Customer Reviews

The Needlework of Mary Queen of Scots

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2 star:		(1)
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Margaret Swain has done a fantastic job of writing what is essentially an historical book on thee influences on Mary Queen of Scots needlework, and it makes fascinating reading.

Swain has traced her life and the types of embroidery and needlework she did in Scotland, later in France and then finally during her last captivity in England. The clever messages she used to send in her embroideries as messages to her supporters, and the puns in many of her chosen subjects are explained.

What I found most wonderful in this book is that while I have always admired the needleword of MQS I have never really understood its significance. Margaret Swain really brought that side of it alive for me and left me with a far deeper appreciation of what they were all about.

I have the soft cover version of this which is excellent value, it has some kind of hard wearing plastic coating which makes it almost as durable as the hard cover version. Really unfortunately there are only two pages of colour illustration in here and I think the embroidery of MQS deserves better illustration than that. It is certainly generous with the black and white pictures.

The book is in black and white. It's difficult to appreciate textile arts without being able to see any colors.

This was a gift for my wife who is a skilled needleworker and a Scotswoman who is very knowledgable about Scottish history. It met every expectation. There are beautiful pictures - most black and white, but there are more in color than another reviewer would lead one to believe. Most of the pieces which are described give the current location where they may be viewed. I wouldn't know which end of a needle to use, but I suspect that this book is more useful for someone who likes to read about embroidery than an actual "how-to" book. It does not contain patterns, but the designs can, of course, be copied by someone who knows how to do it. The gift made Santa look good.