Review of Twelve By Twelve

Wow! Ok, I have to admit that I love art quilt books. It's the eye candy that calls out to me. However, I don't always have time to really delve into a book before I buy it so what happens is that I get it home and somewhere past the first chapter I wind up flipping through the rest of it until something strikes my fancy. Many of these books wind up in the bookcase collecting dust and not looked at again because there really was nothing past the first chapter that spoke to me.
Twelve by Twelve is not like that. This is a book that has lots in it for all of us. It is the coming together of twelve artists who, over time developed a special relationship with each other and their art. This group made a commitment to create 12 pieces of art each based on 12 themes over the course of 2 years. Each piece was 12" x12" and had a deadline of 2 months. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a theme and we get to visit with the artist who chose the theme. We find out why the subject was chosen and get to see how the piece developed. We also get a real in depth interview about each artist and a "tour" of their studio's. Some are large, some are closet sized. Each other artist has a short explanation of the piece they created for that theme's challenge. There are also extra pages on some of the techniques used and other useful information. There are 144 quilts to drool over.
The Twelve artists are: Deborah Boschert, Gerrie Congdon, Helen L. Conway, Kirsten Duncan, Terry Grant, Diane Perin Grant, Francoise Jamart, Kristin La Flamme, Karen Rips, Brenda Gael Smith, Terri Stegmiller, and Nikki Wheeler. Their website/blog is www.Twelveby12.org.
The book is published by Lark crafts and has an ISBN 978-1-60059-666-7

Run, don't walk and pick it up. You will not regret it.

If you read my earlier post, you will know that I received this book directly from Lark. Since I was going to buy it before I got it free, I decided to go ahead and purchase it anyway and give it away to someone who reads my blog. One person will be picked randomly....However, there is a twist and a hitch. I would like the winner to make a contribution to the American Cancer Society of at least $10 if your name is chosen.I will pick a winner on Sunday, March 6th.