What Are You Stitching?

Lesley M. Brady

‘I wanted to share an impressive short story. I recently visited my aunt and uncle in rural, northwest Pennsylvania and had the good fortune of meeting this talented young lady, Abby Straub… who is quite accomplished at only 14!’

‘She is a self-taught knitter and stitcher. I took these photos of the hat and picture she designed and created. If you look closely, she painted the canvas and then stitched over the design. She is also very involved in the theatre company at school.

Her close-knit family is extremely supportive and encouraging of her efforts, which is so beautiful to witness. Of course, Abby and her mother gave me permission to share and I told her all about Inspirations!’

Lesley, thank you for sending the lovely Abby’s work! It’s wonderful to see needlework being adopted by the younger generation. An exciting stage in her stitching journey, we’re sure she will appreciate learning these skills at a young age, especially later in life. We’d love to see what creative work she comes up with next!

Josette Bélanger

‘I present to you, embroidery inspired by masterpieces by Gustav Klimt and Johannes Vermeer, made on Penelope print canvas by SEG de Paris company intended for petit point, which I have re-interpreted with tapestry stitches.’

‘My recreation of Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ is decorated with beads, gold leaf and silk ribbon. I did this work in 2020-2021 for a gift for my brother’s 55**th birthday. He was particularly fond of this work by Klimt and my interpretation. He unfortunately died in November 2022, so it has become a precious memory.’

‘I began the ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ by Johannes Vermeer in October 2022 and completed it during the months of mourning. These embroideries are therefore beautiful creations that remind me of important days.’

Wow, two remarkable pieces, Josette, with an uncanny resemblance to the original works – you should be very proud of what you have achieved. We’re sorry for your loss and hope the process of stitching through your grief helped to ease the pain.

Monika Balschun

‘These are the pieces that I embroidered during my further education at the International School for Textile Arts. The theme of the embroidered piece is ‘change as development’, my interpretation of this was ‘my life from yesterday to today’.’

‘This piece will always be a special memory for me, it starts with a baby photo of myself, leads to my love of embroidery in the form of a caterpillar and a butterfly in needle painting, to my hometown Arbon, to my children and grandchildren, to a wisdom of life I received from my grandmother then to a present-day self-portrait in fragments.

It contains metal embroidery with unusual materials, a reticella embroidery piece, stumpwork elements, fabric manipulations in the form of smocking, self-made fabric beads and much more.’

‘During the time of the embroidery’s creation, I lost my beloved dog Gian, so one of the stumpwork butterflies contains a curl of his fur in its body.’

‘I really love this piece, which measures 45 x 110 cm (18” x 44”) and contains 223 hours of embroidery fun. I planned every detail myself and constantly refined this planning in collaboration with my tutor during embroidery time.’

Monika! The hours poured into your piece is testament to its resplendent outcome. We love your interpretation of the theme and the wide range of embroidery techniques that combine to create this biographic collage. Also, a very touching way to pay homage to Gian.

Are you acquainted with any young stitchers?! Have you been inspired by famous artworks? Or have you finished a piece as part of your stitching education?

Whatever you are 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