By Patricia Belyea
WAUCONDA WA Our octogenarian friend Kaffe (rhymes with safe) has written another colorful quilty book! The three-pound tome, Kaffe Fassett’s Timeless Themes, arrived in my mailbox yesterday.
Twenty-three luscious quilts are featured using fabrics designed by Kaffe, his partner Brandon Mably, and Philip Jacobs, from the past and present.
I picked out my favorite quilt in the book. Striped Squares is found in Chapter One called Bold Stripes.
Kaffe writes about making a beloved quilt for his book Passionate Patchwork out of classic men’s shirt stripes. His new version uses two scales of stripes from his current fabric collection of woven Indian stripes.
A fun detail is a petite block made out of four triangles of black and white striped fabric.
Like any good craft book, there’s everything you need to make the quilt in the back.
Are there flowers, you wonder? Of course. Lots of Flowers, big and small.
And Foliage. And Sprays. And Vases to put them all in.
For lovers of geometry, there are Complex Stripes and Circles. For those with no interest in geometry, there are Organic Forms.
Kaffe has mixed traditional quilt designs with his heady fabrics to make something old and something new. The ideas inspire and incite a need to go play with fabric!
The book takes readers on a journey through time and around the world. And it once again shares Kaffe’s love of the beautiful and the bold!
GUILD TIP: Two years ago, when the book Kaffe Fassett In The Studio was released, I interviewed Kaffe for one hour on Zoom. Program Chairs are welcome to use the Zoom recording for a presentation at a guild meeting for free. +access the video
Photos in Kaffe's books and the portrait of Kaffe Fassett above © Debbie Patterson.
ABOUT US: Okan Arts, a petite family business, is co-owned by mother-daughter duo Patricia Belyea and Victoria Stone. Patricia and Victoria sell Japanese textiles online, host creative quilting experiences, and lead quilting & textile tours to Japan.
FOLLOW OKAN ARTS ON INSTAGRAM @okanarts
