Cyndy Pond

‘I love finding different ways to display embroidery pieces other than pictures and pillows. I decided to create memory boxes for each of my daughters using embroidery pieces for the lids.’

‘One of my youngest daughter's hobbies is growing orchids, so I chose Wendy Innes's ‘Rainbow Bee-eater’ featuring scented sun orchids from Inspirations issue 114 for her box. I love the way the silk and rayon threads give the bee-eater a sheen that makes it look like it's shimmering in the sun. The orchids just add more beautiful, vibrant color!’

‘My eldest daughter has been doing some volunteering with the Department of Natural Resources working with pollinators. I decided to use elements of Trish Burr's ‘Nature's Realm’ from Inspirations Issue 120, and from her book, ‘The Kew Book of Nature Samplers’.

I moved the figures around to fit the box top, changed the type of bee, added a fairy toadstool, and made the monarch into a piece of stumpwork. I also exchanged the cotton threads for silk for the flowers and butterfly to add a bit more sheen.’

‘I think both of the boxes turned out beautifully. And more importantly, my daughters love their boxes!’

Cyndy, you are absolutely correct - your memory boxes turned out beautifully! The love and care you put into choosing a design that best suits each of your daughters is wonderful, and your personalisation of Trish’s designs is nothing less than impressive. We are delighted you chose to share this with us, thank you.

Linda

‘Thank you for the 'Little Angels' stitching project featured in Inspirations magazine issue #124. I have two granddaughters who enjoy fairy tales so I tweaked the design; it was a lot of fun to make these fairy people.’

‘I like to incorporate new skills in projects and my eldest granddaughter, 9yrs old, taught me a 'friendship braid' she had learnt and mastered, so I attached the braid to display the fairy adding in her inspiration too.’

‘Looking forward to hopefully seeing more future projects like this one.’

Your little fairy angels are simply gorgeous Linda! How precious that each of your granddaughters now have their very own personalised Little Angel. We especially love that you incorporated your granddaughter’s beautiful friendship braids; maybe we’ll be featuring her in What Are You Stitching? someday?!

Mary Trounson

‘Thought I would share a recent finish with you. This is my take on Golden Glow by Penny Wolswinkel from Inspirations magazine issue #104. I loved her design but rather than gold I decided to go with Christmas colours.’

‘It’s been a long time in the planning. The fabric is a piece of variegated yellow silk that I had picked up from Wellington Embroiderer’s Guild sales table.

I bought the 3-ply twist (gold, red and green) not long after the magazine came out. The green with red core passing thread was bought for the leaf of the Limonera Pear, but I then found the thread called for by that pattern, so it became the perfect passing thread to go with the twist.

I loved making the candle and the work in progress has been much admired.

My candle is a fraction shorter than the original design as when I got the pipe cut it was crooked, and I had to get it straightened up. However, I’m really happy with the result and it will be a Christmas ornament for years to come. Thank you for such a wonderful magazine and interesting newsletters over the years.’

Mary, it sounds like this candle was simply meant to be! From your careful planning and sourcing of all the supplies to the customisation of the design and amount of time and skill you have dedicated to this piece, it truly is a labour of love. What a beautiful Christmas ornament you now have to enjoy every year - thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Have you created your own design using components from other projects? Do your kids or grandkids provide inspiration for elements of your embroidery? Or have you finished a project that’s been a labour of love?

Whatever you are stitching, we’d love to see it! Email photos of what you’ve created with needle and thread along with a few details about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com