(You knew that, didn't you. Sorry to overshare... kind of feels like a big deal still.) If you’re impatient, you can click over to the book page on my website to see some of the inside pages and read reviews HERE.
The book is called The Art of Tapestry Weaving. It is a tapestry techniques book that covers making a tapestry from the very beginning. It includes chapters about color and design as well as all the regular tapestry techniques. It was intended to help new weavers learn but also as a reference for people who have some experience in tapestry.
My advanced copy came last week while I was out of town backpacking. I waited 24 hours before opening mostly because I was afraid to. I didn’t see any printed proofs before the book went to the printer due to COVID* and I was afraid that either there would be illustration errors or that the image colors would be awful. The book has lots of images of tapestries and there isn’t really any way for the color to be corrected, so it is what it is.
I needn’t have worried. The printing looks beautiful. The book is hardback with a sewn binding just like I like them. I love a sturdy book that will live on my shelf and stay together for decades of hard use. Because it is a hardcover, sewn binding, it lays open and flat next to you on the table or loom bench just like so many weavers like.
The Art of Tapestry Weaving arrives. The sticker and “Congratulations” is a nice touch Storey!
On that first night after having a little glass of wine to celebrate, I paged through the whole thing. The creative designer along with the photographer and photoshop team did an incredible job. I’m so very happy to have this book in its final form. No more edits. No changes. It is done.
Now it is your turn!
I wrote this book for my students today and for people who discover tapestry in the years to come. There hasn’t been a comprehensive tapestry techniques book published in about 15 years. Our old standards are still so useful and lovely, but they are also a bit dated. The internet has changed the way we learn and reading through paragraphs of unbroken text to learn a skill seems harder than following step by step instructions and photos. This book is built around that concept. The instructions and practice are all presented with detailed images and accompanying text to lead you through step by step. We should all still consult the marvelous books that Nancy Harvey and Carol Russell and others have left us, but I hope this book becomes a worthy companion on your shelf.**
I wrote the book for all of you and if you haven’t pre-ordered your copy, it is a great time to do it. Pre-orders help a publication tremendously because it tells bookstore book buyers that this is one to pay attention to. If you know you want a copy and you haven’t pre-ordered, I would be so very grateful if you did. Big booksellers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble have it available but so do many independent bookstores like The Tattered Cover in Denver and Powell’s in Portland, OR. It doesn’t matter where the pre-orders come from. They all count. Some live links to all of those places are on my website HERE.
Alternatively, contact your local library and ask THEM to pre-order it! Then ask them to put you first on the list when it comes in. I’d love to have this book in as many libraries as possible.
So many of you have told me you have pre-ordered it and can’t wait to get your copy. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this and I hope your copy arrives on October 27th (in the USA) or shortly thereafter in many other countries.
I will be doing some live online launch events in October and November. I’ll update those on the book page of my website HERE and in my newsletter. I’m sure I’ll write more about my experience of making this book in the coming months, but for right now going to go read someone else’s book and maybe have a little nap.
*At the time that my book was in its final edits, Storey’s staff had to start working from home which was a big shift in how they collaborate. No one was available to print out the book as they normally would have and send it to me. I did print it in black and white, but a color copy on book paper was beyond my ability. So it was all a bit of a gamble. Fortunately, it turned out really well. I shouldn’t have worried. Storey is so very good at producing these kinds of image-heavy how-to books.
**The spiral titles to the left are my collection of Kathe Todd-Hooker and Thoma Ewen’s books. I have shelves of other great tapestry books and a pile of books published just this year on my desk. Oh the riches!