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J**E
Better than I expected
Maria Diaz makes such lovely designs and as you can tell by the cover, they're complex enough to be quite beautiful but easy enough to stitch. There is only one little blurb of an introduction stuck on the inside of the front cover of this paperback. I would have appreciated a lot more history of these designs. I have learned from other books why these designs are often so beautiful but stylized instead of visual representations of flowers, etc. Perhaps it's because this is such a hot political topic right now, it is not mentioned that the Ottoman Empire is mostly Muslim. In addition to it being completely outlawed to ever show any representation of the prophet Mohammed, it's also not allowed to make realistic depictions of nature: that is God's work and not for Man to try to replicate. This is why, from ancient times, Islamic designs are glorious stylized motifs with often repeated tile designs or intricate round and square designs. There are no Ottoman Empire Michelangelos or Norman Rockwells.But for all the missing realistic portraits or landscapes, the Ottoman artist turned to beauty, complexity and color in design. I especially love the 14 designs that are shown on pages 16-29, 4 of which designs are spread over both pages when the book is laid out flat. These designed are shown stitched and you can make out that fabric is linen and mostly are stitched over 2 threads. But if you're more comfortable with Aida cloth, feel free. One thing to know is that this is not a beginner book to learn how to stitch: you're shown no techniques whatsoever and given no suggestions for fabric. DMC colors are the exclusive threads suggested and every pattern incorporates between 3 and 8 colors of floss for the cross stitching with sometimes 1 or 2 colors for back stitching. The patterns are very clear graphs with gridlines and it's extremely helpful that all the color symbols match the color of floss. The best way to stitch any but the smallest project would be to print a copy of the pattern and mark it off as you stitch it. For patterns that cover more than one page, I will copy them and tape them together...it's just easier to count them out in that way.All in all, this is a very pretty book. You could use these patterns to make anything from a simple traditional prayer rug to a picture frame to repeated patterns on hand towels or table linens. I enjoy just paging through these designs, it really gets my creative juices flowing.
M**E
Lovely samplers, not in English
Beautiful samples, but all text in book is in Turkish. Luckily there's not a great deal of directions in text, but instead in color-coded charts.Rating is lowered because product was advertised as being in English and isn't.
S**E
Amazing designs!
A really lovely book of designs, much as I've come to expect from Maria Diaz. Sophisticated and beautiful, and simply laid out, it's a feast for the stitcher. Color plates of the finished designs, and colors graphs, I can't wait to start stitching!
M**A
Superb Book for Cross-Stitchers!
The designs are unique and hard to find. The patterns are very easy to use. There are a variety of patterns, from simple and quick to very elaborate, more advanced projects. A great find for cross-stitchers!
E**L
Like the designs
Beautiful designs and many remind me of Iznik tiles. I wish the charts had been done in with symbols rather than colors. Darker areas of some of the charts are more difficult to read, meaning it's harder to count the number of squares/stitches.
C**W
Beautiful book
Beautiful book, well made on quality paper, clear graphs. Nice designs that are not run-of-the mill.
P**Y
Great motifs!
Great book; I highly recommend it.
T**A
Wonderful book
Great book. Excellent graphs.
J**B
Late but very good
This was 2 months late in arriving but superb and exactly what I hoped for. Delightful and different patterns, easy to follow.
S**H
Lovely
Lovely designs
E**J
Great little book.
I bought this little book for less than $9.00 + SH. It is worth every penny!!!! The lovely designs will be made into a lot of beautiful cushions. ej
T**E
Very nice
A good combination of colours and designs, none of which is overly complicated.
N**B
wunderschöne, vielfältig verwendbare, osmanische Motive
dieses Buch habe ich schon lange gesucht, es enthält wunderschöne Motive von einer großartigen Designerin.Die Motive sind vielfältig verarbeit- und verwendbar.
