What sorts of subjects are covered in this book? There is a first chapter on choosing tools and what you need, along with several short chapters on fabrics, threads, hand or machine work, construction and types of quilting - which was also a revelation. These are discussed and illustrated briefly, and if you want to go into this in more detail of course there are plenty of separate books on offer. The main part of the book covers the stitches themselves, and I loved the stitch selector, which is an illustrated index of all the stitches covered (hand and machine) on six pages. Some books on stitches give them in more stages, and although they gave me no problems, a novice stitcher might find some of the more complex ones are not in quite as many stages as they might wish. But this book is not really aimed at the novice. The diagrams are clear and you can learn some more unusual techniques such as attaching shisha glass, or using a twin needle on a machine. I particularly like the way it is spiral bound, and lies flat on table or lap for convenient working. This would make a grand gift for any patchworker - if you can bear to part with it!