Jill Oxton's Beautiful Beading for Beginners and Beyond - A Beadwork Book Review

Jill Oxton is a marvelous woman. I say that because she made Square Stitch go from a tedious thing to a wonderful stitch, just by designing such fantastic patters for that particular stitch. Of course, there are many wonderful loom patterns, which can be worked as Square Stitch, but they don't count as Square Stitch patterns, at least not to me, because they were designed for the loom. But Jill designs for Square Stitch, and her designs are anything but tedious; what they are is magnificent.

Beautiful Beading from Down Under

Jill Oxton is one of my favorite designers, one who ignores rules and conventions in her designing, and whose beadwork runs from the whimsical to the realistic, with patterns filled with charm and artistry.

Jill began publishing beading projects in her magazine Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch several years ago. They were smallish things to begin with, graduating to more complex and intricate patterns as the beads began to take over. Finally, after admitting her love for beads, Jill changed the name of the magazine to Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch and Beading.I wager that soon it will become "Beading and Cross Stitch."

Her use of Square Stitch in many of her early project won my heart. I love Square stitch, but have not found many patterns that were designed for that stitch. As I mentioned above, loom patterns work as Square Stitch projects, but it's not the same.

As time went by, Jill's designs began to take on more complexity, involving dimensional and sculptural beading, incorporating other stitches and expanding on designs and surface elements. Structural beading because one of her specialty, with marvelous little boxes, vessels, fishes and flowers with a special sophistication.

Jill prepared this book for beaders of all levels, and it really is just that. Projects move between stitches, skill sets and learning levels, and the instructions are clear and easy enough that any beader may work them, though some may require a bit of advance familiarity with the techniques used.

Overall, a marvelous beading book and one for every beader's bookshelf.