What Are You Stitching?

As we were looking through ‘Willing Hands | The Counted Thread Embroidery of Betsy Morgan’ we realised that it’s one of the few books we’ve published that doesn’t contain anything framed! That got us searching our What Are You Stitching? files to see how many other things created by the needles and threads from the Inspirations Community have been fashioned with the same end mind – to sit outside a frame.

‘This little purse is something I came up with as a gift for one of my favorite machine embroidery designers for their birthday.’

‘It has a little bit of everything – machine embroidery, hand embroidery, beading, appliqué, metal tassels, and book making. The purse itself is made from silk hunter green velvet lined in ultra-suede.’

Your purse really does have a little bit of everything – colour, charm, dimension and a little touch of whimsy! What a lovely way to pour your time and talent into such a thoughtful gift.

‘I live in the Southern Peloponnesus area of Greece near Kalamata which is famous for its olives, and a place of outstanding beauty where the Tayegatos Mountains come down to the sea.’

‘I took a step away from my more traditional embroidery when my granddaughters were born and decided to make a doll. It wasn’t easy as I didn’t have a pattern so with trial and error and attempting to draw heads that weren’t too big or legs too skinny, I finally managed to create a pattern that I was happy with!’

‘I hand stitch each face and love that every one is different and seems to have an expression all of its own. My daughter was so pleased with her daughter’s doll that she shared a photograph with her friends and suddenly they all wanted one.’

‘In fact, one of her friends who has two sons asked if I could make the Lost Boy from Peter Pan, I said I would give it a go and she was very happy with the one I created.

Susan, what an enchanting collection of dolls you’ve created with needle and thread! We can only imagine the hours of friendship and magic they’ve provided each child who they’ve been gifted to.

‘This photo is of the Wanaka Embroidery Guild’s latest group project. Our Guild members chose to stitch ‘Red Currants’ from the book ‘Botanica | The Three-Dimensional Embroidery of Julie Kniedl’ to work on together.’

‘We all loved them, and we had 15 members participate, although some have not yet competed them. Our Guild now receives your fabulous magazine and many items and kits have been made so far. I purchased the book ‘A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII’ and have spent many hours admiring the contents – the book is so beautiful! We all love receiving the weekly newsletter as well. Jane.’

Jane, we appreciate your kinds words about our publications and love the Guild’s abundant supply of Red Currants – red currant jelly anyone?! It’s amazing how each bunch of currants differs slightly depending on the branch they’ve been affixed to.

‘I thought I would share with you a couple of my tassels. They have knotted crowns which is a technique I developed in the mid 1990s. I have taught classes to show others the various steps in making these tassels.’

‘As you can see, they are multi-colored, made of floss and decorated with various sized beads. I developed the technique in order to have the tassels match exactly to my needlework. These tassels were also featured in the American Needlepoint Guild’s magazine Needlepointers.’

‘Please, please, please keep up the good work of your magazine and weekly newsletter. I look forward to both and plan to keep receiving them in the years to come. It is still the best needlework magazine ever published!’

Jeanne, we love that you developed your own technique to make such gorgeous tassels – they say when there’s a will, there’s a way and when colour-matching became your will, the knotted crown became your way!

Have you created something with needle and thread that’s been designed to sit outside the frame?! We’d love to see it. Email photos of your work along with a few details about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com