Way too many books

On Christmas Eve we had the great book landslide. We ran out of bookshelves, oh, about 20 years ago and being the readers we are, just began stacking them. I have three stacks next to my chair that act as a side table but..boom, crash, they all tumbled dramatically as I was wrapping presents.  Later that day a stack of antique magazines took a similar slide and that was the straw.

The cosmos is telling me that there is just too much stuff.

So for the last few weeks, I've been spending Saturdays clearing out. I've gone through my dresser, jewelry, a bookshelf in our bedroom and our main bookshelf in the living room. Last Saturday I moved books around until I had a clear space in which to pile up books and magazines that need to go.  (I also set aside two huge bags of needlework books for a niece--she and her husband will soon rival us in the book department--makes me proud!)

Anyway. I've listed the books. Old and new (1908, I think, to 2006) and magazines and booklets (again early twentieth-century to the present day), rare and not so rare, mostly needlework and set some requested prices--they're negotiable. Price, plus exact shipping costs to wherever you are. (If you're in the Chicago area, let me know and perhaps we can work out a visit to the piles.)

The thing is, I can't list or show them all here for sale (it's a free blog, not a commercial one).  Right now all I have is a pretty bare bones typed list--author, title, publisher, date and price (based on online research). If you are interested, let me know by e-mail and I'll send you the list. Most of the books are available somewhere online so they're easy to research.

That stack shown above is about a quarter of what I eventually want to sell. I just don't have room to pull them all out and have them available at one time. I have a pile about a yard high of old needlwork magazines, Modern Priscilla mostly, from the early twentieth century, mostly 1910 to 1930. So the sooner this batch sells, the sooner a new list will be available.

more books

This book came in the package with the Maggie Grey Image book--a surfeit of riches!The author was trained at the Japanese Embroidery Center, where I studied (and where my current teacher is affiliated). I have the impression that the book is not approved by them. That's okay with me. It's another set of images and words to learn from. From what I can see, what the author does is exactly as I've been taught. Her photos are quite clear and plentiful. I think perhaps her designs have not been approved by the master. I like them and find them much simpler than the official designs.I've always found that the more ways something is explained, the easier it is to learn. I'm enjoying reading this one in the evenings.I've had this book for ages, bought it used. It's full of good, basic design principles and concepts. I love playing with cut paper and exploded shapes and she does that here. It's a book I wish I had more time to play with--but I want to get on with the stitching and always rush past. So, for now, I'm leaving it out and not putting it on the pile and hoping I'll let myself play more.This is one of the first used books I bought that was hefty. It's a paperback book, not bad, but it came with a deep box of full-sized patterns for the designs in the book.
It covers all forms of fiberwork--including weaving. I find the text to be dated--a lot of this information presented as fact is more fiction and romanticized. When I was younger I wasn't sure what bugged me about it, but now I know. I also found the designs to be gangly but I think that's the nature of the beast, because the pieces used as a basis for the designs are accurately translated to the drawings. A lot were from table and bed coverings and the designs were large.

So, while the text is dumbed down, the designs are not. Which has made me think it may be work picking through the text and seeing what I can glean.
This last book had me in conflict for a long time. I had heard of it at a time when I was doing loads of fine counted work, drawn thread, Hardanger, etc. This book was THE book on the subject. But it was from South Africa and I didn't think it was ethical to buy from S.A. Then I became enamored of a South African musician, Johnny Clegg. His music just blew my socks off in the late 80s--I still love it and listen often and go to concerts when he's in the States (very rare). And I learned by reading his articles and others I learned about through a fan group, that maybe boycotting goods made in South Africa isn't best for the people of S.A. and won't necessarily affect the government one way or another. So I bought the book.

It's very old-fashioned. It's organized like a text book with numbered sections. It's shaped like a text book, too--thick. I don't think there are any color photos. But if you do counted thread embroidery--drawn thread, pulled thread, Hardanger, Hedebo, blackwork.... then this is the book for you. There are full-sized patterns for some of the designs in an envelope at the back of the book.

One big drawback is that I found it very hard to follow, even with all the numbering. The description of a design is often not on the same page as the photo, which is not on the same page as the diagram. So, it can take a bit of perseverance to use the book. It's much easier if you just want to generally read about techniques. But I still think it's worth having.

These are the books I have out of the piles and in my basket right now. For some reason, my husband complains that I always have my nose in a book!

Books, books

I've been trying to cut back on the paper I bring into the house and, at the same time, the money I spend on magazines. I've cut back on subscriptions (I still get a long list...) and don't browse the stores nearly as often as previously. I used to spend evenings browsing the magazines. Now, instead, I'm delving into my piles of books and exploring them deeper than I may have before. I don't know about you but I find a periodic review of my books is a good thing--I see things I've missed before or just revisit old friends. As I learn new things, I often see designs and techniques that I've seen before in a new light.

This, book, however is not from my library. It's a gift from a friend and it's really great. It's at the top of my pile this week.

I was reading Maggie Grey's blog around the time or shortly after she wrote this book and so some of it seems familiar but very different. I had no opportunity to see it so hadn't bought it and I'm really glad my friend did. It's got all sorts of ideas for using your own photographic images in embroideries by printing them onto paper, fabric, even metal. It's very inspirational. It's full of ideas and techniques I've never explored.
This book was also a holiday gift, at my request, from my whole family. It was rather expensive. My husband found it at Lacis and I must say their customer service is absolutely wonderful. It's hard to resist shopping there more (we visited there once, in the 80s and I remember it being a fairyland of lace--I'd love to go back now when I'd be more likely to know what I'm looking at.)This book provides the techniques, stitches and details for the ten Phase pieces from the Japanese Embroidery Center in Atlanta. I'm slowly working on phase 1. This book is amazing and if you are doing any of these pieces, or contemplating it, I can't recommend a better book. I began at the Center but once I left I was lost and didn't touch the piece for a long time. I'm in classes now, locally (if you're interested in Japanese Embroidery and in the Chicago area, contact me!), and that helped, but I still felt lost on occasion. This is the perfect remedy.The above is a diagram for one of the plants in the bouquet I'm working on. This is not as much a browsing book as a book to have at your side as you stitch.

This is the book I've been spending most of my time with, reading it in detail. I found it several years ago in an antique shop and I knew that it was something I had to have (it was a bit more than my budget was happy with). But life was busy and I flipped through it and set it aside. The author is a local woman, in her upper 80s now. Years ago I tried to get her to come and speak at our embroiderer's guild but she was coping with an ailing mother at the time. I wish I'd kept in contact with her but didn't. I can't find anything personal about her on line (education, background, etc.) She worked at the Chicago Art Institute. She comes across as extremely knowledgeable in the text and as someone I'd love to get to know.

In Embroidery Masterworks she takes an in-depth look at a selection of embroideries from the Art Institute's collection. The pieces are arranged chronologically and are mostly European and Near Eastern. I bought the book for the detailed photos and line drawings of the embroideries (above). There are a few color photos.

This trip through I'm focusing on Mrs. Bath's text. Each piece is put into historical and cultural context, which I'm finding really fascinating. The images of the embroideries are discussed along with how they fit the culture and time period. The materials are discussed in detail, in part to make up for the lack of color pictures (she is often very specific about colors and what color is used where). The stitches are all discussed, too. For each piece of embroidery there is an overall photo, detail photos, a line drawing, and sometimes a more detailed line drawing, often with stitches shown (the less detailed drawing to be used to transfer the image to your fabric).

I thought the "adapting it for modern use" section would be my least favorite. And it is, but that doesn't mean I don't really like it. I just enjoy the detailed focus on the pieces so much that anything else is be second. Her suggestions are often interesting and show sensitivity to the designs, available materials, and the vast amount of time it would take to replicate some of these as originally done. This is a book from the 70s so some of that sensibility prevails, but she definitely does not "dumb down" anything. And I'm from the 70s, too, so it's a comfortable fit.The book ends with a practical section on how to enlarge and transfer the designs and the stitches used in them. She talks about sugar-solution transfers and that has me intrigued. I'm about 3/4 through the book now, reading one or two sections each morning as I eat breakfast.

I've found the images most intriguing and have been working on a crewel design based on them.

The book is long out of print, but if you can find a copy through a used book outlet or a library, it is well worth reading.