Being a machine person who is always in a hurry to get things done, it is always a challenge when I see a book that is all about handwork. This book was one of those challenges.

The introduction to the book gives you the history behind what Elly has accomplished in the stitching community. Get a cup of tea and enjoy your little "talk" and the insight into her personality. Fancy Appliqué picks up where Elly leaves off in her previous book, "Appliqué, 12 Easy Ways". Thank goodness for a short review of the necessary stitches at the beginning of the book also! I need all the help I can get.

Since I consider "hand" a 4-letter word, I didn’t do all of the lessons like I should have. Nor did I do the first one! I really like the bird appliqués so I went right to lesson 6! Cardinal in the snow, Pattern 31 was my choice. Simply stated directions got me through the exercise and it even looks like a bird too! I was quite amazed. We will not discuss how long it took or how many times I had to redo something. The only real problem I had was that I’m just not familiar with the stitches. Everything is all spelled out for you and even the DMC colors of threads and yarns to use are given in the instructions to guarantee wonderful results. Given the maker, my results were wonderful.

If handwork is your bag and you love the fancy stuff this is the book for you. I got a lot of different ideas for embroidery to use on crazy quilts from this book. That much handwork I can manage without a headache!