Stitchery

For those of you who like to ply a needle, we have a couple of unique new books.
Arts & Crafts Needlepoint: 25 patterns & projects, by Beth Russell. This book is full of beautiful designs that have either been adapted from, or inspired by, the work of William Morris, William de Morgan and Louis Comfort Tiffany. Subtle colors, organic lines and intricate patterns characterize the look of the Arts & Crafts movement, and Russell has done a wonderful job of capturing that in her designs. Her instructions tell you where to begin on the canvas, and she includes the color numbers for the yarn. Being a British author, she has used Appleton yarns, which you could order (she provides a list of American suppliers in the appendix) or you could eyeball the colors and try to match with a locally-available yarn. And if you're not a needlepoint person, these designs could easily be adapted to cross-stitch.
Stitch Alchemy: combining fabric + paper for mixed-media art by Kelli Perkins. This book takes the various techniques of collage, watercolor, stamping, sewing, quilting, and papier-mache and melds them all together to create a really intriguing medium. Perkins instructs you on how to create the base papercloth, and then she offers you a wide range of options for coloring, texturing and embellishing the papercloth. From something as simple as a bookmark to creating papercloth beads for jewelry or an entire papercloth quilt, the book provides ideas that will inspire your creativity.