Wednesday, June 29, 2011

"Beauty Secrets" Now Available


I am pleased to announce the bookstore is open, and the catalog is now available for my upcoming exhibit "Beauty Secrets: 150 Years of History in One Quilt Pattern" at the Benton County Museum in Philomath, Oregon from August 5th to October 1st, 2011. The exhibit will be part of their biennial Quilt County, a countywide celebration of quilts.


The book is 80-pages, full-color, and includes images of 41 New York Beauty quilts spanning 150 years. During the process of creating this catalog, I placed the quilts in a chronological timeline and a story began to surface about quilt history and changing times in America. The quilts range from pristine masterworks of American needlework to rescue quilts.


I took a very visual approach to the catalog, and that makes sense for me. In my mind, quilts are works of art first and foremost. There is enough text to suggest ways of thinking of what the collection means as a whole. A quick read, and visual kaleidoscope. It is the life story of the New York Beauty. A big thank you to the many encouraging people who have watched this project unfold.

Price: $29.95. If you would like to preview or order the book, click here.

12 comments:

  1. This book will be in my library...congratulations!

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  2. Thank you! I hope you'll enjoy it. :)

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  3. I sure wish I lived in that region so I could attend the exhibit!!!

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  4. Just ordered my copy....it will have a long journey to Australia, can't wait to see it.

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  5. Wonderful, can't wait to see it.

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  6. This looks like a "must have" book for me! The second quilt just really jumps out at me. I can't wait to see more.

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  7. I will be teaching a workshop to accompany this wonderful exhibit on October 1, 2011. I will be using the Mountain Mist Pattern for this class.
    Please look at the Benton County Museum website for details.
    Eilene Cross

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  8. I think your idea of this book is wonderful. I am a little confused, is it an e-book or a monograph? Thanks

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  9. Hi Lizzie, it's a printed monograph, not an e-book. It is 80-pages, full-color, softcover, on real paper! I published it through Blurb, so it is print-on-demand, which means they print copies when they receive orders. It usually takes about a week to ten days to receive a book after ordering. Hope that helps, but please let me know if you have any additional questions.

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  10. Hi Bill, I have a question. When I try to buy the book it will cost me AUD$35 even though the Aussie dollar is worth more than the US and has been like that for at least 6 mos. Then I add the cost of postage and it obviously becomes even more expensive. Do you know why we are charged more?

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  11. No idea, Liz, but once I have more copies in hand you could get one from me. I'll have more of a surplus once the show's up and running and the museum shop has their copies of the catalog.

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  12. I'll happily do that. I would love a copy of the book. Are you going to Houston at all this year? I will be there and could collect a copy then.

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