Blog

Fibreart Montage, Combing Quilting, Embroidery and Photography with Embellishments, by Judith Baker Montano

When I hear the name Judith Baker Montano, I think queen of crazy quilting.  I think silk ribbon embroidery.  I think renowned teacher, author of many books.  I also think of a gracious woman I met more than 15 years ago, filled with stories and laughter, and who was holding a  beaded and embroidered bag that was so beautiful that I found myself  staring at it.  When I learned Judith had a new book coming out, I couldn’t wait to see it.

Fibreart Montage –  Judith’s exciting new 256-page hardcover, spiral-bound book by published by Dragon Threads Ltd. — arrived. A visual feast,  this book is packed with inspiration to get the mind revved up with ideas and  instruction to give the confidence to make it happen.

The book has nine chapters: getting started; crazy quilting; the cottage journey; photography; silk dyeing; landscapes and seascapes; underwater; patterns; and stitch guide.

In addition to an overview of color and palettes, Getting Started provides five pages of step-by-step instructions for creating a machine-sewn foundation for crazy quilting.  Judith shows how to add curves, miters, and angles.  Any person starting out will appreciate this hand-holding.  An understanding of this important step can make all of the difference in the quality of your work. The chapter also has beautiful examples of crazy quilting and information on cords and braiding.

In The Cottage Journey, Judith explains how she photographs a cottage, brings it into an image editing program, and converts the photo into a line drawing.  That line drawing is then used as the basis of a watercolor painting, and she explains the steps she takes to create her painting.  The painting is then scanned in, printed on silk, and the silk is then embroidered.  While a later chapter includes several patterns, this chapter gives the necessary guidance to inspire the reader to convert their own photo into a unique, stitched work.

In Silk Dyeing, she describes three methods of using dye — painting with it, using it within plastic bags, and using “blobs” of it on silk .  She also provides thorough instruction on burning silk to create beautiful silk leaves.

Both chapters stir the creative juices, and could even be the basis for a book on its own, yet they are just part of this gold mine of a book. The Landscapes and Seascapes and Underwater chapters completely guides the reader through specific stitched projects.  Luscious supplies, such as organza, netting silk ribbons, threads and yarn,  are discussed.  The creation of various textures, such as twisted and couched seaweed, are explained.  Every step from start to finish is detailed.  Even student work is shared. Want more?  There is a nearly 50 page stitch guide.  Beautifully illustrated, it covers working with embroidery threads and silk ribbons.

The photography throughout the book is top notch; the illustrations very clear.  The spiral binding makes it easy to keep the book open to follow a stitch guide or drool over an image. This book is such a winner.  It is among my favorite books of this year (another being Quilting in the Limelight, also published by Dragon Threads). The only thing that could make it better is if one of the beautiful embroidered pouches from page 193 jumped out of the book and into my hands. This book is Judith Baker Montano at her very best.

Fibreart Montage is available directly from Dragon Threads Ltd.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 1:27 am and is filed under Book Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.