Thanks for the info Ann. I've been thinking about doing some embroidery. It's been a really long time and I've never had lessons, just self-taught.

The A-Z embroidery books from Aus are produced and available from http://www.countrybumpkin.com Their magazines Inspirations and Austrailian Smocking and Embroidery are wonderful and great quality, quarterly editions, the best on the market for my money. The books actually started out as an off shoot of the stitch instructions from the back pages of Inspirations.

Rosemary

Ok here are the books and resources that I used to learn and teach Brazilian Embroidery.

The first company is http://www.jdr-be.com. I have the Sunshine's Treasures book and use it a lot for explanations of stitches and begining designs.

Next is http://www.edmar-co.com. this is where I find the threads I use for almost all of my Brazilian Embrboidery and they have a great book titled "The Art of Dimensional Embroidery" by Maria A. Freitas. This book has some different flower designs and I love to use it for a lot of my designs.

Another resource is the A-Z series by Quilters' Resource Inc. This is a book written by Australian artists and some of the language is different but the designs are wonderful. Here in the USA these books are quite expensive but I have not been disappointed with the ones I have purchased. ( I have Embroidered Flowers, Ribbon Embroidery and Bullions). I haven't found an internet address for them but I have not gone to Google etc.

OK that is the list of resources, so next time I will fill you in on the needles, thread and other supplies that are needed to get into this type of embroidery.

Give me feedback on the information. Tell me what you want to know. Ann

DH and I made our almost weekly trip to our local thrift shop this morning (Tuesdays are 25% off days) My embroidery treasure was 6 linen pillow covers with some cutwork around the seam. These will be great for doing some Brazilian embroidery patterns to demonstrate stitches and show pattern ideas. I am planning hearts and wreaths with a variety of stitches and flowers in each one. This way I can demonstrate the different stitches and flowers (and maybe some other designs) and still have a usable project. And the best part was that all six pillow covers cost me $2.40. What a deal.

so today I have to finish the binding on a quilt, make homemade pizza for a friend and his Mom and us, and dig out the BE books and patterns so I guess I better get a move on. (Hope to blog about my other incredible finds tonight) Ann

Ann, thanks for the great information. And the website that was provided by another poster (sorry, as I'm typing this post I'm not remembering the name - no offense meant) is great and shows great pictures. What an awesome hobby and great way to add an embellishment to a quilt. Will have to think about this. Bobbi

JDR is a good website to see Brazilian embroidery and their book Sunshine Treasures is a great book to start with. It is one of my favorites. Edmar threads are excellant threads and work wonderfully in Brazilian embroidery. One caveat about JDR though. If you buy their beginner kits and do not have the book Sunshine Treasures, you must buy the kits in order and don't skip any if you want the directions for the stitches. They start with number one and do not repeat the directions for the first stitches in the subsequent patterns/kits. I found that I could learn all of the stitches from the book (except one that I still have not mastered and it can be skipped or substituted for without a problem) and the book was a much better value than buying the kits.

And yes if you get hooked on this type of embroidery your credit card can take a hit. But the thread stash doesn't take up nearly as much room as a fabric stash. LOL Ann

oh man, I gotta hide my checkbook/credit cards. That stuff is just too beautiful. Sandi in FL

Here's a good site for an over view of the Brazilian.

http://www.jdr-be.com/

Ann, is Brazilian embroidery the same as stumpwork?

I love redwork, too, and am presently working on the pattern "to Grandmother's house we go"--I'm sure you've all seen it. I made a really cute snowman of the month pattern and a cat of the month pattern in redwork several years ago. I just need to put the blocks together. I bought these patterns at a shop in Redlands, CA, where the owner at the time always had folk art patterns that were unusual. Anne, I would love to see your Brazilian emb. work. A friend of mine in Las Vegas used to use that type of emb. on her quilts. Judy in Torrance

Brazilian embroidery is dimensional embroidery usually done with rayon or silk threads that are used as they come. The threads are two or three ply in most cases but are wound in such a way that they can not be easily separated. (not like regular embroidery thread that is six ply and you split it based on your embroidery pattern.) Brazilian embroidery also uses many unique stitches. The bullion stitich is one of the most often used stitches and is basically a very long french knot. You wrap the thread around the needle many times depending on how long you want your stitch to be. (sometimes 50 or more wraps) Then you pull the thread through. Depending on how you position the needle you can make this stitch straight, curved or in a tight circle. This stitch is used for flowers and leaves as well as other figures. Also there are cast on stitches and detatched button hole stitches as well as many others. Standard embroidery stitches such as the stem stitch, french or colonial knots, feather stitch etc are also used and look totally different when using the special threads.

I have a number of books and sources for patterns but will have to dig them out so I can give the correct resources. If you go to my blogs and look through the archived ones I have posted pictures of some of my Brazilian and silk ribbon embroidery. I will try to do some sample stitches and explanations to post in a blog or here.

Hope this information helps. Ann

Brazilian embroidery...WOW!!! I have done some crewel work but WOW on the Brazilian!!

About two years ago, I found some embroidered pillowcases my mother did. They are still lovely and I use them on my bed. I decided to do more of them. There is nothing more comforting for me to crawl into bed with fresh linens which have been haning outside to dry and to have a beautiful design to lay my head on.
I even got fancy and did the sheet top hem in a matching design.

But back to quilting blocks with embroidery. I have several holiday wallhangings in embroidery. Two projects in process are two free patterns offered on line. One is for Christmas (Christmas Wish) and the other is from Bunny Hill (Basket of Bunnies).

I also have in my line up of embroidery to do Roly Poly Circus Quilt. I thought I would do one in Red and one in Blue and add some pieced blocks and border.

FW

Ok Ann, I'll bite - what is Brazilian embroidery? I'm sure the embroidery I did 20+ years ago is nowhere close to what the folks are talking about in this post. Plus I've never heard of Brazilian embroidery. Maybe I should buy a book on the different types of embroidery styles? Bobbi

Lady Quilter, I won't guarantee that I will be able to read your pattern but either post it in a blog or send it to me via e mail and I will try to see what your piece needs. I am mostly self taught with the help of a couple of friends and some books but have made quite a number of projects that IMHO are quite nice and I do know almost all of the typical stitches. (There is one that has me stumped and also has a couple of my friends stumped too so we just substitute if that one is asked for) But given those caveats, I will certainly try to help and lets see what we can accomplish. Ann