I finally have a photo of this. I won this wonderful kit for a Japanese Thimble from World Embroideries. The base is made and the stitching begun, so I can follow along. So far anxious about beginning so I'm reading up on making Japanese thimbles. I love these colors.This has been one of those weeks at work. I begin the day with a list of things that need to be done and never even get to start on it. I spend the day fielding all the stuff coming at me. So, I'm not stitching in the evenings but crashing--and reading.
This is my current book I'm reading. It begins with a survey in photos and words of the general types and styles of embroidery around the world. An Identification Guide. I'm still in that section and haven't read beyond. It's necessarily survey-like, broad but not deep, but still interesting. There's a photo of a kantha with stars on it that has my fingers twitching. My attempt at a photo didn't come out at all (glare on an almost all white picture).
This is my current book to browse when I don't want to read. I find it very inspiring. It's another book I got used, from a friend, not all that long ago. A product of the 70s, it's mostly black and white, which is a shame. It would be wonderful in color but I've noticed most books from before the 90s had very small color sections.
While I didn't own it until a few years ago, I had read this book back when it was new. In the upper center of the photo above is a design with sliced shells and vertical stitches that has always stuck with me. The book focuses on embroidery for clothing and covers design, materials, and techniques.
The textures here are marvelous. I've been tempted to print this and color it in.
Some of the text on designing is here. You can see how the author evolves a motif from the frieze on the upper left to the blouse on the right.I wonder if others are as stylistically at home in the styles of their youth as I am with 70s?
