Quilty as Charged: Undercover in a Material World [Paperback]

Spike Gillespie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

In the United States today, there are more than twenty-two million quilters who collectively spend more than one billion dollars on quilting every year. The annual International Quilt Festival attracts more than 50,000 dedicated visitors from around the world. Festival prize money can reach $100,000. Drawn into this material world by a newspaper assignment, Spike Gillespie soon found the personalities who populate serious quiltmaking as compelling as the art itself. Quilty as Charged is not a history or how-to guide; it is a collection of many small stories, including Gillespie's, stitched together in the spirit of quilting, separate scraps made into a cohesive cloth. Quilting today is a world of traditionalists and visionary artists, collectors and connoisseurs, and it encourages the same intrigue, innovation, and inspiration found in "fine" art. (Many of the quilts themselves hang, deservedly, in fine art museums.) Inevitably, Gillespie begins piecing together a quilt. But while her effort begins as a helpful tool for understanding her subjects, what she ultimately understands is that she, like all inspired quilters, is sewing her own pattern.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gillespie-freelance journalist, avid knitter, novice quilter-has produced a crazy quilt in praise of the million Americans who devote endless hours to creating bedcovers or works of art from small pieces of fabric. Stitched together from her own discovery of the world of competitive quilting at the 2002 International Quilt Festival in Houston and her interviews with a spectrum of quilters, embellished with the frequent sewing pun, the book combines the exuberance of quilters with illustrations of some of their creations. In Part One, Gillespie takes us along on her first attempts at piecework. Part Two presents 16 quilters, including Jote Khalsa, a Sikh in Texas; Belgian fabric artists Inge Marddal and Steen Hougs; and Ricky Tims, the rare man in the quilting world who teaches Caveman Quilting. She tells the story of Dan Puckett, who sold a defective sewing machine to Arlene Blackburn. After she sued him, he threw bleach on her $6,500 quilt at the Quilt Fest and served six months in jail. Some interviews could have been more specific, but as the Amish say when they put deliberate mistakes into their quilts, only God is perfect. Color and b&w photos. (Oct.)
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About the Author

Spike Gillespie is the author of Surrender (But Don't Give Yourself Away) and three other books. Her essays and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, Texas Monthly, and the Dallas Morning News, among other publications. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292705999
• ISBN-13: 978-0292705999
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,563,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, October 17, 2007

By 

The Mad Quilter (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quilty as Charged: Undercover in a Material World (Paperback)

I loved this book. I'm a novice quilter and I learned a lot about the history of quilting and what's going on in the quilting world today. It's a suprisingly fascinating subject and Gillespie handles it wonderfully. I'd recommend it to both novice and experienced quilters alike. You don't even have to be a quilter to appreciate this fun, terrific book.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great storyteller., December 18, 2007

By 

mjnauert "mjnauert" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quilty as Charged: Undercover in a Material World (Paperback)

This is a fun book to read. You don't have to read the book from beginning to end...you can jump around. I loved reading all of the quotes that she has included through the chapters of her book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Title is more fun than the book, May 22, 2009

By 

Karin Rose (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quilty as Charged: Undercover in a Material World (Paperback)

I was somewhat disappointed about this book. It's a mix between a story about quilting and quilters and a few anecdotes about the material world. But you get the feeling the author has no real connection to this subject and it clearly shows. Sorry, but after forcing myself to finish reading it,and reviewing the stories in my mind I find more excitement in a simple quilters magazine than in her book. Like I said, the title is more promising than the book...