Book Club: More Fabric Art Collage by Rebekah Meier

It's time for our July Book Club!  Just as a reminder, each month I choose a crafty book from my bookshelf and create something inspired by the book.   I hope you'll be inspired to do the same.

This month I chose More Fabric Art Collage by Rebekah Meier.

I also own the first book in this series, Fabric Art Collage.  And that book is the reason that Rebekah and I met.  Come with me on a trip down memory lane:

At one of my first CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) shows, I saw a woman in the ladies room with a fabulous bag.  I complimented her.  She thanked me and told me that it was a technique from her book.  I asked her for the title of her book.  She told me and I told her that I had just bought her book.  What a coincidence!  We introduced ourselves and she told me that she remembered seeing me on an episode of Quilting Arts TV.  What a small world!

Personal relationship aside, I chose Rebekah's book because it is packed with awesome information for art quilters, mixed media artists, and paper people alike.  Rebekah's first book had 40 techniques.  This one has a whopping 64.  I have to use the word "packed" again in order to describe this book because it is packed with colorful photos and examples.

Let's take a look at the table of contents:

• Introduction
• Tools & Supplies: Very comprehenisve at six pages long.  Gives you plenty of information about choosing the right tools and supplies.
• Surface Design: Includes collagraph, stenciling, and thermofax screens.
• Resists, Paints, and Washes: Includes monoprints, soy wax batik, and acrylic resists.
• Fabrics and Foundations: Includes painted felt, paper towel fabric, and tea bag fabric.
• Acrylic Texture Mediums: Includes gesso, fluid mediums, and gel mediums.
• Stabilizers and Alternative Materials: Includes Lutrador, Timtex, Peltex, and fast2fuse.
• Paper Techniques: Includes painted wallpaper, painted tissue paper, and Mul-Tex.
• Embellishments: Includes clay buttons, reverse appliqué, and metal tape.
• Display: In this chapter Rebekah makes suggestions for how to display your fabric art collages.
• Scrap Magic: Examples of how to use scraps to create ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) and greeting cards.
• Projects: Seven projects with step-by-step directions, which incorporate many of the techniques from the book.  Projects include a Mixed Media Tapestry and a Tag Book.
• Gallery
• Resources
• About the Author

All of the artwork in the book is Rebekah's and she has a very distinct style.  I would call it geometric shabby chic.  Her color palette tends towards the very soft and pretty pastels.  Very romantic.  But of course, you can take any of the techniques and make them work with your own color palette and personal style.

Here's what I made (and the photos do not do the shiny metal justice):

I used Rebekah's method for embossing foil tape.  

When I first looked through this book I was a bit overwhelmed.  It is so densely packed (there's that word again) with information that it actually feels a little intimidating.  Each page is full to the brim with instructions and images and examples.  My eyes keep darting across the overfull pages instead of focusing on the task at hand.  But now that I've worked on a project inspired by the book I can tell you that I'm looking forward to diving in again soon!  

More Fabric Art Collage would be a great addition to any crafty library.  I think it's particularly useful to someone who is looking for an overview of many different techniques.  It's like a mixed media sampler.  You get a little taste of many different flavors.

As a special bonus, and thanks to the generosity of Doris Donnerstag, I have a copy of Rebekah's first book in this series, Fabric Art Collage up for grabs!  

Doris was kind enough to send me several art books and, as you know from my trip down memory lane, this is one that I already own.  So I'm delighted to send the new copy off to a happy home!

If you would like to win a copy of Fabric Art Collage, leave an answer to the following question in the comments section of this blog:

What is your favorite art/craft book and why?

I'll announce the winner this weekend (along with a brand new blog feature - yay!)  

Thanks for stopping by!

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P.S. For easy reference all these "Book Club" posts are archived under the "Book Club" logo in the far right column of the blog.  You can also grab a "Book Club" button for your blog if you'd like!