Seaside Quilts

Starred review from December 2, 2013
Landlubbers and beachcombers alike will find something sewable in this book dedicated to the seaside. Porter (co-author, Patchwork Pantry) and Hansen (Angle Antics) begin with colors inspired by sunsets and sand, boats and surfboards, beach glass and glass floats. They have devised projects from large quilts to small hot pads, each sounding a beach note, echoed by quilting patterns bearing appropriate names like “Ocean Waves,” “Nautilus,” and “Summer Winds.” Among the most comely quilts is “Irish Chain” in blue and white; vintage tablecloths fill the centers of picnic blankets. The authors offer variations on a theme; for example, the “Beach Glass” quilting pattern shrinks from a bedcover to a wall hanging to placemats (although orange in the color choices seems odd for beach glass). The decorative projects include a skeletal fish fashioned from driftwood and a tray coiled from scraps. The authors’ headnotes are more pedestrian than poetic in style, but their designs splash (“Under the Sea”). At the end, they include patterns for appliquéd designs as well as instructions for appliquéing and mitering.