Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in Burano

Book excerpt: Kaffe Fassett uses the colorful Venetian island of Burano to form the backdrop of another stunning collection of new quilt designs from the Kaffe Fassett Studio. In this 22nd installment of Kaffe Fassett's ever-popular series of patchwork and quilting books, the quilts have been photographed on location in Burano, a tiny island in Italy's Venetian archipelago, famous for its lace making but also for its brilliantly painted houses in a myriad jewel colors. The colorful house walls, sometimes distressed and occasionally decorated with murals, form the backdrop, along with the canals, bridges, and boats of this special Venetian island, to another wonderful selection of Kaffe's new quilt designs. The collection of 19 quilts features both new fabric designs from the Kaffe Collective and some of his Classics. Bali Brocade makes a fantastic background to Kaffe's sumptuous Shimmer Star quilt with its ripples of pattern in contrasting prints. His two versions of a very simple quilt, comes in two very different colorways. Hot Steps is a riot of color, whereas by contrast its sister quilt, Cool Steps, in dusty blues, greens, and greys has an dreamy quality. Liza Prior Lucy's rich and dark Turkish Coffee quilt, with its hint of Eastern promise, fussy cuts Kaffe's new Turkish Delight fabric to brilliant effect. Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in Burano provides all the instructional text, diagrams, and templates to make the quilts, plus a section on basic patchwork techniques for less experienced quilters.