Customer Reviews

Elegant Stitches: An Illustrated Stitch Guide & Source Book of Inspiration

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is not very good. It's all line drawings, some photos, boringly presented and basically an adhoc production. Boring and uninspiring. It's written because Montano in her Crazy Quilt Book (superb!) tells how embroidery is the make or break deal in a crazy quilt but this book does not live up to those expectations.

Instead try Lucinda Ganderton's a Stitch Sampler, where colour threads are used and everything is easily viewed or if a Montano is what you are seeking go for the gold and get her Crazy Quilting book, where the main stitches are detailed and her methods outlined. Just pass this one by.

It had been many years since I learned to embroider as a child. I had difficulty finding a basic stitch guide to assist me in reviving this art in my life. This book provides not only basic stitches but clear instructions and illustrations of more complex stitches. The inspiration is in the color photographs of completed works and the valuable section on composite stitches and suggested combinations. The book also reviews the types of needles for use with various yarns and threads on a variety of fabrics. It's everything I hoped for!

My mom bought me this book for my birthday, she said I needed to learn the family tradition of silk ribbon embroidery. Being a typical 15 year old, I was kindof sheepish about it, but as I started reading, I became captivated by it. I couldn't believe it! It was easy to read, very comprehensive (the other stitch books my mom had were hard to read and kind of boring) and fun! Each stitch is given a clear diagram so I could easily see the pattern. It was unreal! I actually liked something my Mom bought me! I have shared this book with all my friends(especially the girls, because they love guys who can stitch!) I love you Mom, kudos for Judith Baker Montano, I hope she has a follow up to this!

This is the only book you will ever need to buy for learning individual embroidery stitches. Never mind it was written with a bent towards silk ribbon embroidery. With hand embroidery becoming a lost art, especially in quilting, references are becoming harder and harder to find. I have spent alot of time (and money) accumulating a large library of turn of the century instructional embroidery references and in comparison, Judith Montano's book is right on the money. It is the most complete, comprehensive, and easy to understand book on the market. My first copy is so worn out, that I purchased a "back-up" just in case! It is a nice portable size with a spiral binding. FABULOUS for laying out flat when your hands are otherwise occupied with needle and thread. This is the ONLY stitch dictionary you will need to buy!!

This is a complete book of stitches with ideas for using them. Many color illustrations to inspire your creativity. This would be a much appreciated gift for any needleworker.

An excellent and a must have book for all crazy quilters.

I bought this book after buying several other books that claimed to explain emboidery stitches. This one is the best by far. Although I may never do any of the elegant projects she has in the book I did learn how to do the stitches I wanted to do. And one of the best features is that it will open up flat so you can put it on the table in front of you while you are following the instructions and it will stay open on the page you are working with.

I borrowed this book from a friend and now have to buy one for myself. It has easy to understand directions to do every stitch imaginable on crazy quilts or other types of embroidery projects. It is simply a wonderful book with great photos of the stitches.

I asked the library for a book on stitches for a left-handed person, and this is one of what they found. Wonderful ! Clear directions and easy to understand. What a wonderful way to spend some of lifes time relaxing.

This is a book of wonderful and inspiring illustrations. The diagrams are clear and concise. The diagrams show how easy it is to add to the stitches with other stitches to make your work grow.Judith has a wonderful ability to make one stitch turn into at least 10 different stitches with her use of colour and beading. This expands the depth of the stitches to make them more interestiing and gives them more width and versatility and interest.A wonderful book and very practical being spiral bound so that it lies flat and stays open while you are trying to reconstruct these stitches.