Copy

 

Email not displaying correctly? Click here
ISSUE 31  |  FEB 12, 2016

Hi <<First Name>>,

Welcome to Embroidery News Issue 31.

In a traditional and perhaps ‘old fashioned world’, once upon a time it was customary for the man to buy something for his lover on Valentine’s Day. In today’s modern world, couples buy for each other and no doubt there would be a lot of ladies who buy something for their man and yet receive nothing in return.

When it comes to needlework, over the years we have seen fellow stitchers invest copious amounts of time and passion using their needle and thread to create gorgeous gifts for others, including ladies stitching a special something for that significant man in their lives (and hopefully we’re not just talking about socks!).

One thing we are curious about, is if there are any lucky ladies in our community who have received needlework gifts that a man has stitched himself? Now we don’t want to start a sexist argument here, but the reality is needlework is a predominately women centric skill, but we also know there are some very talented men who wield a mean stitch and are regular readers of Embroidery News and Inspirations.

So this week we want to hear from all the needlework men out there – or for those too shy, ladies please tell us about the talented needlework men in your lives. Send us photos of them stitching, their projects, or even just them looking puzzled wondering why you’re taking a photo of them!


We hope you get to do something fun on Valentines’ Day, and for those without a partner may your needlework fill your heart with all the love you need.

INSPIRATIONS MAGAZINE UPDATE


As we get closer to the official launch of Inspirations issue #89, yesterday the digital version was released so all our Zinio subscribers should have received a notification that a new issue is available for download. 

ISSUE #89 PRINTED SINGLE COPIES NOW AVAILABLE

Issue #89 has been added to our website this week so you can purchase a printed single copy and have it delivered to your door anywhere in the world.  Click here to purchase your copy now.

Issue 89 is all about Fabulous Flowers and we’ll be telling you all about the glorious projects and their back stories in Embroidery News once it’s released in stores Feb 25th.

CAN YOU HELP?


This week’s ‘Can You Help?’ conversation starter comes from a recent find Jillian made whilst staying with friends in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney in Australia . . .

This antique piece, most likely made during WWI, has Jillian intrigued and she is hoping that someone in the Embroidery News Community may have seen a similar example and knows a little of its history.  Plus she also is looking for an ‘Air Force’ style pattern like this one so she can re-create a version of her own.



Anyone interested in reading more about Jillian’s find can check out the details on her blog, Always Stitching here.

Jillian, thank you for sharing your find with us and we look forward to seeing what the Embroidery News Community uncovers in their own collections of cloths and patterns!

If you have any information about this piece or know of a similar pattern you can share with Jillian, email us at embroiderynews@inspirationsmagazine.com.au.

INSPIRATIONS OFFICE NEWS


It seems whenever we bring you news about our awesome editorial assistant, Ellaine Bronsert, she is always doing one of two things: Stitching or Cooking!  This week we have some more of her cooking adventures to share…

‘No sooner had we survived Christmas and New Year, when next up on my events calendar was my daughter Annabelle’s 9th Birthday.

Annabelle wanted a cat theme, and when I asked what she wanted on her cake, her reply was 'Monty!' Monty is our Russian blue cat, Annabelle adores him.

I've been wanting to give buttercream ruffles a go, so took the opportunity to include them along with a cat made from fondant. That's a little number 9 on the collar. Birthday girl was delighted. The cake itself was my go-to recipe, Nigella's 'Buttermilk Birthday Cake' which is delicious.

Looking forward to my next birthday cake request, hopefully I will be able to do something I haven't done before - kind of like stitching step-by-steps for Inspirations!  Ellaine’

We should also mention that Monty loves to keep Ellaine company on those late nights stitching at home working on a magazine deadline.  In fact, some may even say, the only reason one or more magazines have made it out on time is thanks to Monty’s oversight ensuring Ellaine makes it over the line.  No doubt many of you also have pets that are well trained in the art of ‘keeping a stitcher company’ and so we salute these pets the world over.  

INSPIRATIONS KITS UPDATE

Last year we featured a segment called ‘Something Special With Sue’ where Sue shared projects from previous Inspirations issues that were best sellers at the time. However Sue is now heading up our new kits department as a result of taking the sourcing, assembly and fulfilment of our kits back in house, so the ‘something special’ Sue contributes is now keeping up with the demand for more kits!

This week Sue has been working on the new project from issue #89 Flowers Of The Sea which is a vibrant underwater scene by Helen M. Stevens featuring coral and a clown fish, portrayed in filament silk and metallic threads. Helen has created this design to celebrate her 35 years of involvement with embroidery.

Kit contains:
fabric, beads, threads, needles.
Subscriber price: $128.35
Click here to pre order this kit now


SPECIAL REMINDERS

KAFFE FASSETT LECTURE CANBERRA FRIDAY 19th FEB

What are you doing next Friday Feb 19th?  Why not join us in Canberra for an evening listening to the legendary Kaffe Fassett & his studio manager Brandon Mably.  Last minute tickets are available, click here to purchase or call us on 08 8293 8600.  Our Inspirations team is looking forward to seeing everyone on the night.  

BEATING AROUND THE BUSH 2016 REGISTRATIONS OPEN SOON

Registrations for our international needlework convention ‘Beating Around The Bush’ 2016 open February 29th.

To ensure you are ready to book your classes online or over the phone, make sure you have reviewed our fabulous catalogue filled with over 60 projects to choose from.

Purchase your printed copy of the catalogue here or download a PDF for free here.

WHAT ARE YOU STITCHING

Are you a dog lover?  We know that many, many needlework enthusiasts are – one only needs to look back at all the gorgeous canine inspired pieces from ‘What Are You Stitching’ since EN started to see how loved dogs can be. 

Perhaps the most famous needlework artisan renowned for her love of dogs is Hazel Blomkamp (pictured left with her beloved Neville). 

Our office loves receiving her regular updates letting us know what her two dogs Neville and Brenda are up to, and the crazy interruptions to her life they cause.  It’s a wonder Hazel gets any stitching done at all!

Judy Hansen from Queensland Australia has certainly found the time for some serious stitching, she shares her story below: 

 Good Afternoon, I have been stitching for almost 50 years and really look forward to each issue of Inspirations arriving.  I recently used a photo to stitch our dog “Cadbury” for our son for Christmas. While I found it a challenge starting from scratch, I’m very happy with the result and enjoyed the process. My biggest problem was getting the colours correct. In some cases there are a number of layers of colours with the under colour just showing through to achieve the desired effect.  Kind regards, Judy.

Wow Judy – that is a brilliant needlework portrait of Cadbury, just terrific.  Your use of shading is superb and really gives depth and dimension – we can imagine when looking at the piece itself, Cadbury must be jumping out of the frame.  We love it. 

While Judy has been stitching for almost 50 years, next up we have someone at the other end of the scale who has only started stitching recently…


Hi, I am Harjot from India.  I am new to embroidery and recently did a set of table mats and napkins.  I was hoping you might like them enough to share with everyone else.  Love Harjot

Well Harjot we sure did like them enough to share and no doubt everyone else is liking them as well – keep up the great work and welcome to the community, we’re so glad you joined us.

Piera Tavano from Italy is waiting for a new member of her family to join them as she has been working on a very special project ready for their arrival…

‘I started embroidering this Christening gown some time ago, for a baby who will open her eyes to this world in a few weeks from now.  I learnt some years ago to embroider on tulle with a very gifted teacher in Panicale (Italy) near Perugia. Her name is Paola Matteucci, you may have already seen some of her wonderful masterpieces. 
The gown is still to be put together and we are anxiously waiting for the time to come.  I love receiving the weekly newsletter as each time I find something new that inspires me.  Pier’

Gorgeous Piera… what a wonderful time in your lives, waiting for the arrival of a newborn and such a delightful design you have chosen for the gown.   Tulle is such a delicate fabric to work with, yet you have mastered the technique well.

No you are not seeing double, rather these are two identical pieces but not the same. Katrina Watters is an incredibly dedicated stitcher and an even more dedicated friend.  She shares her story below.

I stitched these projects a while ago now, but thought I’d share them with you. You see my dear friend and I were both stitching one each and made a promise that if neither of us were to finish theirs that we would finish it for them.  Sad to say that my friend never finished hers, but I completed it for her. Ms Katrina Watters, Yorktown South Australia.

Katrina that is a beautiful story and is a true testament to the strength of character and commitment we stitchers have to our craft and to one another.  Thank you for finishing both pieces and for inspiring us all.

Finally for this week, we are delighted to share both some extraordinary photos and some exiting news with you.  

For any Carolyn Pearce fans out there, you can probably already recognise what you are looking at here.  Yep – that’s right… this is a complete village of ‘Home Sweet Home’ workbox houses.  16 of them in total!  Janet Luther from Houston in Texas, USA fills us in on how this project came to be:

In response to the question ‘What Are You Stitching?’, I wanted to share with you a "little" project more than 30 members of the Houston Embroidery Guild started two years ago.  We took on as a group stitching and assembling Carolyn Pearce's workbox houses and accessories from her book ‘Home Sweet Home’.

Members participated from across the US and met monthly to work on the project.  Stitching assistance was offered by Pat Rozendal's talented hands and Karen Heller used her precision eye to assist with finishing.  For the final meeting in January, a "House Warming" party was held for the guild to celebrate the completion of this long term project. It was interesting to observe all the various protective packaging methods used to transport the precious houses to the party and how many may now be found behind protective glass.

Janet thank you so much for sending this in – we were just in awe when we saw the photos.  That village is spectacular.  Congratulations to everyone who was involved in making this happen, what an exciting moment it must have been to get everyone together to celebrate the ‘House Warming’. A Guinness Book Of World’s records moment in fact, for the most HSH workbox houses in one location.  Brilliant!

Read below for some exiting news regarding Carolyn’s book, these houses are created from.

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.

STITCH.OLOGY WEBSITE NEWS

Thank you to those of you who were lucky enough to purchase a copy of the book ‘The Embroiderers Handbook’ we featured last week. For the many of you who missed out, please accept our apologies, the 11 copies we had sold in less than 90 minutes, so due to the terrific response we are now working on a re-print and hope to have this title back in stock around June this year.

HOME SWEET HOME – LIMITED STOCK AVAILABLE

Our exciting warehouse discovery this week, serendipitously coincided with receiving Janet’s email of her photos above showing the ‘Home Sweet Home’ workbox village.

Carolyn Pearce is one of the great needlework artisans of our day and her book ‘Home Sweet Home’ has become legendary since its release. Copies of the book have been very hard to purchase of late so when we found 35 copies in an unmarked box, we were ecstatic.

Stitch a delightful workbox in the shape of a whimsical English cottage with this stunning design by Carolyn. Filled with lovely accessories and covered in an exquisite garden of stitches, this workbox is sure to become not just a treasured heirloom, but a valuable accompaniment to every stitching project.

With less than 30 books in stock, if you get in quick you might jag yourself a copy of this magnificent book. Click here to purchase.

Other projects available by Carolyn Pearce include:

‘Spellbound’ by Carolyn Pearce

Dusky mauve ribbon roses are worked on an aromatic lavender bag.

Click here to purchase


‘English Rose’ by Carolyn Pearce

Exquisite thimble holder richly embroidered with a bouquet of roses.

Click here to purchase

Beautiful Needlework. Sold Here.

SUBSCRIBER NEWS

For any subscribers still patiently waiting for Inspirations issue #89, your magazine should arrive any day now.  In the meantime, for those waiting if you would like to purchase any of the new kits now available, you can still claim your subscriber discount by emailing us at info@inspirationsmagazine.com.au and we’ll email you back the coupon.

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’.


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


THIS WEEK ON FACEBOOK

Wow!
VIEW HERE >

 


Ribbon embroidery 
VIEW HERE >

 

Crazy patchwork 
VIEW HERE >


QUOTE:

" She shops around for the best yarns and cottons, and always enjoys knitting and sewing."
~ Proverbs 31:13 (The Message) ~


MEMORY LANE


The fabulous silk ribbon embroidered bouquet featured in the welcome image at the beginning of this newsletter, is in fact a project from Inspirations issue 2 called ‘Romantic Roses’ by Merrilyn Heazlewood.  For those of you fortunate enough to have this extremely rare issue, why not dust it off on Valentine’s Day and admire this beautiful project.



WHAT'S ON

What: The Power of Pattern | The Ayako Mitsui Collection
Where: Art Gallery of South Australia
When: to 13 March
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: to 22 Jul
Details: Click here


What: For Worship & Glory
Where: Chester Cathedral, Chester UK
When: to 28 Feb
Details: Click here


What: Celebration of Needlework Show
Where: Charlotte Harbor Event and Conference Center | Punta Gorda, Florida
When: 12 Feb to 14 Feb
Details: Click here


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


Welcome to ‘The Embroidery News’ published by Inspirations Studios Corporation. You are receiving this email because you signed up online, at a craft show, when you subscribed to our magazines, or when you purchased something from our online store. Subscribe to our mailing list to keep up to date with news and events. If you no longer wish to receive emails from us, we'll be sorry to see you go, but click here and we will remove your email address from this list. Thank you