In last week’s issue of All Stitched Up! HERE, we admitted that after everything 2020 had thrown our way, our usual New Year’s expectancy was feeling a little battle worn and tarnished and we were working through the idea of making peace with some mess.

Whilst we’re still on a journey towards that end, we have to concede there have been times we’ve felt a little glum about the things that had fallen off our resolution lists over the last 12 months.

There’s no doubt that some of them had fallen off due to circumstances outside our control, but what about those within our control? Well, it turns out we’d been waiting for that ‘just right’ time to start afresh, now realising that the just right time might be further away then we’d originally hoped!

As we began to worry that the things we’d put off may become the things we’d never get around to doing, we read a quote that made us question the idea of putting off until tomorrow what we could do today.

After reading this quote from D’Wayne Edwards, we felt challenged to throw aside the idea of the perfect time and/or place to see some of our hopes, dreams and goals come to fruition and simply start working towards them. We could in fact make today day one.

No more one day when… a New Year is before us, a fresh season of life is upon us or simply that it’s the just right day of the week, month or year. Today is the day we take the first step towards achieving those things we’d always promised ourselves we’d get around to doing.

It may be something as important as prioritising your health, repairing a broken relationship, decluttering a home that no longer serves you well, right through to simply picking up a book you vowed you’d read or tackling a project with needle and thread you didn’t think possible. No matter how big or small the things you’ve put off may be, they’re worth accomplishing. So why not join us as we make our one day, today?

by Nancy Williams

Hello 2021! Following on from the articles in All Stitched Up! at the end of last year, I wonder how many of you have spent time in your craft room over the holiday break, reorganising, reimagining or simply communing with your stash? I know I have, particularly as I had the pleasure of hearing from so many of you. If I wasn’t inspired to fall back in love with my stash before, I have certainly made inroads now thanks to our wonderful Inspirations community.

As such, although some time has passed since the initial articles, I really wanted to share with you some of the other responses we received.

Many of you told us how you’ve gone about organising your crafting space. Teresa Cain, clearly a woman after my own heart with her joyous love of threads, explained how she has sorted all of her wools, threads, fabric and other fibres into clear plastic containers which not only keep things tidy, but allow her the pleasure of being able to see everything in them.

Patty Hawkins used the lockdowns of 2020 as the perfect excuse to reorganise her stash. She was ruthless in deciding which patterns and projects she was really going to do and which she wasn’t; the latter going to her local Guild or recycling bin!

She then went through all her kits and listed them on a spreadsheet. Now, as she does a kit, she highlights the line on the spreadsheet, so she has a visual representation of her progress. I will admit, I was so taken by this idea that I implemented it myself as soon as I read Patty’s email and I fully relate to the satisfaction that it brings.

Organising was also at the top of the list for Anne Shields who decided to separate all her smocking projects, recording each one in a notebook and putting the fabric, threads, buttons and other notions for each individual project together in a plastic bag.

Discovering that she had over 75 projects to do, she hasn’t needed to purchase any fabric since. So, not only did Anne find a way to get organised, she saved herself a whole lot of money as well.

Ann also shared some fantastic practical advice in terms of dying thread and fabric using acrylic paint. She either uses the paint undiluted or makes up a solution of paint and water, to then soak the fabric or thread. Once dry, Ann then irons it to help fix it further. The process doesn’t need to cost a lot either; cheap tubes of acrylic paint can be bought at the local discount or dollar store.

In terms of using up what you already have, I loved this fantastic tribute project completed by Christine Igot. Christine is clearly a fan of the late, great musical artist, Prince. She worked his iconic motif using needlepoint wool, beads, rayon thread and floss all from her own stash. Luckily, she completed it before the lockdowns and was able to get it mounted just in time to enjoy it sitting on her wall while stuck at home. It sure was a fabulous way to use what you have, and as Christine so rightly said:

I really liked the idea of ‘shopping in your own stash’, and the reality is, many of us probably have stashes which would rival any shop! I am so glad that my admitting it has allowed so many of you to also feel confident enough to not just admit it but to embrace it too.

Robyn Tate was grateful for the inspiration and is now looking at her stash with new eyes, and Gerry Kendall, already someone who likes to ‘stitch outside of the box’, shared with us that she’s going through all her kits, patterns and UFOs in order to find new inspiration for her unique ideas.

Many of us see the start of the new year as the time to make changes. Perhaps this year is the year to get on top of our stashes and start to incorporate it into our stitching. I do hope you’ll keep sending us pictures of pieces you’ve worked from your stash, or ideas for how you keep it organised, fresh and exciting. Learning from each other is one of the best parts of being in this community, so make sure to keep sharing.

While none of us can know for sure what 2021 has in store, what we do know is that regardless of whether the trees outside are covered in snow, parched beneath the summer sun or somewhere in between, during the month of February, Julie Kniedl’s gorgeous three-dimensional Camellia will always be blooming in full glory.

Camellia was one of the stunning projects from her book Botanica which featured the full range of Julie’s unique designs. The scarlet petals of this particular flower are just the first feature which will catch your eye.

When you recognise the precise detail in the tangle of centre stamens, the perfectly rounded bud and the beautifully shaped leaves, you’ll be wanting to start the project in no time.

Worked in crewel wools, like all of Julie’s designs, the project Camellia is so realistic anyone admiring the finished piece will think it’s just been plucked off a bush. Whether you wear your finished project as a brooch, or carefully sit it in a tiny crystal vase, Camellia will make you think of growth and abundance whatever season is happening outside.

2020 was a strange year for lots of reasons, not the least of which was the erratic nature of how the supply of our basic necessities were affected.

We’re not sure how you found things, but here at Inspirations just trying to keep our online shelves stocked with wares and kits was a daily challenge with factories going in and out of lock down.

And then came the freight restrictions and the horrible delays in postal services. If you’re anything like us, keeping track of what you’ve ordered and what’s arrived vs still pending is a struggle!

Well, here’s the good news – we’re finally seeing some of the stock we ordered last year arriving and our online shelves looking more respectable. So, this week to help make your shopping efforts easier, we have prepared a mini online store visit with a selection of products curated especially for you, with everything on offer ready for immediate despatch.

Let’s begin in France with a range of needles and tape measures from the world-famous manufacturer Bohin.

Now over to Japan to enjoy some exquisite Japanese craftsmanship and elegant styling with their bespoke leather tape measures and a collection of mini-scissors.

To round off our shopping trip let’s check out a selection of tools with everything from scissors, hoops, thread-winders and more.

It doesn’t seem to matter where we look, we’re bombarded with images of ‘perfect’ bodies. From social media to TV, movies, music videos and almost every form of advertising, we’re subtly told that this is what we ‘should’ look like.

Embroidery artist Madison Dier wanted to offer an alternative picture. She produces simple embroidered art which shows real bodies in a simplified and stunningly artistic form. Highlighting folds, scars, lumps and wrinkles, Dier represents real women in an effort to try to change what people think they ought to be.

She has called her series ‘Normalize Normal Bodies’, decorating each body with flowers in order to assure her audience that all bodies are deserving of adornment. Her project might seem small in the shadow of the media and advertising industries, but the message she offers is a powerful one which deserves to be heard.

You can read about Madison Dier HERE or view more of her work at her website HERE.

Woodland Floor by Helen M. Stevens from our book A Passion for Needlework | Blakiston Creamery is a striking botanical study worked in shimmering silks on a dramatic black background.

As well as periwinkle flowers and dandelion leaves, the piece features a purple emperor butterfly, a painted lady butterfly and a gently hovering bumble bee who introduces a splash of brilliant colour into this already eye-catching piece.

Now, another way of writing that last sentence you just read would be to say: ‘As well as Vinca minor and Taraxacum officianale, the piece features Apatura iris, Vanessa kershawi and a gently hovering Bombus locurum…’

Although all members of the plant and insect family represented in Helen’s Woodland Floor have common names which almost everyone knows, it is easy to forget that they all carry scientific names too, many of which are far more elegant and poetic than the common titles.

We certainly felt that the majesty of Helen’s design was enhanced by a knowledge of the proper scientific names.

But where do those names come from and what do they mean? Why does each have two words and why is it conventional for the first to be capitalised? These are questions which anyone who has studied biology might know the answer to, however, as it’s been a while since we attended high school, they piqued our curiosity.

The poetic names of Helen’s insects and flowers are part of the binomial nomenclature (or two-term naming system) which is common in scientific circles. The first part of the name, or the capitalized section, refers to the genus to which the species belongs.

The second part of the name identifies the species within the genus. So, for our purple emperor, he is part of the group apatura (which contains, out of interest, four species) and his personal identifier is iris.

The words themselves arise in all kinds of ways. The most common is from Latin, but names also derive from people, places or other languages. Similarly, the second part of the binomial can be an adjective or a noun, treated grammatically as a Latin word. That noun may also be formed from a name, a description or a place.

Knowing where the names come from, it almost seems sad that we don’t always refer to each individual plant or insect by its elegant binomial. Just as rendering them in silk in exquisite detail like Helen has done in Woodland Floor lifts these creatures up from the mundane and every day, so referring to them by their proper binomial seems to elevate them beyond the ordinary.

It would be inaccurate to label any of Helen’s designs as ‘ordinary’ just as it would be wrong to believe any of our own stitching is ordinary. Each design is something special, and every time one of us creates a stitched piece, we too are creating something unique.

Bearing that in mind, perhaps as you select each strand of silk, and work each element of this magnificent project you can reflect on the name it carries and what it means. It will just help to reinforce how unique each member of the animal kingdom is, just as is each creative endeavour we undertake.

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Woodland Floor by Helen M. Stevens from the book A Passion for Needlework | Blakiston Creamery is an enchanting woodland scene captured using lustrous filament silk threads.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Woodland Floor includes everything* you need to re-create this charming scene: Fabric (unprinted), dressmaker’s carbon, embroidery threads and needles.

*Please Note: To cater for flexibility of purchase, instructions are not included with our kits. For step-by-step directions on how to create this project, please refer to the book.

Crocus sativus by Lesley Turpin-Delport from Inspirations issue #83 is a detailed botanical study of the saffron crocus inspired by Redouté.

Leucadendron by Gary Clarke from Inspirations issue #105 is a dimensional botanical embroidery worked on organza.

Bauhinia by Nikki Delport-Wepener from Inspirations issue #75 is a superb botanical study of the elegant bauhinia, with its distinctly lobed leaves and graceful flowers.

There are some of us who stitch because, when we’re busy with our needle, it means we’re not sneaking off to the fridge or the cupboard hunting for a snack which we really shouldn’t eat!

Here are a few projects which have used food as their subject, with only one risking any potential calorie increase…

‘I purchased the kit for the blackwork strawberry project ‘Delicate Touch’ by Victoria Laine from Inspirations issue #86, however when I got around to stitching it, I discovered I had somehow misplaced the pattern sheet from the magazine.’

‘After making contact with your team, I was grateful for your help in assisting me with a replacement copy and thought you might be interested to see the finished item.’

We’re glad you got in touch and we’re really glad we could help you, Helen. The finished piece is definitely worth all of the effort.

‘I recently finished my pumpkin and thought you might like to see the end result. It is stitched on cotton fabric that was hand dyed. The leaves were stamped with a mix of acrylic and fabric dye first and the pumpkin embroidered last.’

‘The design was pure imagination and it took just three evenings to stitch. I plan to mount it to be displayed every Autumn and Halloween.’

Well done Sue for such an imaginative design and for the fantastic finish you achieved. To have completed the needlework in just three evenings, they were either long, long nights or you are a very fast stitcher (perhaps a bit of both?!). We love it.

‘I’d like to share an amazing creation I received as a gift for my 59th birthday.’

‘My 22 year old niece created this cake it for me after drawing inspiration from my stitched piece you can see in the background. I embroidered it in 2003 and later gifted it to her mom (my sister). The attention to detail my niece achieved with the icing, all piped with buttercream, is such an achievement.

I’m so proud and honoured to have this as my birthday cake this year.’

You are right to be proud, Amina. This cake resembles your embroidery so much, it almost seems a shame to eat it! We can imagine that the cutting of the cake ceremony was delayed for quite some time to allow everyone enough time to admire your niece’s handiwork.

Do you prefer to stitch tasty treats rather than eat them yourself? Or do you like to immortalise your favourite foods in needle and thread? Have you ever stitched something that you felt was good enough to eat? Or do you like to keep food and needlework strictly separate, even going so far as to avoid it as a subject?

Whatever your feelings towards it, if you’ve stitched it, we’d like to see it. Send us a picture of your embroidered project with a bit of information about your stitching journey and the project itself to news@inspirationsstudios.com

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Morris Magic by Brenda Sortwell from the book A Passion for Needlework | Blakiston Creamery is a splendid crewel embroidery of thrushes with strawberries, inspired by an iconic William Morris design.

Range of beautiful Graziano linens, perfect for all types of surface embroidery, now available.

Bluebird by Nicolas Jarvis from Inspirations issue #82 is a cheeky bird filled with William Morris inspired floral patterns.

Michele Hill’s best-selling book ‘William Morris In Appliqué’ features six magnificent projects including quilts, wall hangings, a cushion, and more than 40 individual appliqué designs.

~ Life on Purpose ~

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.