Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovaton and Artistry in American Quilts [Paperback]

Patricia Cox Crews (Author), Janet C. Berlo (Editor), Patricia C. Crews (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2008

"Wild by Design" explores the two-hundred-year-old American tradition of freewheeling, improvisational, often asymmetrical quilts, whose makers experimented boldly with design, color, and pictorial motifs. It examines both the aesthetics and the social history of quilts from the early nineteenth century to the present, including Amish, African American, and modern art quilts.From the state fair to the clothesline, women have sought ways to exhibit the beauty and optical effects of their quilts. The "quilting frolic" of the nineteenth century was for many women an alternative to the art academy and the salon. Janet Berlo reminds us that quilts were a valued form of artistic expression, meant to be shared and admired among the company of other women. Over fifty applique and pieced quilts are illustrated, chosen from the collections of the International Quilt Study Center for their outstanding visual qualities. Each is accompanied by a lively dialogue among quilt experts that illustrates the varied dimensions of quilts as aesthetic objects of the highest order and as reflections of the lives and societies of their makers.This multifaceted analysis of quilts sheds light on the histories of women, textiles, and American art and culture. Janet Berlo is professor of art history at the University of Rochester in New York. She is the author of "Native North American Art" and a memoir, "Quilting Lessons", and is the editor of "The Early Years of Native American Art History: The Politics of Scholarship and Collecting". Patricia Cox Crews is professor of textiles and director of the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is the editor of "Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers" and "A Flowering of Quilts". Other contributors include Carolyn Ducey, Jonathan Holstein, and Michael James.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Janet Catherine Berlo is professor of art history at the University of Rochester in New York. She is the author of Native North American Art and a memoir, Quilting Lessons, and is the editor of The Early Years of Native American Art History: The Politics of Scholarship and Collecting. Patricia Cox Crews is professor of textiles and director of the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is the editor of Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers and A Flowering of Quilts. The book also includes contributions by Carolyn Ducey, Jonathan Holstein, and Michael James.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (February 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295983094
• ISBN-13: 978-0295983097
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #919,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Know What You're Ordering, February 11, 2004

By 

Donna Millican (WA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovaton and Artistry in American Quilts (Paperback)

Unlike other reviewers, I was really disappointed in this book. Because of the cover picture, I was expecting another book similar to Quilt National or Quilt Visions, but it's not like that at all. There are only a couple of quilts in the book similar to the cover quilt. The rest are variations on traditional quilts--very nice but not my cup of tea. The dialogue on each quilt was interesting, but I'd suggest taking a peek at this book in person to be sure you want to order it for your collection.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Challenging some old ideas, September 26, 2003

By 

J. Elliott (Slough, Berkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovaton and Artistry in American Quilts (Paperback)

I am a huge fan of Janet Berlo and bought this book primarily because of her involvement. I wasn't disappointed. Her essay, which precedes the catalogue of quilts and the dialogues with the other editors, is first class. It challenges a lot of the "myths" of quilting - for example, that women used re-cycled fabric for a lot of their quiltmaking. Berlo contends that, from her study of these quilts, and letters exchanged between quilters, there is evidence that most of the fabrics used were new, and some bought in considerable amounts specifically for quiltmaking. She also does a lot to discredit the myth of quilts being used as complicated signals on the Underground Railroad.
I have always tended to think of traditional quilts being beautiful but utlitiarian, and art quilts being beautiful but artistic. This book has opened my eyes to the fact that traditional quilts can be art quilts too.
I would recommend this book to anyone who really loves and appreciates quilts.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly Graceful, June 28, 2003

By 

Taylor McNeil (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovaton and Artistry in American Quilts (Paperback)

Quilts used to be things that your grandmother made and either ended up on your bed keeping you warm at night, or were put away as family heirlooms. Some quilts, it turns out, are much more than that: works of art, either intentionally made as such, or defined as such after the fact, thanks to their daring and beauty. There are many books on quilts, and this is a welcome addition, focusing on a wide range of quilts from the historic to the modern. Authors Berlo and Crews give quilts careful academic study (Berlo is a professor of art history and Crews a professor of textiles and director of the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln). They provide useful context for the heart of this book: wonderful full-page reproductions of forty-eight quilts from the early 1800s to the present. The selection is breath-taking and inspiring. And the way the authors discuss each quilt is smart: it's in the form of a dialogue between them and three other cognoscenti in the field, which removes any potential for academic dryness. But Wild by Design isn't for academics: it's for all of us who can look at the wonderful range of art that women -- and a few men -- have made in the last 180 years and be astounded by the homespun beauty.