Oriental Designs in Needlepoint

The designs in this book are very beautiful and seem fairly easy to follow. The color schemes are bright, yet they are also intricate and refined. However, the book has been around for quite awhile and I cannot find the yarns/threads listed. Don't expect an easy conversion chart to follow. Fortunately, however, the charts are pretty straightforward and not overcrowded with colors, so it would be fairly easy to pick your own. There is one chart that I really like which is presented on the cover. It looks like a Chinese plate with bright, red bird motifs. However, most of the projects seem quite large which would require a very long time to complete. There are several examples of firescreens to do. Although they are very beautiful, they are also quite expensive to complete by the time you purchase the extra large piece of canvas and the frame. If you are a fan of Chinese art, however, you will still enjoy this book. The motifs are beautifully done and presented in color and graphed for you. You could borrow some from larger projects, stitch borders around them and make pillows and whatnot. If I were wealthy and had absolutely nothing else to do and didn't work for a living, I might see myself completing one of those firescreens. However, I think this will be more of a "coffee table picture book" for me.

The deisgns in thsi book are quite stunning. The book includes full-color photoes of every design. Despite their intricacy, the designs are charted very well in black and white and are easy to follow.