Spotlight on Neutrals

(More Reviews by This Staff Quilter)

After years of using happy, bright colors for charity quilts, and vibrant, rich colors for my personal quilts, I decided to "push my envelope" by making a quilt with neutral colors. Choosing fabrics with white, off-white, cream, ecru, beige, tan, taupe, khaki, latte, brown and grays resulted in a subtle but pleasing effect I have come to enjoy. Since I have a large collection of neutral fabrics just waiting for more inspiration, I was delighted to read this book; I thought it was worthwhile for three reasons. First, she explains the importance of experimenting with color values (light, medium and dark) and incorporating a variety of visual design textures when working neutral fabrics. By her definition, neutrals are "colors that are not found on the color wheel". Second, I found her general instructions for piecing a quilt were unusually well done (perhaps because she does everything as I do!). She discusses using the two-ruler method for rotary-cutting, how to test for accurate seam size, the importance of careful pressing, pinning, and squaring-up, how to make half-square and quarter-square triangles starting with squares, applique methods and attaching mitered binding. Third, her patterns for several quilts, a couple of pillows and a mantle scarf are lovely, well-illustrated, and include sewing tips. This book is a good addition to your quilting book library, especially if neutrals are unexplored territory