In this inspiration-packed book, Helen M. Stevens brings stitchers exquisite designs for every month of the year. These gorgeous projects celebrate all the important traditions, holidays and mile markers. The book features:
Helen Stevens recreates with consummate artistry the atmosphere, buildings, and wildlife of the traditional country scene, giving full instructions for all techniques and stitches.
An encyclopedia of embroidery stitches using stranded threads includes step-by-step photographs and instructions showing every stage of working a stitch. Alongside the stitches are practical hints on using different threads and fabrics, solving common problems, choosing and storing equipment, starting and finishing, and the use of hoops and frames.
Drawing inspiration from over 1200 years of history, this book provides a collection of 75 embroideries alongside sketches from the author's workbook. It includes full instructions for all techniques and stitches.
“Her unique color combinations, stitching style and use of felt present a fun and fresh take on the age-old decorative stitching method” (Bolt Fabric Boutique). Folk art is influencing everything from fashion to interiors and now you can incorporate this trend into your home in a contemporary way with this collection of stunning modern folk art inspired embroidery designs by leading designer, Nancy Nicholson. This collection includes 30 embroidery designs with project ideas to show you how to use the designs to create beautiful and practical home decor items and accessories. The techniques for the stitches and project instructions are shown using Nancy’s stitch diagrams so extremely easy to follow whether you are an experienced stitcher or a newbie. The projects are divided between felt and fabric sections and include: pin cushion, lampshade, tote bag, cushion, table runner, coaster and pinafore. Nancy’s distinctive folk art style perfectly captures this trend and will appeal to stitchers of all ages and abilities. “I was blown away by the beautiful photography, the lovely, easy-to-follow projects dripping with inspiration, and the conversational tone of the writing . . . The instructions to make up the projects are clear and easy to follow.” —Kate & Rose
"Here's your chance to get up close and personal with an amazing collections of crazies!" - Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. Made from the finest silks, satins, and velvets and stitched together with elaborate embroidery, the crazy quilt is a testament to quilters’ rich imagination and artistry. This beautiful book traces the bewitching history of “Crazies” from their earliest origins to the present day. Distinguished quilting teacher and appraiser Cindy Brick follows the crazy quilt from colonial times, the Civil War, the Victorian era, and through today, decoding the mystery and meaning of these curious quilts. Also included is a detailed how-to section on constructing crazy quilts. Brick offers methods for planning, piecing, and embroidering or embellishing your quilt, and gives numerous helpful tips that only an expert could provide.
Embroidery artist Helen M. Stevens lives and works in the heart of the Suffolk countryside, which inspires her embroideries of wild animals, birds and flowers. This book reproduces in colour a collection of 75 examples of her work, and also contains a discussion of the techniques used.
This globe-spanning history of sewing and embroidery, culture and protest, is “an astonishing feat . . . richly textured and moving” (The Sunday Times, UK). In 1970s Argentina, mothers marched in headscarves embroidered with the names of their “disappeared” children. In Tudor, England, when Mary, Queen of Scots, was under house arrest, her needlework carried her messages to the outside world. From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents—from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland—to celebrate the universal beauty and power of sewing.