Exquisite Miniatures in Cross Stitch and Other Counted Thread Techniques

This is a really lovely book. The designs are wonderful and and carefully presented. The charts are clearly drawn with color coding and back and white notations so they can be Xeroxed for easy reference. The designs range in style from silhouettes, to South American designs, to Elizabethan flowers and a medieval bird with a Celtic boarder. They are all very clearly laid out. The directions are not as extensive as they could be, but there is a stitch directory and a well organized introduction makes them easy to follow. Most of the designs are worked on linen in very high thread counts with tent stitch rather then classic cross stitch. Though these patterns are not actually miniature, most measure 3 to 5 inches, they are very small. The book it's self is lovely. All the photos are full color and every design is shown framed. The frame selection is explained to help the reader decide on their own frames for their own projects. Mostly due to their size, and due to the complexity of most of them, I do not recommend this book for beginners. Though they can be blown up to a larger designs using a lower count cloth, and they do not suffer for it, they are extremely complex.

I wasn't sure whether to give this 4 or 5 stars. It is a really nice book. The style is pleasant, and there are lots of helpful hints about framing. The pages are really high quality. There are color photos of every finished piece, and the charts are in color. The price of $28 new may seem steep, but it is a very high quality book.

I was drawn to this book by the gloriously muted tawny brown colourings of many of the works, highlighted by a gorgeous range of frames. Many of the works are completed in tent stitch and are fast to work, others are worked as cross stitch one over one providing a beautiful effect. The author has given many ideas for incorporating designs and there are lots of framing ideas. The graphs are easy to follow and the photography is great.

This book is an absolute delight! Brenda Keyes presents 34 miniature-size designs in a wide variety of styles. I wanted to start right in and not stop until I'd finished every one. Her sense of humor purmeates the book making it entertaining as well as informative. There is a lot of excellent information on finishing and the photography is first-rate.