Mountmellick embroidery is a highly textured form of whitework embroidery, originating from the town of Mountmellick in Ireland, around 1825.Mountmellick embroidery uses floral motifs and heavily knotted and padded stitches. The plants featured are traditionally those that grew in the township of Mountmellick itself, such as oak, blackberry, dog rose, and ivy.Part of the fun of working Mountmellick embroidery is playing around with the stitches and working variations of them. On some historical examples of Mountmellick, there were only a limited number of stitches used. However, due to all their variations, the effect produced was highly patterned and varied.The following features are regarded as being characteristic of Mountmellick work: it is worked in white matt (no shine) thread on white cotton satin jean fabric; the shapes are big and bold and usually floral - the leaves and flowers are usually at least life-size, if not larger; it has a buttonholed edge, usually with a knitted fringe attached; and, lace is not used.Yvette Stanton and Prue Scott are award-winning embroiderers with over 15 years' experience of producing beautiful intricate embroideries.Both Prue and Yvette have a particular love for whitework embroidery. Prue is also a trained botanist and botanical artist, and her beautiful designs are a feature of this book. Yvette's previous book, ''Elegant Hardanger Embroidery'' was published in 2002 by Simon & Schuster (Kangaroo Press). Both authors live in Sydney.