Cultural Fusion Quilts Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Today I have the pleasure of participating in a blog tour/giveaway for a wonderful new quilt book titled Cultural Fusion Quilts, authored by Sujata Shah and published by C&T Publishing. I am sure that many of you are already familiar with the talented Sujata Shah and her blog The Root Connection. If not, it is my sincere delight to introduce you to her here along with her new book.

Cultural Fusion Quilts begins with a brief introduction into Sujata's formative years growing up in India surrounded by a culture steeped in a rich textile history, followed by her coming to America as a young bride. 

Sujata initially was not the least bit interested in sewing, (in fact she once told her mother that she would rather die then hold a needle in her hand! I thought that hilarious as I also remember my own horror at the idea of quilting upon the first time my mother proudly showed me the Amish quilt she had just purchased. I simply could not imagine a more boring and tedious thing to do... God must have a grand time laughing at our young selves!)

Lucky for us, Sujata eventually found herself drawn to quilt making. The more she studied the more she came to define her own aesthetic, realizing that she was drawn to the styles, (and often surprising similarities) of the utilitarian quilts found and rooted in Indian, African and South American cultures. 

Says Sujata, "I wanted more then just straight lines in my quilt" (Amen, sister!)

This realization led to new quilt making techniques for Sujata as she began to cut her fabrics free hand with scissors instead of with rotary cutter and ruler, and experiment with new ways of creating traditional blocks in a free-form style. 

In her book Cultural Fusion Quilts, Sujata shows us 15 of her beautiful modern quilts, all based on traditional block designs, and explains how they can be made using her free-form piecing methods. The best part of working in this method is that individuality is built into this process... while you can duplicate the look of a quilt, each quilt will at the same time always be a one-of-a-kind original. 

I also have a long love of utilitarian quilts, and like Sujata, I often choose to forgo the ruler and rotary cutter, preferring to use just my scissors and internal judgement for cutting my quilt pieces. I can attest that this is a wonderful way to work! Not only are the quilts more interesting and unique, (in my opinion) the whole process is more engaging. If you have never tried working in this way before, the projects found in Cultural Fusion Quilts will be sure to make you want to try!

Each project begins with a photo of the finished quilt, along with a photo of its "Root Connection" where Sujata introduces us to the project's inspiration. Simple, straightforward step by step instructions accompany each project and then Sujata opens the door even wider by including possible variations to each quilt's design process.

One of the main attractions for me in regards to this book is that while it shows step by step quilt projects based on blocks, the blocks themselves are really technique based, (as opposed to precision cutting, piecing and/or template based.) These techniques become tools to put in our quilting-know-how tool belt, and once learned, we get to pull these techniques out time and time again to play with, explore and uniquely create with. I look forward to playing around with Sujata's techniques and can hardly wait to see where they lead me to!

Another main attraction for me is that I believe Sujata's ultimate goal is to encourage everyone to explore what inspires them, experiment with some new ways of working, and ultimately deepen their own unique, creative voice. That is a passion of mine, and I am so happy to be able to share Sujata's beautiful book and her teaching skills with all of you, as I think she helps pave the way to finding one's own creative voice excellently. It doesn't get much better then that. Thanks, Sujata!

If you would like to receive a copy of Cultural Fusion Quilts, please leave a comment below telling us what  currently inspires you in your quilt making process! Remember, only one comment per person, please, and make sure that your comment link's back to a profile with your email link, (if it doesn't, leave your email address at the end of your comment).

I will be closing comments and randomly selecting a winner on Tuesday evening, (Dec. 9th) and will post who the lucky person is on Wednesday, Dec. 10th. (If the winner is a US resident, they will receive a hard copy of the book from C&T Publishing. Any winner outside of the US will receive an E-Book that can be downloaded.) Good luck!

(This Giveaway Now Closed)

For more reviews and chances to win a copy of the book, you can visit the other blogs               

                         participating in this blog tour. Each blog will hold their own giveaway 

                               for approximately 5 days, (so be sure to check them out soon!)

Tuesday December 2 Sujata Shah @ The Root Connection

Wednesday December 3 LeeAnn Decker @ Nifty Quilts
Thursday December 4 Victoria Gertenbach @ The Silly Boodilly
Friday December 5 Rachaeldaisy @ Blue Mountain Daisy
Saturday December 6 Lori Dejarnett @ Humble Quilts
  Sunday December 7 Casey York @ The Studiolo
Monday December 8 Malka Dubrawsky @ A Stitch in Dye
Tuesday December 9 Sherri Lynn Wood @ daintytime
Wednesday December10 Bonnie Hunter @ Quiltville's Quips and Snips
Thursday December 11 Jake Finch @ Generation Q
Friday December 12 Jan Burgwinkle @ Be*mused
Saturday December 13 Janet Treen @ Quiltsalott
Sunday December 14 Lindsay Conner @ Lindsay Sews