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Point, Click, Quilt! and a book give-away

Point, Click, Quilt! is the title of Susan Brubaker Knapp’s wonderful book which is subtitled “Turn your Photos in to Fabulous Fabric Art.”  And this is a SERIOUSLY overdue review!  I received my copy of the book from Susan in July, just before heading out to teach in Nebraska.  I liked the book so much that I wanted to review it before I went, but felt I really needed to read the entire book closely first….then I got back and life happened!   So now that I have almost (but not quite) dug out from under the accumulated “life happening” stuff, I would like to recommend this book to you.  And offer the disclaimer that Susan is an internet friend and she asked me to have a piece in her book.  However, I’d say all these good things anyway!  Check below for information on winning a copy of this book!

Susan Brubaker Knapp's Point, Click, Quilt!

There are a lot of books out there these days about using your photography as the starting point for your art quilts.  Many of them, alas, make me think of “paint by numbers”–artworks that are slaving imitations of a photo without much thought–fortunately this book is all about thinking.  Susan’s book  begins by teaching you to THINK and to SEE–to improve your own photos so that the process of modifying them into textile art starts with a really good image from the get-go.  The Creativity and Learning to See section talks about one of my favorite things:   actually SEEING what is there, not what you think is there–about learning to really look at the elements of the composition (your photo’s composition) to make it a strong visual image. She covers the basics elements of design, including showing you how to crop a so-so photo into a much better composition, and how you can modify an existing photo to make a better composition in your quilt.

Learning to SEE!

Susan then goes on to “On a Mission:  Photography exercises to build your skills” which has five separate exercises, lavishly illustrated with Susan’s photos.  These exercises show how you can take what I call “reference” photos to put  into practice (and into your imagery) what you learned in the Creativity section.  These two sections are, for me, worth the entire price of the book and more!  They are JUST what you want from a book like this!

Table of Contents. Sorry the photo is a tad blurry...click to see larger.

The “Getting Started” chapter then shows you how to take your photo and turn it into a quilt pattern. Finally, there are sixteen projects, each using a different special technique.  These projects are good learning exercises for those new (and not so new) to art quilts.  Once you have begun to practice SEEING, and interpreting first Susan’s and then your own images in cloth, you’ll be ready to move on to creating your original art.

At the end is a gallery of quilts made from photos to give you an idea how contemporary quilt artists are using photographs to create art.  My quilt of Blue Buoys, made for a Coastal Quilters (local chapter of the Pine Tree Quilt Guild)  Challenge a while back, uses a very tight crop of some buoys in a photo by D. Pitcairn (used with permission) and faces a quilt of an adorable dog made by Pam George.

Blue Buoys (mine) on the left, Peanut by Pam George on the right. Click to view larger.

I’m happy to be able to recommend this book, and so thankful that Susan asked me to be a part of it!  You can order directly from Susan at her website.

LATE NEWS BULLETIN:  I wrote Susan to let her know this post would be going live today, and she said “OH!  I’d love to donate a copy of the book in a giveaway!”  So thank you Susan!  To be eligible to win a copy, please leave a comment below.  I’ll use a random number generator (may be my son!) to  select the winner.  I’d love it if you’d tell me which of Susan’s works you most like…she has a mind-boggling array of beautiful work here (her Gallery page) as well as in her series of six articles on thread sketching for Quilting Arts magazine.  PS:  Susan is heading to Quilt Market and Festival, so I’ll do the drawing on November 9th (after I’m back from teaching in NH, too).

224 Responses to “Point, Click, Quilt! and a book give-away”

  1. Joan Says:

    I like the African Beads quilt. Really colorful.

  2. Penny Stern Says:

    I love love love finding new blogs and websites. So glad to have found yours in time for a chance to win this book :}

  3. Rachel Parris Says:

    This is the whole reason I thought I might be able to do art quilts! I need this book.

  4. Zoe Butler Says:

    I love the Peek a Boo parrot.

    I have seen this book and was fascinated by her process, would like to try it. I have been in her thread sketching class and learned a lot of tips and ideas.

  5. Barbara Jensen Says:

    Thanks for the chance to win this book, it looks like it’s jam-packed with great info. I love Susan’s “Blue Moon River”. It reminds me of my 50th birthday gift of a trip to Chateau Lake Louise, near Banff, Canada. For a week I awoke to the view of the stunning blue lake and snow covered mountains. Then I had a private chef fix my omelet. Wow, I want to turn 50 again!

  6. Eileen Park Says:

    This book looks wonderful but it is hard to beat your book Sarah. I have recommended it to severak others who agree with me. As far as favorites of Susan’s work I lkove Spiderweb, Gourds, Indian Corn Snow Squall and Windswept. It was so hard to choose a favorite a all are a joy to study.

  7. Mary Ann Littlejohn Says:

    I’ve put this interesting looking book on my Amazon WishList. Might as well join the crowd here also.

  8. carol d. Says:

    I can not say (yet) which of Susan’s works I like best; have been following some of her things on QA mail list…as well as yours :>).would be really happy to win anything !! cheers and thanks to both of you.

  9. Leigh Says:

    Thank you for the book review. I have enjoyed seeing Susan’s “process of creating” through QA online links. Her threadwork on flowers has been fascinating!

  10. Lorraine Says:

    I would love to win this book!

  11. Dolly C. Says:

    I would love to have the opportunity to win the book. I love to do landscape quilts and know this book would have lots of ideas to perfect those.

    Thanks Sarah for this opportunity.

  12. Andee Says:

    Wow the book sounds great, adding it to my wishlist. I Loved the piece called “Synchronized Synchronous Fireflies” and also “Seafoam”

  13. Sarah Ann Smith Says:

    Thank you so much Eileen!!!! The two books cover really different territory…mine is a basic on thread and machine work, this is more about art and photography… I agree, it’s hard to choose Susan has so many gorgeous quilts. I simply don’t know how being the mom of two, teaching, and writing she finds the time to MAKE them!

  14. Sarah Ann Smith Says:

    OH MY… I visited Lake Louise when I was a kid…maybe 42 YEARS ago?!!!! I’d love to go back too!

  15. Rhonda Dunn Says:

    Susans book is just the thing I need to take that leap into photo quilts. I love all her work, especially her dog quilt.

  16. Lyn Wolf Jackson Says:

    Would love a chance to learn this technique from an expert, Thanks for the op!

  17. Gail Bennett Says:

    I’ve wanted to make a quilt from a photo, but have been a bit intimidated by it. This book might gst me started.

  18. Glenna Dameron Says:

    How does one choose from such art? That being said the “Pink Rose” touched a place within me and I could practically smell the rose. Thank you for offering me an awareness of Susan’s art and an opportunity to learn from her.

  19. peggy connolly Says:

    wow; there’s so much great information here. Lots to learn!

  20. Sue Wood Says:

    I would love to learn to make quilts from my photos, not just to copy them. The book definately looks like one to have, thanks for the oportunity of winning a copy.
    I especially love parrot peek a boo, the workmanship is stunning.

  21. Jan Cotton Says:

    Really liked Rusted 1 wwould love to learn more about pointing my camera and clicking especially nature gardens flowers

  22. Suzi Payne Says:

    Oh…pick me! I am so into trying to do this technique! I have a few pictures I have been saving to use in a quilt – just didn’t know how to get started – until reading your review and checking out Susan’s book. Thanks so much for the opportunity to win!

  23. Terri Ahrens Says:

    I absolutely love Susan’s work. My favorite piece would have to be “Pink Coneflowers”. I have been avidly following the series of articles in Quilting Arts. Would love to win a copy of her book, it looks fabulous.

  24. Debbie Says:

    Please enter me in your draw, I would love to win!!!