What Are You Stitching?

Picking up on Susan O’Connor’s theme of botanical embroidery, this week we’re continuing our walk through the garden and for your enjoyment we have prepared a garden bed of flowers all of which have been stitched by the Inspirations Community. Take a moment to stop and admire the glorious sights of these stitched beauties…

Nicole Martin

‘This goldwork piece was a Fantasia Rajmahal kit I bought at a craft show quite a few years ago. I retrieved it as a reward for having finally finished Hazel Blomkamp’s Shirley the elephant (Beating about the Bush 2018!).’

‘I have ordered Hazel’s ‘Sweet William’ pincushion kit to stitch next– only problem, beading is not compatible with active feline participation.’

Nicole, we love that you rewarded yourself for finishing one project by finding another! This is a beautifully finished piece. We hope you can find a way to distract your ‘helpers’ and get beading.

Catherine Taffinder

‘Here is my colourful version of ‘Symphony in Blue’ from Inspirations issue #72. I really enjoyed learning new stitches like blanket stitch, coral stitch and herringbone stitch.’

‘The colourful embroidery thread is called tropical punch, which was purchased at one of the Cape Town Guild meetings.’

Catherine, you’ve done a beautiful job creating your own version of Symphony in Blue (Symphony in Tropical Punch?). Great name for a thread colour by the way. We’re especially pleased to hear you were able to widen your stitching knowledge with some new stitches along the way as well.

Mary Aiton

‘Thank you for showing my Dancing Iris – Red in All Stitched Up! issue #284. Here is a photo of my Dancing Iris – Violet, the same design but in a totally different colour harmony.’

‘The only common colour in both is green.’

Another amazing design and beautiful colours, Mary and we especially like the term ‘colour harmony’. You really have a knack for pairing colours to beautiful effect. Thanks for sharing!

Sandra Sparrius

‘I have recently completed an appliqu**é embroidery project entitled Anemone de Caen, which began as a workshop at the D-Day Museum (Portsmouth, U.K.) with Helen Louise Stevens.’

‘The design features the same techniques used in the Overlord Embroidery panels housed in The D-Day Story museum. It was worked in silk dupion with couching stitches. Long and short stitch, stem stitch, French knots and beads to add detail.

Helen was a patient and professional teacher; and it was a joy to attend a workshop locally rather than having to travel. We were also given a tour of the Overlord Embroidery with detailed explanations of the techniques used in their creation plus some of the stories behind this monumental work. Truly inspiring!’

‘I am so pleased with the finished piece and also proud of being able to mount it myself.’

Well that all sounds like a truly wonderful experience Sandra, how lucky are you?! Not only did you get the VIP treatment but your finished piece is absolutely fabulous, well done.

How do you reward yourself after finishing a project? Have you tried stitching a project in a new colourway? Do you like to stitch any or all things botanical?

Whatever you’re stitching, we’d love to see it! Email photos of what you’ve created with needle and thread along with a few details about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com