In last week’s All Stitched Up! HERE we unpacked some thoughts about inspiration, and it made us wonder further about where inspiration comes from and what we can do when we seem to run out of it.

A common definition of curiosity is ‘a deep desire to know’ and it’s that desire that propels us toward finding out more about the world around us.

It might be as simple as paying more attention to the seemingly small details that surround us as we go about our day-to-day lives right through to researching an unfamiliar technique or thread we can use in our stitching - the possibilities are endless!

It may be that curiosity doesn’t come naturally to you, but like most things in life, it is something we can intentionally pursue, and we think the more things you find yourself curious about, the more inspiration you’ll have to draw from when you pick up needle and thread. So, wherever it is your curiosity leads you, be sure to follow because on the other side there’s bound to be a whole lot more inspiration!

In All Stitched Up #173 we found ourselves ‘Kondo-ing’ our way into 2019 by keeping only those things that spark joy. If you’re not familiar with the term, you can catch up HERE.

The process quickly spread from our stitching komono to the many emails we’ve received from the Inspirations Community and it wasn’t long before we realised that each time we hear from you, it sparks joy because we love keeping the conversation going! Rather than keeping these to ourselves, we thought it was time to share them with you again, so this week we unpack some of the many conversation that go on behind the scenes at Inspirations…

I’m slow to complete each of my pieces but I’m in no hurry. I use my embroidery as a sort of meditation and relaxation so rushing would make it a chore. I’m learning so much and hope my embroidery colleagues never tire of teaching me.’

Sue, we’re so glad you took the leap and joined the local Embroidery Group in Coffs Harbour and love that you’re getting so much from it! Your email is a timely reminder for each of us to celebrate our successes no matter how small or large they may be.

‘I would like to ask your readers for craft information on Switzerland. My husband and I will be in Switzerland in May this year and as I am a keen embroiderer and love all types of handcrafts, would like to know of any shops, museums or craft displays that are a must see in Switzerland.’

If you’re able to point Anne in the direction of a needlework shop or two while she’s in Switzerland, we know she’d be ever grateful! Email your suggestions to news@inspirationsstudios.com and we’ll be sure to pass them onto her.

Joyce, we think your three words for 2019 may just inspire each of us to ensure our work with needle and thread is the best we can possibly achieve! We appreciate you sharing them with us and hope you manage to achieve your best this year.

Do you have anything to add to the conversation? We’d love to hear from you! Email whatever it is you have to say to news@inspirationsstudios.com – we look forward to the dialogue continuing.

Thanks to our recent survey, we know just how many of you look forward to reading this newsletter at the end of every week. Living up to everyone’s high expectations can be a little daunting, but we’re using all your positive feedback to spur us on and give you more – more beautiful, more inspiration and most importantly, more needlework!

This week we’re spoiling you with a rare insight into the creative process of one of the world’s finest threadpainting artists, Catherine Laurençon from France, with not one, but two of her projects. Come with us as we discover her sources of inspiration, the fascinating techniques she uses, learn about the rules she breaks and hear her opinions about colour and its relationship between drawing, painting and stitching…

Catherine's latest project, featured in Inspirations Magazine #101, is 'Les Amaryllis' in which she uses DMC stranded cotton to interpret Redouté’s stately Amaryllis brasiliensis, which appears in his 8-volume series Les Liliacées. This, Redouté’s largest work, produced while he was under the patronage of Empress Josephine, contains 503 plates printed in colour using stipple engraving and finished by hand in watercolour. Amaryllis brasiliensis is plate 469.

Redouté’s plates, with amazing attention to detail in both line and colour, are a wonderful inspiration and guide for anyone wishing to depict a beautifully shaded botanical subject in threadpainting. There is great clarity for design lines, colour placement and stitch direction, and an expert example of rendering a three-dimensional subject in two dimensions.

Catherine has focused on the flowers and buds for Les Amaryllis and has modified the rear-facing flower by working it in a coloured outline only.

This both creates a modern feel to her piece and has also helped to make it a little more student-friendly for classes, such as when she taught it at Beating Around the Bush last year. In class, focus can be given to the fully-opened flower, the buds that are at different stages and the stem, omitting the complexity of the rear-facing flower and the extra thread colours that would be needed. If a student is willing and able, though, Catherine is happy to encourage them to work the second flower with threadpainting.

To determine which colours to use, Catherine recommends printing out the design and using coloured pencils to practice shading. This applies to any design, not only Les Amaryllis. As Catherine says, ‘I do this all the time before I start stitching. Sometimes, I give embroidery classes during which the only thing my students and I do is colouring on paper. It really helps make the stitching easier.’

Another factor for Catherine in choosing colours is if a piece is going to be a class project or is an artwork for her own stitching exploration. For a teaching piece, she reduces the number of colours so that the stitching is more accessible to a wider range of skill levels and more focus can be given to stitching technique without constantly changing threads. However, Catherine always aims to have at least two colours on the go in a row of shading. Catherine’s colour palette for Les Amaryllis comprises warm shades of coral and burnt orange in combination with cool lavenders, refreshing avocado green and energy-charged touches of chartreuse and lemon.

As always, inside Inspirations issue #101 you will find step-by-step instructions for stitching your own elegant amaryllis, illustrated with photos of Catherine’s own stitching in progress to help show the sequence of working the shading.

You might even like to try Catherine’s tip of colouring the design on paper with pencils first to more fully engage with colour placement and stitch direction. Or if you’re not planning on stitching this one yourself, use the pattern sheet within the magazine as you own special colouring poster – just don’t let any kids see you doing it as they’ll probably want to take over!

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Les Amaryllis by Catherine Laurençon is a beautiful threadpainted study of a stately amaryllis.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Les Amaryllis includes everything you need to re-create this stunning flower: Fabric (unprinted), embroidery threads and needle.

This week ‘Fairy Flowers’ by Peta McMillan from Inspirations Issue 56 has just been added to our website in response to an email we received from Ann Baseden in the UK:

‘You mentioned in a recent newsletter that we should let you know if there was a project from an earlier issue that we were interested in. Our local textiles emporium runs various workshops and for the first time is running a Snutki workshop in April this year and, as I had not heard of this technique before, I looked it up on the internet. I discovered Peta’s doily and would be most grateful if you could offer it as a digital pattern. Best Wishes, Ann’

Thank you for the suggestion Ann and for drawing our attention to the intriguing technique of Snutki, also known as Polish eyelet or spider web embroidery.

Fairy Flowers, an exquisite little doily, is the perfect introductory project to Snutki and includes tip and tricks for beginners by designer Peta McMillan along the way.

If you haven’t already read the full review of this uber charming book in Inspirations issue #101, get on it – in fact, why not go and read it now and we’ll wait for you… it’s on page 15…

Done? Terrific… so how amazing is that? Two sisters creating a cross stitched memoir of Paris like you’ve never seen before, all with colour coded charts and DMC stranded cotton thread key. We loved the book so much that not only did we review it, we’re stocking it on our website so you can purchase your very own copy and stitch Paris like you’ve never stitched Paris before!

Her little felt animals, birds and insects are adorable and plentiful and she’s still designing.

Susan encourages crafters to make her patterns to raise money for charity or simply for personal pleasure. Each comes with detailed instructions and fabulous photography and they are so simple, anyone could make them. We can see a zoo in the making here.

One visit to her website www.downeastthunderfarm.com and you’ll be hooked. Here you'll find Susan's amazingly warm and personal blog that she frequently updates, and a very useful online store where you can support her endeavours by purchasing kits and supplies to her free patterns.

Thank you Susan for creating such delightful designs – we knew we’d fall in love with your work the minute we saw the pattern for Myrtle the Sea Turtle and the photo of her making her way to the ocean!

Glorious colour! It’s one of the first things that comes to mind when viewing Le Magnolia, a stunning piece in threadpainting by Catherine Laurençon from the Inspirations book A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII. The beautiful forms of the large tepals and leaves, curving in different directions, are wonderfully rendered, along with areas of light, shade and dimension, with an exquisite use of colour in the form of stranded cotton threads on linen fabric. Catherine is passionate about colour, and this is reflected in her work.

Looking at the embroidered magnolia, both the finished piece and the close-up photos of stitching progress, we can see drama in the creation of light and shade and dashes of unexpected colour. We asked Catherine about her approach to choosing colours:

‘I like eccentricity. When stitching, I always strive to use colours that will help me contrast light and dark - it doesn't matter if the colours are not the exact same ones as on the photograph or drawing that inspired the design. For example, in Le Magnolia, I used a very deep purple for the shadows and not a deep pink as it was in the pictures. It is also important to carefully place light and dark to create depth.’

‘In addition, I like using different colours for the front and the back of a leaf. You can see in Le Magnolia that I used green for the front of a leaf and a greenish blue for the back. Some people may object that blue leaves do not exist but that is not the point. It is like a painting - as an artist, you are free to interpret colour as you want. To each artist their own interpretation.’

‘This is what I want to stress in my teaching, too - when my students have acquired the technique of threadpainting embroidery, I encourage them to develop their own artistic sense and use of colour.’

It's not only about creating contrasts and depth. Le Magnolia also has a dynamic quality, with the eye effortlessly moving around the picture. Catherine explains, ‘I pay close attention to creating movement in my embroideries. For Le Magnolia, I added green veins in the tepals which do not exist in real life. Their purpose is to help create more movement so that the embroidery does not look stiff.’

Where does Catherine’s artful approach come from? ‘I have always loved sketching and painting. Over the years, I have attended numerous local art workshops which helped me get better at painting thanks to the advice I received from teachers and friends. My favourite medium is oil painting.’

If you want to enhance your love of threadpainting by exploring the use of colour in greater depth, Catherine recommends painting classes rather than drawing classes.

Of course, you don’t have to learn to paint to enjoy threadpainting. Passion and courage will take you a long way as Catherine explains:

‘When it comes to using colour in threadpainting, be daring! It is true there are rules for the use of colour (such as complementary colours, warm and cold tones) but they are not absolute. Everyone is free to work with or around them. The important thing to remember is it does not matter what people think! What matters is that you are happy with your embroidery and that you enjoy stitching it.’

Which brings us back to our initial response to Le Magnolia. It is stunningly beautiful. It is masterfully shaded. Best of all, it promises an incredible stitching journey through the world of glorious colour.

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Le Magnolia by Catherine Laurençon is a stunning threadpainted magnolia worked in vibrant colours on linen.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Le Magnolia includes everything you need to re-create this beautiful magnolia: Fabrics (unprinted), embroidery threads and needle.

Always an ever-popular subject to capture with needle and thread – flowers! This week we share the floral delights that are currently blooming in our What Are You Stitching? files…

‘I have just been reading your inspirational weekly newsletter, which I thoroughly enjoy receiving, and thought I would share my Jacobean embroidered stool with you.

Jacobean work is usually worked with wool, however with the modern style introducing a large variety of colours, using stranded threads offer a finer texture to this style of work.’

‘This particular piece is worked in DMC Stranded Thread with a large variety of stitches. I find embroidery extremely relaxing and the end result very rewarding.’

Lynn, we love the timeless feel of your Jacobean inspired flower - you’ve been able to combine an historical technique with modern threads simply seamlessly!

‘My love of Ribbon Embroidery, Brazilian Embroidery, Appliqué, Beadwork and Crochet keep me very busy and these articles won first prize at my local show.’

‘Your magazine has been my inspiration since the first edition!’

Marlene, we appreciate you including us in your stitching journey all the way from Inspirations #01! Your pieces may be varied in technique but are all united by the glorious blooms featured within the design of each. We look forward to seeing what flowers you next create with needle and thread.

‘Glorious Spring is a small 9” x 12” (22cm x 30cm) project I made as a donation to Ami Simms a few years ago when she was orchestrating the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative.’

‘I've always had an interest in vintage linens and my collection increases with each passing week. I created this piece by using many things that were damaged beyond repair for their original use and I feel that I've saved the piece by giving it a new purpose to shine. I would love for the hands that originally created these many pieces to know their work lives on!’

‘This particular piece incorporates many small pieces - a lady’s vintage handkerchief, a jonquil from an old table topper, bits and pieces of vintage trims and laces as well as many new items such as sequins, rhinestone buttons and pink and white gingham ribbon to name a few. This particular work took approximately two weeks to stitch from start to finish. It was handed over to Ami as an auction piece to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research, raising almost $250.00.’

Rhonda, we love that you’ve brought new life to old textiles by using them to Stitch it Forward for such a worthy cause! Your piece is detailed, colourful and vibrant.

Now that we’ve picked so many blooms from our stitched garden, we’d love to ‘plant’ some more! If you’ve stitched something we can add to our garden patch, email photos of the flowers you’ve created with needle and thread along with a few details about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com

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Primavera by Nicola Jarvis features a noble little bird in a pear tree embellished with beads, silk and metal threads.

~ Walt Disney ~

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.