Thread Magic

by Ellen Anne Eddy

Showcasing the art as well as the sewing machine techniques, this compendium reveals the work of the nature-inspired art quilt work of Ellen Anne Eddy. Her wall art goes beyond the traditional concept of quilting; she includes fish, bugs, birds, and frogs throughout her art, blending her dreams and vision with the natural world. She uses hand-dyed fabrics, lames, machine embroidery, cut-away applique, and layered sheers to create the illusion of flames, water, and mist in her work. The gallery of quilts features both full images and detailed shots, and Ellen's quilts are divided into several series and themes, with each section offering her inspiration for that theme.

Genres: Quilting, Sewing

110 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

Author
Ellen Anne Eddy


Ms. Eddy has spent over thirty years teaching fiber art to the quilt community all over America. Her books, Thread Magic, and Thread Magic Garden, have been seminal to the Art Quilt Movement.
The stories in these books are from her early years in Boston. They are works of fiction and imagination, but they have their roots in the time she spent there.
Ms. Eddy currently resides in Galesburg, IL with her husband, Donald Bowers, and her cats and dog. She sews, quilts, writes and dreams up crazy stories, just as she always has.

Reviews

[Espera · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book illustrates an impressive use of thread and machine stitchery. The author also talks about how to attach varying types of thread to the quilt (putting it in the bobbin versus stitching on with mono-filament thread), and how she dyes her own cloth for the backgrounds and such. The artist also does a decent job of talking about how to shade the animals to make them look less flat. Probably not a 'beginner' book in that various sewing terms may be used without explanation, but about 3/4 of the book is just about looking at the pictures and seeing what can be done anyways.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Perhaps the most perilous dangers are the ones we face within ourselves. Who we are inside permits the chances we take with the outside world."

I knew when I read this book that I was in for an artful journey; a ride that would take me to places my imagination could never imagine. What I didn’t realize was that the writing, some of the most beautiful words put to paper, would be one of the most profound books about life I have ever read. Thank you so much!