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ISSUE 167, DECEMBER 7 2018
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Time is often described as our most valuable, non-replenishable resource and yet if we’re honest, we don’t always make the best use of the time we have available!
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To get the most out of our time, especially the fleeting minutes we have with needle and thread, we have to learn to manage our time well.
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After listening to a Podcast by Craig Groeschel, we were challenged to think about some of the ways we could manage our time with needle and thread more effectively. One of the key points we took from Craig was the notion that ‘just because you can do something does not mean you should do something.’
Sometimes we find ourselves over committed because we’ve said yes to lots of small things, rather than committing ourselves to the one ‘big’ thing that lies before us – hence the many UFO’s we find ourselves surrounded by!
Craig’s Podcast has challenged us to ‘do the things which give us the highest return on our time and energy investment’.
Whether it be committing ourselves to perfecting a new technique or seeing a project through to completion, the things we do will be different for each of us, but the one common thread will be the fruitfulness we achieve when we manage our time deliberately with needle and thread to ensure we achieve all we set out to.
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As we continue to celebrate 100 issues of Inspirations Magazine, this week we hear from another of our Foundation Members about their journey with Inspirations and how there really is a silver lining in every cloud…
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‘It was 25th February 1996 and we were celebrating my husband's 60th birthday. We were on a three-week trip from France through New Zealand and Australia when I fell on the pavement. My leg was injured very badly and the doctor at the hotel sent me to hospital where I had to stay for a few days. He also told me that just like me, his wife loved embroidery and that she would be happy to come and visit while I was in hospital.
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I accepted this kind offer and she arrived at the hospital with a wonderful gift - Inspirations Magazine!
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Upon my return to France I immediately took out a subscription and bought the magazines I was missing from Issue #01. I am now 81 and still love Inspirations. I always remember that because of my fall, I may not have been able to go with my husband to Ayers Rock, but I found a love for your magazine that probably exceeds the size of it! Claudine Lecat.’
Claudine, we love that Inspirations became the silver lining to an unfortunately timed fall and we owe thanks to the lady who introduced you to the magazine through her kindness and generosity.
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After debuting our Colouring Book in All Stitched Up! #165 , we heard from Dima Santina who knew exactly how she’d put it to good use!
‘I just started reading your newsletter and saw the section on coloring books. Ever since stitching my first Inspirations project Edelweiss from issue #86, I got into the habit of tracing a copy of the design into my sketchbook and coloring it in as I study the instructions.’
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‘This has two benefits, as not only is it relaxing, but is good preparation for when I want to start stitching the project. I often do this when I'm too tired to stitch, but just want to play with my kits! The most recent one I did is for Jenny Adin-Christie's Blackwell Roundel from the book A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII (pictured below) which I hope to start stitching this year.’
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Dima, what a fabulous way to ‘measure twice and stitch once’! Not only does the process allow you to play with colour and layout before taking up needle and thread, but it ensures you’re well familiar with the instructions before you begin stitching.
If Dima’s encouraged you to measure twice and stitch once, our new book, Coloured Stitches, may just be the tool you’re looking for!
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WARES
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Coloured Stitches | Colouring Book and Pencils
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Looking for a nifty box to present a gift? Need something to keep your notions and loose threads in one place? Find it hard to resist buying a cool looking wooden box with stylish vintage motifs? We might just have something for you…
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Straight from our props department, we have a few spare boxes we’re selling. Only a few available so if you like ‘em, buy ‘em.
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Let’s just agree to call it for what it is… looking from the outside in there is nothing glamorous, spectacular or life-changing about thread snips. Said the person who has never had threads that need snipping! And when that happens but you don’t have any snips… let’s just say we’ve all experienced that world of pain. And yes, we’ve all seen those crazies who try and use their teeth.
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Here are some no-nonsense, get the job done, super handy to have on hand, thread snips available in pink and purple. Get some – your teeth will thank you.
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WARES
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Pop-Up Thread Snips | Purple
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WARES
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Pop-Up Thread Snips | Pink
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Fluffy Tail Tape Measures
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Why be boring when you can be fun? Why use a normal tape measure when you can pull the fluffy tail of a furry friend and then press its nose to reel it back in again? Need we say more?
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Fun, practical (millimetres on one side, inches on the other) and super cute. For you, for your kids, for your Grandma, for your wife, even for your husband (they never really grow up do they?).
How will you choose just one!?
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As Christmas draws closer, toys and dolls fill the stores. Most are plastic, with generic faces and artificial hair. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to find a beautiful, hand embroidered doll like those made by Andean women in Peru?
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Hand embroidered dolls from Peru (source)
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With their expressive eyes and brilliantly coloured skirts, what little (or big) girl could resist. And unlike those dolls mass-produced in factories, each one of these is lovingly hand crafted using an array of stitches, fabrics and colours.
When an order comes in, the community pools together to fulfil it.
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The makers pass the word around, get together and work day and night to complete the order.
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Colourful Peruvian markets (source)
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If you are lucky enough to visit Machu Picchu, bringing one of these dolls home will not only delight the recipient, but helps to support a centuries old needlework tradition.
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White Rose by Jenny Adin-Christie
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What if we told you that you were royalty? Not because of your family lineage or your DNA, but because you can stitch? Here is a definition from the Oxford dictionary as to what it means to be royalty:
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Royalty (noun): The most successful, famous, or highly regarded members of a particular group.
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Does it not stand to reason that within the people group of humans here on earth, our ability to stitch is highly regarded and makes us famous!? We once heard a non-stitcher refer to the amazing talent of needlework as ‘the closest thing to actual magic’ they had ever seen.
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Many of us have experienced that moment when we show a non-stitcher our needlework and get a comment like, ‘You mean you did that all by hand? It didn’t come from a shop, or was made using a machine?’ Needlework is indeed the work of royal people.
This week we’re honoured to be featuring a project not only by someone who is royalty among royalty, but who has also stitched a project or two for the real royals. We’re talking Mr & Mrs Windsor from Buckingham Palace royals.
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Working in collaboration with the Royal School of Needlework, Jenny has been privileged to work on projects for the British royal family including a 100th birthday present for the Her Majesty the Queen Mother, creation of the Jubilee banner for Buckingham Palace and the embroidered lace for Catherine Middleton’s wedding dress for her marriage to Prince William.
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What better way to celebrate the regal milestone of 100 issues of the world’s most beautiful needlework magazine, than by featuring a project by a needlework artisan of such calibre.
White Rose by Jenny Adin-Christie is a dainty button brooch utilising several contrasting whitework techniques to great effect. Beginning
with a background of net, stitched with a delicate tracery of thread, the rose design is built up with heavily padded satin stitch petals surrounding a beaded centre edged with fine eyelets. The finished embroidery is mounted on a natural linen dome and further embellished with a border of scalloped blanket stitch bars.
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Jenny was in our home town of Adelaide recently teaching at our needlework convention Beating Around the Bush, and we asked her to share with us a little of the backstory to her beautiful piece White Rose:
‘This button was designed as part of a set of five whitework buttons. I created these projects as a means to make learning whitework more achievable and appealing for students. Whitework is really an umbrella term covering a huge array of very varied techniques. This coupled with the fact that it is often very fine work and seeing white on white can be challenging, means that the subject can often be somewhat intimidating to students!’
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‘My buttons were designed to allow students to take on few techniques from the whitework range and learn to use these confidently within a piece which can be completed quickly and yet make a beautiful individual design to be displayed or worn.
The designs for the buttons are actually based on my own extensive collection of buttons! The sculptured form of button design makes them an ideal source of inspiration for this highly sculptural form of embroidery. The Rose Button takes inspiration from the 19th century Irish technique of Carrickmacross, where patterns are worked by darning into the structure of machine-made net.’
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‘Here the net is trapped behind silk organza to protect its delicate surface and provide a firmer base fabric onto which the contrasting bolder textures of padded satin stitch and eyelets can be worked.’
Do you have any tips or advice for anyone who would like to create their own version of the project?
‘It is really helpful to work with a plain dark cloth on your lap whilst working the net and indeed the rest of the design. This will allow you to see more clearly and therefore work more precisely. Wash your hands regularly while you’re working on it to keep the piece clean and fresh. Try sampling the net darning pattern on coarse net before moving to the superfine net used in the project.’
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As we’re celebrating 100 issues of Inspirations Magazine, do you have any fond memories or stories of your involvement with the magazine over the years that you’d like to share?
‘I will never forget the first time a piece of my work appeared in the magazine…it was the rose and violet scented sachets in shadow work ‘Mementoes’ from issue #68. I was so flattered to be asked to submit these pieces and was totally overwhelmed by the beautiful way the article was presented. Inspirations is the only magazine which puts as much care and skill into the presentation of projects in publications as we designers put in to making them in the first place!’
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Mementoes from Inspirations issue #68
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It is always a great honour for us at Inspirations to work with Jenny, the professionalism, attention to detail and passion she puts into everything she does is remarkable - and that’s all before she’s even picked up a needle and thread! Jenny’s designs are such an inspiration to the needlework community at large, our own editor Susan O’Connor, who herself is needlework royalty, travelled to the UK recently to take one of Jenny’s classes, such is the reverent respect Jenny has earned.
Attending a Jenny Adin-Christie class is on the bucket list of most stitchers we know, and while you’re waiting for that magical opportunity to come along, here are some other ways to get your fix:
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Visit Jenny’s website HERE
Join her mailing list HERE
Visit her online store including her latest design, The Gawthorpe Needlecase, HERE
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The Gawthorpe Needlecase Kit
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Oh, and for a real treat, you have to check out Jenny’s project ‘Blackwell Roundel’ in our new book ‘A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII’ which includes some of Jenny’s finest work we’ve seen yet.
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PRINTED BOOK
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A Passion for Needlework
Factoria VII
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Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions
White Rose by Jenny Adin-Christie is an exquisite rose button brooch using timeless whitework techniques.
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PRINTED MAGAZINE
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Inspirations Issue 100
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DIGITAL PATTERN
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White Rose
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Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit
The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for White Rose includes everything you need to re-create this stylish brooch: Fabrics (unprinted), embroidery threads, batting, beads and needles.
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READY-TO-STITCH KIT
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White Rose
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Looking for More Jenny Adin-Christie?
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Highland Beauty by Jenny Adin-Christie from Inspirations #77 is an exquisite fine whitework lavender sachet.
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PRINTED MAGAZINE
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Inspirations Issue 77
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Pheasant by Jenny Adin-Christie from Inspirations #93 features the glorious use of metal thread techniques in a design inspired by Roman mosaics.
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PRINTED MAGAZINE
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Inspirations Issue 93
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Star Bright by Jenny Adin-Christie from Inspirations #81 is a glittering brooch cleverly created with metal thread.
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DIGITAL PATTERN
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Star Bright
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Snowdrop by Jenny Adin-Christie from Inspirations #76 captures the ethereal beauty of the true European snowdrop in this delightful stumpwork embroidery.
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PRINTED MAGAZINE
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Inspirations Issue 76
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Having celebrated the talent of Jenny Adin-Christie in this week’s Featured Project, we thought we’d continue to celebrate the work that has been produced in the UK with needle and thread …
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‘I was given this lovely hand carved antique chair frame and have upholstered it and embroidered the seat which was inspired by Hanneke Schoeber’s design Pure Gold from Inspirations Issue #76. It is going to be sold for the Oncology Department of my local hospital as my small way of stitching it forward. I was anxious about not getting the worked cloth on in the right position, so unholstered the chair and then spent many hours kneeling to do the embroidery!’
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Jane, what a fabulous way to stitch it forward! You’ve taken a beautiful piece of furniture and poured your time and talent into it to make something truly unique.
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‘I’ve just finished my kookaburra embroidery. I love these birds after seeing some in Katoomba, Australia in 2009. The design has both needle painting and stumpwork, both of which are my favourite techniques.’
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Joan, what a lovely way to commemorate your time in Australia! Your stumpwork has added a beautiful sense of dimension to your piece.
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‘It was a dream… I was at the bottom of the ocean, feeling wonderfully relaxed (especially for someone who can't even swim!) and all around were underwater plants, shells and beautiful fish. I didn't want to move, but quietly I was drifting upward through the waves and foam until I was on the beach. Before me I saw the golden sand, cliffs and the countryside beyond. My dream was so vivid and beautiful and as I awoke, I knew I had to try and capture it forever!’
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‘I started my embroidery at the bottom, as I saw in my dream, and worked upward. I used whatever I could find in my stash. I colour washed a piece of silk for the sand and the shells were sourced from our local beach, each one painstakingly drilled by my lovely husband who is always eager to help if he can. It has been hanging on my wall for quite a while now and whenever I feel the need, I can always return to my wonderful dream. Friday morning is my me time reading your weekly newsletter, always full of interesting articles and stitching, so thank you all at Inspirations.’
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Joan, sometimes our dreams are lost forever as we wake and can’t quite recall the details of what passed the night before, but you’ve found the most fabulous way to ensure your dream is captured forever! The eloquent way you described your dream and the way it was interpreted with needle and thread is simply inspirational.
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‘I have embroidered all my life, with my earliest piece being a small table cloth. When I was 13, I was fortunate enough to have a mistress at school who realised I could embroider and encouraged me to work a small Jacobean design in single thread stranded cotton which ended up becoming a tea cosy. It won a cup for the school and I received a school prize for my work.’
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‘Since that time, I have won many prizes, including a 3rd prize in the Royal School of Needlework International Competition. I am always embroidering, in fact when I am not gardening, I am embroidering! I have stitched a design from the archives of the Royal School of Needlework which was stitched in Appleton’s Crewel Wool on 18 count canvas and was then made up by a London shoe maker.’
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‘I have also stitched a curtain that I embroidered in pure silk instead of crewel wool, which now hangs proudly above my bed.’
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Penelope, the skill of creating with needle and thread that began at such a young age has served you well, as the shoes and curtain you’ve created are simply a sight to behold! They are exquisite in design, workmanship and finishing.
If you hail from the UK - or anywhere for that matter - and are yet to share what you’ve created with needle and thread, what are you waiting for?! Email photos of your stitching along with a few details about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com
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Subscribe to Inspirations Magazine
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Not a Subscriber? Join Today!
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Become part of the Inspirations family by subscribing to the magazine... we'd love to have you join us!
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Blue Ribbon by Carolyn Pearce is a gorgeous blanket adorned with enchanting blossoms and an elegant bow.
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PRINTED MAGAZINE
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Inspirations Issue 100
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DIGITAL PATTERN
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Blue Ribbon
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READY-TO-STITCH KIT
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Blue Ribbon
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The Peace Dove by Carolyn Pearce from Inspirations #52 is an exquisite Christmas ornament.
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DIGITAL PATTERN
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The Peace Dove
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Gentle Thoughts by Carolyn Pearce from Inspirations #66 is a delightful pansy needlecase, stitched onto wool and cashmere velour with a multitude of silk, wool, cotton, rayon and metallic threads.
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DIGITAL PATTERN
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Gentle Thoughts
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The Embroidered Patchwork Bear
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Delight in this richly illustrated single-project book by Carolyn Pearce, combining the crafts of embroidery, patchwork and bear making.
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PRINTED BOOK
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The Embroidered Patchwork Bear
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Rosamund by Carolyn Pearce from Inspirations #58 is a pretty work bag with Jacobean embroidery.
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PRINTED MAGAZINE
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Inspirations Issue 58
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Christmas Countdown is ON!
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For something special this Christmas, you really can’t go past our new book, A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII, and the Ready-to-Stitch kits now available for these spectacular projects.
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Edinburgh Etui by Betsy Morgan
Charming etui and accessories with counted work and surface embroidery.
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READY-TO-STITCH KIT*
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Edinburgh Etui
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PRINTED BOOK
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A Passion for Needlework
Factoria VII
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The Linnet by Nicola Jarvis
Enchanting silk and goldwork bird, adorned with a sparkling crown.
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READY-TO-STITCH KIT*
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The Linnet
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PRINTED BOOK
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A Passion for Needlework
Factoria VII
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* Please note Inspirations Ready-to-Stitch kits do not include instructions. Everything you need to know, and more, about re-recreating our stunning projects is included in the publication they appear in which is available for purchase separately.
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Courtesy of The Embroiders Guild of Victoria page
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We do love this Christmas felt ornament
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‘Whenever you say yes to anything, there is less of you for something else. Make sure your yes is worth the less.’
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~ Louie Giglio ~
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Stay informed of upcoming needlework events taking place all around the world in our new What’s On page on the Inspirations Studios Website HERE.
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If you’re holding an event or would like to suggest one to be added, we’d love to hear about it. Email us the details at news@inspirationsstudios.com
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© 2018 Inspirations Studios
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