Beginners will enjoy experimenting with thread colours, and the size and direction of the stitches and will have great fun building up a range of exciting effects. Many people at first mistake Alison Holt's embroideries for paintings or even photographs. She is fascinated by gardens, landscapes and detail and enjoys the challenge of interpreting all the elements she sees in nature. Alison's way of working has evolved into a technique of painting with threads on to a canvas of hand-painted silk. She uses two basic stitches - straight stitch in various combinations and zigzag stitch - to make fine and broad brushstrokes on silk, blending both to achieve stunning results. The raised embroidery on the glowing coloured background produces a beautiful three-dimensional effect. This comprehensive and colourful book covers everything from composing a landscape and setting up the machine to choosing threads and silk dyes and framing up. Alison encourages the reader to experiment with the techniques as they go along, making sure the colour, length and direction of stitch are right for the effect they are trying to recreate. Step-by-step demonstrations of an autumn river bank and colourful flower border are included as are many examples of Alison's inspiring and original work.