Stitched Textiles Landscapes

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.

Textile Landscapes demonstrates how to develop your approach to textile art with a focus on using found objects and paint and stitch on cloth and paper. Cas explains how to exploit the contrast between the hands-on textural quality of working with fabrics and threads and the spontaneity and movement of brush marks to lend a painterly quality to your work. She begins with the basics – keeping a sketchbook to generate ideas, painting and stitching on cloth and on paper and working digitally; Inspiring Landscapes looks at natural and urban space, the changing seasons and great landscapes as well as intimate spaces and travel diaries; Painting and Marking with Cloth explains the practical aspects of painting and dyeing cloth and how to make connections between paint, print, dye, stencil and stitch; Stitch-scapes looks at the different forms of landscape, experimenting with photographs and prints and how to translate those images using ink, stitch, abstract and collage techniques and then at how to transform the image using digital techniques; On Closer Inspection covers using elements and details from landscape and the environment as found objects and for research; finally People and Place explores the relationship we have with the outdoors and the built environment, as well as personal interpretations of place. The book includes artworks by the author that explore the UK, USA, Europe and Australia, as well as works by other internationally renowned textile artists. A creative guide ideal for textile artists of all levels – students, teachers and practising artists and makers – to make unique and beautiful work inspired by the world around us.

Aimed at textile artists and intermediate to experienced embroiderers and quilters this amazing work explores in both technique and design, Amanda Hislop's incredible textile seascapes. New from the Stitched Textiles series, Amanda Hislop reveals the skills and processes she uses to make her incredible textile seascapes. Featuring original projects, practical and enjoyable design exercises, and extensive sections on composition and markmaking, this instructional guide is brimming over with good ideas for a stunning selection of fabric and stitch scenes. The book has a particular emphasis on taking your work from inspiration through the design stage, offering practical, clear advice and guidance on this sometimes difficult part of creating artwork. It's all clearly explained through practical exercises and inspirational examples that then lead to projects which build upon and consolidate the lessons learned. Amanda's deep love and fascination with the varied moods of the sea and coastal landscape makes this a fantastic source for ideas and wonderful must-have reference book for all textile artists, whatever their skill level.

An inspiring step-by-step guide to creating contemporary textile artworks themed on nature. Stitched Textiles: The Natural World is the fourth title in this successful theme-based series. It contains an extensive section on techniques, featuring step-by-step guides to machine- and hand-stitching, attaching embellishments and found objects to your work; painting and printing on fabrics including cotton, silk and Khadi paper; and using objects found in nature, such as leaves, to make unique and iconic prints. The book includes four inspirational projects based on different facets of the natural world: Ocean, Rainforest, Botany, Birds and Animals. Stitched Textiles: The Natural World also features examples of the author, Steph Redfern's own intricate and detailed works based on nature, exploring the means by which the pieces have been created, and the wonderful stories behind Steph's journey as an artist. The wealth of information and visual stimuli in Stitched Textiles: The Natural World is intended to inspire the reader to create their own works inspired by nature, beginning by exploring the use of sketchbooks and study pages, progressing to picking out iconic elements from sketches and photographs, and eventually assembling a stunning, personal piece of stitched textile work on fabric or on cotton-blend Khadi paper, applying handstitch in metallic threads, or machine stitch in whimsical and beautiful patterns, and embellishing with natural beads or found objects.