Stitching with Stars Book Review

Sandra Arthur, Duo Designs 2017-21

Looking at the canvases in my stash and thinking about the pieces I have stitched, I realize stars are not one of my better things. The canvases I have either have stars that cover a single intersection or are simple crosses. Not terribly exciting or even very original. Now, thanks to this book, I have the knowledge to branch out.

Stars are the subject of Sandra’s newest volume in the Pocketbook series. These coil-bound books open flat and are a great size to fit in a project bag. You can easily open the book to the technique you want and keep it that way as a reference while you stitch.

I loved how packed with great ideas this book is. You’ll find stars small and large, simple and complex, and with embellishments or not. Many of the pages have more than one version of the technique, and often these have pictures of the star stitched on canvas. The stitch diagrams are numbered, and some of them show how the stitch is built up by showing the steps.

Before getting this book, I worried that too many techniques would be too complex for beginners and intermediate stitchers. Happily, this is not the case. Most of the techniques can be done by beginners. Of those that newer stitchers can’t do two, eyelet stars and ray Stitch stars are slightly more complex. Although the Waffle Stitch Star looks complex, it is an intermediate stitch. Only one star, the Amadeus Star, is hard, but many folks find string ar stitches compelling. Because I struggle with them, I can’t really tell, but this star’s explanation looks good to me.

I am now so excited to look for canvases where I can add some stars. I am so happy that Sandra is writing these idea-packed books.