with a hammer to create floral imagery reminiscent of water color painting. When I read through the book I was amazed at the beautiful projects within and wanted one for my very own.

The book has a wonderful alphabetic index of common garden flowers in the back and all of the gallery photographs list the flowers used in the projects for reference which I found to be very helpful. Along with detailed visual instructions for every step of the process from fabric treatment through pounding to completion with outlining, there are numerous photographs in the book of scenes created by the authors, Ann Frischkorn and Amy Sandrin. They have also included instructions for nine projects complete with quilting how-tos and templates to get you started. And, lest you think that this a project limited to the spring flower season, there are examples using fall flowers as well as poinsettias.

The authors glibly suggest that once you try flower pounding, you will never look at flowers the same. I must say that they are right in this assessment. Just the other day, I was at Costco and I eyeballed the fresh flower bouquets as I walked by. But, I was not thinking how pretty they were, no, I was wondering how they would look pounded!

Try it and see if you don't start thinking the same way!

FLOWER POUNDING is a beautiful book of quilt projects that make you want to run right out to the craft store and start buying all the materials you need. The directions are precise and make it look easy to create lovely quilts using flowers. My biggest problem is trying to decide which of the gorgeous quilts to make first. What an outstanding job Ann Frischkorn and Amy Sandrin have done in creating this book! This is a quilting book I'd recommend to everyone, beginners and old pros.

A friend introduced me to Flower Pounding. We are having a great time with this. The authors give a lot of great tips on their website. They also state that your Flower Pounding works of art are dry-cleanable. This is great news! We have also tried color copying our poundings to transfer paper and having them ironed onto t-shirts. It worked great. Now they truly are washable. I don't see why you couldn't iron them onto a quilt block too. The possibilities are endless with this technique. Thanks to Amy and Ann for making my summer and my quilting a lot more interesting.

The whole idea of making quilts with flowers sounded strange to me at first, but once I tried it, I was hooked. Flower pounding is fun and easy and this book gives easy to follow step-by-step instructions and lots of great ideas. I especially liked all the little tip boxes sprinkled throughout the book. Whether you're new to quilting or a pro,you'll love this.

I was fortunate to take a flower pounding class with Amy. It was such a delight to have the author demonstrate just how easy and beautiful this process is. By the end of class I had made my own gorgeous print. Everyone was delighted by the beautiful results and had a blast making their work of art. You will never again look at flowers the same way! (Irises are my favorite...so far.) In fact, you'll be itching to pound every petal you can get your hands on. When I got home that day my husband and 6 year old son asked to try their hands at it. I'm embarassed to admit it, but their prints were even prettier than mine. My son especially loved this project and can't wait to get more flowers. Kudos to Amy and Ann for creating a sensational new way to make breathtaking quilts the whole family can be involved in. (And for those of you wanting to take a class like I did, check out patchworktwins.com for their class listing.)

I'm addicted to flower pounding. My kids love it, too...the only thing that gets washed after my kids do an art project is the kids <g>. I've worked with alum tons before and if you're concerned that it's going to rot the fabric, just rinse it out. No big deal. This is a wonderful, wonderful book and I highly recommend it. Such a wonderful break from all the "same old, same old" that's already out there. You won't be disappointed with flower pounding.

I thought Flower Pounding the oddest title, until I saw it. It's a must buy book. It's beatuiful with easy-to-understand instructions and a dash of humor. I love quilts and gardens and this showed me a great new way to enjoy both. I'm doing a project this summer and hope to use it for a youth group activity next year.

This is a beautiful book that belongs in every quilt makers library. I love this stuff. If you want some fun projects in your quilting endeavors, pick up this book. The instructions make this understandable and simple and the pictures are simply lovely to leaf through. These ladies have hit upon something--no pun intended. As to having children work on this--by all means! Kids love something active like this and will really appreciate the tangible results of their labor. I think the idea of this is simply amazing.

As someone who has taken a class based on this book's techniques (which I have to doubt Ms. Miller has done), I was taken aback by her silly review. First of all, there are a myriad of children's art projects which are unwashable. Watercolor paintings? Crayon drawings? Can you wash those? The point for children is in the DOING, not in the finished project, and kids LOVE this. Another of her points, that Alum rots fabric if not washed out, has no basis in fact. Had Ms. Miller done her research, she would know that Alum is a medium used in all fabrics made into garments, so that the fabric will take dye. Now let me give you the REAL skinny on this book, since I have actually (1) bought the book, (2) purchased the supplies, (3) taken a class, and (4) MADE A FLOWER POUNDED QUILT...

Flower pounding opened me up to creativity I didn't think I had. Selecting blossoms, laying them out, matching others with them--it was a stretch for my mind, and a pleasant one. Not only that, but it was a stress reliever like you wouldn't believe. Nine women pounding out gorgeous art for 4 hours in the back classroom of a quilt shop was fabulous fun. I had the honor of being taught by one of the book's authors, Amy Sandrin. She was a spectacular teacher and a fun person to be around. I even got to see her son, Anthony's, skateboard quilt IN PERSON, and lo and behold, it's in fine shape and not rotted at all! :-)

I understand that Ms. Miller is probably quite bitter that she didn't come up with this ingenious idea herself. I've often kicked myself and thought, "Why didn't I think of that?" But my envy is with respect for someone else's creativity and ingenuity, not based in jealousy that I didn't come up with the fabulous idea first.

So, who's review are you going to think about more? Someone who's done the technique, met the author, and enjoyed the book, or someone who wished they had come up with the idea first? Believe me, you won't be disappointed in this book...and NEITHER will your kids.

Before I picked up this book, I wasn't a quilter. The gorgeous pictures and the fun aspect of flower pounding make me want to rush right out and start quilting. This book is unique and should be on every quilter's book shelf.