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Improv

I've been looking for books with more info on how to do improvisational embroidery for my slow stitch work, and Laura Wasilowski's Joyful Stitching offers lots of that as well as stitching on felted wool, which happens to be something else I needed to research.

This is a nice, large-format book with six very colorful projects and twenty-one embroidery stitches with excellent, step-by-step example photos using real materials. This is so much better for me to learn from versus sketches or text; I can do some practice stitches and hold them up to the pics in the book for comparison.

The author uses a beginning stitch in each example as the starting point for improvisational embroidery, which is really what I've been doing all along, so glad to discover I was on the right track. She also encourages using stitches as fill and to create movement in the projects, and that makes sense to me (I do that with beading on my crazy quilt projects.)

The projects are basic, simple shapes that are filled or detailed with embroidery, so I think this book would be a good choice for a beginner. The colors and stitchwork by the author reminds me a lot of quilting and stitched work from India, as well as Laurel Burch's style, so I'm guessing those were two of her influences.

The instructions are well-written and clear, and the whole book is well-oprganized. It would have been nice to see some neutral and cooler colors used in some of the projects, or shown as an alternative look. I admire Laurel Burch (you should read about her life if you want some major inspiration), but all rainbow all the time makes me a bit nervous. All those hot colors, I suppose.

Bottom line, this is a solid book for anyone interested in learning more about improvisational embroidery. Recommended.

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nightsmusic said…
I really like that cover, but I too like more muted colors at times. However, that said, I can do any color so I might have to take a look at that. :)
October 8, 2020 at 10:35 AM
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