Book Review: Unconventional & Unexpected: American Quilts Below the Radar by Roderick Kiracofe

I recently read and pored over every picture in this delightful book by Roderick Kiracofe.  He has assembled a unique collection of quilts from yard sales, online auctions & thrift stores.  Although most people wouldn't call any of these quilts traditionally beautiful, most are visually striking in some way.  Included with the plentiful images are essays by various quilt and fiber art experts including curators of museums and well-known quilters Denyse Schidt and Kaffe Fassett.

What makes this book so great is the celebration of quilts that were everyday quilts - the ones we actually grew up sleeping under.  Not the precise patterns and carefully selected color schemes that hobbyists and sewing professionals (like myself) create these days, but the haphazard collection of fabrics from a multitude of sources, sewn together in meager spare time.  Maybe there was no filling, perhaps the backing was something strange, and it may not have been quilted, but it was a quilt we loved.

The quilts of my youth were of this type.  They came from my great aunt, who made them to keep family members warm in the 40s and 50s.  Her husband was a tailor and he gave her old suiting samples.  The wool rectangles were usually 4"x8" and pinked on all sides.  My aunt sewed them up in random combinations as she received them, backed the assemblage with cut up old shirts and always tied the quilt with bright red acrylic yarn.  There was no batting, but these quilts were very heavy and extremely warm.  They were oddly attractive, dark and broody, but with shocking bits of red.  No one else I know had anything like them.

If you had quilts like this in your past, this is the book for  you.  Actually, if you are any type of quilter or artist, this book is for you.  This book celebrates the creative streak that everyone has, wacky ideas made real, recycling (but not upcycling!), tenacity, and personal endeavors of all kinds.  

My favorite essay in the book is by Janneken Smucker. She says, " As a quilt historian I've refuted many times the myth of the scrap  bag quilt, insisting that historical quits typically were high-style objects of the middle and upper classes, rather than utilitarian ones crafted with an economy of means.  An then I see the collection of quilts R.K. has assembled over the last decade, .... exhibiting creative reuse, unconventional design, and an awareness of quilt making traditions ...  These quilts make me think I know nothing about quilts.  These quilts break the rules".  

This is a highly recommended read.