Book Cover Quilts

Join me for this crazy little exploration in quilt blocks.

For each book I read in 2025 I am making a quilt block inspired by the cover. Not necessarily by the book or the story itself, but by the cover. So it is really a block inspired by the book designer’s work. And they would have been guided by the contents of the book. Sometimes the covers use original artwork, created just for this purpose, sometimes they pull from existing artwork.

Credit where credit is due - for both the book designers themselves and the woman who gave me the idea for this project. Margaret Fleisher did a similar thing for a 100 day project a few years ago. She is a great improv quilter! I was enamoured with her idea then and am doing my own version now.

I’m not here trying to make a literal interpretation of the book cover. Knowing that I am playing improvisationally I just try to capture the feel of the cover. Not every detail is included, and rarely is the text even referenced.

For example, for The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store above (amazing book by James McBride!) I used the illustration made by the designer Lauren Peters-Collaer as my started point. I picked fabrics from the scrap bin that were similar. To be honest, I debated going a bit more abstract as the human figure can be tough to translate, depending on the posture, and this posture is not an easy one. I am so glad I pursued the play! Of course, it is not exact, but it does have a clear relationship.

Don’t tell the others, but it is my favourite of the blocks so far! Probably also my favourite book of the year.

Someone on Instagram asked me if I was choosing books based on the covers. Nope! I read all sorts of books and choose them based on my mood more than anything. If you look at the books I’ve read this year I have memoir, literary fiction, historical fiction, cozy mystery, cozy Japanese, history, and more. I do consider audio books reading, so they might make the list too. Here are the books so far in 2025:

• Moon Road by Sarah Leipciger, cover art by Grant Haffner

• The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittle, cover design by Alysia Shewchuk, image by Xavier Noel

• Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock, cover illustration by Alessandro Valdrighi

• This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett, cover design by Robin Bilardello

• The Wager by David Grann, narrated by Dion Graham (this one is absolutely worth the audio book version)

• The Maid by Nita Prose, cover by Elena Giavaldi

• What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster, cover by Sara Wood

• The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr, cover by Ingrid Paulson from art by Janet Hill

• Crook Manifesto by Colton Whitehead, cover by Oliver Munday

• The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl, cover design by Charlotte Struck, with art by Billy Renkl

• The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, cover by Lauren Peters-Collaer

• The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, translated by Jesse Kirkwood, cover by Vi-An Nguyen

I’m not the kind of person who sets reading goals. As long as I read every day - even if only for a few minutes before bed - I am content. I usually keep a list of books read for the year and I finish about 20-30. So I am looking at the this list and kind of surprised I am already through a dozen!

For the blocks, I wait until I’ve finished 3 books, then I make the 3 blocks. It becomes a little afternoon of playtime and remembering the books. If you want to follow along a little more ‘live’ then make sure to check out Instagram. As for what I will do with the blocks? That remains to be determined.

Ellery - Play with Improv Curves and Hand Dyed Fabric

Ellery

72” x 72”

She’s the kind of girl that smiles with her whole body. Just being around her makes you feel better about your day, your choices, your life. Yet she isn’t a relentless cheerleader or terribly outgoing. She just is the way she is and that way is full of light.

I started this quilt during a very dark time. A few years back I was in the midst of a clinically diagnosed depression. I was put on meds, went through months and months to find the right ones for me. I did some therapy, I went back outside, and I made. Thankfully, making never went away for me when the dark days were strong. But I did need to find a bit of extra joy in the making.

Pink is such a happy colour to me. In a way, I was kind of forcing it, choosing to play with pink. Fake it until you make it! And pink with my ultimate comfort block: the improv curves? I won't lie, it did make me feel better. Not a cure for depression, but a very good step in finding my way again. I am so much better now, but she is still giving me joy.

Hand quilting the entire thing, even when I am not that good at it, was the right call. Sometimes you need to sit with things longer. Sometimes you need to be reminded of what she brings you. Dark beginnings, but a contented outcome. (Even with the wobbly stitches and big accidental deviation from my quilting plan.) I used a collection of pink 8W threads, I think most were Eleganza by Wonderfil. I marked the quilt with my Hera marker only because I never trust marking pens to come out. It was a bit of a challenge when I was quilting in the dark mornings of winter, but nothing is impossible. When I started I was stab stitching, the only way I had hand quilted before. I didn’t like the results, though, so I watched Tara Faughnah’s course on hand quilting and was able to find a rocking motion that helped, even if I could only ever pick up two stitches at a time. My results were more even and that’s what mattered.

Now, I have hand quilted an entire quilt before, but smaller ones. I really liked doing it and can see myself doing it again. Indeed, I am finding that doing my Morning Make at home without a machine available is inspiring some hand work ideas. I see myself adding handwork elements and now entire quilts to the creative routine.

The background I chose was a bold large scale floral from Ruby Star Society. I wanted to pattern match but did not buy enough fabric, so there is one corner that contrasts, with a big yellow curve cut into the floral. Yellow is equally a happy colour so it is a fun addition.

To bind her I returned to the hand dyed fabric stash (all the pinks are hand dyes) and pulled this bold turquoise. Another happy colour! You know I love a contrasting binding and this felt so perfect.

My mental health is a lot better now and while I cannot give full credit to quilt making, I have no doubt that this quilt played a role in my recovery.

Wren - A Scrap Quilt of Happiness

Wren

78” x 80”

She’s the joyous girl of sunshine. She grew up in a hippie community on an island. It’s easy to be easy going when you grow up surrounded by peace and love. Sure, there is always an underbelly to that and life is always far from perfect. She chooses to move forward with love, however, no matter what happens. As a result, she spreads that calm and joyous nature to the people around her. At night, she retreats and regroups, a little bit alone in her personal sorrow. But without pain you can’t feel joy, right?

This quilt was a wonderful bit of therapy. I mean that both in the making and the end result. She started from a literal pile of scraps that my son threw on the floor as a toddler. Rather than put them away I started sewing them together right from the floor! Fast forward a decade and I pulled it out to make it bigger through some play.

You see, a few eyers ago I faced a rather deep hole of depression. No specific trigger or anything, but life was hard and I turtled. It happens and I am grateful for the support of family and friends and therapy and medication that helped me through. But there I was laying in bed one day, the quilt over me reflected in the light fixture above. The pinks in the chrome with the spots of crystal struck something in me. At that moment I decided to pull out some pink fabrics and play. Why pink? It’s simply a happy colour to me. I made one quilt top, then I decided to play with another. The first one I am in the midst of hand quilting, the second took a trip to the long arm rental with me. She’s done now.

That light fixture has seen some things! It was such a splurge for a light that we don’t actually turn on much (I am one of those people who doesn’t like to be in a room with overhead lights on.) Despite that, she brings me joy every day, reflecting the room around her and the light itself.

After making the initial quilt top a functional size, I set out to make a back that gave me as much joy as the front. I used some precious, favourite fabric from Denise Schmidt I’d been holding on to plus a few others from the stash. Life’s too short for an ugly quilt back!

This was not the quilt for fancy quilting. It is essentially one giant slab quilt with a riotous mix of fabrics. Quilting is for texture here more than anything. That being said, I ended up getting a bit fancy! I started with wavy lines across the quilt in pink, peach, and yellow. Sometimes they overlap, mostly they don’t. It wasn’t until I was off the long arm that I decided on some additions. My first thought was the odd line of hand quilting in waves, just for fun. Then I decided on some words. If this was the quilt that helped me through my depression, then I wanted some reminders to keep my mental health in a good state. So I started stitching words right in to the quilt. Both embroidery and quilting in one.

Connect

Relax

Laugh

Walk

Make Love

These are the actions I need to remember moving forward. As I healed, I learned that I need these things (plus creating, but that is a given) to help me on a regular basis. If I do these things, I can make it through anything. Stitching them through the quilt was a good moment of reflection, and their subtlety in the quilt is like a little message for me - or anyone else - using the quilt.

Of course I wasn’t quite done with the hand stitching. After finding the perfect pink binding (an old favourite from Emma Jean Jansen) in my stash, I went with the big stitch for closing the binding. Yes, this works well and holds up to washing, in case you were wondering. It’s a rather nice way to put a finishing touch on a quilt full of love and joy.

Desktop Inspired Quilt Top

From this…

To this…

Back in 2018 I had the opportunity to go to Montreal to teach at Courtepointe Quebec, a lovely quilt show held in the suburbs of Montreal. I had to lean on my very shallow memory of high school French as my driver and many students didn’t speak English at all. We were in an old school with no air conditioning in a heat wave. Despite all that, we had a fabulous time! One day, on a break with some students, we discovered the art installation made from old desks. We were talking about being inspired by the world around us, including these desks. I remember coming home and experimenting just to see if I could make a block that referenced those desks. A little improv curve action made it happen. I made a few then folded them up and put them in the closet.

Now, as I am in the process of cleaning, sorting, and getting ready to move my sewing room, these old projects are seeing some light of day. That, and I updated my list of Quilts Under Construction after these recent finishes. I wanted to work on something “new” but not really start something new. A dive into the vaults served that purpose.

I didn’t like the blocks just plain. Right idea, ineffective design. Going back to the original inspiration I decided to try setting them so they popped off the background. Honestly, I have no idea why I chose the pinks/reds, but I think they work. I did not have enough of any one colour, so used 3 different ones. Their placement is random, but all being so close in value they read well together.

For me, this is a small quilt. It finishes a bit over 40” x 50”. So, really, just a baby quilt. But I didn’t have any more of that dominant alphabet print to make more blocks. Plus, this size keeps it as a quick finish. I have no idea when I will touch this quilt again, but for now the memories can live more strongly than my French skills!