Bethan Ash's rich, colourful quilts are created using improvisational collage techniques. Working instinctively, she simply layers fabric shapes onto a prepared background and fuses them down, then adds stitching later. Each quilt is cut freehand, without the use of rulers or templates. In this groundbreaking book, she reveals the secrets of how she works, from basic dyeing and fusing techniques to design- and colour-awareness exercises and mixed-media experiments. In clear, easy-to-follow text, she gives the reader invaluable information on method, materials, technique and composition, and shows that improvisational quiltmaking is not merely 'messing about with fabric', but instead can form the basis of working freely and is the optimal way of broadening the reader's artistic talent. Illustrated with the best examples of fused quilts from around the world, this book is a visual feast of colour and pattern, and allows the reader to discover how the boundaries of traditional quiltmaking can be expanded through the use of imagination, inspiration and fusion.

Discover your artistic voice Expand your creative horizons and embrace the process of developing your design skills using your own intuition. Jean provides you with more design guidelines and new exercises to hone your natural intuitive skills, then she encourages you to go out there and express yourself! Packed with inspiring quilt images, this book walks you through effective approaches to art quilting from journaling your ideas to unifying your design. • Continue your art quilting journey with Jean in this follow up to Intuitive Color & Design • Learn how to recognize those "big ideas" that become inspirational starting points for your art • 9 classroom-tested design assignments help you trust your creative instincts and develop distinctive work

In this updated edition of best-selling Intuitive Color & Design, Jean's workshop assignments get your creative juices flowing, giving you challenges to expand your quilting horizons. Start by learning to see line and color; study the nuts and bolts of design; develop your color work and composition; and when you get stuck, there's expert advice on problem solving. Design and piece spectacular, free-form quilts you'd never have guessed you could create!

Discover how to transform premade fabric panels and thread into one-of-a-kind art quilts! Award-winning quilter and fiber artist Joyce Hughes will show you how to use a variety of decorating and customizing techniques – from thread painting to trapunto – to add dimension and texture. Complete 6 step-by-step projects with full-color photography that feature seasonal panels, beautiful florals, holiday designs, and gorgeous landscapes.

Explore this groundbreaking book that shows quilters how to create unique and expressive quilts by going beyond conventional patchwork using improvisational collage techniques and fusing. Author Bethan Ash, known for her rich and colorful quilt designs, shows how to use hand and machine stitching as a final embellishment to the quilted piece. Learn to instinctively cut fabric shapes without the use of rulers or templates, layer them on a prepared background, and attach them with fusible web. Once the fabrics are secured by fusing, you're free to use more or less stitching as a final embellishment. In clear, easy-to-follow text, discover invaluable information on methods, materials, techniques, and composition. Illustrated with many of Bethan's quilts and additional examples of state-of-the-art fused quilts from around the world, this book is a visual feast of color and pattern. Artistic influences are evident throughout, from Matisse's bright paper cutouts to pop art and mid-century design. Vibrant Quilt Collage will help you expand the boundaries of art quilting through imagination, inspiration, and fusion.

This comprehensive how-to book explores all the concepts and techniques involved in creating art quilts, including composition and design; making whole-cloth, pieced, and appliquéd art quilts; fabric manipulation and surface design; quilting/stitching; embellishing; and working in a series. Readers will find easy access to information with step-by-step directions and hundreds of full-color photos for clear understanding. Easy projects provide opportunities for the reader to try the techniques, and galleries of art quilts by various fabric artists offer beautiful examples and enticing inspiration.