Free-Style Quilts: A "No Rules" Approach [Paperback]

Susan Carlson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2000

Cut fabric shapes freehand or use a pattern, building layers as you go. Complete the design, and you're ready to machine quilt. 3 patterns for fish designs, plus how-to's for flowers and butterflies.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Inspired by her love of fabric, Susan Carlson developed an approach to fabric collage that ultimately resulted in astonishing pictorial fabric art of richly layered textures and patterns. Her superb draftsmanship and masterful sense of color yields quilts more akin to painting than piecework. Luckily, she is just as expert at explaining her methods to others as she is at using them herself; the result is a book filled with crisp color images of her own work as well as some by her students, along with well-written text that details everything quilters need to know to start using her techniques. Rather than present specific how-tos to duplicate her designs, she teaches readers all her secrets so they can create their own designs, using her amazing works as inspiration. --Amy Handy

About the Author

Susan Carlson, an award-winning quilter whose work has been featured on public television, teaches fabric collage in her hometown, Berwick, Maine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: C&T Publishing (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571201025
• ISBN-13: 978-1571201027
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only Rule Is: Get This Book!, July 10, 2001

By 

Carole Pivarnik "I bring dogs to life with wa... (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Free-Style Quilts: A "No Rules" Approach (Paperback)

I bought this book after I'd already started a pictorial quilt using techniques I learned about in Focus on Features by Charlotte Warr Andersen (highly recommended, too!). The quilt was coming along nicely and I was glad to see that a couple of techniques I'd worked out for myself are also used by the Author. The coolest thing about this book is its ability to inspire you to loosen up and just try things. I was struggling with the sky portion of my quilt, and following the author's advice, just started free-cutting pieces and layering them. It came together very quickly and I am happy with the results. A fascinating thing about Susan's quilts is this: they LOOK really complicated, but if you examine them very closely, you'll see that they are not. Her choices of fabric and quilting are the key to realistic portrayals and lively artistic qualities. I did find myself wondering how many layers of fabric there were in some areas of her Elements quilt.

This is definitely a book that needs to be on your shelf if you enjoy pictorial quilts! I agree with other reviewers on this, though: techniques are not covered in much depth. That's okay...because in my opinion it encourages people to gravitate toward whatever technique works best for them, whether it's needle turn applique, fusible web applique, complicated piecing, etc. The whole point is to be creative and not get stuck working within the confines of another quilter's approach.

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Freeing" up traditional applique techniques, April 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Free-Style Quilts: A "No Rules" Approach (Paperback)

If you like applique, fabric and fish you'll LOVE this book. All photos are colour and a good size so you can see plenty of detail. The majority of the work shown is of FISH, although there are also examples of portraits, flowers, butterflies, animals and "mystic" applique creations by mainly Susan Carlson, but also her students. Susan details her creation process for one of her coral reef commissions which really interesting. It is all very, very inspirational and exciting as her techniques simplify the, at times, labourious traditional applique techniques for a still stunning but much quicker result. Susans use of tulle (net) sewn over the top of a fabric to give it shadow or highlight is an excellent idea.

With lots of photos demonstrating ALL techniques discussed you don't really need to read the text, as the photos "convey" it all. But, it is worth reading the easygoing and consise text as it makes you feel like you are having a conversation with Susan herself! I really liked the layout of this book with the placement of text by the corresponding photo as it is very easy to find any info you want to review.

Beginners this is definitely a book for you as it guides you through the full process from choosing fabric to putting the finishing touches on the completed work. Advanced sewers may feel they already know many of the techniques, but as this book documents the process and Susan's tried and refined methods you will save yourself much time in experimenting and discover many a useful tip.

This is an easy to read and understand book with lots of fabulous photos and would be a worthwhile addition to any bookshelf.

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quilting As An Art Form, December 10, 2000

By 

Luann Udell (Keene, NH United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Free-Style Quilts: A "No Rules" Approach (Paperback)

As a fabric artist myself, I've become quite jaded with most of the quilting books out there, but Susan Carlson's book is a truly exciting and innovative exploration of the potential of fabric as an art medium. I'm familiar with Susan's work and have taken her class. This book is a wonderful extension of both. This book not only explains in detail her unique and exciting techniques, it also showcases her astounding fabric artwork. I found the instructions to be well-written and clearly developed, very similar to how Susan actually teaches her class. She is a very patient and encouraging teacher, and those qualities shine forth in her book. Her writing style is warm and personable. The book shows her development as a fabric artist, from early collage works based on snapshots of her family and friends, through beautiful fish collages derived from bookplates in an antique book on tropical fish, and ending with her creating her own images using Adobe Photoshop software. All of these designs are then translated into fabric, using Susan's free-form and organic quilting techniques. A truly inspirational book, from a truly inspirational fabric artist!