Author and illustrator Debra Frasier was invited to lecture on this topic to the Western North Carolina Textile Study Group, and the public, in mid-November 2017. This is the bibliography that accompanies Debra’s presentation, with book selections by Debra Frasier and Vicki Palmquist.
If you would like to invite Debra to give this presentation to your group, please contact her.
Download a print version of this bibliography.
Books are listed in order of appearance in the presentation.
INTRODUCTION TO THE PICTURE BOOK FORM
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Spike, Ugliest Dog in the Universe Collaged worn blue jeans with other textiles and papers. |
THREE HISTORICAL INSPIRATIONS
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The Lady and the Unicorn, as seen in the Musée de Cluny, Paris, France. The Bayeux Tapestry, written by David M. Wilson, “The Complete Stitching Stars, The Story Quilts of Harriet Powers, Lyons, Mary E, African-American Artists and Artisans series, 1993, Charles Scribner’s & Sons, historical overview of late 1860’s, slave life, and Ms. Powers’ works and history. |
A QUIRKY SURVEY OF TEXTILE TECHNIQUES
USED IN ILLUSTRATIONS
FOR CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS
QUILTED INSPIRATIONS
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The Alphabet Atlas Machine quilted, collaged continents |
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Hummingbirds Nonfiction combined with mythic, all quilted |
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Patchwork Folk Art, Using Appliqué & Quilting Techniques Not a children’s picture book but an excellent introduction to narrative in patchwork collage. |
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Mrs. Noah’s Patchwork Quilt Presents a how-to along with the story of Mrs. Noah’s quilt, and a back pocket includes patterns of quilt pieces appearing in the illustrations. |
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Tar Beach Based on one of Ringgold’s quilts held by the Guggenheim Museum. The story arc and quilt borders all carried over to the picture book so, in this case, the book is inspired by the quilt. |
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Quiltmaker’s Gift In which the creation of a quilt changes the heart of a greedy king. Each page features a different quilt block that fits into the context of the story. |
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Keeping Quilt A quilt made from a family’s clothing is passed down in various guises for more than a century, a symbol of their enduring love and faith. |
CLOTH AND THINGS IN THE SEWING BASKET
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Pat the Bunny Spiral bound with a small trim-size, this classic book uses actual bits of fabric to “feel” and “lift.” |
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Wag A Tail Collaged papers and cloth, with buttons and “pinking shear” edging throughout. |
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Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf Burlap, kite tails, string and bits of cloth are used in the collages. |
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Joseph Had a Little Overcoat The main character—a diminishing coat—is actual cloth and is collaged with other bits of cloth curtains, rugs and clothing, and then all adhered to a painted surface. |
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Mama Miti Nelson has combined cloth with painting for both landscapes and clothing. |
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Hands Ehlert has used actual objects: work gloves, apron swatch, sewing tools, scissors, pattern tissue—in this ode to making things as a child. |
PAPER TREATED AS CLOTH
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Paper Illusions, The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave Lavish photographs of life-sized paper costumes made to match Renaissance period cloth using painting, folding, gluing, stitching to create the illusion of cloth. |
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Mole’s Hill: a Woodland Tale Inspired by Woodland Indians ribbon appliqué and sewn beadwork, the paper is often dotted and pieced as if stitched and beaded. An author note describes this handwork and how it inspired her approach. |
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Seeds of Change Distinctive Kenyan-styled flower print dress patterns are used as the inspiration for paintings of dresses and mirrored in landscapes. |
STITCHING
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Fabric Pictures Not a children’s picture book but an excellent workshop-in-a-book on creating narratives with appliqué. |
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Baby’s First Book Hand sewn felt, vintage fabrics, buttons, and stitched lettering collaged for a baby’s compendium of subjects. ALL items and backgrounds made of cloth. |
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Downes uses fine fabrics appliquéd with rich embroidery, incorporating a consistent running stitch to outline and embellish. |
CLOTH AS SUBJECT
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Cloth Lullaby, The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois The illustrator uses woven lines, [similar to some of Bourgeois’ later drawings] to create a textile sensibility in the illustrations amid the early years, and then the same vocabulary is used to visually describe the sculpture of her adult artist years. |
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A Pattern for Pepper From Herringbone to Dotted Swiss, from Argyle to Toile—a visit to a tailor’s shop becomes a compendium of fabric patterns with each fabric sampled in the hunt for the perfect pattern for Pepper. Oil paint and graphite on board. |
THREE-D CLOTH AND FELT
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Pocketful of Posies, A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes 64 traditional nursery rhymes are illustrated with hand-sewn fabric relief collages, including dozens of figures. |
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Felt-Wee-Folk, 120 Enchanting Dolls This is a how-to book for creating characters and scenes as pictured in Pocketful of Posies. |
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Cozy Classics Entirely illustrated by felted 3-D characters that are set in an environment, superbly lit, and photographed to tell classic tales in one word page turns. Several classic titles are included in this series. |
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Roarr, Calder’s Circus Using bits of Calder’s spoken text from the film of his hand manipulated circus, Kalman expands the language and characterizations. Calder’s circus characters of wire and cloth are photographed and then collaged across the double-page spread. |
THE DYED BOOK
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We Got Here Together Shibori, a resist dyeing method, is used to pattern Japanese gampi tissue paper (long fibered tissue) as ocean and rain, in both pipe resist and braided resist techniques, respectively. Shibori tissue paper is combined with Japanese dyed sheets in collages on illustration board. |
SPECIAL GUEST
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Catharine Ellis, self published, three titles: Cape Cod: The Present, Blue, and Mapping Color (written by Nancy Penrose, illustrated by Catharine Ellis). Find Catharine’s resources and publications here. (Each of these chapbooks is illustrated using photographs of natural dyed fabrics, sometimes additionally stitched on the surfaces, while abstractly defining the text.) |
What are your favorite books illustrated with textiles? Send us your recommendations.
What a great listing! Working with fabrics is such an art! I also enjoy Anna Grossnickle Hines’s book “Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts” (2003). Another book that involves texture is Suzanne Del Rizzo’s “My Beautiful Birds” (2017). If I’m remembering correctly, polymer clay is used to achieve the texture , but many pages offer the feeling of cloth and embroidery.