Embroidered Landscapes: Hand Embroidery, Layering & Surface Stitching (Milner Craft Series)

Jeez, I ordered this last September and totally forgot about it!! I just received it today, opened it up, and the ink still smells fresh so it's hot off the presses.This makes about 701 needlework books in my library; I've been collecting for years and like reading about stitching almost as much as doing it. When I first cracked open this book, I was not impressed. I paged through and just got a sense of being distanced from needlework: it didn't engage me, didn't spark any enthusiasm. But I patiently forged on, wanting to give it a chance. I just browsed the whole thing and it has mixed results for me. I think for the use I'd get, I might give it a 2- or 3-star rating but I don't want to put you off.It is a very hefty hardcover with 288 pages. On the very last page we see a b&w photo of author Judy Wilford of Australia. I believe this is her only embroidery book even though she is an academic and lectures a lot. Oh...I understand why I don't relate to this book so well. In her bibliography, of 26 books listed, only a handful are embroidery books. Almost all the rest are about design, "colour," line drawing . . . basically: art. Certainly, there's nothing whatsoever wrong with that except the subtitle of the book begins with "Hand Embroidery." Only the 2nd and 3rd terms are "Layering & Surface Stitching."Ms. Wilford spends a great amount of time on theory and while there are many practical parts, the actual stitching is given short shrift as far as I can see. The chapters are these:PART I: THE HAND-EMBROIDERED LANDSCAPE:1. Materials & Equipment2. Design & Landscape3. Layering: Fabric & Stitching4. Surface Elements: Grass5. Surface Elements: Trees6. Surface Elements: Flowers7, Natural Elements: The LandPART II: THE PROJECTS8. Coastlines & Waterways9. Escarpments & Ranges (escarpments ??!!)10. Plains & DesertsPART III ENDING OFFThe stitch glossary covers pages 271 through 284 but the pages are sometimes half-full. For example, page 274 shows only the chain stitch and detached chain stitch, the latter being truly hard to understand (even though I know this stitch). And page 281 covers only the adapted laid stitch; but instead of showing detailed steps, the instructions and drawing take up only 1/3 of the page. Whenever I review a stitch guide, I always refer to the bullion knot if it's included. It takes a total of 7 steps. You can get by with showing 5 or even 3 if the directions are very clear. Here, one drawing is trying to show all the steps with the second drawing just the final stitch. Not very clear.On the plus side, if you're adventurous and looking for a new arena to expand your creativity, especially if you like designing and quilting (there are lotsa layers here), there is a lot to be recommended in this book. And while many, many of the photos of finished projects are truly beautiful, splashing them across entire pages to the very margins would have been glorious to see the details.Yes, I'm quite picky. But I feel a responsibility to fully explain what you'll find in a new book like this. If you buy this, I sincerely hope you enjoy just paging through it if not utilizing it.

Nice quality book. Great color pictures. I was surprised to find that all of her pictures are layered fabrics with embroidery over the layers. I do have to say that the instructions can be very difficult to follow. It seems likes she makes assumptions we know what she means but she is not all that clear in explaining. Her stitch instructions are especially hard to follow. Occasionally she uses terms she forgot to define in her instructions. It is not so bad as you cannot figure it out, but the details are poorly laid out for a beginner especially in the layering of the fabrics. Otherwise, I love the details of the pictures, the grasses and the ideas on the clouds etc., are all new to me and I can't wait to try this. Some of her embroidery is fabulous and looks so great. Some not so much. Some of her best ideas she just glosses over how she achieved the effect, which is too bad. I will have to experiment. I am glad I purchased this for my embroidery library, it is a good addition.

This wonderful book is a truly comprehensive manual for embroidering your own landscape pictures. In it, there are detailed instructions to creating realistic grasses, trees, flowers, water effects and how to choose fabrics to create a multicolored layered landscape. The author even included information how to finish and mount your completed project. The many projects ranged from vistas to up close pictures. There are a variety of project choices to please everyone’s tastes. If you prefer mountain vistas, prairie plains, meadows, forests, tropical trees, beach scenery, or lakeside views there is definitely something in this book to please everyone.The only gap I found in the entire book was there wasn’t any “how to’s” for waterfalls, but I feel this book is so comprehensive that I think I could figure it out on my own. I am delighted with my most recent acquisition to my library.

This is an amazing book -not surprised that the author is from OZ, home to Annemieke Mein - a pioneer in textile art and an inspiration to me & millions of others. Judy Wilford has crafted a truly wonderful book that not only teaches - but also presents a really lovely portfolio. I love this book and will seek more art from this terrific artist /teacher. Great work & highly recommended.

New concept for me-landscape embroidery, and adding depth. Inspired by Shimunia, Russian embroidery artist. Good reference book.

I have not yet try any of the projects in this book (due to time restraints), but this book is amazing. Well presented and easy to follow with great instructions. Can't wait to try these projects. The book was everything I wanted to know about producing a embroidery background for my hand embroidery..

This is a very interesting book. I felt like I was reading through a master class text book. I can't wait to try some of the ideas.

I saw this book in a store and was impressed with the concept of landscape embroidery. I found it on amazon and got it for less. I'm a new amazon user. The embroidery is simple, easy to follow directions, and I'm glad that I ordered this book and it is now part of my embroidery collection.

I have recently purchased this book and I'm really enjoying it, frankly it represents astonishing value for money and if there is no embroidery groups near you could easily work as a course in this type of stitching. The scenes the author stitches are of the Australian countryside which is to be expected, but the techniques are easily adapted for other scenes. I have some wonderful photos of the beaches in Northumberland which I plan to work up using the picture 'of the shoreline' as an example, changing the colours to suit the colours of my photos. I live in a lovely spot in Derbyshire and my daily dog walks go through some pretty scenery which would be pleasant to work up using Judy Wilford's techniques. Nice to do something which doesn't involve getting into the car and driving. Everything is so clearly explained in this book and very well illustrated. I can't say that this book shows me anything I didn't already know but all of the information is gathered together in one location and provides the prod I need to get me thinking ang planning and eventually stitching. I do believe that this book could do for hand embroidery what Liz Hubbard and Alison Holt have done for free machine embroidery.

Fantastic book. All projects well laid out and described in detail.A typical Milner Craft book.As we visited Aus a few years ago there are photo's here that I recognised.A book to treasure.

Beautiful

Beautiful book, good layout and inspirational.

I find this book very stimulating with lots of fresh ideas.