Have Your Say

It’s been a while since our last Have Your Say segment, so if you’re new to All Stitched Up! this is where we stitch together conversations of needle and thread from the Inspirations community and share some thoughts, ideas and insights so we can continue the conversation together.

Ahead of the upcoming Christmas break for us here at Inspirations HQ, we’ve been crazy busy finishing off some projects like rolling out our new website, sorting our threads, Stitch n’ Chatting at The Bobbin Tree and putting the polish on as many publications as we can.

Another item on our To Do list is to share a collection of emails from the past few months with all our readers…

Lesley and the members from the Tin Can Bay Quilters Club in Queensland, Australia had a Friendship Day where they ‘handed out goodie bags, each with an Inspirations magazine and all were a big hit!’

Over 200 people attended, some on buses from as far as Bundaberg (a 2-hour drive north), and some from Redcliffe (2 hours south). ‘The place was buzzing’, says Lesley.

‘It made us, the members, very proud of our club and our area. Lots of visitors asking if we were going to do it again next year!’

Taken by Sue Cork’s beautiful owl in ASU #436 Ann says: ‘I was amused to see that I’m not the only one who liberates shirts from her husband for ground fabric! Shirts seem to come in so many subtle colour changes that you can usually find just the colour you need. Even better if someone else has paid for it.’

She also greatly appreciated Kathryn Leonard’s idea of displaying her embroideries in baskets saying it is ‘one idea to copy I think, as her beetles look especially good.’

Sue wanted to share a tip she has found useful. ‘I always have quite a few projects on the go, and some things never get finished, so I decided to sort this out.’

‘I have a little box and inside are six small pieces of paper, each with a different project written on it. Every day at breakfast my husband takes one piece of paper out and that is my project for the day. I’m very strict with myself and keep to the day’s project. At last things are getting finished.’

We had a lovely message from Mattie about sharing all things embroidery. ‘I thought you might like to know that I took a sample of my embroidery work to display at my tai chi class. We now have a happy craft group! Every little thing help to keep us cheerful.’

After reading ASU #443 Heath was reminded of a book series by Australian author Prue Batten. ‘I read them some years back with great delight. I got the first one The Stumpwork Robe as part of a free Kindle promotion, and the story (and descriptions of the stumpwork) captivated me to such an extent that I bought all the other books in the series, The Chronicles of Eirie.’

We loved receiving an email from Jill, who described her beautiful stitching journey. ‘In 1948 I was a young English child living with my parents in Mogadishu, Somalia. The city was very different then and many parts of it were very beautiful.’

I went to a school, run by Italian nuns, attached to the lovely white cathedral. I don’t remember very much except that I enjoyed breaks with my friends (when we invariably had banana sandwiches), and the embroidery classes.

Brightly coloured threads, the need for very clean hands, and a kindly nun who, with infinite patience, set me on the road to a lifelong love of colour and everything to do with textiles.

Since retiring to France from a very busy life, I have been able to indulge in many happy hours of embroidery, together with watercolours, knitting and gardening. I have been taking great delight in teaching my granddaughters the first steps in embroidery.’

Finally, we received a new recipe from Jane!

Stumpwork Sampler Recipe

‘Have you long admired beautiful stumpwork but don’t feel that you are ready for an advanced piece? A sampler will give you a chance to choose techniques that you would like to practise. Hang the sampler to remind you of all the techniques you have practised and might want to use in a future design.’

Materials

Books, magazines, and instructions for stumpwork techniques you want to practise Fabric backed with a medium-weight iron-on interfacing for stability A small amount of fibre to stuff motifs A collection of threads and small charms

Method

1. Choose a small motif for each technique. Try different techniques for the same motif to see which you prefer, (I did with this with the caterpillars).

2. If you choose motifs that have a common theme it is fun to choose a title and stitch it on your sampler.

3. Put your finished motifs together with strips of fabric so you can hang it. I attached my sampler to stretcher bars. You could also construct a small wall quilt.

‘I hope that your sampler helped build your confidence. The more you practise your confidence will grow and you can design challenges that continue to improve your stitching. Have fun.’

If you have something to add or want to join the conversation in any way we’d love to hear from you! simply email news@inspirationsstudios.com.