The way we connect with others differs from person to person and relationship to relationship. Sometimes our connections are daily and intimate whilst at other times they’re less frequent and more formal.

Most of the connections Inspirations has with our community are via email or phone - and sometimes the occasional handwritten letter - and we love that, despite the tyranny of distance that separates us from many of you, connection is still possible.

However, there are times we long for something more – sometimes it’s a quick chat over the fence we wish we could have with each of you, or a passing conversation about something so small it feels like it would take place in the aisle of our local supermarket when we run into you unexpectedly, but alas that is rarely possible given our community is truly global!

And so, the idea of our recent survey ‘Take Five to Answer Five’ came about. We wanted the opportunity to connect with each of you and hear what was on your mind when it came to all things Inspirations. We were overwhelmed by the number of responses we received and have spent the weeks since pouring over them, feeling more connected than ever to each of you who took the time to provide your feedback.

~ redfairyproject.com ~

We truly feel connected, inspired and supported by each of you and thank you for taking the time to strengthen our connection with you. Now we’re looking forward to beginning to unpack what we learnt along the way with ‘Take Five to Answer Five’…

Our recent survey generated some terrific feedback from you all and helped us better understand everyone’s likes and dislikes and the things that are most important to you going forward.

We noted that in some of the survey answers some people asked specific questions or needed additional information from us. We’d love to have a dialogue with you however, as the survey was anonymous, we don’t know who you are, so if you’re waiting on a response from a question you asked in your survey please reach out via email to news@inspirationsstudios.com and we can keep the conversation with you going.

While we’re still collating all the data and preparing a summary to share with you all, we can tell you that some of the hot topics from the survey include improving the availability of our products so, where possible, you can purchase them locally; you would like the option of buying our patterns in both digital and print; you want to pay less for shipping (no arguments from anyone on that one!); want it easier to source the materials required to stitch the projects we feature and you would like more of everything! With the caveat though that we never compromise on our quality.

Another revelation the survey gave us was that we have so much information we can share with you to make your needlework experience even richer. From better explaining our products and services and everything that a relationship with Inspirations can offer you, to telling you more about the people in our industry you may not know about, or liberating our archives full of knowledge and wisdom, there’s so much we want to make available to you.

But just like every needlework project that has even been brought to life, it’s all about taking things one stitch at a time. So, in time we’ll be back to tell you more about the exciting future ahead and how together we’re all going to change the world, one stitch at a time.

If you happen to be hiking in the majestic Dandenong Ranges in Victoria, Australia, and you suddenly hear the sound of a chainsaw, you might have been lucky enough to have stumbled across a lyrebird. The Superb Lyrebird, as well as sporting beautiful plumage, has a remarkable ability to mimic any sound it hears. It does so with such exactness, you honestly can’t tell whether the sound is genuine or not.

In her piece, Fine Feathers, from Inspirations #101, Anna Scott has chosen to recreate this Australian native bird in a delicate combination of stumpwork, needlelace and surface embroidery more because of his elegant appearance than his vocal cleverness.

Challenged at Beating Around the Bush in 2016 to design a piece with an Australian native animal, Anna wanted to avoid the usual koalas and kangaroos which everyone associates with Australia.

In Anna’s home town of Adelaide, there was a much-loved lyrebird named ‘Chook’ at the local zoo. Chook was famous for his ability to mimic the sound of construction work and became something of a YouTube star. You can still find his videos online and they really are worth looking up. Sadly, Chook passed away in 2011, but Anna has modelled this project on him, paying homage to one of the most popular past residents of the Adelaide Zoo.

His body feathers are formed by working a needlelace slip, a technique that has been used to create the raised elements in this type of embroidery for centuries. Although it may appear complicated, the effect is achieved by even lines of corded detached blanket stitch, resulting in a smooth, textured surface.

The exquisite tail plumage is shaped like a lyre and perfectly demonstrates how the lyrebird got its name. It is achieved by first working a white net of wheatear stitch to represent the fine, almost sheer central feathers, and then two bold curved slips filled with satin stitch and highlighted with metallic thread which make up the characteristic tail.

If you have never done stumpwork before, this project may be challenging but it is an incredibly satisfying one to try. As tempting as it might be to construct the project as you go, it is important to work all of the detached elements separately. Once you have completed all of the surface stitching, including the beads, you can then affix the raised elements and finally see your lyrebird come to life.

They say that imitation or mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery. Well, we say that by imitating this delightful creature in this project, we aren’t just honouring the designer and the embroidery tradition, but we’re honouring Chook and all of the amazing creatures of the natural world.

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Fine Feathers by Anna Scott is an enchanting stumpwork scene from an Australian rainforest featuring a lyrebird displaying his magnificent tail.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Fine Feathers includes everything you need to re-create this wonderful scene: Fabrics (unprinted), wool felt, beading wire, embroidery threads, beads, paillettes and needles.

Memories of childhood days long past are brought to mind with Rock a Bye Baby by Kris Richards, a wonderfully nostalgic blanket.

Stitched on creamy Doctor's flannel, this charming rocking horse blanket would make a delightful addition to baby's nursery.

Butler prefers to use myriad vibrant colours and patterns to represent the skin and clothing of her photographically accurate subjects. Her quilts are portraits of people, filled with emotion and character, and yet formed out of scraps of fabric and thread.

Butler now works in Brooklyn, New York and is represented by the Claire Oliver Gallery. Although she’s a professional artist, wouldn’t it be a joy to see her stash cupboard?

You can read more about Bisa Butler in this recent article by Colossal HERE.

Figs are a fascinating fruit and the ephemeral delight of fresh, fully-ripened figs is brought to lasting life with the pair of embroidered three-dimensional figs and large, lobed leaf in our new book 'Botanica | The three-dimensional embroidery of Julie Knied'.

Smooth-skinned and fragrant, the unique structure of a fig can be seen when the bell-shaped fruit is sliced open, revealing the numerous stems of one-seeded fruits, called druplets, that formed from the internally-growing, tiny flowers. The exterior of the fruit is actually a special kind of hollow-ended stem or receptacle, called the syconium.

Setting further botanical study and nomenclature aside (infructescence, anyone?) it all comes together as a juicy, delicately sweet and delicious fruit that, when ripe, simply must be enjoyed promptly as there is only a short window between perfect softness and collapse.

When fresh, figs are wonderful paired with cheeses or added to a salad and are also delicious in baked treats. Figs are preserved in a variety of ways, essential for extending the edible timeframe for any bountiful harvest. Dried figs have been enjoyed since ancient times and owners of fig trees are sure to have a recipe for fig jam or even fig paste, perfect for a cheese platter.

Our Editor, Susan O’Connor, has shared her fig paste recipe that has been tasted with pleasure by the Inspirations Studios team. Susan recommends serving the paste with good cheddar or a soft cheese such as brie, camembert or goats’ cheese.

Fig paste

Ingredients:
500g fresh figs
2 ripe pears
2 tsp fennel seeds
500g sugar approx.
Jamsetta

Method:

• Chop the figs and pears and place in large saucepan. Crush the fennel seeds and add with 60ml of water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20-30min.
• Weigh the fruit and add an equal amount of sugar mixed with the Jamsetta. Heat until the sugar dissolves then cook for 2hrs.
• Grease (olive oil) and line a tin with baking paper. Pour in the fruit mix and smooth the surface. Place a piece of baking paper over the surface and sit a second tray on top weighted with 2-3 tins. Place in the fridge overnight.
• Cut into bars and wrap in a double layer of cling film.

For an everlasting arrangement of beautiful figs that are also a simple project to enjoy creating, turn to the pair of life-sized olive green and purple fruits in Botanica.

They are stitched with a handful of crewel and fine, shaded wool threads that are blended using long and short stitch over a fig-shaped felt shape that has been hand-stitched together and firmly stuffed with fibre-fill. Each fig is realistically finished with a thread-wrapped wire stem.

The fruits are accompanied by a large, wired leaf, also worked with fine wool thread in long and short stitch, with stem stitched veins and a slender, wrapped wire stem.

If you haven’t yet ventured into dimensional embroidery, or if long and short stitch hasn’t been your ‘jam’, this is a great project to bring that stitching pot to the boil!

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Two ripening figs, resting on a fig leaf platter by Julie Kniedl from Botanica.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Fig includes everything you need to recreate these stunning figs: Fabrics (unprinted), wool felts, wires, embroidery threads and needles.

We have a confession to make. It seems we’ve made a book that should have come with a warning about how addictive it is.

Once you start making the projects inside, it’s impossible to stop. It begins with some figs, then you think maybe the figs need a friend so how about a pear, then the pear wants to hang out with a lemon which would look so nice sitting next to some wattle, and the wattle would go really well with a camellia and so on and on and on….

Ever since Botanica was unleashed, there are stitchers everywhere unable to sleep, busy re-creating everything in the book. But don’t worry, we’ve done something to help… we’ve released all the projects from the book as Ready-to-Stitch kits. Yep all 12. So now there’s nothing holding you back, except maybe sleep. Or just do what Bon Jovi says, ‘Live while you’re alive, and sleep when you’re dead!’ Click below to start your addiction.

In this week’s All Stitched Up!, issue #180, we unpacked the last of our featured projects from Inspirations Magazine #101 and thought it a great week to share some of the other projects from Inspirations that have been created with the needles and threads of our incredibly talented community…

Sharon Palermo | ‘For Christmas 2018, I stitched two of Julie Kniedl’s beautiful Christmas Bouquet ornaments featured in Inspirations #88. I made one for myself and gave the other away at the Austin Texas Stitchery Guild Christmas party. This was the most challenging stumpwork I have done but, thanks to your fantastic instructions, I was able to finish both of them and was very pleased with the finished pieces.’

‘I added some ribbons to the ball as I felt it looked a little naked without them! I am now working on two sets of Julie’s Mistletoe Bell from Inspirations #100 as once my daughter saw the Christmas ornaments, she asked if it was possible to do mistletoe - I immediately showed her issue #100 and started stitching! Sharon Palermo.’

Sharon, your version of Christmas Bouquet is bright and festive and anything but naked! We’re glad our Editorial Team’s instructions served you so well and we look forward to seeing your Mistletoe Bells as soon as they’re complete.

Jamie Cerda | ‘My inspiration came from Inspirations #100. The front cover was a bell with mistletoe and when my daughter saw it, she asked me to create it. I found a vintage bell on Etsy and started stitching.’

‘I had just three weeks to complete it! I finished it two days before her wedding photographer took a beautiful photo of the finished piece. Jamie Cerda.’

Jamie, that’s some speedy stitching indeed! We love your unique take on Mistletoe Bell and your daughter’s photographer has absolutely captured the Christmas magic of the piece just beautifully.

Monique Johnston | ‘I thought you might like to see two versions of my bell. The mistletoe has special meaning to me as I am originally from France and we always had mistletoe at Christmas. I couldn't bear to put my bell away after Christmas, so I thought to adapt Julie Knield's Red Currants from A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII.’

I am very happy with the result and am now thinking maybe a new spray for each season?! So, I need to design an acorn spray for Autumn and stitch the Camellia from Inspirations’ new book Botanica for Spring. Monique Johnston.’

Monique, we love the idea of a spray for each season and can’t wait to see Autumn and Spring and no pressure, but we note the leaves have just started turning in Adelaide, so Autumn is knocking!

Pam Debenham | ‘I thought I would share my Mistletoe Bell with you. Having made one for myself, I then made two more for friends as Christmas gifts. This year I will be making another three for friends for Christmas 2019 and will be starting on the Red Currants as soon as my copy of Botanica arrives. Can you tell I am absolutely hooked on Julie Kneidl’s designs?! Pam Debenham.’

Pam, you’ll be able to recreate Mistletoe Bell with your eyes closed by the time you’ve finished your sixth one! We look forward to seeing your version of Red Currants and are sure it will depict Julie’s original as perfectly as you have with Mistletoe Bell.

Have your needles and threads created something from the pages of an Inspirations’ publication? We’d love to see it! Email photos of your stitching along with a few details about your journey with needle and thread to news@inspirationsstudios.com

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Triple Treat by Hazel Blomkamp is three sparkling brooches created with three-dimensional beaded flowers and leaves.

~ Adele Scheele ~

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.