Hi <<First Name>>,
Welcome to Embroidery News Issue 30
And just like that, the first month of 2016 is gone and there are now only eleven left. What is your plan to make 2016 count from a needlework perspective? Out of all the projects on your wish list, which ones will actually come to life this year and how can we harness time to work for us and not against us?
Last year in EN 23 we featured a sensational project from Tom Shaw-Gardner from New Jersey, USA. Shown here on the right, he created a Christmas tree skirt featuring 9 individual Santa Claus designs, all hand embroidered. To ensure it was ready in time for Christmas, Tom worked backwards from his deadline and mapped out how much needlework needed to be completed each week. Starting in January, every Sunday he diligently stitched away until months later, right on deadline, his spectacular vision became a reality.
That made us really think… what should our daily, weekly, or monthly needlework schedule look like to ensure we maximise our time in 2016? If you have your own masterpiece planned for this year, have you started already? Even if it’s just to complete a selection of smaller projects, creating a needlework schedule with deadlines for ourselves to work towards, might really boost our collective output (only for those of us who need it of-course!)
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So after you’ve enjoyed this week’s Embroidery News, have a think about making a needlework schedule for 2016 and don’t forget to send us in photos of all the fabulous projects you create!
INSPIRATIONS MAGAZINE UPDATE |
Inspirations issue #89 |
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GOOD NEWS - The dispatch for Inspirations issue #89 to all our subscribers is running ahead of schedule! The bad news is this has created a couple of glitches we’re currently working through.
Firstly, many of you have been wondering why the kits have not been available on our website – originally they were to be released next week, however as many of you already have #89, we brought them out earlier and are now available for purchase here. |
Secondly on the back cover of #89 the Beating Around The Bush 2016 advert says ‘Bookings Now Open’ which is a little premature as bookings in fact open February 29th, so thank you for your patience in that regards.
Finally, there have also been some changes to our kits, which you can read more about in this newsletter below. In the meantime, for subscribers who are yet to receive issue #89, it’s not far away now we promise! Zinio subscribers should receive notification the digital issue of #89 is available for download very soon as well. The official release date for #89 is February 25th.
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Last week, ‘Can You Help?’ asked us for ideas on needle related shopping in Spain, Morocco and Qatar for Kathleen Gómez who is about to embark on her next Destination Needlework adventure.
Victoria Frank, who has become a regular contributor to our Destination Needlework conversations, was in Morocco last year and loved it so much that she is returning in March and declares Morocco to be a textile lover’s dream! Here is what Victoria had to say:
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First, EVERYTHING is ornamented in this country. You will not believe the amount of decoration everywhere. This will act as embroidery inspiration for years to come. Get a guide to take you into the souks (without one we might not ever see you again) and tell him of your interest in embroidery. There are little stalls which sell Passementerie (decorative trimming such as tassels, braid and fringing used on furniture and clothing). You will come away with bags filled with embellishments to last a lifetime for a very small investment (especially if your guide helps you haggle).
Once Victoria saw that Spain was also on Kathleen’s itinerary, she reiterated the fact that Arraiolos Trevo in Portugal, which featured in Embroidery News Issue 13, is well worth a visit. Arraiolos Trevo sells handmade rugs and their treasure trove of gorgeous carpets can be seen here.
We wish you safe travels Kathleen and would love you to email photos of your Destination Needlework adventure to embroiderynews@inspirationsmagazine.com.au
so we can share your travel adventures with the Embroidery News Community!
STITCH.OLOGY WEBSITE NEWS |
As mentioned last week, yesterday was our ‘Warehouse Day’ where we began working on a detailed stock take of all our inventory, which included going through some mystery cartons we inherited recently.
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Not knowing exactly what we would find, we were on a bit of a treasure hunt looking for rare or out of print titles.
Now we’re still working through this process, but we do have some initial good news to share with you this week. One of our favourite titles, The Embroiderers Handbook, has been out of print for quite a while now, and as luck would have it we stumbled across an unmarked box and found 11 copies of the updated reprinted edition. |
The Embroiderer’s Handbook is the ultimate guide to thread embroidery – it is essentially a compilation of the highlights from all 20 A-Z books in one powerhouse publication.
Featuring well over 100 different stitches and techniques, this essential step-by-step guide features our award winning, photography and detailed instructions taken from the A-Z series and Inspirations Magazine.
So we have just 11 copies available and have listed them on our website for sale here
To get an idea of how much of a rare find this is, Google ‘The Embroiderer’s Handbook’. More news about our warehouse treasure hunt next week, in the meantime some of the projects referenced in The Embroiderer’s Handbook are also available as digital downloads:
‘Spellbound’ by Carolyn Pearce
Dusky mauve ribbon roses are worked on an aromatic lavender bag.
Click here to purchase
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‘The Little Nut Tree’ by Susan O’Connor
Superb silk cushion using stitches like brush strokes.
Click here to purchase |
Beautiful Needlework. Sold Here. www.stitchology.com.au
One of the changes we made late last year was to bring the sourcing, assembly, packing and distribution of our Inspirations Kits, all back in house. From now on any genuine Inspirations kit you buy from us, passes our new ‘World’s Most Beautiful’ test. Premium quality materials, world class customer service, world’s most beautiful kits.
As part of this transition period, the prices for our kits for Inspirations issue #89 were unavailable at the time of print and therefore neither the regular or subscriber prices are listed in the magazine itself. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused, to alleviate this we have now added all the Inspirations #89 kits to our websites, so you can check them out here complete with a list of what’s included and the prices.
We are also working on building up a catalogue of kits to be available year round, some of which were featured in issue #88. However not everything will be kept in stock, in particular the kits below once sold out, they’re gone:
‘On The Second Day’
Superb ornament with threadpainted turtledoves.
Kit contains: Fabric, wadding, paillettes, beads, threads and needles.
Subscriber price: $80.75
Stock Remaining : 2
Click here to purchase |
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‘Harmonies’
Graceful Deerfield design for home decor.
Kit contains: Fabric, cotton fringe, threads and needles.
Subscriber price: $41.00
Stock Remaining : 3
Click here to purchase |
While Inspirations might be famous for ‘inspiring the needlework community’, it’s always inspiring for us to see just how creative you all get with the designs we publish. Taking an idea, a pattern or a project we publish and making it your own by adding a twist is so fantastic to see, we just love it.
This week we start off with two projects from issue #88 that have been very much ‘owned’ and have had some real flair and creativity added into the mix…
‘Greeting from the UK - I started hand embroidering when quite young, around seven or eight years old, and can remember cutting out dolls clothes on the kitchen table before the rest of the family got up! My mother discouraged embroidery as it wasn’t practical, it was an indulgence, but an uncle who was stationed in Malaya used to bring me threads and beautiful embroidered bags which provided hours of inspiration.
When the first embroidery machines hit the UK in the early 90’s I had to have one and then as soon as the software came I got hooked on that too and have loved the progression of that early software to what is available today. For this project I digitised the hand embroidery patterns into my machine embroidery using the robin and ornament from Inspirations issue 88. The background fabric was printed on my computer. As I wanted a fat robin and a rounded ornament I decided to use the stumpwork technique and applied them by hand to the fabric with padding, after I had sewn them on the embroidery machine and cut them out. The flowers and leaves were sewn as free standing objects and then attached to the ornament.
Tania Kimmins. Weymouth, Dorset, England.’
That is very clever Tania, we’re very impressed! What an excellent way of combining the two projects ‘Winters Song’ by Trish Burr and ‘Christmas Bouquet’ by Julie Kniedl into one piece. Here is some more cleverness, also from the UK:
'Dear all, I was just blown away by the Prancer design and knew just what I would do with mine. It was finished well before Christmas, but the buttons I ordered were lost in transit, luckily I was airmailed the replacements so I was able to complete my bag in time for Christmas day. I thought that you would like to see my interpretation of this Trish Burr design.
While searching for the buttons I found some amazing butterfly ones so my next indulgence is to design a project incorporating these - watch this space!
Best Wishes, Jane Page (UK)'
What a gorgeous bag Jane, the Christmas tree, snowflake and star buttons create the perfect finishing touches, the wait for them to arrive was certainly worth it.
Peggy Kimble is our 92-year-old embroidery super star and regular contributor to Embroidery News from Canada. This week she shares a winter shirt she’s been working on:
‘Sending these photos in to show you the shirt I have embroidered with Israeli Yemenite Embroidery using Perle 8 and two Shisha Mirrors. It is inspired by Margalit Adi-Rubin’s book’ Israeli Yemenite Embroidery’
and I have made many items using IS Yem – very much enjoying the stitches and the colours.’
Thank you Peggy for inspiring us with such diverse and rich embroidery projects as always!
As we know, every needlework piece tells a story, this week Joan Manning from South Africa shares with us the history of this delightful lace tablecloth:
‘Good morning, when I received my copy of Inspirations #88 I was very interested in the Hedebo embroidery piece ‘Simplicity’ by Christine P. Bishop. My father was Danish and his sister Ida who did a lot of needlework sent to us in South Africa a whitework tablecloth which is very close to Hedebo. Ida made the lace for this piece herself as well. She died in 1948 as a relatively young woman in her early forties, I am 79 so i imagine this cloth could be close to 100 years old. It has been well used over the years for very special dinner parties. Regards Joan.’
That piece is a marvellous heirloom for your family Joan, such a lovely way to remember your Auntie, and amazing to see a piece 100 years old in such good condition featuring a design that feels contemporary even today.
Our final project for this week is from Ruth-Anne Cain of Johnson City, Tennessee USA. This striking piece caught our eye as soon as we saw the photos Ruth-Anne sent through, and we were compelled to ask more about the story behind it…
‘The moment I saw the chart I knew I had to stitch it. The project is from the Crossed Wing Collection, No. 34, “Great Blue Heron.” It’s 20 x 24, stitched on 32 count linen over 2 threads, except for the eye and the dragonfly which are stitched over 1. It took me eight months but I enjoyed every moment. Each day I watched the project coming to life and felt like crying and laughing at the same time when I set the last stitch. Many of my projects are gifts for someone else (or stitched for a client); this one is my Christmas present to myself.
Now that my husband of 49 years and I have retired, I have time to enjoy my love of needlework. I enjoy stitching almost daily and love learning new techniques. Inspirations Magazine has inspired me try embroidery again (I haven’t done it since I was a child). I’ve chosen the lovely motif on the bell and thimble pod (in Issue 86) to stitch as a pincushion (I collect pincushions) for my first project.’
Ruth-Anne we love both your Blue Heron piece and the passion you have for your needlework. What a joy it must be to now have the time to immerse yourself in needlework – also we loved your note regarding your husband enjoying the projects in Inspirations Magazine as much as you do, maybe he should buy his own copy!
What Are You Stitching? We’d love to see it… send your photos, a description of the project and a little about yourself including where you live, to
embroiderynews@inspirationsmagazine.com.au.
2016 MEKONG MASTERCLASS BROCHURE NOW AVAILABLE – Click here
ONLINE BOOKINGS NOW OPEN – Limited Availability, Click here
Inspirations is once again setting sail through majestic Cambodia and Vietnam on May 15th – 22nd 2016. Join master class embroidery tutors, Hazel Blomkamp and Susan O’Connor as they accompany you on the adventure of a lifetime.
We wanted to take this opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to all our Inspirations Magazine subscribers. Without your support and financial contribution, none of what we do would be possible - YOU are the reason we work hard at keeping Inspirations the world’s most beautiful needlework magazine.
For those of you reading this and are not currently purchasing our magazine on a regular basis, please consider doing so. While everything we do is passion driven, as many of you will know passion doesn’t always pay the bills and for us we need to sell magazines! So help us to keep providing a voice and a platform to all the amazing needlework talent the world over and please consider subscribing.
NOT A SUBSCRIBER?
We’d love you to join us as an Inspirations subscriber. Or if your subscription is no longer current, we’d love to have you back! Join or renew today:
PRINT | For a print subscription simply fill in our secure online form with your details. It’s so easy and quick, you’ll be done in 5 minutes. Click Here.
DIGITAL | For a digital subscription you can purchase it through Zinio direct here or through the Inspirations APP which can be downloaded via the iTunes and Google Play stores, by searching ‘Inspirations Magazine’. |
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CALL US | If you are not sure what option is best for you, have some questions or just like to talk to someone rather than type, we’d love to hear from you. You can call us from anywhere in the world on +61 8 8293 8600 anytime and if we’re not in, leave a message and we’ll get back to you. For anyone within Australia, call us on 08 8293 8600.
Otherwise email anytime us at
subs@inspirationsmagazine.com.au
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Congratulations to all the winners of our recent Australia / New Zealand Sizzix Competition. Based on their creative answers to the question: Tell us what motivates and inspires you to start a craft project? these clever winners are each receiving a Sizzix Ultimate Creative Essential Prize Pack.
Robyn Leigh – NSW
Carol Halkett – VIC
Kylie Sawell – QLD
Diane Trenberth – SA
Marianne Welgemoed – WA
Our favourite quote from the winning answers is ‘creating is living’ and Robyn Leigh, we couldn’t agree more!
QUOTE:
" Sewing fills my days, not to mention my living room, bedroom & closets!"
~ Author Unknown ~ |
What: The Power of Pattern | The Ayako Mitsui Collection
Where: Art Gallery of South Australia
When: to 13 Mar
Details: Click here
What: A Stitch in Time – Home Sewing Before 1900
Where: Victoria and Albert Museum | London
When: to 1 May
Details: Click here
What: RSN | Peacocks & Pomegranates Exhibition
Where: Hampton Court Palace
When: 27 Jan to 22 Jul
Details: Click here
What: For Worship & Glory
Where: Chester Cathedral, Chester UK
When: 3 Feb to 28 Feb
Details: Click here
KAFFE FASSETT LECTURES – ADELAIDE & CANBERRA
Spaces still available however tickets are selling fast – grab a friend or a family member and treat yourself to a wonderful evening out.
Book online now - http://events.stitchology.com.au/
Send us details about events, exhibitions and celebrations happening in your place of stitch and we’ll include them in Embroidery News. Contact us at embroiderynews@inspirationsmagazine.com.au
Happy Stitching
The Embroidery News Team |