About the Author

Carol Gilham Jones lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with her sweetheart, Charles, and their dogs, Sumo and Grace. Carol and Bobbi Finley had the good fortune of meeting at a San Francisco Bay Area quilting retreat in 1990. The friendship that grew out of their meeting soon included working together on quilts, despite their geographic distance. After collaborating on many quilt projects over the years, they wrote their first book together, Tile Quilt Revival: Reinventing a Forgotten Form, which was published by C&T Publishing in 2010.

Carol's quilts have twice appeared on the cover of the magazine Quilters Newsletter and in many other publications, including Judi Warren Blaydon's Collage+Cloth=Quilt, published by C&T Publishing in 2010. In 2004 and 2005, a quilt Carol made with Bobbi and Georgann Eglinski traveled throughout Japan in the exhibition Japanese Imagery in One Hundred Quilts, which featured the work of 75 artists from Japan and 25 from other countries.

Reviews

Tile Quilt Revival by by Carol Gilham Jones & Bobbi Finley. I've always been drawn to murals made out of tiles and this quilt book is right there to satisfy my predeliction for them. This type of quilt was popular in the 19th Century. The ones in the book use contemporary fabrics to modernize this charming quilting tradition that I was not aware of. Oh, I've seen some quilts that look like mosaics, but these look more like tile when you browse the 6 projects they include. I look forward to making a tile quilt in the near future. If you've seen one or two, tell me about it. I'd like to learn more about these beauties.--April 2, 2010

It looked like something I've been thinking about since seeing these curtains on the Anthropologie website. I have been thinking about making them since the summer but, just never had the energy. My next thought was to make a quilt using the same idea because I do not have good warm blankets. Well, I only have one. When I saw the Anthropologie curtain I knew immediately where the motifs came from. I have two books with them inside. The Tile Quilt Revival book took my idea to another thought because it suggests drawing a picture, cutting out the different shapes and leaving space between them. C&T has it so you can see a preview of the book. If you are in the market for a new reference book I recommend this book. I like to work with large pieces which is why the Anthropologie curtain appealed to me. I put it all together and came up with this.--Brandy Wine, 12/5/09 "12/5/09 "

Jones and Finley are bringing back an old technique in Tile Quilt Revival. Applique is placed, leaving margins between the pieces like tile grout or stained glass. Think needle-turn applique or simple fusing.--. "American Quilt Retailer, January 1, 2010 "

These beautiful pieces have a stained-glass look, but lighter and airier. Construction-wise, instead of leading applied over the raw edges of the shapes, these shapes are finished with turned edges, and the background is left exposed to create the spaces between shapes. Tile Quilt Revival: Reinventing a Forgotten Form is Carol and Bobbi's fascinating, educational, and inviting book that reintroduces this unique and somewhat obscure form of applique quilt. Tile quilts are explained this way: Traditional tile quilts. are constructed with small pieces of cotton fabric appliqued in a random manner to a white background, leaving a narrow space between the pieces; this white space serves as the grout between the tiles or mortar between the pavers or stones. The books starts out with a brief history of tile quilts, with great photos showing examples from the past. Then comes a section on how to make a tile quilt, reinterpreted for today. When I read the following, the heavens opened up and I heard the heavenly choir! The tile quilt technique, with its large and simple shapes, creates an ideal showcase for bold, contemporary fabrics. Interesting, large-scale prints are will suited for the tile pieces. If you've ever found yourself admiring some of the daring prints now available but wondering how to use them, a tile quilt is an idea project for putting them to good use. Hallelujah! I have a tub of fabrics in my stash labeled Modern that has been. well. sitting there. Now my daring prints have a destiny! The techniques used in the book are so simple they're ingenious! No need to consider seam allowances, to reverse patterns, or to figure out where to place the pieces. Another really great thing about this book is that it has fantastic applique instructions.--. "All About Applique, March 3, 2010 "