Book Release - Design Make Quilt Modern

My second book with C&T Publishing, Design Make Quilt Modern, is now available in my shop and ready to ship over a month before the official release date!  I wanted to share my excitement, as well as, a summary of what you can find in the book.  Along with sharing my own insight into quilt design in easy to understand language I also tested my own photography skills and took many of the pictures in the book.

 

Design Make Quilt Modern by Heather Black

I'm really excited about this book because it focuses on what I enjoy the most, talking about principles of design in everyday terms.  I've taken art electives here and there but most of what I know about design I picked up in my everyday life.  I wanted to encourage makers to use their God given creative talents to be on the look out for design tips and tricks that exist all around them.  In the book I break down the design process form inspiration to binding into separate sections so that each can be read on it's own or from cover to cover as a cohesive book.

 

Design Make Quilt Modern - Table of Contents

In the first section, getting started, I cover what you need to design a quilt and how to avoid common frustrations of design.  I think this section is essential for a successful and fulfilling quilt designing experience.  It lays the foundation for good designs that are uniquely you.

Design Make Quilt Modern

Next I dive into different design elements and how you can apply them to quilt design.  This is where it really gets fun because this illustrates how much of what we can learn about design and our own person tastes we can find in our everyday lives.  I cover how to achieve balance, depth and movement in your designs and how the simplest of techniques can make the difference between an "ok" quilt and a great quilt.

Design Make Quilt Modern

I knew when I started writing my book I wanted to do a section on color theory, even though I'm not that fond of that actual term.  My Designing with Color section goes of the basics of color as well as the nuances of applying color to a design.  When I started designing and making quilts, almost 10 years ago now, I would always tell myself to let the color do all the hard-work and I still believe that.  This is a great section for testing your color knowledge as well as learning how to use color to sharpen your quilt designs.

Design Make Quilt Modern

Finish the Design with Quilting will help you choose quilting that will compliment you quilt design.  This section covers when you should begin thinking about quilting designs and it will equip you with the tools to get past trickier quilting decisions as well as avoiding unnecessary stitch picking.

Design Make Quilt Modern

 

 

I could have ended the book at quilting but I didn't feel complete. I knew it was important to cover some of the mechanics of how to calculate fabric yardage and discuss how important it is to pick a binding or lack of binding that will compliment the quilt.  I even talk about the importance of quilt backings, which are often skipped over.

 

Design Make Quilt Modern

At the end of the book there are four projects.  Each one is used throughout the book as an example and all are a great way to get use to constructing and working with different design elements.  Three of these designs are new, Grounded, Moving Through and Around Town, and one, Misprint, is a favorite of mine that I wanted to share in this book.  I'll definitely be sharing more these quilts in the weeks to come.

Design Make Quilt Modern

 

I, also, want to thank Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting and Paintbrush Studio Fabrics for supplying me with the materials I need to complete my quilts.  I really appreciate all their support and without a second thought would recommend these companies and products to anybody.  I especially like Aurifil Forty3 longarm thread, Hobbs Batting's Tuscany Cotton/Wool batting and Paintbrush Studio Fabric's Painter's Palette Solids, along with their prints e.g. Sketchbook and Road Trip.

Design Make Quilt Modern

I hope everyone has enjoyed this cover to cover sneak peek into my new book Design Make Quilt Modern.  I even talked my niece into modeling for a picture in the book so I was thrilled when the design department placed her on the back cover.  If you look closely you may recognize her hands from my article in Simply Moderne.  In the end I hope my book will help quilters and makers find their own creative style and give them the confidence to design and make more quilts.

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.  And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."  2 Peter 1:16-21