Judith Baker Montano's Essential Stitch Guide

Judith Baker Montano is an award-winning and world-renowned Canadian fibre artist, photographer, author, and teacher who is recognised as the consummate expert in crazy quilting, silk ribbon embroidery, and embellishments. She grew up on the historic Bar U Ranch in Alberta, Canada. Her love of fabrics and embellishments reflects her Indian, French, and German heritage. She attributes the rich, embellished ethnic influence in her work to living between an Indian reserve and a Hutterite colony where she observed beautiful handicrafts. Living in England, Germany, and Japan for eight years was another profound influence on her artwork and outlook. Judith attended California State University, Chico, and graduated with a degree in art and journalism. Upon graduation, she painted with the San Francisco Art Guild.Experimenting with materials and her sewing machine, Judith created the Montano Centre Piece Method, a copyright-protected machine method of crazy quilting.Judith was presented with the Governor General's Centennial Award of Canada in recognition for her artwork as a Canadian living abroad. She has designed for Butterick/Vogue, Bucilla Company, Mokuba Ribbons of Tokyo, Fox Hill Designs, Treenway Silks, Robert Kaufman Fabrics, Kanagawa, and Mokuba ribbons. Her work has been featured at the Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado; Profiles Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; The Dairy Barn, Athens, Ohio; Mitskoshi Department Show, Tokyo, Japan; Profiles and Visions, Alberta, Canada; and the La Conner Quilt Museum, La Conner, Washington. Judith has been a guest artist at countless Australian Stitches and Craft Trade shows and the Tokyo Hobby Shows. Her designs have been featured in many international and national magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Quilts Japan, and The Quilt Life. She has appeared on the Carol Duval Show, Simply Quilts, The Quilt Show, and Good Morning Australia. She has produced award-winning tutorial videos and DVDs. Teaching takes her throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Classes range from clothing design, crazy quilting, embellishments, and mixed media to free-form textile art. Every year, from May to September, Judith offers eight exclusive seminars in her private studio. Visit her website, www.judithbakermontano.com, for more details. Judith resides in the small town of La Veta, Colorado, a conclave of artists, writers, and musicians. She lives in a restored 1876 cottage with her husband, Ernest Shealy, and an ever-increasing menagerie of pets.

If you are a fan, or are new to Judith Baker Montano, you won't want to miss her latest book Judith Baker Montano's Essential Stitch Guide". This book is exactlywhat it says...an essential stitch guide. Montano has combined over 180 stitches and 70 stitch combinations found in her two previous books, The Best of Elegant Stitches" and Floral Stitches" into one easy to carry with you book. For those of you just starting your embroidery journey you will find a wealth of information on getting started with the basics. Subjects range from fabrics, needles, overlays, threads and embroidery techniques such as Silk-Ribbon embroidery, Punchneedle embroidery to working with beads and using other mixed media to create the mood for your piece. You will also learn about the proper way to insert your fabric in a hoop as well as how to transfer and enlarge designs. Finally there is also a section on washing your finished work and blocking and pressing. Judith urges you to think like a painter" when designing your own work. How to use color to its best advantage and the best methods to compose your piece are also covered. With 180 stitches you will have an encyclopedia of stitches to choose from. Every stitch is illustrated and the instructions are easy to understand. I enjoyed reading the Crazy-Quilt Combinations chapter. In this she combines several different stitches to create and repetitive design to work along a seam line. They could also be used to decorate any number of projects. Of course I would be remiss if I failed to mention the Free-Form Embroidery chapter. Here is where all your stitching skills are put to the test creating needle art collages. You will combine everything you have just read in the book to create a beautiful piece of work such as a landscape or a seascape or just add dimension to a project you have already started. I am pleased to add this book to my collection of Judith Baker Montano's books, I am sure you will be as well. -- Patti Ives The Applique Society Newsletter, March/April 2016 Internationally known needlework expert Judith Baker Montano is one of the icons of CQ. She shares 180 stitches and 70 combinations in her latest book, which includes the best from previous books Elegant Stitches and Floral Stitches. This new handbook also has an updated section of free-form inspiration for improvisational work. Bonus: there are full-color illustrations and advice for left-handed stitchers! Generation Q, Spring 2016 Judith Baker Montano, experienced needle worker and author, presents this concise stitch dictionary, combining her previous best sellers into one basic reference book. Chapters on materials, suppliers and techniques are followed by comprehensive instructions, with colour illustrations, for over 180 stitches that can be worked in thread, yarn or ribbon. The compact format, handily spiral-bound, ensures that this is the perfect companion for every embroiderer whatever their skill level. -- Judy Wilford East Kent Embroiderers Guild

• Contents Dedication Introduction Getting Started with the Basics Fabrics Overlays Needles Threads Techniques Embroidery Silk Ribbon Punchneedle Embroidery Cross-Stitch and Needlepoint Beads Mixed Mediums Hoops Frames Small Sewing Tools Transferring Designs Enlarging and Reducing Designs Washing Finished Work Blocking and Pressing Adding Highlights Storing Tools and Materials Metric Conversions Design Ideas Backgrounds Photo Transfers Think Like a Painter Color Montano Color Chart The Color Wheel Framing Ideas Embroidery Stitches 1. Algerian Eye Stitch * 2. Arrowhead Stitch* 3. Arrowhead StitchStacked* 4. Arrowhead leaf * 5. Backstitch* 6. BackstitchThreaded* 7. Basque Knot* 8. Braid Stitch* 9. Bullion Knot Stitch* 10. Bullion Rose* 11. Bullion Rosebud* 12. Buttonhole Stitch 13. Buttonhole StitchCircle* 14. Buttonhole StitchClosed* 15. Buttonhole StitchDetatched* 16. Buttonhole StitchKnotted* 17. Buttonhole Stitchtriangle* 18. Buttonhole StitchUp and Down* 19. Cable Stitch* 20. Cast-On Stitch Flower* 21. Chain Stitch* 22. Chain Stitch - Cable* 23. Chain StitchDetached Flower* 24. Chain StitchDetached Twisted* 25. Chain StitchMagic* 26. Chain StitchOpen* 27. Chain StitchRose also a silk ribbon stitch 28. Chain StitchRosette* 39. Chain StitchRussian* 30. Chain StitchSpiny* 31. Chain StitchTwisted* 32. Chain StitchWhipped* 33. Chain StitchedZigzag* 34. Chevron Stitch* 35. Chinese Knot* 36. Chinese knotted loop 37. Colonial Knot* 38. Coral Stitch* 39. Coral StitchZigzag* 40. Couching Stitch* 41. Cretan Stitch* 42. Cretan StitchDecorative* 43. Crochet Stitch* 44. Cross Stitch* 45. Cross StitchFlower* 46. Cross StitchSt. George* 47. Crown Stitch* 48. Double Knot Stitch* 49. Drizzle Stitch 50. End String Flowers* Do we keep this in? 51. Ermine Stitch* 52. Eyelet Stitch* Eyelet freeform - added in* 53. FeatherstitchSingle, Double* 54. FeatherstitchChained* 55. FeatherstitchClosed* 56. FeatherstitchLeaf* 57. Fern Leaf Stitch* 58. Fishbone Stitch* 59. Fishbone StitchOpen* 60. Flat Stitch* 61. Fly Stitch* 62. Fly StitchCircle* 63. Fly StitchDandelion Seed Pod* 64. Fly StitchLeaf* 65. French Knot* 66. Granitos* 67. Head of the Bull Stitch (Tete de Boeuf)* 68. Herringbone Stitch* 69. Herringbone StitchLaced* 70. Holbein Stitch* 71. Lazy Daisy Stitch* 72. Lazy Daisy StitchBullion Tip* 73. Lazy Daisy StitchDouble* 74. Leaf Stitch* 75. Long and Short Stitch* 76. Loop Stitch* 77. Magic Chain Band Stitch* 78. Maidenhair Stitch* 79. Needleweaving Bar* 80. Net Stitch* 81. Open Square Stitch* 82. Overcast Stitch* 83. Oyster Stitch* 84. Palestrina Stitch* 85. Palestrina StitchSquared* 86. Pekinese Stitch* 87. Petal Stitch* 88. Pistil Stitch* 89. Raised Straight Stitch* 90. Romanian Stitch* added [I have diagrams] 91. Rosette Stitch* 92. Running Stitch* 93. Running StitchLaced or Whipped* 94. Satin Stitch* 95. Scroll Stitch* 96. Seed Stitch* 97. Sheaf Stitch* 98. Snail Trail Stitch* 99. SpiderwebBackstitch* 100. Split Stitch* 101. Star Stitch* [was the backstitch star stitch] 102. Star Filling Stitch* 103. Stem Stitch* [fix diagram] 104. Stem StitchPortugese* 105. Stem StitchWhipped* 106. Straight Stitch* 107. String of Pearls Stitch* 108. Sword Edge Stitch* 109. Tufted Flower Stitch* 110. Tulip Stitch* 111. Turkey Work Stitch* 112. Vandyke Stitch* 113. Victorian Pom Poms* 114. Wheat Ear Stitch* 115. Wheat Ear StitchDetatched* 116. Wool Rose* 117. Wool Rosebud* 118. Woven Picot* Silk Ribbon Stitches 1. Bradford Rose 2. Couched Rose 3. Decorative Lazy Daisy Stitch 4. 6. French Knot Flower 7. French Knot Loop Stitch 8. Gathered Ribbon Flower 9. Helen's Antique Rose 10. Iris Stitch 11. Iva's Rose 12. Jan's Antique Rose 13. Japanese Ribbon Stitch 14. Joyce's Fargo Flower 15. Judith's Curled leaf 16. Judith's Knotted Flowers 17. Lazy Daisy Rose 18. Lazy Daisy Rosebud 19. Lazy Daisy with Bullion Tip 20. Lazy Daisy with French Knot 21. Leaf Ribbon Stitch 22. Loop Flower 23. Loop FlowerBud 24. Loop StitchSingle 25. Montano Knot 26. Pansy Stitch 27. Plume Stitch 28. Raised Ribbon Stitch 29. Rambler Rose 30. Ribbon Split Stitch 31. Ribbon Stitch Pansy 32. Rosette Bud 33. Ruth's Rosettes 34. Ruth's Ruched Ribbon 35. Side Ribbon Stitch 36. Spider Web Rose 37. Stab Stitch 38. Straight Stitch Bud 39. Straight Stitch Rose 40. Tube Rose 41. Twisted Loop Stitch 42. Twisted Ribbon Stitch 43. Whip StitchSingle 44. Whip StitchCurved Other Ribbon Techniques 1. Christine's Blossoms 2. Concertina Rose 3. Elly's Wire Ribbon Pansy [Have corrected diagrams] 4. Five-Petal Gathered Flower 5. Folded Ribbon Rose 6. Folded Rosebud 7. Freeform Flowers 8. Japanese Wire Ribbon Bud 9. LeavesRibbon 10. Mokuba Ribbon Flower 11. Victorian Velvet Pansies 10. Wire Ribbon Fuchsia [I have the diagrams] Advice For Left-Handers Crazy Quilt Combinations Free-Form Embroidery 1. Song for the French Actress 2. Cottage Garden 3. On The Road To Seward 4. Jellyfish View 5. Under The Sea Detail 6. Kauai, Hawaii 7. Ode to Paloma 8. Aguilar Adobe 9. Pinon Pines, Rabbit Brush and Coyote Fences 10. Australian Greenery About the Author Bibliography