Threads of Treasure - by Sara Barnes (Hardcover)

About the Book

Learn to make embroidery a way to treasure your life as you create three personal projects supported by the guidance, stories, and advice of 14 modern crafters.

Book Synopsis

Modern society has put a premium on producing, and sometimes that hustle culture (Instagram likes! Etsy sales!) can drain some joy from crafting. This book helps embroidery fans abandon that notion and, instead, realize that life is about treasuring what's important.

- Interviews with 14 creative stitchers--from business owners to accomplished artists--make readers feel embraced by community.

- Each artist shares photos of their creations, encouraging readers to incorporate empowering concepts into their stitching.

- Three step-by-step projects, personalized to the reader's own preferences, teach how to

1. use your threads to treasure and display your life's meaningful special objects. For instance, a special token of a favorite moment like a seashell, an event ticket, or a trinket from childhood.

2. use your threads to treasure your worn and well-loved things, like your favorite garment, with mending and adornment (while also treasuring our environment).

3. use your threads to treasure your small everyday moments--sit still, breathe deeply, and enjoy the making process--by creating a daily practice.

Review Quotes

"Delicious. Filled with sumptuous photographs of working textile artists' creations and interviews about not only their process but the journeys that brought them to their work, Barnes provides a profoundly engrossing, wildly inspirational textile creation manual. Putting the book down rather than gobbling the entire thing in one night was an exercise in personal self-control."--Stephanie M., Textile Society of America member

"Excels in encouraging creatives to reflect on the intersections of art, nature, and daily life. It offers a chance to reflect on the simple beauty of embroidery and its potential to enrich our everyday experiences."--Megan Adgate, Textile Society of America member

"Inspiring images of needlework, stories from talented makers and unique guidance for ways to personalize my own projects...filled me with creative inspiration and new ideas to take my thread out and revitalize my techniques."--Laurel C., Textile Society of America member

"What a delight . . . part artist interview, part artistic practice . . . A plethora of insight into business ownership and artistic accomplishments . . . Threads of Treasure helps you to sit back and enjoy the process."--Melissa Galbraith, MCreativeJ

"Brown Paper Bag blogger Barnes (Embroidered Life) serves up an unusually reflective guide to embroidery that's distinguished by its open-ended projects and thorough profiles of fabric artists . . . Though the profiles and generous photos of the embroiderers' impressive work are the main draws, Barnes also includes three 'projects' that eschew step-by-step directions in favor of conceptual guidance on devising original pieces. For instance, one project offers tips for creating thread art based around a found item, encouraging readers to contemplate designs by studying the visual qualities of their item and then sketching out potential compositions before setting needle to fabric. Crafters who feel restricted by the rigid instructions of other how-to manuals will relish this invitation to let their creativity run wild."--Publishers Weekly