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Passionate Patchwork: Over 20 Original Quilt Designs
Quilting patterns by renowned designer Kaffe Fassett--all innovative and artfully arranged, with a wealth of variations.
- GenresQuiltingCraftsNonfiction
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 12, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 6, 2014
Did you know that "Kaffe Fassett" rhymes with "safe asset"? Neither did I until today. I share this because I've been saying it wrong for years. Anyway!
This is a collection of 20 quilts, some of them in 2-3 different colorways to give you some ideas of what you can do. I looooove Fassett's sense of color, movement, and play. I love his honesty about the fact that he doesn't do the sewing himself, and he gives a lot of credit to his collaborator for how the quilts turn out. That said, his unique sense of color is beautifully on display in all of these quilts, and his writing style is warm and passionate and humane. He really loves what he does, and he loves looking at things and noodling around with color. His quilt sensibility is a little different than mine, but it's still a masterwork in how to get across color mood.
I think my favorite quilts were a saffron-gold number with circles, a set of concentric squares made out of striped shirting fabric, and a window-covering of single-layer patchwork. All of them are things I could imagine making and living with.
Since I was not looking to make a specific quilt and I just wanted to bathe in the glory, it was a fine library find. I briefly glanced at the instructions, and there were some good tips on doing the concentric blocks with strip piecing, and none of it seemed so poorly written that it would be impossible to follow. I imagine buying it expensive, because the full color printing on many pages is not cheap, but it might make an amazing coffee table book. (or a calendar. mmmm)
Read if: You love absorbing ideas from other designers, you love color.
Skip if: You are looking for unique construction techniques or step-by-step instructions for a nervous quilter.
This is a collection of 20 quilts, some of them in 2-3 different colorways to give you some ideas of what you can do. I looooove Fassett's sense of color, movement, and play. I love his honesty about the fact that he doesn't do the sewing himself, and he gives a lot of credit to his collaborator for how the quilts turn out. That said, his unique sense of color is beautifully on display in all of these quilts, and his writing style is warm and passionate and humane. He really loves what he does, and he loves looking at things and noodling around with color. His quilt sensibility is a little different than mine, but it's still a masterwork in how to get across color mood.
I think my favorite quilts were a saffron-gold number with circles, a set of concentric squares made out of striped shirting fabric, and a window-covering of single-layer patchwork. All of them are things I could imagine making and living with.
Since I was not looking to make a specific quilt and I just wanted to bathe in the glory, it was a fine library find. I briefly glanced at the instructions, and there were some good tips on doing the concentric blocks with strip piecing, and none of it seemed so poorly written that it would be impossible to follow. I imagine buying it expensive, because the full color printing on many pages is not cheap, but it might make an amazing coffee table book. (or a calendar. mmmm)
Read if: You love absorbing ideas from other designers, you love color.
Skip if: You are looking for unique construction techniques or step-by-step instructions for a nervous quilter.
December 28, 2014
This is the book that made me want to learn to quilt when I stumbled across a copy from the library. Most of Kaffe Fassett's quilts are far from boring in either color or design, and the artist in me found that very appealing. My favorite quilts in this book are "Pastel Bubbles," "Gypsy Garden," "Moody Blues," "Nona," "Squares Window Blind" (I made this one and I love it--super-easy, and a certain amount of carefree sloppiness was encouraged), "Wedding Quilt," "Pinwheel Tablecloth," and "Shirt-Stripe Boxes." There are a dozen more that are okay. One thing I wish this book had was the difficulty-rating for each project that his newer books have. The patterns and instructions are as good as usual.
August 4, 2010
Library Borrow;
Amazing designs and patterns. Too hard for me but beautiful to look at.
Amazing designs and patterns. Too hard for me but beautiful to look at.
February 9, 2019
An amazing book with inspirational quilts and easy to follow patterns. Maybe my all time favourite pattern is the Gypsy Garden which can easily be made almost any size.
July 5, 2022
This artist is so inspiring!
May 8, 2009
My favorite Kaffe book to sew from. Many of the quilts use more fabrics than just his own and gave me a better sense of his style without having to copy with the use of his fabrics.
April 10, 2010
My favorite Kaffe book - I've made many of these quilts.
October 16, 2012
Purchased at a workshop at the MFA Boston presented by Kaffe. He kindly autographed the book and stood for a couple of pics as well.
June 21, 2013
This gave me great ideas for what to do with some antique blocks I've had for a while.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews