Inspirations #109 Out Now!

Whether you reside in the countryside or an urban environment, there is always the opportunity to appreciate the subtle beauty of nature. From the smallest indoor plant to an untouched wilderness teeming with birds and insects, the natural world provides both solace and inspiration.

It also provides the theme for Inspirations issue #109 which is filled with stunning projects bursting with natural colour.

Plants, animals, birds and insects are all represented in this fantastic issue, beginning with Emillie Ferris’s pastel Helena Gum Moth adorning the front cover, worked in long and short stitch to perfectly re-create this decorative species.

More stunning natural beauty awaits in Helen M. Stevens’s Aetna’s Bouquet, a characteristic botanical study in silk.

Bird lovers will adore Trish Burr’s plump Australian rose robin, perched on a brilliant pink magnolia. They’ll also be dazzled by Brenda Sortwell’s ornate bird, Arcadia, worked in traditional Jacobean crewel style.

Jenny McWhinney’s latest project is sure to charm. Hello Possum! is a fabulous blanket decorated with the cutest little possum you could imagine, cheekily hanging from the branches of a flowering gum tree.

Or for more flowers, you can work Philippa Todd’s simple, elegant three-dimensional poppy designed specifically to be worn as a stunning brooch.

Nature isn’t just representative, and the final two projects show how nature can inspire patterns as much as it inspires subjects and colours.

Kim Beamish’s Hardanger table mat is an intricate project worked in a much-loved traditional technique. And Mike Parr has created a beautiful, historical monogram, inspired by the Magna Carta and decorating a handy needlebook and scissor fob.

The call of nature will beckon loudly the minute you open the pages of Inspirations issue #109. Whichever project you start with, you’re guaranteed to find that precious connection between the natural world and your needle and thread.