Cathrine Lloyd

‘My name is Cathrine Lloyd, and I recently had an exhibition at Aratoi museum and Art gallery, here in New Zealand.’

‘The title is Dream Gardens.’

‘Here are a few examples of my embroidery. The knot garden was displayed in a cold frame.’

Cathrine, congratulations on your exhibition! You have captured the essence of the theme in your pieces exquisitely. That knot garden is an absolute masterpiece and your work is every bit worthy of an exhibition. Well done.

Shirley & Armanda

‘I am a part of a small group of stitchers who meet at a local embroidery shop, The Viking Loom at York in the UK. Often, we find ourselves working designs from Inspirations magazines and books. Recently some of us worked on Nature’s Delight by Colleen Goy.’

‘While most of us followed the instructions, Armanda from our group chose to take the design and interpret it in a different way. She made a delightful, raised work piece, working on organza. I thought you would like to see what she did. It took our breath away.’

Shirley, it sounds like a lovely community of stitchers you have there, and Armanda’s Nature’s Delight is truly remarkable. The idea to raise the design onto organza was no small feat, but she has achieved with spectacular results. Thank you for sharing it on her behalf.

Ann Baseden

‘Here are some images from ‘my mushroom period’. There’s not much needlework involved in these (well I suppose there is, but it was mostly done with felting needles) but I thought you might like to see them anyway.

Some years ago, I read the first book of a trilogy by Alan Dean Foster, called Spell Singer. It was about a man in the 1960/70s who managed to slip through time/space to a different dimension in which animals wore clothes and talked (including Mudge, the man-sized otter with a foul mouth!).’

‘Part of the story took place in a marshy area inhabited by a lot of very depressed mushrooms and toadstools with faces, which moaned and groaned and exuded misery, which was catching! My mind immediately trotted down the rabbit hole of needle felting mushrooms – with faces.’

‘Here are a couple of examples - red capped Gomphidius roseus and relatives, and the blue-eyed button mushroom family. There were also the white spotted red capped Fly Agarics; brown chestnut mushrooms; large flat horse mushrooms and fairy ring toadstools with magic fibres rising from the inner circle, and various individuals.’

‘Also, the magic tree stump I felted and on which I added bracket fungi with brown tops and black underneath. If you look closely, you’ll see that they have faces too - black faces of the coal miners that I wanted to represent - a Welsh Male Voice Choir. Upon closer inspection you may see eyes peering out of holes in the stump and ‘magic’ escaping into the outside world.’

Goodness, your ‘mushroom period’ was certainly very productive Ann! What an imaginative series of projects you’ve created. We love your story of being inspired by the book by Alan Dean Foster and the outcome of your wonderfully miserable mushrooms. The magic tree stump with the coal miner faces and ‘magic’ escaping is such a captivating concept! Your needle felting is gorgeous, and the wonderful stories behind them too.

Have you stitched a piece that could fit into a Dream Gardens theme? Have you taken a design and created a raised or stumpwork version? Or have you embarked on your own creative project after being inspired by something you’ve read?

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