What Are You Stitching?

Our What Are You Stitching? segment is just like holding up a big mirror to our needlework community, reflecting back all the wonderful and popular designs everyone has been working on. 

As such we often showcase animals, birds, insects and a huge range of flowers. However, we seem to have quite a lot of turtles sitting patiently in our WAYS? cupboard! What is it about turtles that embroiderers love so much? We have featured quite a few in our publications recently and every time we do, it becomes clear just how popular they are.

‘I wanted to share pictures of the habitat I created to display my Jewel of the Sea turtle from the book A Passion for Needlework | Blakiston Creamery. I found the display globe on Amazon, glued a small wooden candle stick to the centre and painted it gold. I then added shells and beads from my stash. He was such a beautiful and fun piece to stitch I knew he deserved a special display.’

He looks truly magnificent, DeAnn. It’s the perfect display for such a majestic little creature.

‘I finished my Jewel of the Sea turtle after making some adjustments along the way, including raiding my stash whenever I ran out of supplies. However, I do think my little one needs a mate!’

We’re glad you managed to get him finished, Deb, and we have to say he looks amazing. We hope you enjoyed stitching him and look forward to seeing more of your work…. maybe even a second turtle to keep your first one company?!

‘I was inspired by the project Tiny Turtle from Inspirations issue #110 but I wasn’t sure about using actual sand for the background. So, I decided to paint my fabric then used single thread French Knots in a variety of threads to re-create the sand. I also added the turtle’s tracks. I hope you like the result.’

We love the result, Elizabeth. It is fantastic how every embroiderer can take a project and make it their own and the French Knots are both a clever and textural rich alternative for the sand that works perfectly!

‘I first tried stumpwork about 10 years ago, after many years of cross stitching. I love the 3D elements and the whimsical and fantastic subject matter. Since my first piece, I’ve gone on to do a range of designs.’ 

‘My latest finish is Tiny Turtle, by Susan Casson, from Inspirations issue #110. I adore this piece because of its beautiful colours, and because a turtle is such a unique subject for stumpwork.’

Your Tiny Turtle is fantastic, Susannah. Thank you for sharing your stumpwork journey and we happen to know that your skills in the technique are exceptional…

Do you love turtles? Perhaps there is another creature you are passionate about that you can’t help but stitch? Or do you like a range of animals, not being able to settle on just one? Whatever you like to stitch and however you like to stitch it, we’d love to see it! Send us a picture of your work and a bit of information about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com