Did you know that some of the most successful people have done their best work in coffee shops?! Think Pablo Picasso, Bob Dylan and JK Rowling.

An article by Bryan Lufkin unpacked some of the reasons why we’re more creative when we’re in a coffee shop, and it’s not just the coffee itself!

The ambient noise of people, the playlist and the hum of the coffee machine in the background keeps us ever so slightly distracted from the task at hand which in turn boosts our ability to think abstractly leading to the generation of more creative ideas. Being surrounded by other people who have come to do the same thing also provides a level of motivation we sometimes find hard to generate on our own.

Besides these factors, the act of working somewhere other than within our own four walls removes us from the familiar (and sometimes boring!), providing visual stimulation that can also have a positive effect on our creativity and output.

Now whilst our ‘work’ with needle and thread may be more likely to happen at a Guild or within a Stitch ‘n Chat, the same sense of ‘Café Creativity’ can be found as it’s not the café itself, but rather the sounds, people and visual stimuli that helps us to be more creative and fruitful.

However, as Bryan so aptly pointed out in his article, we all have a ‘Goldilocks’ level at which we produce our best work. So, whilst some of us may find that taking to needle and thread on our own is where we’re most productive, for others it might be worth the time to temporarily relocate and stitch publicly as we may find the benefits of the ‘just right café’ too good to pass up.

Where do you do your best work with needle and thread – within your own four walls, surrounded by likeminded people or perhaps amidst the hustle and bustle of your local café? Email news@inspirationsstudios.com and let us know what you’ve declared as your ‘just right’ place to stitch.

If there is one thing we love hearing about, it is people who take their passion for crafting and use it for something wonderful. We’ve said time and time again how needlework in particular, and the art of craft in general, provides people with a common purpose, and often brings people together. But there are plenty of individuals who take that to the next level and work to spread the love and care into the wider world.

You don’t have to spend too much time with the news media to know that there are hundreds of thousands of people in the world who are facing tough times. Whether they are struggling through displacement, seeking refuge from unsustainable living conditions, or facing personal struggles due to physical or mental health issues, incarceration or addiction, sometimes it feels overwhelming and it is hard to know what to do to help.

These people know that, although they can’t change everything all at once, every single life they touch may be one life they’ve helped improve.

We’re talking about people like Abi Hewitt, co-founder of Love Welcomes. This organisation works to teach refugees new skills that they can use whilst they are in transition, as well as take with them for life. For instance, one of the first workshops they ran was in a refugee camp outside of Athens, where the group teaches Syrian women to weave.

Items are made from discarded life jackets and blankets, and the organisation has benefited from the design skills of artists such as Banksy and textile artist Margo Selby.

The women involved are all paid a fair wage for their labour. However, it isn’t just the artisans who have benefited. The increased economic activity has encouraged several small businesses in the camps to set up. The model has worked so well, there are plans to open more workshops as long as there is a guarantee of sales. But Hewitt’s overall goal is to:

Love Welcomes is just one of a host of groups and organisations that have sought out opportunities to help people when they most need it.

Others, such as Mending for Good, are bringing together such diverse people as prison inmates, refugees and recovering addicts, in order to teach them to re-make and re-purpose dead stock from some of the largest fashion houses in the world.

As well as offering people skills and a purpose, the organisation has the added environmental benefit of moving away from the fast-fashion treadmill and encouraging customers to value items that are carefully repurposed by hand.

Overall, the many organisations that are turning to crafts, whether embroidery, sewing, weaving or any other artistic endeavour, have the dual goals of ensuring that people enjoy dignity and a living wage, whilst being able to learn useful skills that serve to help them and their communities in the future.

In a world of mass-production, we all know how important it is to value handmade.

Organisations aside, we know of plenty of embroiderers who are doing the same kinds of things, albeit on a smaller scale. It could be anything from knitting for the homeless, selling your homemade items to raise money for a local charity, or even just sitting down with a neighbour who might have only just arrived in the country, and showing them how to stitch.

To make a difference to someone in need doesn’t require the backing of world-famous artists or the ability to move across borders. It can be as simple as spending time with someone and passing on your knowledge, so that they can take it on themselves.

If you’re lucky enough, you may also get the pleasure of watching them take what they’ve learnt and start to fly.

Surely we can’t be the only stitchers who put their needles down… somewhere… only to completely forget where they are just seconds later? If we’re lucky, we might discover our needle sticking out of the arm of the sofa. If we’re not lucky, we might discover it sticking out of something else!

Needles and pins have a terrible habit of finding their way onto floors, into upholstery or into fingers, feet or other parts of the body. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the perfect little accessory that will allow you to put your needles or pins down, confident that you’ll always know exactly where they are going to be?

Cohana products, made in Japan, benefit from exquisite crafting and perfect design. The Cohana Magnetic Ceramic Spools are exactly what you need to keep those wandering needles and pins in one place, with the added bonus that they look simply gorgeous.

Made from sturdy, smooth ceramic, each spool is magnetic so even if you accidently knock it off of the table, all of the needles and pins inside will remain exactly where they should.

With five elegant colours available: pink; yellow; green; blue and grey, the Cohana Magnetic Ceramic Spools will become one of the handiest and most indispensable items in your sewing kit. Why not get one for each room of the house? Then you can relax with your stitching, knowing that even your most wayward needles will remain firmly under control.

Now that you’ve discovered the perfect solution for storing your pins and needles thanks to the Cohana Magnetic Ceramic Spools, why not put them to use and marry them with several packs of the best needles and pins on the market?

Tulip needles are world-class, being strong, sharp and durable and now is a great time to stock up safe in the knowledge you’ll never accidentally lose one again.

You’ve heard of the saying ‘a storm in a teacup’, but you’ve probably never imagined a garden in a teacup. Sounds delightful? This whimsical idea is precisely what Moscow-based embroiderer and previous Inspirations magazine contributor, Rosa Andreeva, has created in silk and beads.

Worked on hand-dyed fabrics, and created using a huge variety of stitches, silks and beads, Rosa fills chipped teacups with glorious, textured blooms and nestles them on surfaces so glittery and tactile you could imagine them coming straight from a fairy wonderland.

The artist’s incredible eye for nature can be seen throughout all of her work, that you can marvel over at her Instagram account HERE or for further reading about Rosa, check out this fabulous article by Grace Ebert at the website Colossal HERE.

And if you’ve been utterly charmed by embroidery in teacups, you’re certain to enjoy the article about Jane Fairweather featured in the current issue of Inspirations, issue #109, which you can purchase a copy of HERE.

This week our kit department has been working overtime (and then some!) to bring back into stock a stack of projects from Willing Hands by Betsy Morgan and have even released a new kit from A Fine Tradition by Margaret Light.

If you live along the eastern coast of Australia, anywhere from Rockhampton in Queensland all the way through to some of the south-eastern parts of South Australia, you might have been lucky enough to spot the brilliantly coloured feathers of the rose robin (Petroica rosea).

This gorgeous little bird, although apparently very similar to its European counterpart, is actually from a different family altogether; one which is unique to Australia.

The stunning pink plumage of the rose robin is quite similar in some ways to the pink robin, another bird of the same Petroica genus.

If you have been fortunate enough to see one, it is highly likely this tiny bird was on the move. While looking for their favourite meal of insects or spiders they are almost constantly flitting back and forth, only occasionally settling and rarely returning to the same branch between sorties.

They normally forage in the tops of the trees, although occasionally they might spot a tasty morsel on the ground and venture down to catch it.

But they’re busy little creatures, so if you’re keen to watch them, a bit of patience may be required.

Of course, as embroiderers, as charmed as many of us might be by the acrobatic antics of the rose robin, it is probably accurate to say that what captures our imagination most of all is his colour. To see such vivid pink in nature is always a joy and is one that lends itself perfectly to being captured in needle and thread.

What better way to capture it than to render the rose robin in threadpainting? Of course, when you think of beautifully threadpainted birds, you immediately think of Trish Burr, so it seems totally fitting that Pretty in Pink from Inspirations issue #109 has been designed by that very artist herself. This exquisite project balances the glorious pink of the robin’s breast with a magnificent magenta-pink magnolia bloom.

In order to achieve perfect accuracy and to create the painterly effect that Trish does so well, she elects to use almost 50 different shades of stranded cotton. In this way, she captures every tonal variation in the robin and his plumage, as well as in the magnolia petals and buds.

It might seem intimidating to start out with that many colours, but once you get going and find the flow of the stitching, you’ll start to enjoy the effect given by the subtle changes of colour. And the finished project will speak for itself. We can almost guarantee that anyone who sees this work of art will marvel at just how realistic it is.

More than many other embroidery technique, threadpainting has a meditative quality achieved by the combination of selecting the colours and laying each stitch to emulate the varied textures of the subject matter.

There really isn’t a better technique for honouring the magnificence of nature. You can take the time to really see and understand the rose robin and his colourful perch whilst you proceed to create something beautiful.

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Pretty in Pink by Trish Burr is an adorable Australian rose robin resting on a splendid magnolia depicted in threadpainting.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Pretty in Pink includes everything* you need to re-create this charming scene: Fabric (unprinted), embroidery threads and needle.

*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 magazine/digital pattern.

Christmas Robin by Nicola Jarvis from Inspirations issue #108 is a royal robin resplendent in his sequin-studded Yuletide robes.

Robin by Trish Burr from Inspirations issue #69 is a superb threadpainted study of the dainty European Robin (Erithacus rubecula).

Red Robin by Helen M. Stevens from Inspirations issue #67 is a vibrant threadpainted picture featuring a scarlet-breasted robin amongst a charming garland of foliage and berries.

Winter's Song by Trish Burr from Inspirations issue #88 is a sweet threadpainted robin resting on a sprig of holly.

If there is one thing we are absolutely confident of, it’s the love that the global needlework community has for stitching birds. We keep receiving pictures of project, after gorgeous project, featuring birds of all kinds, worked in a dizzying array of techniques.

Today we’re going to regale you with some quilted and appliquéd versions of these marvellous creatures, just to show that it doesn’t matter how you create them, your avian projects will always be spectacular.

‘Here are some pictures of my Bird of Paradise Quilt. Male birds of paradise are extravagantly beautiful, but the females, although equally as important, do not attract so much attention or admiration. That is why I called them, and the quilt, ‘Hidden Treasures’.’

‘I give credit for my love of embroidery to my mother who encouraged me as a child. I began when I was 12, had a long gap until my family ‘flew the coop’, but now that I am 81, I hope my grandchildren will love my work as much as I love my mother’s works of art.

Her attention to detail was amazing, although I have been guilty of putting her tablecloths on the table upside down!’

What we haven’t been able to show is the enormous number of photographs that Pam sent us, showing a huge range of her beautiful work. Pam, we could have written a whole newsletter just on you! Thank you for sending us your pictures – we spent a great deal of time admiring them.

‘This is my ‘Coronavirus Comfort Embroidery’. Missing seeing family and the good friends I have at church, I decided to embroider the things I love and that bring me comfort.’

‘I love birds, and the sweet sound of their twittering always accompanies me when I am outside in my garden. I have a beautiful Camellia tree whose flowers are like small roses.

Finally, I love lace curtains - you get privacy, yet the sun can still shine in your window. Because of this, I removed the glass from this frame so I could add a ‘curtain’ to my picture.’

You’ve created something incredibly special and so wonderfully personal, Lynne. Thank you for sharing it with us.

‘I had these various embroideries. But the question was, what to do with them?’

‘This was my answer and it has now become my favourite quilt!’

Stitching together all your finished pieces into a quilt is such a wonderful way to display them, Susan. Congratulations on all the hours or work on display, it’s no wonder it is a favourite, we love it too – especially the bird we can see perched on a willowy branch!

Have you created your favourite subject in different techniques? Are you as happy working a quilt as you are an embroidered piece, as long as it has a bird, animal, flower or other favourite on it? Or are you someone who has your favourite technique and you stick with it?

Whatever your subject and whatever your technique, we’d like to hear about it. Send us a picture of your work and a bit of information about the project and your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com

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Remember by Philippa Todd is an elegant three-dimensional poppy that can be worn as a brooch.

In Flanders Fields by Jo Butcher from Inspirations issue #99 is a beckoning meadow scene filled with red poppies and golden wheat.

Poppy by Susan O'Connor from Inspirations issue #85 is a stunning threadpainted evening bag worked with lustrous silk threads.

Hint of Spring by Jane Nicholas from Inspirations issue #77 is an elegant Californian poppy and bumble bee miniature stumpwork.

Delicate Shadow by Maggie Gee from Inspirations issue #79 is a stylised, shaded, blackwork poppy inspired by Art Nouveau design.

~ Dan Stevens ~

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.