Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration [Paperback]

Malka Dubrawsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 2010

Brighten up any room with fun, contemporary, and functional projects exploding with sensational color! Fresh Quilting presents 21 brilliant designs featuring quilt artist Malka Dubrawsky’s intoxicating colors and unexpected palettes.
Learn to create beautiful and lively pieces for you and your home—from modern quilts and fun pillows to flirty bags and scarves. In addition to clear directions and step-by-step illustrations for machine-sewn patchwork and quilted projects, Fresh Quilting includes a detailed section of techniques from basic piecing, cutting, and measuring methods to more advanced techniques such as inserting zippers into pillow backs and using bias binding to finish a quilt. Throughout Fresh Quilting, Malka will teach you how to adventurously and confidently mix colors and prints. You’ll be inspired to infuse your own brilliant palettes into each project and discover just how irresistible and beautiful contemporary quilting can be!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The brightly-coloured cover draws you into this book which aims to rejuvenate home sewing projects through quilting in colourful and bold designs. This is more of a book aimed towards home decorating...There are varied projects ranging from quilts to scarves and needle cases, and with a good variety in between. Each project has diagrams to assist with the design and layout and colour photographs of the finished objects. But the projects themselves are bright and funky and there is a good variety of patchwork techniques to make them all a little out of the ordinary." - Workshop on the Web

"Malka Dubrawsky and Interweave books – what an amazing combination – one of my favourite improv quilters and one of my favourite book publishers all rolled up together: Malka’s stunning colourful designs, combined with Interweave’s attention to detail – love it – and the book delivers! Malka’s quilts and patchwork designs are all about colour and pattern. She dyes and over-dyes her own fabric and combines these in eclectic and clashing and fun ways that are part gypsy and part country but the final result is completely modern! Her stitching may be a bit wonky at times and her corners may not meet up perfectly – but for me that not only adds to the charm of these improv quilts but also the accessibility of her style – she is all about fearless quilting and sewing – just getting in there and doing it. Her fearless style embraces flaws but also discovers new methods, exciting colour combinations and fantastic designs." - Whipup.net

"A myriad of projects at every skill level for the Modern quilter." - Machine Quilting Unlimited

"Quilters looking for a variety of bright, contemporary projects will enjoy this title...This is an ideal book for those looking to reduce their stash." - Ruth Cox, Sewing World

"Every project in the book will appeal to quilters at any level of skill." – Bangor Daily News

"I’ve been reading Malka’s blog, A stitch in dye, for a very long time now, and I always enjoy all the beautiful eye candy over there. Malka has a way of combining fabrics, both commercially printed as well as her signature hand-dyed fabrics, to create gorgeous works of art." - Filminthefridge.com

"Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design & Inspiration is an amazingly beautiful and content rich new book by Malka Dubrawsky. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Malka’s work. The first time I saw one of her quilts I totally flipped out. Unique, colorful, and yes, Fresh!" - Kathy, Pinkchalkstudio.com

"Her work challenges me to embrace color more passionately, to get more gutsy with free motion Quilting and to allow myself to work with more freedom at times. I simply can't put down thisbook." – Rachel Hauser, Stitched in Color

"Quilt artist Malka Dubrawsky has a way with vibrant colors, prints and shapes. From simple round coasters to a patchwork coin purse, she takes readers step-by-step through colorful techniques for creating a number of practical items." - Detroit News

"This book proves there’s much more to quilting than warm, cozy bedspreads. Dubrawsky (Color Your Cloth: A Quilter’s Guide to Dyeing and Patterning Fabric) begins with a brief, informative description of quilting techniques, from cutting to piecing to hand and machine-quilting, then provides a gallery of projects with step-by-step directions. Dubrawsky’s aesthetic is colorful and vintage-inspired, with fun and functional designs. The wide variety of small projects and accessories makes this a good choice for beginning quilters who may not feel ready to take on a full-size quilt and they’re excellent scrap-bag busters for quilters with a serious stash." – Library Journal

About the Author

Malka Dubrawsky is a fiber artist whose work has been shown in juried exhibitions including Quilt National and Visions. In addition to a successful Etsy shop and popular A Stitch in Dye blog, Malka contributes to Stitch, Sew Hip, and Quilting Arts magazines. She is the author of Color Your Cloth, and her work has also appeared in Fiberarts: Design Book, Sweater Surgery, Quilts, Baby!, Pretty Little Pillows, and Pretty Little Mini Quilts. Malka is based in Austin, Texas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Interweave Press (December 7, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596682353
• ISBN-13: 978-1596682351
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.6 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been making stuff for as long as I can remember. In fact I come form a long line of stuff makers. So it was only natural that I should get a degree in stuff making, better known as a Bachelor of Fine Arts and spend the whole of my adult life so far creating. Though I started out as a print maker, I've been working exclusively in textiles for almost 18 years. Crafting something with simple materials that then goes on to have a life of its own is truly magical. I'm so happy to have the opportunity to share that magic with others.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration for the rest of us May 6, 2011

By princessmax

Format:Paperback

I was once in a quilt in a very posh neighborhood of the city where I live and overheard the owner tell another customer, "Well, a lot of our customers have engineering backgrounds." In our conversation later, she discouraged me from asking my wedding guests to provide quilt squares for a wedding quilt because, in her experience, they always turn out too messy.

I was somewhat amazed at her complete lack of vision regarding the different styles of quilting out there. All of us come to quilting from different directions because we enjoy different elements of the process: some like color, some like perfect technique, some like precise piecing and others like quilting the sandwich.

I like color but have found myself somewhat hesitant at times to take on a new project because I know that my trim is never very impressive and my quilting always leaves puckers and bumps.

I loved this book for the close-ups of the author's trim and quilting. She's not afraid to zig-zag it and be done. You can see where she has started and stopped a line by backstitching. She has not torn her hair out trying to make it look like it was the perfect equivalent of linens made in China by small hands that achieve perfection through repetition.

I found this to be extremely liberating.

For those of us without engineering backgrounds who still like to assemble color together into something precious, this is chock full of inspiration for us.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring for all skill levels! December 1, 2010

By PJ

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Only one other time have I purchased a quilting/sewing book in which I immediately tagged a vast majority of projects as ones I want to make, either for myself or as gifts! I consider myself an intermediate quilter but these projects would be great for all skill levels. I LOVE the bright, fresh, modern aesthetic. Too many times I find books filled with beautiful pictures but nothing I want to actually make; it's refreshing to find one that is both lovely to look at and has many projects I can't wait to begin!

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Taste Specific June 22, 2011

By Burgundy Damsel VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

There are some unique and creative projects in this book; I especially liked the baby crib bumper that doubled as a fabric ABC's book. The instructions are very clear and the author's tone welcoming and cheerful.

That said, I was a little surprised to find that only about a quarter of the patterns were actually for quilts. Pot holders, trivets, sewing machine covers, scarves and other miscellanea accounted most of the book. These are not bad, but perhaps not what everyone is looking for.

The author's personal style is also rather taste specific - she embraces improvisation and, although they lend themselves well to intimidated beginners or makers of scrap quilts, her patterns and practices will not be appreciated by everyone. I would definitely flip through this at your library or local bookstore before ordering to make sure its a good fit for you.