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All I can say is WOW. I'm not a quilter at all. I hate sewing. I bought this for a gift for a quilter and started looking through it. I was just blown away both by the range of quilts, and mostly by the fascinating historical descriptions of each quilt. Given that I don't generally enjoy reading history, and have no interest in quilting, but loved this book, I think it must be an incredible winner for anyone who is interested in quilting.
I guess on reflection it is not so surprising that a book compiled from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's quilt collection by its curators is visually beautifully produced and fascinating.
This one will knock your socks off! Or move you from a sock knitter to a sweater/jacket knitter.
Slicer-Smith's designs are always innovative and beautiful, and in this book she is at her best. The shapes of the designs are simple but the color combinations and techniques make then look both trendy and complex. Granted, this is not a book for the knitting novice, but the patterns are all presented in detail, the designs are shown in multiple colorways giving you an idea of how it would look were you to choose your favorite colors. All of the garments are finished beautifully.
Add to all of that, the beautiful Australian photography and you have a book that you can keep on your coffee table to gaze at in odd moments and your non-knitting friends won't even think you're that weird. Even my non-knitting husband thought it was a beautiful book.
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(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
We went to a lecture by Sibley tonight. My husband and I are birders and Sibley is king of the bird guides. He spoke about the making of the tree guide, and how he viewed it in much the same way he did when writing the bird guide. He explained his philosophy - that photographs give you a record of one specific bird or tree at one specific moment, while his illustrations aim to abstract what makes this bird or tree different from other, perhaps similar, birds or trees. We had the opportunity to buy a copy of the the new tree guide. It is just as beautiful and helpful as the bird guide and I am sure it will revolutionize the way people identify trees just as the bird guide did for birds.
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(14 of 20 readers found this comment helpful)
Feynman was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist with an amazing breadth of scientific achievements. This is an autobiography which is a set of quirky anecdotes of his life. It ranges from his experiences playing with a samba school during Mardi Gras in Brazil while he was living there for part of a year, his attempts to meet women, to his times discussing physics with Niels Bohr at Los Alamos while working on the atom bomb. The book consists of a large series of vignettes, mostly disconnected so you can just pick it up and read a story or two. You don't need to know any science to enjoy it, although being a scientist might help you recognize some of his behavior...
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(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
This is a wonderful knitting book for both the beginner and the experienced knitter. A knitalong happens when a group of knitters work on the same project either communally or individually. The book contains 21 projects ranging from scarfs, mittens and hats, to full-sized afghans. The idea is to get together with a group of other knitters and all start on the project at roughly the same time and give each other moral support or help. You can either be together physically or joined by the internet.
A couple of the projects, especially the Barn Raising Quilt and Olive's Afghan are modular and suitable for a group of people to work on together. A group of us got together and made the afghan as a wedding gift for a friend. It was an especially wonderful gift since it is gorgeous and so many of us worked on it together in the spirit of the old quilting circles. The couple loved it, even more so since we had all put our love into it.
A number of groups I know are doing Barn Raising Quilts as fundraisers to be auctioned off for their favorite charity.
There really is not a clunker in the book. Just about every project is interesting (well maybe one or two are not my cup of tea) but it is a really nice book.
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(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
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Customer Comments
Elaine has commented on (40) products.
American Quilts and Coverlets in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Amelia Peck
Elaine, November 16, 2009
All I can say is WOW. I'm not a quilter at all. I hate sewing. I bought this for a gift for a quilter and started looking through it. I was just blown away both by the range of quilts, and mostly by the fascinating historical descriptions of each quilt. Given that I don't generally enjoy reading history, and have no interest in quilting, but loved this book, I think it must be an incredible winner for anyone who is interested in quilting.I guess on reflection it is not so surprising that a book compiled from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's quilt collection by its curators is visually beautifully produced and fascinating.
Swing, Swagger, Drape: Knit the Colors of Australia by Jane Slicer Smith
Elaine, October 19, 2009
This one will knock your socks off! Or move you from a sock knitter to a sweater/jacket knitter.Slicer-Smith's designs are always innovative and beautiful, and in this book she is at her best. The shapes of the designs are simple but the color combinations and techniques make then look both trendy and complex. Granted, this is not a book for the knitting novice, but the patterns are all presented in detail, the designs are shown in multiple colorways giving you an idea of how it would look were you to choose your favorite colors. All of the garments are finished beautifully.
Add to all of that, the beautiful Australian photography and you have a book that you can keep on your coffee table to gaze at in odd moments and your non-knitting friends won't even think you're that weird. Even my non-knitting husband thought it was a beautiful book.
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
The Sibley Guide to Trees by David Allen Sibley
Elaine, September 22, 2009
We went to a lecture by Sibley tonight. My husband and I are birders and Sibley is king of the bird guides. He spoke about the making of the tree guide, and how he viewed it in much the same way he did when writing the bird guide. He explained his philosophy - that photographs give you a record of one specific bird or tree at one specific moment, while his illustrations aim to abstract what makes this bird or tree different from other, perhaps similar, birds or trees. We had the opportunity to buy a copy of the the new tree guide. It is just as beautiful and helpful as the bird guide and I am sure it will revolutionize the way people identify trees just as the bird guide did for birds.(14 of 20 readers found this comment helpful)
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P Feynman
Elaine, July 27, 2009
Feynman was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist with an amazing breadth of scientific achievements. This is an autobiography which is a set of quirky anecdotes of his life. It ranges from his experiences playing with a samba school during Mardi Gras in Brazil while he was living there for part of a year, his attempts to meet women, to his times discussing physics with Niels Bohr at Los Alamos while working on the atom bomb. The book consists of a large series of vignettes, mostly disconnected so you can just pick it up and read a story or two. You don't need to know any science to enjoy it, although being a scientist might help you recognize some of his behavior...(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larissa Brown and Martin John Brown
Elaine, June 16, 2009
This is a wonderful knitting book for both the beginner and the experienced knitter. A knitalong happens when a group of knitters work on the same project either communally or individually. The book contains 21 projects ranging from scarfs, mittens and hats, to full-sized afghans. The idea is to get together with a group of other knitters and all start on the project at roughly the same time and give each other moral support or help. You can either be together physically or joined by the internet.A couple of the projects, especially the Barn Raising Quilt and Olive's Afghan are modular and suitable for a group of people to work on together. A group of us got together and made the afghan as a wedding gift for a friend. It was an especially wonderful gift since it is gorgeous and so many of us worked on it together in the spirit of the old quilting circles. The couple loved it, even more so since we had all put our love into it.
A number of groups I know are doing Barn Raising Quilts as fundraisers to be auctioned off for their favorite charity.
There really is not a clunker in the book. Just about every project is interesting (well maybe one or two are not my cup of tea) but it is a really nice book.
(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
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