Raised Quilt and Stitch

Book excerpt: Over the course of her long and creative career, quilting expert Sylvia Critcher has established her own unique process for combining raised quilt and stitch techniques to create wonderful effects. Sylvia's method features a variety of quilting and raised embroidery techniques including trapunto, Italian quilting, le boutis, French-style cording and English quilting. The book will guide you through the history and context of these traditional techniques and show you how to combine them with the necessary stitches to create Sylvia's distinctive style of work. This book will show you exactly how Sylvia creates her richly textured surfaces by following a simple step-by-step pincushion project from start to finish. The process is broken down into key stages, and clear illustrations are given to guide the reader through the process. All the instructions and templates needed to create nine further contemporary projects are given: a ring pillow, chair cushion, bag, needlecase, lap quilt, runner, table centre, wall hanging and full-size quilt. All the templates required are given at actual size in a handy pull-out section. The book also contains a helpful section on developing designs and a gallery of beautiful pieces to inspire.