Quilts, by Roderick Kiracofe

Oh, Happy Day! Roderick Kiracofe's new book has just been released. I've been eagerly anticipating it for several months, since I learned about it from him through Facebook. Recently, I learned he would be self-publishing the book through Blurb, and that got me even more excited! The book is simply called "Quilts" and it's the first book we have seen from Kiracofe since 1994, when he authored "Cloth and Comfort: Pieces of Women's Lives from Their Quilts and Diaries" (Clarkson Potter).

The previous year he authored the seminal book, "The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950"(also Clarkson Potter). Kiracofe also wrote the introductions for "A Quilter's Wisdom" (1994, Chronicle Books) and "Going West! Quilts and Community" (2007, Smithsonian American Art Museum). And of course, he also produced five editions of "The Quilt Digest" with Michael Kile, between 1983 and 1987.

The new book examines the visually sophisticated, improvisational quilts of the second half of the 20th century, and it's full of eye candy! In the introduction, he calls the quilts "the extraordinary made from the ordinary" and considers their context within the world of art.

"Much has been made of the particular threshold between a consideration of quilts as artworks and their value in the home as masterpieces of make-do that bring warmth and beauty to a quotidian context," said Kiracofe in his introduction. "This presentation of quilts, representing the different dreams and different voices of the makers, is absolutely in the interest of feeding the momentum of the ever-expanding appreciation for the innovative quiltmaking and allowing the conversations to continue with all the nuance that these works of art merit."

I agree, wholeheartedly.

The book is available in hard cover, soft cover, and e-book, and you can order it through Blurb. To preview and purchase the book, click here.