Book review: Ghost Layers by Katie Pasquini Masopust

It sounds dismissive to say Ghost Layers and Color Washes is a one-idea book: creating three layers to make up your image or pictorial block. The first a base layer (a design based on a photo or drawing); then a ghost layer which adds depth and transparency (it's colours are lighter or darker than the base block's); the third a colour wash (simple watercolour brush strokes) to add colour. The resulting pattern is your block, which you construct using turned-edge appliqué. But when you realise the possibilities of the technique, you realise you could probably use this it for the rest of your life and still be excited by it.

The first part of the book explains, very carefully and clearly, the technique. Then there's a step-by-step project applying what you've just learned. The next 32 pages are explanations of how larger projects are made, featuring works of the author. This is followed by 10 pages of works by students, which not only prove that this isn't a technique only the originator can do, but also show how different personalities interpret and use the technique differently.

The how-to section of this book needs to be read thoroughly, and chapter by chapter. Tempting though it is to rush in and try your hand at this technique, spending the time familiarising yourself with it first will save you frustration. The section is short and well illustrated, and once you've worked through it you'll have mastered the technique and won't need to read it again.

What I particularly liked about the gallery of the author's work was that it isn't simply a photo album of quilts, but is accompanied by text in which the author shares some of her creative process, for example where idea of the quilt came or why a particular piece was made, as well as providing the photographs and sketches used to make the quilt. This adds to your appreciation of the final works, as well as helping you see the various layers and figure out how a piece was made. My all-time favourite is the split leaf philodendron (Swiss cheese monster) on page 59, probably because we've got so many "delicious monsters" growing in our garden. When the rainy season's over and the ground's dried out enough, I'm going to trace one of those leaves and make my own version!

This is a technique which'll change a straightforward pictorial quilt, based on a photograph, into an art quilt which looks far more complex than it is. It'll take you into a new dimension!

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