Color Shuffle: New Quilts from Karla Alexander Paperback – October 13, 2009

I love the quilts, as always. You can see them on the quilt show with Alex Anderson (episode 603) . You can also see them in her gallery at Saginaw Street Quilts . She uses wild colors --which I love--but I have seen her quilts in soft florals and structured Asians. The quilts are all rotary cut and pieced as apposed to applique or paper pieced . There are 16 quilts in the book.There are so many different construction techniques--the wavy half squares and semi-applique of Somersault, the curved piecing in Blue Moon , the calming geometric Plaid Passion and Quilters Weave . I am part way through 2 of these and her directions are so precise they help a perpetual intermediate like me figure it all out. Most $25 or $30 books are variations on one or 2 quilts , this a true explosion of creativity coupled with the ability to explain how to do it. A bargain to be sure . Its actually fun and I gain the confidence , as I have with her prior books to do it my way however strange that may be, enlarging, transferring techniques, shrinking or growing the squares,using fabric with frogs or cars or almost-naked hikers or shades of blue or black and white . My 20 something kids love the quilts, my 80 something MIL likes them in softer fabrics and I love them just as they are.All of the quilts are do-able . None of them are the uncoordinated mash of bright colors and big prints that I think of as "fabric in a blender". One of my two kids loves that look. Let her make her own quilt, I say. Karla uses a million pieces of fabric , but there is structure and consequently movement in each quilt. She's an artist not just a seamstress .No, I am not her sister or best friend. I am eagerly awaiting a 2012 book.

This book is more of Karla's great ideas. Even if you struggle to be creative (as I do), her methods can make everyone (including yourself) believe you really are creative! And if you are already creative, you will go crazy using her patterns and methods. It is great fun - once you make one of Karla's patterns, you'll have to do more. They are easy, beautiful, and open ended for adaptations. Don't miss out!

Karla Alexander not only is a great designer of quilts, but she's a master at color. The book is a feast of eye candy. She chooses intense colors that photograph beautifully. As soon as I bought the book, I identified several pieces that I wanted to do. I finished the first one last night. She had created the quilt in Amy Butler soft blues and greens. I chose to do mine in Kaffe fabrics in more intense greens, blues, and pinks. Her directions are extremely clear. I am ready to quilt my new top and start another of her fabulous designs. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for some exciting, contemporary designs!

The designs in this book are very dynamic and give you lots of license to play with prints and colors. The "stack the deck" method makes mixing up your prints a snap!The one drawback for the book is that there are several patterns which use Y-seams and curved piecing, which can be a bit daunting for the inexperienced quilter. But once you get past it, the patterns are fabulous and turn out great!

Seems like new, fast delivery, and excellent patterns and pictures.

Carla's techniques are really easy. You don't need to use batiks but they sure make up beautifully. She makes complicated quilts go together easily. There will be companion rulers for this book end of May--I just took a class with her. She's a doll!

Lively and colorful quilts, very well explained technique, well photographed, you can read this and use it as a jumping off point to design your own quilts. A lot of fun, especially when you get to that point.

I think I have all of Karla Alexander's books (except the baby quilts book), but this book has fewer that appeal to me than the middle two she wrote. I've made several quilts from New Cuts and New Deck, but doubt I'll do any of these - time will tell, but this book is not making my fingers itch to get started the way the others did. The nicest quilt in the book is the cover piece, but since it relies on commercial batiks and I don't generally buy commercial fabrics, I may or may not ever try it. Homemade hand-dyes and commercial batiks are sometimes not interchangeable. Who knows - I still might try one..... but no promises.