Woodland - Modern Landscape Quilts
- cynthiadpconcha
- 11 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Hi Quilter!
Another book review! Yay! Modern Landscape Quilts: 14 Quilt Projects Inspired by the Great Outdoors by Donna McLeod is the second book that publisher, David & Charles Publishing sent me earlier this year. I'm a little behind in my timeline as life hit September and October SUPER hard. But I got my sample done and I'm ready to show off another great book.
As the title suggests this book has a modern feel and focuses on pictorial landscape quilts. If you've never done a modern quilt, or are thinking of trying a modern quilt, I highly recommend this book. It's a great book for beginner quilters as it covers a ton of information; so it's not just a pattern book. It talks about each step of the quilting process.
Donna McLeod is a "self-taught quilter who appreciates approachable and easy-to-follow quilt patterns." And her quilt designs have been inspired by the different regions of California. Personally, I live on the edge of the Adirondack Mountains in New York, and find several of these designs reminiscent of this east coast area as well.
Let's get into the book! The first 25 pages of the book are all about the things that go into making the projects. Fabric choice, tools needed, pressing, basic block instructions, how to cut fabric…. There's a great tutorial on getting an accurate ¼ inch. But hands down, my favorite page of the book is page 13. On page 12, she briefly talks about color theory, and on the next page it springboards into how to use the colors to create perspective or depth, and how neutral, warm, and cool colors work with each other. There is a picture of the same quilt project designed in 5 different color combinations showcasing how color intensity and tones play off of each other. "[B]ut the best way to learn about color is to play with it yourself!"
The projects:
So there's two versions of seven different design themes: aka 14 projects. And as the title hints, you'll find mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, beaches …all landscapes. They vary in sizes as small as throw pillows to twin size quilts. And the piecing is simple and straight forward. She uses squares, rectangles, triangles, half-square-triangles, half-rectangle-triangle and even a few quarter circles if you're looking for the added challenge of curve piecing. (She includes templates in the back of the book.)
Each pattern has clear cutting instructions and ample fabric requirements. I believe her amounts are rounded up an inch or more so there's little fear in making a cutting error. Her graphics are beautiful and easy to follow; with each project showing an exploded diagram of how to piece the project.
The last 20ish pages of the book cover quilting and finishing. I LOVE her close-up pictures in the quilting section! She shows some projects with simple straight line quilting, some have fancy edge-to-edge designs; there's free-motion quilting projects and even close up instructions for those that like to hand-quilt. (That's not me, but I appreciate that she includes it in the book.) And in the binding section, she covers "facing" and well as the standard binding instructions. ("Facing" is something a lot of art quilts use; it basically pulls all the binding to the back side and really lets the quilt look like a piece of art, ready to hang on the wall.)
So which project did I choose…?
I picked Woodland. It's a forest landscape. And originally I wanted to have it completed before all the fall leaves turned so I could honor 'leaf season' here in New York. But at the writing of this review, all the leaves have fallen and winter is just around the corner. Ah well… I'll be ahead of the game next year.
But I'm still super happy with how it turned out; take a look:
The fabrics I chose:
The different leaf colors are from the Folio fabric line by Henry Glass Fabrics.
The background blue sky is Tide Pool Peppered Cotton by Studio E Fabrics
The tree trunk is a batik that I pulled from my stash; sorry, I don't know the line.
What I love about this book:
Amazing pictures; both close-up and "in the wild"
Clear diagrams of how to piece
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the color theory section
It covers quilt creation from beginning to end
What I don't love about this book:
Okay, this is SUPER picky: I think she could've talked a bit more about prints (both directional and non-directional) VS solid color fabric. If you're into the modern quilt movement, then you'll know this is a hot topic. Personally, I love that she's used both in the projects, but I'd love to have her perspective too.
She doesn't teach?!! OMG - these projects would be super popular at guilds! Donna - girlfriend! You should teach! Your book rocks!
And if you need more of Donna's beautiful modern landscapes, you can check out her website/blog and Instagram page. (links below)
Check out my video review of the book as well: (please like and subscribe)
Modern Landscape Quilts by Donna McLeod retails for $24.99 in the US. So go to your local fabric store and ask them to order it for you. (And tell your local library to order a copy!)
Or click here to get a copy from Amazon:
All the book photos came from Amazon's listing; check it out to see more. You can also see this link for an entire book first-look:
There ya go friend! I hope you come back for the third book in this series! Let me know if there's a book or pattern out there that you'd like a review of. But for now, I gotta get back to my quilt lab!
Keep Quilting!
Cynthia
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