Stitched Textiles: Landscapes

Book excerpt: Kathleen Matthews shares her unique method of creating beautiful landscapes using quilting, dyeing and stitching techniques. She shows what materials are needed, and takes us through her design process from taking reference photographs of landscapes through composition, identifiying the light source and choosing fabrics and thread to create the scene. There is an excellent section on using simple dyeing methods to create unique fabrics that are ideal for landscapes. We then learn how to transfer the design on to fabric, create a quilt and then layer fabrics to create the various parts of a picture. Free machine embroidery is then used to create the effect, with hand embroidery sometimes employed for details. There is plenty of information on creating landscape elements such as water, skies, trees, hills and mountains, fields, flowers and buildings and more, and on depicting the four seasons. There are five gorgeous step by step projects showing an Autumn Woodland, Flowers in a Landscape, a Mountain Scene, a Sunset on Water and a Lavender Field. The book is filled with beautiful landscapes to inform and inspire textile artists. This book is part of the new Stitched Textiles series for textile artists (in particular intermediate to experienced embroiderers, quilters, etc.), showing how to embellish and enhance fabric surfaces with paints, dye, appliqué, collaged elements, stitching, beads and more. Themes are forever popular in the textile world, and this book on stitched landscapes will demonstrate how to design, realise and create original work.