What Are You Stitching?

After writing this week’s Featured Project, ‘Little Birds’, it turns out little birds were on our minds and we couldn’t help but notice them as we compiled the projects for What Are You Stitching? this week! Enjoy the birds we found whether they be little or not so little as the case may be…

Margaret Underwood

*‘*Until recently I had never used beads other than for the odd bit of decoration on my embroidery. When a friend was clearing out her workshop, I came to acquire several bags of beads and sequins. I took one look at the range of colours and my immediate thought was hummingbird!’

‘I took ages just pondering how to make an image using only the beads and sequins and that was when I decided to give beading a go and just plunged in.’

‘The body seemed to come together quite quickly but then I spent several weeks pondering how to do the wings, finding all sorts of excuses not to get on with them. As with most things, it was fear of the unknown that was the block and finally I just had to try. The piece now sits on the wall in my daughter’s new home.’

Margaret, it turns out your immediate thought of hummingbird was indeed the perfect way to use the beads and sequins! The colours and shimmer are a faultless imitation of Mother Nature and the way in which she clothes the tiniest of birds.

Pat Armour

‘During COVID, Toronto endured about six months of continuous lockdown – you’d think I would have had time to create so many things, but no! I mostly puttered.’

‘I took a photo of a Celtic Wood Duck in Stanley Park on a visit to Vancouver, BC a few years ago. I’ve now recreated it in needle and thread. It turns out forced down time can open doors to creativity that are often closed during ‘regular’ times.’

Pat, your Celtic Wood Duck is every bit as handsome as his real life equivalent and is instantly recognisable. We hope you find a way to keep your creative door open despite life returning to ‘normal’ post COVID.

Sandra Lobo

‘I love native birds and relished the process of embroidering these two sulphur-crested cockatoos in wool on black hessian.’

‘I attempted to capture the spirit of the slightly tousled cockatoos on a eucalyptus branch using varying textures in wool against the coarse hessian backdrop.’

Sandra, you have absolutely captured the spirit of the sulphur-crested cockatoos! They look every bit as if they’ll alight from the branch and join their flock. In fact, we think we can hear their loud, raucous screeching from here…

Sheila Southwell

‘Whilst this is a Trish Burr design, I used my own colours, completing most of it with satin stitch.’

Sheila, we love the twinkle in your hummingbird’s eye! There’s both an elegance and whimsy to what you’ve created with needle and thread.

Do you have an avian affinity? If so, do you love to fashion them with needle and thread? Whatever the species or size of bird you’ve stitched, we’d love to see it.

Email photos of your feathered friends along with a few details about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com