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

by Jeanne Williamson

In 1999, fiber artist Jeanne Williamson decided to expand her creative horizons by making one small quilt a week. She placed no limits on what materials she could use–in fact, she created her quilts almost exclusively from found objects, incorporating everything from newspaper and cupcake wrappers to fall leaves and funky yarns into her mixed-media art quilts. The goal was simply to create.

Seven years later, Williamson now has 365 varied and intriguing quilts full of personal stories, experiences, and observations. She also discovered that she had succeeded in expanding her creative horizons–and her artwork has flourished as a result.

Now, in The Uncommon Quilter , Williamson provides quilters, sewers, paper crafters, and mixed-media mavens with 52 projects for creating unique small quilts. The book is divided by the type of medium or technique used in each project–Plastic, Paper, Surface Design, and Fiber–and each contains innovative ideas for using everyday materials and found objects. Projects take anywhere from twenty minutes to a few days to make, ensuring that artists can fit creative time into their busy lives.

With charming anecdotes and clear, step-by-step instructions, The Uncommon Quilter is an inspiring, insightful guide to creating unique small quilts for self-expression, creativity, and personal and artistic growth.

Genres: Art, Quilting, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2007

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an inspiration!

So many great ideas in this book! Want to make a quilt out of the plastic netting your onions come in? Then get your hands on this book!


Wonderful examples of reusing and repurposing materials in ways I had never even though of before. The ultimate in green sewing.

I also love the concept of small quilts.

I also absolutely loved the Patchwork Labels quilt (i.e. making quilt out of pretty/cute labels from clothes), the London vacation quilt (a coin, a ripped piece of pamphlet from a castle, and a piece of glass are the stars in this quilt) and the cupcake wrapper quilt.

She also goes over crayon rubbing and painting the quilts, mixed media quilting.

Great ideas!

[Juliezs · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great book! As an Uncommon Quilter myself, I've long been inspired by Jeanne Williamson. I remember reading her quilt a week website years ago and being inspired to that myself for quite a while. The close up photos of the work are terrific, and the descriptions of how to achieve various results are well-written and clear.
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in going beyond normal or usual quilting techniques. It would definitely be a help to someone in learning how to self-talk themselves into a more free-up creativity "What would happen if I do this?" "How would it look if I used this instead?".

[Antonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this book up from the "crafts" cart in library. Loved it so much that I'm looking to purchase a copy. Never was fascinated so much by quilts until I saw the ones pictured in this book. I'll never look at produce netting the same way again. Williamson recommends adhering to a rigid schedule to create and complete your quilt. And do not throw it out if you don't like it. Shows that creativity comes from both inspiration and hands on, hard work.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

while many of her projects are not ones that inspire me, i found this book very helpful for exploring new ideas and techniques.

[Lindi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Williamson is quite imaginative in her use of materials. There are lots of fun projects in here!