“Welcome Home” was written by artist Kaffe Fassett in 1999. This book includes four rag rug patterns, a museum tour of Kaffe’s works and is filled with pictures of his home where every surface is decorated. He sees his entire home as a canvas, which he is constantly experimenting with and changing. The rooms are bursting with color and full of brightly colored floral patterns and textures. Kaffe has filled his home with paintings, textiles, prints, needlepoint, mosaics, wall paper, quilts, rugs, collections and knits. He believes that a home should not only be functional – but beautiful as well. Shelving and cupboards are filled with collections of books, dishes and textiles.

Although Kaffe’s decorating style won’t appeal to everyone, this book discusses color values, and how to relate fabrics of different colors and patterns to each other as well as how to display collections and work them into your color scheme. This book is filled with pictures, so you can see how he mixes colors, patterns and textures. If you struggle with selecting materials and colors for your rugs, this book maybe helpful.

The rag rug patterns include patterns with roses, leaves, blocks and my favorite, a cat. Along with the patterns the book discusses how to select fabrics, rug backing, and rug hooks, as well as how to prepare rag strips, transfer the design, hook fabrics and finish rag rugs. Instructions are easy to read, but there aren’t any diagrams or pictures showing how to complete each step, so if you are new to rug hooking, you may have a few questions. Kaffe suggests practicing on a scrap piece of burlap first before starting your rug and than using a simple pattern for your first rug. “Welcome Home” also includes patterns and instructions for quilts, pillows and mosaics.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think my favorite part was to see how Kaffe mixes colors and patterns. I found “Welcome Home” at my local library, it can also be found in some of your favorite book stores and online at Amazon.com.
Buy Welcome Home: Kaffe Fassett at Amazon.com