Convergence Quilts by Ricky Tims

Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts: Mysterious, Magical, Easy, and Fun by Ricky Tims
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A friend of mine made one of these quilts which I just loved. The technique is fairly simple and looks like it could be used to create some very interesting designs. There is a long (for a quilting book) introductory section where Tims tells us about how he came to this design and maps out the process and tips for design and assembly. He has a very friendly entertaining tone that I liked and built the process in a logical way. There were several variations to try and lot of inspiring pictures of quilts made by different people using these techniques. I really loved the ones where the convergence was used as a background for an appliqued design.
I put together the first "exercise" in the book in an evening and the directions in the book were clear and easy to follow (lots of pictures and exact step=by=step). The only place I ran into a little trouble was the cutting of the first set of strips. Tims tells you exactly how to place the unit on your board (fabric 2 on top, seam at the bottom) and what edge to cut from. When I was laid out that way I couldn't cut the strips from that side, but I rotated the mat to the seam was on top, cut the strips, and rotated the board back before I picked them up so it worked out ok. I didn't love how my convergence came out, but now I have a better idea of what fabrics will work well. I may not put borders on this one, but it took 4 12-inch squares from my stash so no great investment was made in trying out the technique.