Improv quilting, in which quilt designs emerge organiƯcally as fabric is cut and stitched, is simple, popular, and fun. In this book, expert quilter Patricia Belyea offers improv instruction and shares her appealing Quilt Manifesto of five simple rules. While providing quilters with a starting point, the fifth rule of the Manifesto, Break any rule you like,? opens the door to creative freedom. (However, the solid instructions allow even the rule-breakers...

Japanese homes speak to the soul and provide a contemplative environment from which to experience the world. Japan Style offers rare glimpses into twenty exquisite traditional homes in Japan. The lavish photographs in this volume demonstrate how Japanese design achieves a timeless tranquility using a few very simple, natural elements. The wabi-sabi ideal, translated loosely by Frank Lloyd Wright as a "rusticity and simplicity that borders on loneliness,"...

"The Japanese word kanzashi originally referred to decorative pins as part of the traditional female hairstyles. These pins were often works of art in themselves, holding in place elaborate floral arrangements made with natural or silk flowers. Today, kanzashi encompasses flowers made from regular fabrics. Sylvie Blondeau shows you how to make 65 of these simply stunning designs. The projects are so easy and fun to make that you will soon be making...

Wabi-sabi is the Japanese ancient philosophy of finding beauty in the imperfect and embracing the humble. It is not a decorating style, but a concept that celebrates the imperfect, the transient and the time-worn. Wabi-sabi is alive and well in many Japanese homes, where frayed, weathered and worn items are treasured, and modest, everyday objects are given elevated status by being displayed in a measured way. In Wabi-Sabi Home, Mark and Sally Bailey...