A Touch of Blue by Kim Beamish

If you have ever painted your house or a piece of furniture white, you will know that going into a paint store and innocently asking for 'some white paint please' is quickly answered with a 'which white would you like?'

At this point you might say 'just plain white?' only to discover there is no such thing. In the world of paint, asking for white is as broad a question as asking for blue.

When we first laid eyes on the delightful project A Touch of Blue by Kim Beamish from The Handpicked Collection 6, the first thing that struck us was how everything was a pure crisp white, and then just how striking that blue complementing the design was.

Then came the follow-up questions - what white, what blue, and what technique had Kim masterfully assembled to create this divine set of needlework accessories?

The answers: snow white, dark antique blue and pulled thread embroidery - a beautifully meditative form of whitework in which the thread is drawn firmly through the fabric to open up the weave and create delicate lacy patterns of light and air.

A Touch of Blue is a set comprising five pieces - a pincushion, needlebook, scissor fob, pin keep and tape measure - each stitched onto snow white 32-count linen and each featuring a different combination of filling stitches.

The pincushion, needlebook and scissor fob are given an extra flourish of needlework love and finished with a dainty scalloped edging.

If the colour palette and technique weren't compelling enough, the variety of texture Kim has achieved across the set is quite extraordinary as well.

This project really is a wonderland for the visual senses with pleasures to behold at every glance.

A Touch of Blue is Kim Beamish at her most refined - a project that asks very little of its palette and everything of its technique and delivers something quite extraordinary in return.

If you’d like to re-create this gorgeous set of accessories exactly like the original, A Touch of Blue is now available as a Ready-to-Stitch kit. With everything you need included from the fabric, wool felt, fibre fill, board, and embroidery threads, through to the ribbons, buttons, needles and even the retractable tape measure.

Use the link below to discover more.