"Felt and Fibre" by Val Hughes

Another great new title thanks to one of my favorite publishers, Search Press. Val Hughes has been one of my favorite art craft authors and this book does not disappoint. I have been making quilted felts for many years, but this is the first time that I have seen something like them in a book.

Ms. Hughes always manages to,present clear, concise, well illustrated instructions along with an excellent recap of necessary tools and supplies as well as the basics to get you going. If you like felt and are interested in creative ways to use your felts then this book will not disappoint.

Other areas covered are excellent, well presented illustrations about the basics and tools used in wet felting. Many unique techniques for taking your felt work to the next level are included. As always with Search Press books...look for beautiful, well done illustrations and rich colors.

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Two New Noteworthy Titles From Search Press

I believe that I have mentioned in the past that one of my favorite craft book publishers is Search Press. The books that they publish are always premium quality and I find that their new titles always manage to entice me. The following two have done just that! Thanks to the great people at Search Press I have been able to take a peek at two of their upcoming releases. Have a look. I bet you will want to add them to your pre-order list!

Jenny Dean is one of my favorite authors who writes about all things natural dye. The first book of Jenny's that I fell in love with and use consistently is called "Wild Color". I love this book. The photography is perfect, the directions are all wonderfully written for ease of comprehension - and they are easy to follow. Nature affords us so many beautiful options for colors of dye!

This new little gem of a book, "A Heritage of Color" covers the colors that are possible to obtain from 50 rather ordinary plants. Plants that have provided our world with color for more than 2000 years. Different ways of processing, using a variety of mordants and "eco-dying" are covered. This little 160 page gem offers a lot. It will have its permanent place on my bookshelf next to "Wild Color" and, I know, it will be an often used, much dog eared book! The release date in June 10, 2014, but this title is available for pre-order now! Get yours reserved!

 I have heard the word 'Zakka'  a lot recently, but really wasn't sure just what it meant - or what the style was. In all honesty, I had not been interested enough to find out more about it. That is, until I saw the cover of this book. I had been looking for a pattern similar to the one on the cover for some time. I am so glad that I got to have a look at this book and learn more about Zakka!

According to author Cecelia Hanselmann, the word Zakka "...originates from a Japanese word which originally meant 'household items', ... In recent years, it has increasingly been used to mean home made everyday items...". 

The 'everyday items' in "Love To Sew Zakka Style Gifts" include (a partial list ) the 'Sakura Box Bag' (on the cover), a camera pouch, a tissue holder, an owl paperweight, a mug wrap, a coin purse, table baskets and more. If you like to sew and also like to make and gift handmade items, then this book would be a perfect addition to your library! 

This very modestly priced book seems to be available for purchase now, although the official release date is May 13, 2014.

Machine Embroidered Seascapes By Alison Holt

 * * * * *

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Search Press (May 8, 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-1844486847
•  8.5 x 0.7 x 11 inches
• 
  

I have become enamored with the work of Alison Holt- machine embroiderer extraordinaire. I reviewed an earlier book of Ms. Holt's about flowers, woodlands and landscapes last December and I still go and take the book down off the shelf for inspiration.

This is her latest book from Search Press - one of hand-full of my favorite art/craft book publishers. Seascapes is another hit of a book! 

A small thing perhaps but I really like it when the cover of the book is the same as the dust jacket 

The contents page

As is usual with Search Press, the book is laid out beautifully and the instructions are well written, easy to follow and very well illustrated. Here Ms. Holt discusses the proper way to set up your machine for free motion embroidery - her method really works!

Setting up your sewing machine for machine embroidery the Alison Holt way!

Detailed instructions and examples for each type of stitch. 

The book highlights the creative process from start to finish and is well documented and easy to follow. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of how to create cliffs, headlands, deep water, waves, sand, lighting, atmosphere, rocks, pebbles, foam, skies, and clouds are all covered. There is an excellent section that covers how to use sketches and photographs as inspiration for your embroidery as well as how to plan your work using paint and stitch to create to right atmosphere.

One section covers how to effectively paint your background as a starting point- using photographs as a guide. There is an entire chapter that focus' on how to transfer your design to cloth - and how to use masking fluid to enhance the design before painting.

Also included are five project pieces to get you warmed up to use your own imagery successfully.

The book illustrates how to create every imaginable part of a seascape that you might want to add. This book is very detailed and thoroughly illustrated in great detail. One the most interesting things to me is how Ms. Holt uses paper in her work to enhance the overall effect of the machine embroidered stitches. I love this technique!

All in all this is a book that will delight many artistic types - both hand and machine stitchers will find great inspiration from this book as will textile artists, quilters and painters. Yes! I do love this book and can't  imagine why you wouldn't want to have a look at this book for yourself!

Using paper to enhance the stitching's effect in wave. Genius!