Customer Reviews

The Quilt Maniac's Playbook / Fuel for the Quilt Imagination

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The Quilt Maniac's Playbook, Fuel for the Quilt Imagination by Nicole Chambers not just another quilting book.

Before reading the author's biographical information, it was clear that this book was written by a polished, professional writer with an imaginative use of language that makes her book a pleasure to read. Glancing at the first few color plates of her quilts, it is just as obvious that she is a meticulous quilter with a well-developed flair for color and design. All but three of the striking quilts in the chapter, Quilt Gallery, are designed and made by Nicole herself-a testament of her dedication to her own book.

Color is Only the Beginning presents thorough, easy to understand color fundamentals. Other teachers of color and design like me will find it refreshing in its approach. "Value is the Big Kahuna, the Big Cheese, the Big Daddy when it comes to color and design," the author declares. "How you use value will have a significant effect on how the colors will interact with one another." "...it's not surprising to find that contrast and unity are the central components of good design and the heart and soul of making good color choices," Nicole adds then proceeds to explain and illustrate these positions.

This is a wonderful book full of inspiration for color selection written in a humorous easy-to-follow text. When you're done reading this you want to rush to the quilt shop and have fun choosing colors for the fabulous quilts in this book.

If you would like some clear, creatively written information about using color in quilts, as well as some practical tips such as how to inexpensively make a personal design board, this is a great book. This is great book on basic color theory applied to quilting. If you already know a lot about color: intensity, value, etc., you won't find any surprises here.

My one disappointment--and I admit this is an issue of personal taste--is that with exception of the quilt on the cover, I was not excited about the quilts in the book. I found information, but not inspiration. However, it is very possible that another reader's tastes might allow them to find both.

The Quilt Maniac's Playbook/Fuel for the Quilt Imagination is all that the title promises. There are brilliant short cuts that make construction quicker and easier, and I thought the black and white diagramatical instructions were wonderful - you can then have your own thoughts about colour without being influenced by the author's colour choice. An excellent and easy read; the patterns are not always for the beginner, but are not beyond a beginner with confidence.