Every crazy quilter should own a copy of this book. It is the most comprehensive book on embroidery design that I have ever seen. This stitch library was compiled from antique quilts by Carole Samples and contains hundreds of stitches. With the exception of about 10 pages, the book is printed entirely in black and white. The stitches are organized by type, ie, straight, blanket, chain, feather, laced, doodled, tied, knotted, combinations, zig zag, fern, chevron, triangle, fan, stem, geometric, back stitch, herringbone, holbein, arrowhead, star, cross stitch, and banded stitcheries. Patch pictures, alphabets and spider webs have their own sections. The blurb on the back cover states that there are 50 basic stitches and that there are many variations of each stitch. With 225 pages of stitches, you will never run out of ideas for seam treatments. I cannot imagine how many combination stitches are possible. The author includes a chart with the 9 functions of crazy quilt stitches that I thought was interesting. The 9 functions are outline, decorate seams, decorate patches, fill, applique, couch, tie, pad and finish edges. What you won't find in the book are diagrams on how to make the stitches. There are no insert needle here, come out here instructions.

Simply the best crazy quilt book ever written! ( )

a must-have for crazy quilters! ( )