Full disclosure: I was one of the editors of this book, so I am somewhat biased, but I love this book.

First off, the book Inspired to Design is gorgeous; it’s packed full of photos of Elizabeth Barton‘s wonderful quilts that she uses to illustrate her text, so you can really see and understand what she is talking about.

She presents her approach to design in seven logical steps, breaking down each step so that you can follow along. Everything you need to know about designing your own quilts is in this book from initial inspiration, through design and composition, to making and finishing your quilt. And there are exercises throughout, so you can use the book as a workbook to develop your own ideas.

I especially like her method of providing multiple ways to approach each step of the process. We’re all different, we like and dislike different things, and there are so many different ways of working, why be constrained to just one method?

The cover quilt (Pump Court, below) is one of my favorites.  It exemplifies so many of the concepts Elizabeth explains in the book and incorporates into her own work.

Starting with the inspiration and how to use it, she explains:

So, think before you set out. What are you trying to convey? What is the experience that you want? Almost every other decision you will make about your piece will be informed by your main idea. Remember—it can be realistic or completely abstract. Beatle George Harrison opened one of his mother’s romantic novels and began a song from the phrase “gently weeps” that caught his eye. I made the quilt Pump Court because I was thinking about the little alleyways in my hometown and how much they revealed the age and the medieval character of the city. I cast a blue light over the piece by over-dyeing it, which I hoped would make it a little more distant and mysterious.

Using Elizabeth’s own design guidelines, here’s some of what I see in her quilt:

• The overall blue tone (with areas of green) of the quilt does convey a darker and mysterious feel to the quilt and this overall cool tone of the quilt, combined with its dark values, make the warm, lighter value accents (gold, yellow, and orange) really stand out. Elizabeth explains this contrast makes the “attributes of each color more obvious”—the cool colors seem cooler, and the warm colors warmer. The placement of the warm colors is also very effective in that they draw your eye around the quilt and make you want to look into all the windows and all the little nooks and crannies of the little alleyway.

• The lines of the street and buildings converge to the back, drawing you into the quilt.  My eye is also drawn to the bright yellow window (which stands out in strong contrast to its cooler blue and green surroundings). My eye then moves to the person lurking in the doorway—what is he (she?) doing there?  It’s night, it’s dark, is he/she just waiting for someone, or up to no good?

• Square/rectangular shapes are everywhere—in the windows (both the overall shapes and the individual panes), the sides of the buildings, the stone walls.  The repetition provides unity pulling the piece together, but the shapes vary in size, color, value, and texture providing interest and variety.  The irregularity of the shapes lends itself to the medieval feeling—of a time when each part of a building was crafted by hand—the individual panes of each individual window, each stone shaped to fit into a particular place in the wall.

• The design is strongly vertical, but the repeated diagonal lines of the roofs provide a welcome contrast to the verticality and pull your eye back into the composition rather than letting you wander right off the top edge of the quilt.

• Everything in the quilt looks like it belongs there—anything more would be too much and anything taken away would be missed.

• Every time I look at the quilt, I see more details that lead me further into the quilt. I see more textures and variations.  I want to keep looking at the quilt and see what else it has to say to me.

I could go on (and on), but I think you get the idea. Whether you’re new to designing your own quilts or have been designing quilts for years, you’re sure to find inspiration in this book.

Giveaway!

To win a copy of this book, leave a comment on this post to let us know if you like the ‘workbook’ approach to learning concepts? If so, why?  If not, why not?  The winner will be selected at random on May 2nd and the name will be add to this post. Winners outside the U.S. will win the e-book version. Good Luck!

5/3/13 UPDATE: Kat is our winner – congratulations!