new Book Review
"quilt your own adventure" by Amanda CarYe
by Rebecca Bratburd
Listeners of the popular podcast, Quilt Buzz, may already feel as if they know the show’s co-host, Amanda Carye from Broadcloth Studio. Amanda represents one of the friendly voices that many of us listen to while we sew. Listening to the podcast allows us learn about people from across the “quiltiverse”.
Ms Carye’s new book, Quilt Your Own Adventure, carries a similar theme of having fun while learning. In the introduction, she writes, “Think of me and this book as the coach or the quirky sidekick that provides the motivation for your quest and helps keep the momentum going.
how do you quilt your own adventure?
While the Quilt Your Own Adventure book includes 30 interchangeable blocks, the New York City-based quilter stresses that it is not a “Broadcloth Studio Sampler Book.” Rather, it is her “own design process boiled down to actionable steps for the quilter looking to explore quilt pattern design.”
Quilt Your Own Adventure moves past providing repeated block patterns. Instead, it includes a handful of layouts to play around with. And most quilters already know them: patches, bullseye, quadrants, stripes, log cabin, and offset. The book follows up these seven layouts with a case study or “journey”. But there is also a complete quilt pattern, for those who’d prefer to follow along.
The book’s planning worksheets appeal to the student in each of us, and the quilt math is presented so clearly. It’s easier to reference than an elementary multiplication table! In these pages, readers will find the number of pieces, yardage, and cutting instructions for any possibility of blocks and layouts. With this scaffolding in place, many makers will be able to sink their teeth into their own “quilting journey”.
In conclusion
We believe that quilters of all skill levels will find inspiration in the pages of Quilt Your Own Adventure. “The book will resonate most with folks who have a really adventurous mindset,” Ms. Carye told Modish Quilter. “I know that’s in the title, but it’s for people who enjoy the puzzle, who enjoy trying to figure out all the levers they can push and pull to get to something that is uniquely them.”
A lover of quilt math and spreadsheets, Ms. Carye says she wrote the book to share the delight of quiltmaking and puzzle solving with others. “If that helps someone take their creativity to the next level, that’s such a joy for me.”
We wholeheartedly recommend adding Quilt Your Own Adventure to your collection, which will release on April 11, and can be preordered now.
