Product Description

A book devoted to the images of cats adorning quilts dating from 1840 to the mid-20th century. Fox discusses the changing styles and techniques of quilt making over the past 100 years. Each photograph is accompanied by poetry or prose from works by Emily Dickinson, T.S. Elliot and others.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #996525 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

From Booklist
Any longtime feline fancier will confirm the title of former museum curator Fox's book: cats are not only on, but under, atop, and beside quilts, since our four-legged friends instinctively gravitate toward homemade comfort. The author lends credibility to her display of more than 45 quilts by, first, detailing the history of cat illustrations, whether in stitchery or other artwork, and, second, imbuing the gallery of examples with scholarship by the inclusion of a verse or text for almost every entry. Writers such as Emily Dickinson and Harper Lee are paired with crazy, appliqued, and just plain "cat" quilts, made by American women, ranging from a Maryland asylum inmate to a Nebraska grandmother. A purr-fect book for lovers of cats or quilts. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Wonderful creativity on show
Having decided from the beginning that each quilt should have a cat on it somewhere, I ordered this book to see examples of how people in the past have represented cats on quilts. The liveliness of representation of cats is quite amazing, with many of the quilts managing to capture the way a cat looks and behaves - no mean feat, you only have to look at available cat fabrics to see how rare this is.
This is a small book, with each page containing detail from one quilt and I'd recommend it strongly to anyone interested in seeing in close-up detail how cats have been pictured on old quilts. I think it's a wonderful book.

Smart, funny & beautiful
This is a FANTASTIC book. The quilts that the author chose to include are unique, one-of-a-kind pieces and often display a wonderful sense of humor. (Take, for instance, the quilt which features blocks with the head and front paws of a kitty, and the disappearing hind end of a mouse escaping from the kitty.) The excerpts from different writings about cats are understated and thoughtful, and the author provides a great mini-history of textiles in America. This book moved me into high gear in my own quilting and is an ongoing source of keen pleasure. If you don't quilt, if you just like cats, you'll love the book because of its folk-art depictions of cats; if you like cats AND quilting, this book will make you feel like someone let you loose in the catnip patch.

For lovers of both cats and quilts
This sweet book would make a nice gift - it is full of whimsical and unusual examples of cat motifs on American country quilts. Many cat-related books are a bit saccharine for my taste but this is a refreshing and delightful change of pace