Inspired to Quilt by Melanie Testa

If you are a reader of my daily blog,
//dog-int-the-hole-studio.blogspot.com//
you have heard me mention the DVD I purchased called, Print,
Collage, Quilt with Melanie Testa.
If you are unable, for what ever reason, to attend classes on subjects you are interested I strongly urge you to look into purchasing videos on those subjects. The DVDs that I have from Quilting Arts Workshop run about an hour.
Depending on how you process information one time through might be all you need to get started. Having the DVD in your possession means that you can watch it as many times as you need to, stop, start, pause it and if you are totally confused you can even google the artist and email them a question. I have no doubt that they would be happy to be of help.

While watching Melanie's DVD she mentioned her new book, Inspired to Quilt, Creative Experiments in Art Quilt Imagery. If you are new to dyes, thickener or print paste, synthrapol and monoprinting this is the book for you. Melanie walks you through the process with clear instructions, photos and samples.

As always, I suggest you take a look at the book at your local bookstore. It's the usual price for most quilt books these days, around $25.00. I think it's worth it for the amount of information that she had included in the book.

I have to say I find her DVD challenging and I'm ready for a challenge and having the book as a reference and information source book, on hand, is great.

To view more DVDs offered: Quiltingartsworkshop.com
For Inspired to Quilt: Interweavestore.com

I receive nothing for these book reviews. They are my gift to you. :)Bea

The Creative License by Danny Gregory

Oh Danny, Danny..........a hand printed book...........sigh. It looks like a wonderful book, full of wonderful ideas but small hand printing is hard, hard, hard on old eyes. What? Did you think that somebody old wasn't going to read your book? I have the same reaction when I pick up a cookbook and it's hand written..........aggggggghhhhhhhh
I will work my way through this book because I love the drawings, the enthusiasm, and the idea of "giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are".
He has chapters on kick starting your creativity and learning to see. Always a good exercise for all of us to do every once in a while.
I recently read a novel where the main character, an artist said that after years of drawing and painting he noticed that his hand got tighter and tighter on the brush or pen. He had a major life threatening illness and after he finally went back to painting his grip was loose and his work flowed.
Sometimes we all need something to jog us out of our routine.
He has a chapter on journaling and making creativity into a habit, something that is hard for us in our busy daily lives.
The chapter on Shock looks interesting....."blasting your butt out of a rut".....hmmmm
Sensitization, Resistance, Judgment, Identity, Expanding and what's next. All great subjects.
I bought my used/NEW book from Amazon. It's worth it even if I need to go out and buy a magnifying glass.

Somerset Apprentice magazine

It's Vol. 1 and it's expensive $15.00 here in the USA. That said, it's a worthwhile buy for someone interested in learning some new techniques. It's a lot cheaper than taking a workshop.
If you are serious about using the book I would suggest taking it to Kinko's and having them bind it with a coil binding. Much easier to open the magazine and have it lay flat while you are doing the techniques.
This issue features Angela Cartwright, Pam Carriker, Michelle Ward, Claudine Hellmuth, Lynne Perella, Traci Bautista, Lori Oles, Lisa Bebi and the list goes on and on.
Detailed how to do it with photographs, beautiful pictures, 144 pages so it's quite thick.
The instructions are easy to understand and like I said they have a lot of close-up photos.
I suggest you check it out at your local bookstore. See if you already know how to do the techniques or if it is something you have been thinking you would like to learn. If so, it's worth buying for your library. When you grow beyond it, pass it on to your local library.

Stitch, Cloth, Paper & Paint by Angie Hughes

I'm in love with this book. From the gorgeous pictures to the challenging projects. Her bookwraps, frames for artifacts and sundials are amazing. I suggest you take a look at it while having a cuppa at Barnes & Noble. It's a hefty investment of around $30.00. It is either going to be a little more advanced or something that you have already done. It's worth looking at. Again, I'm treating this as a course of study.

Silk Unraveled by Lorna Moffat

I have never worked with silk. I am in awe of it. I have seen wonderful, beautiful things done with silk. It intrigues me.

This is an eye candy book for people like me. Lorna Moffat does offer experiments in tearing, (oh my god tearing silk!), fusing, layering and stitching.

She has actual projects for each technique. This is very doable. I plan to do the book as if I was taking it as a course.

I need to get beyond my fear of ruining silk. I can do this. I can do this. sigh

Hot Textiles arrived today! What a beautiful book, lots of eye candy! Kim Thittichai certainly covers everything you would need to know if you were just starting to experiment with heat tools. Those of you that have done so probably would enjoy looking at the pictures but wouldn't necessarily learn anything new.

If you haven't experimented with Bondaweb (Wonder-Under), Tyvek, Pellon, Lutradur, plastic bags you will enjoy her information on the subjects.

If you have a heat gun and haven't used it yet, her safety instructions are excellent so pay attention.

I wish the type was bigger for those of us with older eyes.

The second picture is one from the book of a beautiful basket made from shopping bags threaded onto wire and formed into a bowl shape.

There are lots of full page color pictures which is great to look at but I sometimes wish there was more information, you know.

The Big Ass Book of Crafts

I love the cover. I love the title. Thank you Mark Montano for making me smile.
A good friend of his told him, while he was working on this book, to make sure that the crafts were "home worthy".
These aren't projects that involve painting chickens on ceramic pitchers. If you go through the book you will probably find at least one thing that reflects who you are and your personality. And that's what he felt she meant when she said home worthy.
These are wonderful ideas for making gifts for family members and frankly with the times the way they are a home made gift is a nice thing to give.
The directions are clear and very easy to do. I'm looking at a couple of interesting chapters that I might do with my granddaughter when she's here in August.
I am getting some ideas for taking his suggestions and giving them my own twist. It's a fun and big thick book to own.