Seasons of Wool Appliqué Folk Art

About Rebekah L. Smith

Rebekah L. Smith studied graphic design at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and specialises in wool work, murals and American folk art. Rebekah and her husband, along with their three daughters, continually work to restore an 1838 house in Ohio. rebekahlsmith.com

Workshop on the web

This book would be a lovely introduction to hand embroidery techniques and the folkie theme is currently popular for interiors. Yes, its a project book but one with attractive and useful makes that are described clearly in step photos and diagrams.

The book is divided into seasons but, as the colour scheme is much the same throughout, it is just the motifs that change. The photography is good and full-sized patterns are included.

Preparation, cutting-out and a very good guide to simple stitches would really encourage a newcomer to make something really lovely.

Yarnsandfabrics.co.uk

Lovely designs, lovely stitching, good projects from cushions, notebook cover, pegbag, scissor holder to table runner, nothing too imaginative but all done to a good standard with pleasant motifs. One thing to remember is that wool comes in many colours and you can dye your own because the first thing that strikes me about this book is that it is brown. Rebekah has chosen a limited, muted palette. On the back cover two cushions are shown, one dull green with a brown squirrel, the other orange with a brown bird. Just think what a happier guy that squirrel would have been if he were rusty orange. All the projects can be seen at the beginning of the book, and there's that overall brown-ness. As we are going through the seasons, you might imagine a palette of colour to match the seasons but that only seems to be evoked by a touch of orange in autumn. I like the pegbag, my mother used to have one, and if you adjust the pattern slightly, it could be any sort of bag you want.  Each of the 12 projects is shown with details, introduced with a paragraph or two, and contain instructions to make the projects. There is a short guide to preparing wool and embroidery stitches at the back of the book. Included are 2 pages of pattern templates, these are double sided. I love the birds.