September 2, 2013
Schaefer (Cozy Modern Quilts) takes but two pages for general instructions on how to quilt before getting to the point: crafting quilts based on variations on the theme of black and white together: “Black-and-white quilts have a boldness and beauty that is timeless,” she writes in her brief introduction. Although there are projects that serve the newbie well, this is not a beginner’s quilt book (instructions for individual projects take no more than two pages). It presents ideas for execution: 24 projects—lap and wall quilts, table runners and place mats—that play with black-and-white (or white-and-black) cotton. Some are pieced (“Making Tracks” and “Licorice Medley”); some appliquéd (the appliqué patterns are provided as pull-outs); some settle into strips; some, such as “String of Circles,” shout with bright circles; some are neutral, beiges or tans contrasting with black, as in “Tile Works” and “Interweave”; and some are splashed with color, such as “Paintbox Circles,” which applies raw-edged (pinked) circles to a canvas of black and white.