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Australian needlecraft magazine Inspirations has been inspiring (and wowing) people for over thirty years. This book is part of a new series of books, each containing eight projects which will challenge and delight embroiderers.

Stumpwork is notorious for being one of the more advanced styles of embroidery, and like just about everything produced by this magazine, I would recommend this book for intermediate level and up. If this is you, then rejoice, because this book manages to update stumpwork for the 21st Century while retaining its lush appearance and celebration of nature. The eight projects depict flowers and fruits, and they have all been previously featured in issues of Inspirations magazine. There are violas, a coneflower and butterfly, windflowers, tansy, raspberries and crab-apples, strawberries and my own favourite, the very Jacobean partridge in a pear tree.

The book opens with a two-page history of stumpwork, and the rest of the book contains the projects. Each one is several pages long and has everything you need to complete the piece, including a pattern on the sheet at the back tucked neatly into a pocket. Along with many large and colourful photographs (so useful due to the level of detail in each one), there are staged photographs for stitches plus coloured diagrams.

What you need is broken down into fabric, supplies, needles, and threads with DMC stranded floss being the main choice, but also Madeira metallic, Anchor floss, perlé cottons, ribbon, and various types of silk threads. Each thread is assigned a number and is referred to by it in the instructions, which apart from the stitches are mostly in written form. At the back is a glossary of all the stitches and techniques, each shown in a good number of staged photographs. I think my favourite must be the piece on how to utilise a real snail shell together with wire, thread, and glue to make a snail! This is a method the original Jacobean embroiderer would have recognized. A beautiful and inspiring book for the keeper shelf.