Customer Reviews

The Uncommon Quilter: Small Art Quilts Created with Paper, Plastic, Fiber, and Surface Design

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a product of a great experiment: how to use quilting and fiber craft to create a multimedia journal of your everyday life. The author created a small quilt a week for seven years, and the book contains many beautiful examples. Rather than just being an artist's retrospective, however, the book shows you how to work in a similar fashion. I doubt that many people will actually follow the step-by-step instructions to recreate the specific quilts shown here, but the book is a gold mine of ideas about how to use fun, "found" objects (e.g., dryer lint, onion bags, plastic sushi grass, shredded paper) in creating quilts and small works of art. My one quibble with the book is that it would have been better with a spiral binding (so it would lie flat and make it easier to consult while you are working). But all in all, it's a brilliant and very user friendly guide showing you how to incorporate elements of your everyday life in your art.

Very inspiring. The book details the thinking behind and instructions for each of the 52 small quilts in the book.

I found a line in the book that sums it up best:
"whether certain quilts were good or bad is not the point; the point is that I made the time to try new things, that I took risks, and that I learned a lot. It was one of the best things I ever did for myself, both artistically and personally."

The book is a creative license of sorts to think small, experiment, and not worry if a piece is a success or not.

The pleasures of this more-than-a-how-to book run deep. Each small quilt (paired with clear directions) is one of dozens of weekly 'entries' in Jeanne Williamson's fabric-art journal. The works are interesting, often beautiful, in their own right - but even more so when taken together as byproducts of Williamson's year of noticing. She chronicles events, small finds, shapes, colors; and invites the reader to do the same. In a wonderfully unassuming way, Williamson takes the significance of the ephemeral and discarded - well-charted territory in the art world - and entrusts it to the reader. The Uncommon Quilter is a practical, unsentimental testament (and guide) to connecting with the ordinary, and to making of that connection art that is indeed anything but common.

There's been a lot of hype online about this book, and I think for the most part it lives up to it. It's great for helping you to think outside the fabric box and look to alternative materials in your process . . . in fact, it's a good read for people interested in any artistic process. I only wish the book was better as a product. I've written to Random House about my disappointment with no response natch, but it seems unfortunate that such good ideas should be given such a poor showing. The text is chock full of typos and the images are flat and sometimes out of focus. A terrible editing and printing job. I hope she finds a better publisher for her next project.

This beautiful book is a source of inspiration on many levels. First, it centers on the theme of art "journaling." Perhaps this is not an original idea in itself. However, Jeanne Williamson's projects open our minds to find inspiration in both the profound (her son's graduation from high school) and mundane (a shredded morning newspaper). Next, this book inspires us to expand our palette of materials for quilting projects: paper, paint, plastic, found objects, and even dryer lint. Finally, the book is an inspiration for the sheer beauty of Jeanne Williamson's art. While perhaps not everyone will find her style to their liking, everytime I look at the examples in this book, I see new and interesting layering of patterns and textures, and a sheer genius for layout and design.

If you want to be truly inspired to play with texture, color, personal journaling and simply making art, get a copy of THE UNCOMMON QUILTER by Jeanne Williamson (Potter Craft, Random House). Jeanne has been creating small quilts every day for years, each one a page in her life.
I do not make quilts. I am a beader, but let me tell you, THE UNCOMMON QUILTER still gets my fires burning! Jeanne's explorations make me want to MAKE stuff. The book itself is superbly designed; modern and bright, it seduces you with lush full page, full color images and easy to follow projects. Yes, this is a HOW TO book! What it really teaches amidst the step by step projects is how to make your own creative discoveries, walking by Jeanne's side as she has made hers.

Share a remarkable journey with a highly creative artist, and become one yourself, with THE UNCOMMON QUILTER.
[...]

Full of fun, quirky, and utterly innovative things like making art quilts with dryer lint, sushi grass, fallen leaves and rusty ironing board batting, weather stripping (my favorite), and cupcake wrappers. Maybe the items incorporated into the quilts aren't always exciting in and of themselves, and indeed can often be found in a trash can or underfoot, but under Jeanne Williamson's creative eye and talented hand, they are surely turned into works of art and beauty. Genius!

Not only perfect for the beginner, with easily understood instructions and illustrations, but also a veritable treasure trove of inspiration and challenging ideas for the experienced quilter looking for something new to try.

For those who need to sneak a peek before buying and can't get to a bookstore or library, try looking for more images on the publisher's website or on the book's website, [...]

Get ready for a surge of creativity after reading this book!

This book arrived in my life like a bolt of freshness. It literally changed the way I looked at the world -- not only quilts but the materials that have the right to go into them, and all the other things in the world that COULD go into them. Wiliamson is an artist: it is sheer generosity on her part that she shares her original vision with us so that our eyes might be opened as hers are. Plus this book is gorgeously produced. A treat for your senses and brains (are they separate?) ... even if you've never been interested in quilts before. (Maybe ESPECIALLY if you've never been interested in quilts before.)

Jeanne was the inspiration for the Journal Quilt Exhibit at International Quilt Festival for past 5 years. You will be amazed at the art she has created from what most of us would consider "trash".

It appears I fall on the "liking it quite a bit" pendulum swing of opinion here. Some seem very angry about not liking it. Interesting. Worst case, one shouldn't have any trouble selling it on Amazon. I, like many, enjoy her "what if I....." approach. Definitely not traditional quilting and perhaps more toward the mixed media and art quilt audience.
No, it's not a "beginner's" book, though, perhaps, it should be to open newbie eyes to the possibilities.
It's creating outside the lines, the box, the cube, ... for me.. after all this is my review.
Listen to some favorite music and let your inner child out to play!