Book Review: Geared For Guys

Image swiped from the Michael Miller website; 

hopefully they don't mind the free advertising!

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The quilts (45 pages; 90% of the book)

• There are eight patterns, seven by Emily and one by John Q. Adams of Quilt Dad. ( Each pattern has nice, full sized photo of the quilt on a two-page spread, followed by about two pages of instructions (more for some patterns, especially where templates are used.) 
• The instructions seem clear and well-illustrated.

• You'll find on page 27 some helpful advice about finding and selecting fabrics for your "guy" quilts. Basically: look for color first and foremost and keep your eye out for blenders.  

• On page 37, there's a discussion of design elements.  Emily encourages the quilter to think of a theme for a quilt (maybe your guy likes cars?), but not go too cutesy in following that theme (maybe use colors from a favorite car and prints evocative of autos, but don't use novelty fabrics).

• On page 49, some quilting motifs are shown and discussed.  There are some nice alternatives to swirls and flowers presented here, as well as general advice on keeping the quilting consistent with the patchwork.

• The final page lists sources for fabrics.

What it is not:

I'm not sure that I ever would have picked up this book had I not seen Emily's booth at quilt market and stopped to admire her quilts.  The quilts are so pleasing; they are well-composed, well-constructed, and welcoming.

Why wouldn't I have picked this book up on my own?  Because the premise rankles me a bit.  Let me take a moment to explain that.  If you've been reading this blog for a bit, you may be aware that I have a PhD.  Now, I don't study gender per se.  I study mass media and my focus is on nationalism.  However, you can't go far in media studies before you run into the huge intersections with gender studies (perhaps most commonly referred to as women's studies.) In nationalism studies, the intersections with gender are pretty stark.  For example, during World War Two, the American propaganda engines told women that to be good women, they need to work in factories, and grow gardens, and buy Liberty bonds.  Right after World War Two, American women were told that in order to be good women, they needed to give up their jobs in factories and get married and have babies.  No choices, just very limited roles for women.  And those roles were changing over time, and women are expected to find immensely fulfilling and if they don't like their role or can't fulfill it, then something is wrong with them. Now, men were being jerked around and propagandized to as well, though they usually get told how to be real men rather than good men.

Sidebar: If you're interested in this stuff, by the way, there's a really good video just out called Miss Representation.  It's on Amazon instant video, but not Netflix streaming (though I think you can rent the disc through Netflix's mail service). Or, if you know me, ask to borrow my copy.  The video focuses mostly on girls and women, but there's currently a Kickstarter (fully funded) in progress for The Mask You Live In which explores the boys/men side of this question...I love the promo video (go watch it!) and can't wait for the whole thing. 

Basically, all the gender norms out there are making us less free and less healthy and less individual.

When I first saw Geared for Guys, I reacted from that place deep inside me that just fundamentally doesn't understand how flowers became so attached to femininity (and femininity so devalued) that people FREAK OUT if you put flower fabric in a quilt intended for a man.  I mean, chill out people, the flower had a really big stamen and was totally manly ;-)  I'm not disposed to value anything that's reinforcing limiting norms, so I didn't think this book would interest me as I thought it would be a catalog of how to signal hegemonic masculinity with a quilt.

Seeing the quilts really helped me get over that gut reaction, though, because the thing is, it's not like the quilts are screaming FEELINGS MAKE YOU WEAK, YOU NEED TO MAN UP!!!!  Rather, they are just nice, unfussy quilts done in colors that most men probably like and along themes that might fit your guy quite nicely.  And all the advice is about thinking carefully about the specific guy you are making a quilt for and choosing a theme for him and finding suitable fabrics to use.  There are some gender essentializing bits-- 'guys don't like a lot of fuss,' for example--but there's also an overwhelming recognition that there are a wide variety of guys out there and the important thing is to match the quilt to its recipient. Yay!  I can get behind that. 

Recommended for quilters who like following patterns. There's a mix of quilts where the top is an overall composition and quilts that are more obviously block-based, the unifying style is sophisticated minimalism. 

Geared for Guys 
by Emily Herrick of Crazy Old Ladies. 
is a softcover book, full color throughout, printed on high-quality paper, and 50 pages long.

The paper edition is sold out, but the ebook can be bought from the author via her etsy shop for $19.98.

Publication date: 2012
Rossie Crafts review date: August 1, 2013


Review copy of Geared for Guys was provided without charge, with only the expectation that the book would be reviewed (not what opinion would be given).   Links to etsy shop are not affliate links.