Amazing feedback on Amazon for U&U

The titles for the comments are by themselves amazing from "MUST OWN!" to "Subversive delights." Read what people are saying about Unconventional & Unexpected on Amazon.

“Absorbing is the word that comes to my mind, both for the book’s essays and the exquisite photographs of quilts...”

— Amazon user

“The book will surely be one of the seminal quilt history books of the 21st century.”

— Bill Volckening

“I read the book cover to cover last night and I have dozens of ideas in my head for new quilts inspired by the quilts in this book. There is something for everyone in this book, quilt historians, quilt collectors, modern quilters, traditional quilters and artists. This book might change the way you think about quilts.”

— Tim Latimer

“Seeing quilts like the ones in this book is changing the way I think as an artist. As a graphic and quilt designer, I find it visually and emotionally awakening. With riots of colors and compositions, prints and patterns, this book will be an inspiration for not only generations of quilters but also artists working with many mediums.”

— Sujata Shah

“Beautiful, amazing, fantastic book…”

— Tonya Ricucci

“What a beautiful volume – the book itself, the intelligent, thoughtful writings, the photographs… well done!”

— Amazon user

Purchase Unconventional & Unexpected via Amazon.

U&U quilts “surprisingly improvisational, much like Jazz is to music”

Tim Latimer sat down to work on some new and improvised quilt tops. I loved seeing U&U in the middle of his quilting space, right where I want it to be. See his images below. So many vibrant colors!

“I have one of his other books ‘The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950’ and this book completes the story. People often view quilting as nonexistent between the late 40’s and the quilt revival of the 70’s. This book shows that this was not the case. The nearly 150 quilts in this book are surprisingly improvisational, much like Jazz is to music. The notes are the same but they are played differently. It is a beautiful book and I highly recommend it.”

— Tim Latimer

Read about Tim's quilts and his review of U&U.

Interviewed by Pat Sloan on American Patchwork & Quilt Radio

Pat Sloan hosted several interviews with amazing individuals from the quilting community this last Monday, September 15. It was part of her ongoing podcast, American Patchwork & Quilting Radio. I was honored to join her and to be included among Nancy Mahoney, Amy Walsh, and Nicky Ovitt. Visit her blog to read more.

Listen to our conversation as a podcast via Pat Sloan's blog here.

Interviewed by Addie Broyles of the Austin American-Statesman

I had a wonderful conversation with Addie Broyles of the Austin American-Statesman. This week she published a beautiful review of Unconventional & Unexpected. I love that she highlights the "irony that most of the unknown quilters might not have ever realized that the pieces they made and that could just as easily have been forgotten might one day actually hang on a wall."

Read the article as a PDF here.

Quilt featured in the Austin American-Statesman article.

Okan Arts can't stop raving!

It is amazing to see the enthusiasm that Okan Arts' giveaway of Unconventional & Unexpected has generated! Thank you, all, for your kind comments. And thank you to Patricia Belyea for featuring U&U. You have until September 30 to enter. Just leave a comment with your thoughts on U&U to enter.

Here are some favorites:

“All of Roderick’s books are among my keepers, and they are old friends of mine.”

“A remarkable discovery that Roderick helped us see.”

“For the intrepid quilter this book makes the heart sing. Sumptous color and fabric and design that hums, nearly buzzes with life.”

“An amazing example of inspired collecting.”

“Quilts are about the people who made them and who used them, their lives, their history. To someone who tries to find a bit of magic in everything, a book about ‘quirky’ quilts sounds absolutely fascinating.”

“A wonderful collection of eye candy!”

You might remember that I wrote a guest blog recently for Okan Arts. Read it here.

Guest blogger for Okan Arts: The Imperfect, The Patched, The Torn

Patricia Belyea asked me to write a guest post for Okan Arts. How could I say no? I am so excited to share about my story as a quilt collector, traveling for those "ah ha" moments to find the quirky quilts that I love. Over time I learned that "collectors can break their own rules."

Read more about my story in "The imperfect, the patched, the torn — joy and beauty in these states" via Okan Arts.

"Quilt scholars are debunking a few myths" - The New York Times

I was excited to be included in Eve Khan's article about the exciting things happening with quilts this year. Her article, "Celebrating American Quilts in Shows and Books," highlights a variety of projects that are expanding the contemporary scholarship of American quiltmaking.

“People think of quilts as nostalgia, and we have to get beyond that,” the textiles historian and dealer Laura Fisher, who runs the Fisher Heritage gallery in New York, said while leafing through a coffee table book by one of her customers, the collector Roderick Kiracofe. The book, “Unconventional & Unexpected: American Quilts Below the Radar 1950-2000” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang/Abrams), is full of bedcovers that she describes as “funky, maverick kind of quilts.”

Mr. Kiracofe has also heard his 300 pieces called “the ugly quilts,” he said in an interview. He started looking for unusual quilts in 2004, after decades of focusing on more traditional pre-1940s patchworks. Loud colors and asymmetrical stripes attract him, as do scraps of synthetic prints, perhaps recycled from 1950s upholstery and 1970s disco shirts.

Click here to read the article in the New York Times.

Quilt from Unconventional & Unexpected

Reasons to “hug” U&U from Meg Cox

I had the pleasure of chatting with Meg Cox. She has written a beautiful review of Unconventional & Unexpected, and I love that she called me a "tastemaker."

I shared with her, "I always wanted to do a book that would continue the story of The American Quilt and show what happened after 1950." She clearly relates to the quilts I have collected and what they represent for this time period in quilt history.

Click here to read the review.