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150+ Designs,
4 Quilt Projects Cats & Dogs at Play, Gardens in Bloom,
Feathered Friends & More
BY Carol Armstrong
C&T Publishing
(distributed in the UK by Search Press)
28 September 2018/ ISBN 9781617457258
How-To Books/Needlecraft
Reviewed
by Rachel Hyde
AMAZON
UK |
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Bring
your quilting to life with a hundred and sixty appliqué
motifs featuring cats, dogs, birds, insects and flowers. Even
if you are fairly new to this type of needlecraft the instructions
are simple and the author even has a new, simple way of doing
appliqué.
You will need a lightbox if you want to use Ms Armstrong’s
method, or at least a glass topped table with a lamp under
it or a sunny window. Before the patterns there is a section
on what you need to buy and some useful techniques and tips.
This type of appliqué is done by hand and there are
a few embroidery stitches to learn plus some helpful advice
about getting features such as eyes right. Find out how best
to capture the look of feathers, fur, bird beaks and legs
and whiskers. Discover how to adapt your own favorite flora
and fauna for this type of work and also how to do quilting
basics such as borders, layering, binding and assembly. These
brief pages are ideal for anybody who needs to brush up, but
a total beginner would be advised to purchase a book that
gives more detailed instructions.
There are five sections of patterns comprising all the topics
as mentioned earlier. The contents are listed at the front
(no thumbnails but there are a lot of patterns) and most take
up one or two pages depending on size and detail. Some of
the one page motifs (mostly flowers and birds) have very small
photographs of stitched examples, and I would have loved to
have seen larger pictures for the peony project. The insects
are mostly tiny and intended as details to add to other designs
and so are several to a page; the cat and dog projects all
take up two pages and unlike the flowers, birds and insects
are actual pictures. The dogs pose alone, but the cats are
all busy interacting with their world; I think the author
must be a cat lover! At the back is a gallery to inspire on
how to combine the motifs plus a few projects including tote
bags, squares for a quilt, a panel and an idea for using up
odd buttons. Any quilter of improver level upwards will find
these projects doable, and beautiful. A lovely book that will
appeal to a wide range of needleworkers due to its accessibility.
If you cannot find a good range of textile art materials locally
try www.searchpress.com for a list of suppliers.
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