Where it all started

This book, by Jan Beaney, made its way into my life in the very early 1990s. Initially purchased as a resource for hand stitching (of which I knew absolutely nothing) it revealed to me the possibilities of textile art. I can pinpoint the moment when the world of visual diaries, drawn thoughts, experimental design, pattern, scale, context, texture and colour escaped from its pages. It is a text re-read many times over the last 25 years, and its contents still bring a level of excitement with the turn of each page. If there had only ever been one book to coax me into the world of textile art and embroidery, I think this would have been "it".