Book Review: The Art of Embroidery

I put off buying this book, The Art of Embroidery, for awhile.  Even though it has gorgeous photography and is full of inspiration, I kept telling myself that I don't need to buy another craft book.  But, I kept thinking about it.  Whenever I saw it in the bookstore I'd pull it off the shelf and slowly thumb through one beautiful page after another.  I tried to remember all the ideas and techniques but my brain is on overload as it is so that wasn't working.  One late evening, I pulled it up on Amazon and, well, darn that "one-click" purchasing.  Two days later I had it in my hands. 

The first part of the book focuses on the basics of embroidery while the second half explores design composition and interpretation.  Images from nature lay next to their embroidered translation.  Mimosa blossoms inspire seeding, bullion stitches and beading while grass lends itself to whipped running stitch in shadowy grays.

Ruffled cabbage becomes a scarf.  Brilliant.

The author, Francoise Tellier-Loumagne, has a wonderful straightforward writing style (even though that may be due to its translation from French) which I really appeciate.  If you enjoy Japanese craft books and Marie Claire Idees for their new take on traditional styles then you would probably like this book too.

I love these quotes from the author:

"To embroider is to look, analyse [sic], choose, explore and translate."

"To embroider is to express yourself."