Embroidery teacher Annette Rich shares a selection of botanical-style embroidery projects. She draws on a range of traditions and techniques to capture different flowers, and photographs, clear instructions and stitch and thread guides accompany each of the self-contained projects. Australian wildflowers form the basis of the projects in this book from teacher and gardener Rich (Wildflower Embroidery). The step-by-step projects are in a somewhat advanced embroidery technique using several different stitches with applied slips for three-dimensional effects. Although the Tasmanian waratah or the scarlet banksia may be unfamiliar to American stitchers, the designs are lovely. Thread keys are for rayon thread by EdMar of California. This is not an essential purchase for public libraries, but it will add some variety to needlework collections that may be dominated by cross-stitch books. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. It was the maxim "Never be idle" that drove Rich, an Australian, to pick up needle and thread. And it is a surplus of ideas that prompted her to follow up Wildflower Embroidery with a book devoted to her native country's botanical glories. The layout is quite strange--a design guide follows the nearly one dozen flowers, instead of being incorporated into every pattern. And the instructions are delivered in straight sentences and paragraphs, rather than in numbered sequences. Yet all necessary information is presented, from a brief summary of essentials to a stitch guide in the appendix. Taking time to smell the flowers, in this instance, is dedicated to the province of experienced stitchers. Barbara Jacobs Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Used Book in Good Condition