Veronique’s newsletter

Aubusson, August 26th 2006

Dear readers, For one obvious reason this newsletter is also published in English.

You might have already noticed, on the « édition » page, the announcement of my forthcoming book (October 20th, 2006). As the book is now almost finished, it is time to give some more details. It will be bilingual, French-English, as I have long felt that what I have to say in the field of needlepoint tapestry might interest some English-speaking embroiderers.

My first objective is to show what can be done with straight stitches. Only straight stitches ! They are really simple. You just cover a number of wefts or warps, i.e. vertically or horizontally. And, using these simple components, you build surprisingly varied motifs.

You will find in this book all you need to take pleasure in your work. The core is a « Library of stitches » comprised of about thirty motifs explained in detail. You learn how to multiply and combine them to produce decorative patterns and create objects of many kinds. You can see examples of these in this newsletter but there are many more. All the necessary diagrams are included, together with finishing instructions.

As is the case in my teaching, my aim is to take you to the point where you will be able to create your own designs. Obviously, in the beginning, you have to be content, and so you must be, with slavishly following the instructions. But once you have mastered the technique comes the moment when you feel that you wish to spread your wings. This you must do, and it doesn’t matter if you make mistakes, as you inevitably will. The Italian proverb says « sbagliando s’impara », you learn from your mistakes. Nothing is truer, as I should know !

Now a word about the subscription. Why do I need advance orders ? I am sure you have noticed that nowadays many art books are printed abroad (as seen from France, of course), in Italy, Romania, Hong-Kong... I did not want to add to my worries by having to work with printers that far away. More importantly, up to now all my products have been entirely made in France. My first book was printed in the Limousin, this one will be printed a bit further away, in Britanny. But there is a price to pay for this. For many perfectly understandable reasons, our printers are more expensive. But I am far from the number of advance orders I need to cover the costs. So, if you should wish to help me, which I do not doubt for a moment, please talk about the book to your friends. I am certain that, once they will have read it, they will be glad you told them about it. You can print the order form, several copies if needed. When the book comes out, I shall drop all the orders into a hat, or any other suitable receptacle, and have three forms drawn. The winners will receive one of our creations as a nice small gift.

If you have read this far, I would appreciate your sending me a very short e-mail, (whether you buy the book or not !), just to give me an idea whether I can actually reach as far as, why not, New Zealand.

Thanks for your interest.

(greetings to all my English speaking friends)

Veronique