About this item
Textile artist and instructor Betty Fikes Pillsbury has won hundreds of awards for her homages to the elegance of Victorian crazy quilting. Grounded in traditional methods but crafted with elements of whimsy, each piece stands on its own as a work of art. In this definitive guide, Pillsbury shares her methods for piecing, embroidering, and embellishing. Her instructions equip readers at any level of quilting skill to use those techniques to express their own visions.Encouraging her readers to see functional and artistic possibilities beyond quilts (wall hangings, purses, and pillowcases are just some of the options) , Pillsbury shows them how to make each work by hand, the slow cloth way. An inspiring primer for beginning and experienced quilters alike, this meticulously illustrated how-to book is far more expansive than previous guides.
About the Author
Betty Fikes Pillsbury grew up on the Canadian border of New York State. She taught herself to embroider when she was eight - after convincing her mother to buy her floss and needles. Throughout the years, Betty learned any needlework technique she could, including hedebo, hardanger, pulled-thread, drawn-thread, silk ribbon embroidery, or nue, surface embroidery, quilting, needlepoint, needle lace, beadwork, ad infinitum. Crazy quilting remains her foremost passion. She finds great joy in creating with her hands and sharing that love through teaching.
Betty has won more than two hundred awards for her needlework, including Best Needlework at the Vermont Quilt Festival, Best Traditional Quilt at Threads Across America, First Place at the American Quilter's Society show, and the Educator's Award of Excellence from the Embroiderers' Guild of America. Betty has appeared on Simply Quilts on HGTV and PBS' Quilt Nebraska. Her work has appeared in the White House, the Fenimore Art Museum, Quilt Expo in France, and elsewhere.
In addition to being a textile artist, Betty is also an herbalist and keeps extensive gardens. She is a contributor for Mother Earth News Herbal Living. She creates bath and beauty products for Beekman 1802.
