Redoute's Finest Flowers in Embroidery

Although you can't "Look Inside" this book at Amazon (currently, anyhow), the cover is exactly representative of the projects inside. This is no encyclopedia of a billion stitches, but a book focused tightly upon reproducing Redoute's beautiful botanical prints in "thread painting."There were several things about this book that stood out for me:Not the Kitchen Sink--------------------Trish Burr wisely restricts herself to a relatively few stitches: long-and-short, satin, stem, split, bullion knot, French knot, and perhaps a couple more. They are presented clearly, in diagrams and words (and photos in some cases), and followed by a small sampler. Then come the Redoute projects...Clear Presentation------------------Each flower (there are 17) is presented in the same format:- First, a large-scale photograph of the stitched piece, along with a list of needles and other materials.- Then, three line drawings: one for the pattern outlines, one to define which areas are padded or detailed, and one to show color placement.- Another, smaller photograph on the same page spread as the diagrams- A verbal explanation gives details on stitching each part of the flower: which stitches, in what order, how many strands.Ms. Burr writes in her Introduction that she aims for clear illustrations and good explanations, and she has achieved her target admirably. Although the format as I've described it may sound repetitive, I found it refreshing not to have to flip back and forth between pages, searching for color keys or stitch info--and equally refreshing not to have all the directions crammed into one cryptic diagram. (Anyone who has ever struggled to decode the projects in "A to Z of Ribbon Embroidery", for instance, knows what I mean. Sumptuous photos of the projects, but figuring out how to reproduce them is murder.)Unusual Selection of Subjects-----------------------------It's easy to find embroidery books on English flowers, and many of them are truly gorgeous (Helen Stevens' Masterclass series comes to mind), but if you're looking for something different, something... well, something French!, this may be just the thing for you. Instead of pinks and cornflowers and foxgloves, here are lilies and iris and camellias and magnolias. Roses, morning-glories, and a few exotics like amaryllis, bird-of-paradise, and poppy are also represented. Again, the cover illustration gives a good idea of what you'll find inside. It ain't no cottage garden!Achievable----------All projects are stitched using easily available DMC embroidery floss. None of the stitches are jazzy or difficult. The instructions are so clear that even a relative novice should be able to achieve exciting results. (Again, Helen Stevens comes to mind, but alas, as a counterexample. I love looking at her books, but they have never given me the slightest bit of confidence that I could do work like that.)=============All in all, an excellent book, well worth the money. Bravo, Ms. Burr!

Impressive flowers, so realistic. Mostly uses long & short stitch which is very easy. Most people would be able to stitch these designs

Trish Burr embroidery books are always excellent resources for hand embroidery. Her long and short stitch technique for shading and filling creates stunning motifs. Additionally, Trish details her expertise on what supplies are best to use (and tips regarding how), such as, thread, needles, fabric, hoops, scissors, tracing patterns, etc. In this book, there are no projects for using these gorgeous Redoute flower motifs, but the author does mention examples for use. Myself, I’m excited to stitch them onto several different projects (table runners/doilies), needle cases, journal covers, to name a few).

Pretty, though not as well illustrated as i had hoped.... The photographs were little dark and small, but it was in reasonable good condition.

Lovely illustrations and nice instructions. Great variety of subjects.

I love the notes by Trisha Burr! She is very precise with her directions. That makes the images very easy to use for one's own projects.

Lovely book.

I love working on these great projects. Trish Burr is really the best, most wonderful artist and teacher. This was the first of her books that I boughtMy only regret is that her books were so full of repetitive fundamentals rather than new themed material. I feel so used, wanting the new material so badly that I put up with such major padding.