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Mary Corbet

writer and founder

 

I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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A Stitcher’s Christmas, 2018: Needlework Tools for Two!

 

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Good morning, and a Happy Monday all around!

Time’s a-ticking, and this week will see the end of A Stitcher’s Christmas!

Today, it’s all about tools – and a wonderful array of them, too!

Imagine toddling down the stairs on Christmas morning at 5:07 am in your fuzzy sleeper, your blanket dragging behind you and your bunny slippers scuffling along. As you rub the sand from your eyes, suddenly you behold, in the glow of the Christmas tree, your Christmas stocking, bulging with embroidery treats!

Well, you’ll have to supply the stocking (and the blanket, the fuzzy sleeper, and the bunny slippers), but Needle in a Haystack is supplying the embroidery treats – a whole collection of useful and fun tools for the stitcher. In fact, for two stitchers, as I’ll draw two winners who will each win a collection!

Embroidery Tools for Two from Needle in a Haystack

Before we launch into the delectable details of today’s give-away, though, we’ll take care of the business of drawing the winners of last Wednesday’s give-away for this luscious collection of beautiful wool embroidery threads from Renaissance Dyeing.

There are two winners from the give-away, and they are Deana Vaughn and Louise in Mt. Gretna. Congratulations, ladies! I will drop you a line so we can get the ball rolling and get those threads winging their way to you!

If you’re looking for a beautifully cohesive color range of crewel wool in colors suitable for any stitching, hand dyed with all-natural dyes, do check out the Elizabethan Collection at Renaissance Dyeing. It’s a wonderful full color palette for Jacobean styled crewel work, without having to fuss over color choices. And the wool is quite dreamy to stitch with!

Needlework Tools & Fabric

And now, on with the tools!

Needle in a Haystack is a locally-owned needlework shop in Alameda, California. They carry a vast array of fine needlework goods.

They’re also one of the (very) few well-inventoried and well-stocked online stores for fine needlework supplies in the US. While there are still some excellent needlework shops out there (sadly, fewer and fewer), they don’t necessarily have a thorough online inventory and shopping system. Fortunately for the rest of us who don’t have access to locally owned needlework shops, Needle in a Haystack does.

Today’s give-away incorporates lots of little (and some big) things that every stitcher can use. Here’s what you’ll find in your package, should you win:

  • Two tubes of Tulip Needles (crewel & milliner)
  • An ultra-fine needle threader
  • A Tulip pincushion
  • A Hardwicke Manor 5″ embroidery hoop with twill tape to bind the hoop
  • A Pigma 003 Micron Pen (.15mm – this is very, very fine)
  • A fine-tipped water erasable pen by Bohin
  • A metal tin of Little House glass head pins
  • A gold-plated mellore (used in goldwork, but also works as a laying tool)
  • 1 yard of Southern Belle white muslin (this makes a great backing fabric, but it’s also excellent to stitch on as a ground fabric)
  • A pair of black scissors
  • A Felt Chip board (gray) and French Macron needle minder – both Needle in a Haystack exclusives

With a retail value of $120, this is a fine collection for any stitcher, whether absolute beginner or thoroughly seasoned.

Give-Away Guidelines

This give-away is now ended. Thanks for participating!

To join in today’s give-away, please follow these guidelines:

1. Leave a comment below, in the comment form following this article. You can follow this link directly to the comment form, if you are unsure of where to go. Please do not comment as a reply to someone else’s comment.

2. On the comment form, please fill out the name line with a recognizable name (no anonymous comments) and the email address line (which is not published). Please make certain your email address is entered correctly. Leave the website line on the form blank, unless you own your own website.

3. In the comment box, answer the question posed below.

What’s your favorite subject matter for embroidery? Are you a floral person? A bird person? Stylized or geometric designs? A sampler person? A people or character person? What subjects do you like to stitch, or what subjects do you find yourself stitching most frequently?

Please do not leave your email address, mailing address, or phone number in the actual comment box. The comment box is also not the place to advertise your own needlework business, so please do not leave links to other websites in the comment box.

4. Please leave your comment by Friday, December 21st, 5:00 am central time (Kansas, USA). I’ll randomly draw the winners that morning and notify them by email.

5. Please leave only one comment on the give-away. Multiple comments will be deleted. You can enter all the give-aways in the series, but please enter them only once each.

And that’s it! Two winners for this one, so you have double the chance to win!

Coming Up…

After today, two more fabulous installments of A Stitcher’s Christmas. On Wednesday, look for some splendid silk specialty threads; and Friday … oh, the most exquisite scissors in the whole wide world! (Want a hint?)

I hope your week is off to a wonderful start!

 
 

(1,497) Comments

  1. I like samplers and florals. I’ve never done any people or animals except for a cross stitch cat when I was just beginning. I think my sister still has that old pillow.

    1
  2. I really enjoy stitching flowers in all their glory. Thanks for the opportunity to win Mary!

    2
  3. Samplers are what I’ve worked the most. I love a variety of subjects so I have several different things going at once.

    3
    1. The only time I did a sampler was when I first did embroider which is in 5th grade. I enjoyed it a lot and was quicker that all the other girls in my class doing stem stitch, chain stitch, button whole stitch and others.

      But do not ask me to do samplers, for me it is a waste of time. I want to be into action to do a finish piece with a purpose.

      I like to do flowers or geometric designs depending if I do stumpwork or hardanger or other cutwork designs.

  4. I have always been attracted to Jacobean stylized designs. So I’m working on 17th century designs in my own needlework. I don’t know if it all started with my mom’s crewel work in the 60’s and the attraction was inherited or if it was innately acquired.

    4
  5. Mary,

    Flowers, definitely flowers! Single flowers, multiple flowers, circle of flowers, flowers on crazy quilt blocks, flowers! I doodle flowers and then embroider them. Flowers are my delight!

    Regards,
    Bonnie

    6
  6. I love William Morris style designs, as well as Jacobean crewel, and designs with a medieval feel. I have so many “I’ll do that one day” ideas with those aesthetics in mind, but at this point the pieces I’ve actually completed tend to be floral.

    7
  7. I love to stitch maps, especially topographical maps. In fact, I learned embroidery so I could execute the vision I had one day of an embroidered topographical map of the mountainous area where I used to live. It took me six months to learn and make, but I was delighted with how it turned out and with the fact that it set my artwork on a totally new path.

    8
    1. So exciting. I would love to see these maps. Used to make fun maps as party invites and for ads: such a marvelous form with cool conventions.

  8. I never thought about this before, but I suppose I’m primarily a floral person. Someday (when the last one graduates) I hope to try one of Trish Burr’s adorable little birds. For now it’s mostly flowers, autumn leaves, and evergreen things like holly and pine boughs. Definitely plan to use those new patterns you just released!

    9
  9. I love to stitch little scenes from nature and simple geometric designs, similar to those you offer in your projects.

    11
  10. Coming from a weaving and knitting background, I like to use abstract geometric cross-stitch designs on pincushions and biscornu and other small pieces. DMC has some very nice free patterns.

    13
  11. My favorite subject matter to stitch is holidays–any holidays. I decorate my house for every major and some minor holidays, and I have stitched pieces for every one. My husband used to try and figure out which was the new one each Christmas, but I think he’s given up on that.

    16
  12. I’ve just finished a series of 5 bird embroideries but am now working on a Jacobean tree design which is captivating, and I am enjoying it so much that I plan another larger one for the new year. Thanks for the chance to win.

    18
  13. I can’t really say I gravitate towards one style or another. With most of my pieces being gifts for others I tend to consider the person I am stitching it for and create a piece that way. The last piece I finished was for a friend who loves Dr. Who. I’ve done many with animals, some with flowers, and a few with people in them. My latest is a Christmas piece for a white elephant gift. I guess if I had to give everything a category sampler would do best as I try to incorporate a few different stitches as I can in each piece, with some having a lot more than others depending on how the piece flows.

    19
  14. My favorite subject matter for stitching is anything historical. I really love any sort of historically inspired stitching.

    23
  15. Hi Mary,
    Thanks so much for your always-interesting and helpful newsletters! I look forward to reading you every day.
    My favorite subject matter is on techniques and tools. I’m always interested in learning how to do something new or learning a new technique. Most recently I’ve been drawn to samples and primitive designs in cross stitch, but am looking to get back into more embroidery.
    Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us! Happy holidays,
    Stacey Fischkelta

    25
  16. I have loved embroidery since I was a little girl. I mostly needlepoint and add embroidery to make the canvases come alive. I love all things old fashioned……….vintage hearts, flowers, birds and monograms. I have pieces all of the place from my mom, aunt and grandmother. They are like treasures for my memories. I am exploring some sayings for the new year………..like “as long as stars shall shine” and “the thrill of hope”. I think 2019 is going to be a wonderful stitching year.

    26
  17. My favorite needlework topics are:
    Birds
    Animals
    Trees
    Landscapes
    Everything else!
    Sorry, can’t settle on just one topic!

    27
  18. This is truly a tough question to answer with the limitless options that needlework offers! If I had to pick just one, it would probably be samplers but with more of a modern flair. Merry Christmas to all and thanks for this opportunity!

    29
  19. My very favorite subject for stitching is Birds. As I am owned by an African Grey Parrot, I tend to stitch all species of parrots. I stitch other type of birds too.
    Thanks for a series of fun questions. It is interesting to read all the comments.

    30
  20. I enjoy freehand floral stitching and embroidering literary themes using quotes from favorite books.

    34
  21. I love all kinds of embroidery but probably am more drawn to geometric designs and precision pieces. I learned more about myself this year by learning to do silk shading which requires more precision.

    35
  22. This is a lovely package of goodies! I am getting back into my stitching , and I would love this as a means to REALLY get back into! Believe me, it would be put to good use!

    38
  23. I find that I stitch a lot of different subjects. For a long while it was definitely floral. Now I switch it up, and like learning new techniques, such as Otomi, and Sashiko.

    39
  24. Because my main technique for years was Hardanger, the subjects tended to be geometrical (although they also included a Christmas tree, house, flower, set of berries, ladybird and dragonfly) but since I’ve been doing more freestyle and goldwork I think the majority is probably floral.
    Really I think the truth is my favourite subject matter is whatever I happen to be designing at the time!

    40
  25. Floral, anything floral, I especially live your floral alphabet! And tiny things, I LOVE minitures!

    41
  26. Hi Mary,
    It’s hard to choose a favorite because I am so drawn by colors, but if pressed,
    my favorites are flowers and birds, especially during the colder months when I can’t go outside and play in the garden.

    Judy Ries

    42
  27. At the moment I am exploring the beauty of bees. I’ve completed one in gold work, and am just about to frame up a pulled thread work bee on fine linen. Next I’d like to explore one in casalguidi or reticella work. Perhaps, after that I would need to think about a hive? Stumpwork, perhaps?

    44
  28. I love to study the history/origins of the textiles used. Great subject matter. I love the organic plants, animals nature of design.

    45
  29. I like to embellish hand appliqué quilts with embroidery. Flowers and leaf details and swirling accents.

    46
  30. Most frequently I find myself stitching folkloristic themes. Samplers of Chinese or Japanese or Russian designs. Lately I find pleasure in geometric designs.

    47
  31. Not certain this fits by my favorite subject is Holidays – Christmas, Halloween, Easter, 4th of July – so more theme than subject

    49
  32. My favourite thing to embroider are lots and lots of flowers. They work so well in embroidery and easily translate into very realistic projects.

    50
  33. I love doing embroidered or needlepoint Christmas ornaments for my eight grandchildren. I especially enjoy patterns with Santa or angels.

    51
  34. I seem to always choose flowers to sew but I make a bird ornament each year for my daughter and I love planning and making those.

    54
  35. I am a floral/nature stitcher at heart. I enjoy geometric designs, particularly for learning new stitches, but flowers are my favorite.

    55
  36. I really love stitching anything Christmas. I keep the season going all year so there’s no rush in December to get gifts finished.

    58
  37. I guess you could say I like just about everything to stitch. But lately it seems like I am doing more samplers then anything. I always find myself doing something for Fall or Halloween and then some ornaments for Christmas time. I love a variety to work on.

    59
  38. Floral…and bugs! Yes, bugs. They looks so cute when embroidered. And of course, wherever there are flowers, there are bugs.

    60
  39. if I look back at all projects- there seems to be a geometric theme to many and while I don’t always think it is my favorite subject, the numbers don’t lie!

    61
  40. I love so many designs up its hard to choose one. I tend to gravitate towards samplers, geometric designs, birds, flowers. Thanks for the chance.

    62
  41. My favorite subject for needlework must be flowers and leaves, with birds being a close second. But this year I’ve also found myself stitching fish…even a couple of octopuses….octopi….octopodes….whatever the plural is.

    63
  42. I most frequently stitch flowers, but I enjoy lots of subjects. Mary, Have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year

    67
  43. Wow,
    I love needlework tools and this selection looks fabulous. I have heard how wonderful Tulip needles are and can’t wait to try them. I collect and sometimes use antique tools so some modern ones would fit right in.

    68
  44. Oh my – I just love stitching things that make me smile, both when I am stitching them, and when I look at the finished projects. These are almost always animals. My two favorites are – Mr Rooster who is a very funky rooster in bright colors of crewel wool on black, and I have Christmas Owl who is absolutely cute with his Santa hat and big wide eyes.

    71
  45. My favorite subject to try to put into my embroidery designs is mathematics. This mostly leads to geometric designs, and I particularly like working on designs that combine Escher’s art and mathematics in stitching.

    72
  46. My favorite subject matter for embroidery — I do a lot of geometrics, which aren’t necessarily pictures — I enjoy showing off colors, thread types, and stitches. Butterflies, bees, acorns, and peacocks are featured in many of patterns I’ve bought.

    … and, oh, my — you and NIAH will be making two stitchers very happy. That’s a wonderful selection!

    74
  47. I mostly create and embroider my own designs based on sources that I find both online and in my rather large collection of Dover design books

    75
  48. I am definitely a flower person, all types and colours. There is never enough. Hope I am a winner in the next draw. Have a marvelous Holidays Season and best wishes for the coming year.

    78
  49. My favourite subject is nature, predominantly flowers, trees, etc. I am currently working on an apple tree branch with some apples. I would like to progress onto animals as I often have deer, hares, coypu, foxes, squirrels, etc pass through my garden. I’ve also had a rather large snake this year – not so keen on that one!! Having stitched Trish Burr’s Blue Tit starter bird, I would also like to do more birds. We get a lot of birds and in particular I like the Gold Finches, Green and Greater Spotted woodpeckers and finches that come to the garden as well as the larger birds like herons.

    79
  50. I think geometrics and flowers are my favorite. Although I’m planing on expanding into animals thanks to Trish Burr.

    80
  51. I think my favourite subjects are animals but I do like variety and trying new things, I love stumpwork and have done horses birds and tress so I think I am on the side of nature for most of my work.

    81
  52. I tend to be most attracted to holiday/occasion-themed designs, like Easter eggs designs, Christmas-themed hangings and ornaments, Thanksgiving/autumn cloths for breadbaskets, and anniversary or birth samplers which involve a variety of techniques. However, I tend to take on and complete projects based on techniques that I am interested in learning and often take on various themes, whether geometric, floral, or landscapes.

    82
  53. Although I stitch flowers most often, I love tucking in little critters here and there – they’re like little surprises among the flowers. The critters can be butterflies, birds in their nests, spiders swinging from their webs, cats hiding in the ferns, snails, bees, tiny opossum hanging from a branch, bunnies peeking over a tulip…

    83
  54. I live in Minnesota. Winter is great for embroidery. I love all the historical information concerning needlework!

    84
  55. My favorite subject for embroidery is a function of the type of embroidery. In cross-stitching I like flowers, nature, and “sayings”. In hardanger and Wessex I like pretty traditional motifs and patterns. I am not a huge fan of surface or canvas embroidery, but am trying out a couple of canvas pieces. I do like satin stitching and bargello.

    86
  56. I like many subjects but dragonflies, flowers and sweets are my favorites. Thanks for the chance.

    87
  57. I love birds and flowers, I stitch a lot of birds, usually along with birds come flowers, win, win.
    Thank you!

    89
  58. I usually drift toward seasonal themes or nature themes..unless I see something that reminds me of a “favorite” thing..mine or someone I want to gift. I am also always on the lookout for patterns to decorate my home with.

    90
  59. For me it would be anything in nature as long as it is also colourful.
    Thanks again for this great contest!

    91
  60. It has to be nature, from berries, chestnuts, hedgehogs, butterflies and flowers. To bring the beauty to life of all the bounty that nature offer and creating it with needle and thread, for generations to come and enjoy.

    93
  61. I am very new to embroidery and am focusing on embellishing my needle-turned applique projects for the present time. I enjoy looking for inspiration in antique album-styled quilts.

    95
  62. I love to stitch flowers and birds. The colors and textures of different species really appeal to me. I am especially attracted to birds. These little creatures make me feel happy.

    96
  63. I always seem to come back to stitching flowers, whatever I start with, a nice bunch or bouquet of flowers always cheers me up and keeps me smiling for the rest of the day!

    97
  64. I am a sampler person, I like both reproductions and more modern pieces. I also like to do a lot of smalls, like sewing sets with a needle book, pincushion, fob and some sets have a punch or bag to hold the smalls….thank you for such a nice drawing!

    98
  65. Thank you Mary and Needle in a Haystack for this wonderful giveaway. I find myself most often stitching figurative images or geometrics. By figurative I mean people or animals.

    99
  66. Hi Mary,

    LOVE this giveaway! Thank you and thank Needle in a Haystack.
    I am a sampler gal. Love everything about them. I love samplers with a variety of stitches and find that I am attracted to samplers with lots of flowers and birds but not people or houses.

    Thanks again for your great blog and all your wonderful tips and advice!
    Tania

    102
  67. I’m a sampler addict.
    I love to try and experiment with all kind of embroidery and needleworktechniques or to experiment with all kind of threads and fabric (and other grounds to embroider on).

    105
  68. My favorite subject matter us a combination of floral and geometric like in folk art embroidery. I love to combine shisha with it.

    106
  69. I truly love doing hardanger embroidery and have done it for years but with seeing all the beautiful embroidery you do, I’m trying to spread my wings and try something new. So far, I’ve bought the great dish towels you recommend (does that qualify as a start?). Have a nice day. Janet

    108
  70. What’s your favorite subject matter for embroidery?

    I have several things I really love to stitch – the primary one is samplers, traditional and other more modern versions. I also like to stitch hearts, and a lot of them are little miniature samplers. Most of these are done on needlepoint canvas. the traditional samplers are done on linen.

    110
  71. My favorite style of embroidery is geometric, It give scope to the imagination in terms of colour and stitches.

    111
  72. My favorite type of stitchery is on canvas but I am very surprised that I have done so very many Victoria Samplers projects that include hardanger. And I sometimes call it “hard anger!” I made an anniversary sampler for our 43rd wedding anniversary. A stitching friend of mine thought it was very funny that I had 43 on it, but, my comment was that you never know whether you will make it to 50 years. I made another sampler for our 50th wedding anniversary and they both hang on the wall in my tv room. We made it to 51.5 years so that was a miracle. I love doing canvas because it is a bit more relaxing and much easier to see.

    112
  73. I’m enjoying embroidering birds recently. They adapt so well to being stylized, with their complicated feathers and bright colors, and they’re lightweights, who don’t object to having a little fun. Mine all have to have a gold spiral on each wing; without it, they can’t fly!

    113
  74. My favorite stitching theme is Estonian folk symbols. They have ancient origins and are stylized botanical and other natural symbols. They dominate Estonian folk art and appear not only in needlework, but also in weaving, painting, and architecture.

    114
  75. Blackwork embroidery lends itself well to abstraction and geometrics, so that’s where I go with it. Typically transitions of patterns as subject—with the occasional insect appearing.

    115
  76. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is animals. That being said I confess that animals are what I am attracted to and love to look at, but that what I execute is more often floral. I think it is much harder to draw/stitch a realistic animal, whereas floral things I feel comfortable with looking fanciful or whimsical or just being imaginary

    116
  77. Ooh this looks amazing! I am more of a sampler person. I do not love the planning process I generally just want to get to it and experiment with different stitches. However, these are not band samplers but are very free form and contain a lot of floral elements! Flowers are my favorite thing to draw and since I have those sketches hanging around I will adapt them to whatever technique I want to try, often something I’ve seen you do on Needle N’ Thread!

    117
  78. It’s no secret because I have mentioned it before but my favorite subject to stitch is monograms. It works up quickly for the most part, it is a fun way to use any stitch, the possibility for design are endless and the people who receive a hand stitched monogram are always delighted.

    118
  79. My favourite things to stitch are geometric canvaswork designs, but I love doing Christmas things too! Christmas is by far my most prolific time of the year as my creative juices really get flowing. Thanks for the awesome contests.

    119
  80. I mostly stitch samplers and Nativity scenes. The samplers are because of my delight in early American work (which I can’t afford to buy) and the Nativities are because of my Mother/Baby fixation. I am a pediatric nurse practitioner(24 yrs), an Int. Bd. Cert. Lactation Consultant (33 yrs) and La Leche League Leader51 yrs). Helping mothers and babies with breastfeeding is my vocation and stitching in my spare time is my other obsession, LOL.

    121
  81. If made to choose between flowers and birds I guess I would pick birds or maybe wildlife as my favorite. Trish Burr is my hero and I bought one of her books which I stare at until my eyes turn red. Maybe I just forget to blink haha. My first project next year will be a tiny fox. My husband is retiring in 2 years, we are buying an RV bus and will travel with United States seeing all the things we have missed over our 40 years together. I think embroidery is the perfect project to take along on our travels as it combines small size along with a beautiful finished project.

    122
  82. I have stitched many floral pieces on linen with specialty stitches mixed with cross stitch. Love the old world colours for these in dusty rose, burgundy and a mix of blues and gold with deep greens for the foliage.
    I’ve stitched many geometric canvas pieces in a large variety of colour ways that I have matted and framed.
    A nice give away! I would love to win this.

    123
  83. I love flowers to embroider. Also lately I’ve been enjoying red work Christmas ornaments. I’m about ready to do a flour sack towel with your beautiful holly and berries so will be learning a new stitch. Love you emails!

    124
  84. Hmmm. It’s a toss-up between geometric patterns in black word or the exotic flowers found in Jacobean embroidery. The blend of colors and graceful swirls enchant me.

    125
  85. I love stitching animals and birds and flowers. Anything by Trish Burr or Tanya Berlin with wonderful details in the stitching.

    126
  86. My favorite subject matter right now is patriotic although I have been known to be a floral and bird person as well as samplers.

    127
  87. What’s your favorite subject matter for embroidery? … What subjects do you like to stitch, or what subjects do you find yourself stitching most frequently?

    I mostly do stylized or geometric patterns, although I have done a few animals and flowers. Most of my embroidery is for the historical re-enactments group I am a part of, so it is based on pre-1600 designs.

    128
  88. I’m a beginner stitching lover who tends to take on large projects. I love to create scenes to stitch. My last one is on the back of a jean jacket and shows a swing hanging from a tree at night with stars in the skies and a little kitty with a ribbon around it’s neck looking at the swing.

    I lust after this combination of stitching tools!

    129
  89. My favorite subject matter is portraits — of people, animals and insects. I have stitched my share of flowers and birds because those tend to be the subject matter of classes and kits, but they are not at all my preference.

    What a fabulous goodie basket from Needle In A Haystack! Thanks for running this holiday giveaway. I’ll keep my stocking and bunny slippers at the ready 😀

    130
  90. Mary, thank you for doing A Stitcher’s Christmas! It’s not only fun to enter, but it’s fascinating to read everyone else’s comments and pick up ideas. What a wide range of skills and interests your readers have.

    I tend to like stylized subjects – things with an Art Deco, Celtic, or “arty” design to them. Many of the medieval religious motifs fit in here too. So many possibilities, I’ll need at least one more lifetime to get some of them done!

    132
  91. Based on projects I have actually finished and framed, I favor cross-stitch that incorporates a pithy saying.

    133
  92. I am more drawn to sampler style work where color variations make the scen come alive thank you

    136
  93. Merry Christmas Mary! I really enjoy embroidering little Christmas gifts–so I do a variety of cute little nature scenes–generally birds, bunnies, and squirrels! I also like to add embroidery into the quilts I make. Have a wonderful Christmas season–I so enjoy your writings!

    137
  94. I love reproduction historic samplers and all needlepoint. I tend to do a lot of Christmas themed things-stockings and ornaments in both cros stitch and needlepoint.
    Becky Myhre

    138
  95. Put me on the ‘flowers’ list! Even in the most dreary Winter day embroidered flowers bring alive the memories of Spring!

    139
  96. My favourite is samplers. I love the stories behind them. It is interesting to see how some regions were influenced by other regions in their styles. Thanks

    140
  97. What do I like to embroider? What don’t I? I guess I like nature best – trees, flowers, leaves, birds.

    141
  98. Thank you so much for such an amazing giveaway and the chance to win it!!

    My favorite things to stitch depends on how I’m stitching. If I’m doing applique, I love to stitch botanical subjects. If I’m doing embroidery or cross stitch, I like to stitch people and aquatic subjects.

    143
  99. My favorite subject to stitch is life in the 17th century! Designing motifs is wonderful because it pulls me in to museums, history, fibers and the world around me. Then I go on a scavenger hunt for the tools to create the history on canvas and satin for my Cabinet of Curiosities. Looks like Needle in a Haystack made that part of the adventure much easier! Hazzah! Thank you and Merry Christmas!

    145
  100. My favorite subject matter is nature–it’s broad, I know, but I love trying to replicate the natural environment through fabric and thread!

    146
  101. Flowers are my favorite thing, but right now I’m cross stitching a quilt top for my newest granddaughter.

    149
  102. I have always been a stitcher, quilter and sewer of many things. Most recently I have been doing a lot of Redwork – angel blocks for a Redwork quilt, Red Radiance for a small quilt, English nursery rhymes quilt, etc. I admire all the work you do so much, and I am becoming more interested in the “fill” work stitches that I admire greatly through you. Thank you for this awesome opportunity to broaden my horizons. Merry Christmas to All. Judy C in NC

    150
  103. Without a doubt, your daily publications lift my spirits. I have learned so much from you. Thank you for your generosity.
    Enjoy good health in this New Year.

    151
  104. I absolutely adore flowers and spend a great deal of time in good weather outdoors working in my gardens. Since Michigan winters aren’t conducive to time spent outdoors with my flowers, I get my “flower fix” in my stitchery. Any style or type of flower is my favorite subject.

    153
  105. My favorite stitching project would be anything floral. At this time I am stitching a small piece with a vase of flowers using soft teals & pinks.

    154
  106. Hi
    I mostly embroider images I have found that are varied. For example drawings of children, garden scenes, cottages, and sewing and quilting themes.
    Love to sit and stitch, it’s the very best relaxation therapy!

    155
  107. If it’s crewel work I love Jacobean inspired designs. For almost everything else I turn to the time of Elizabeth I for inspiration. Ornate vinework and elaborate motifs really make me extremely happy.

    156
  108. A few years ago, I would have been firmly in the sampler camp–but now I’m into 17th century surface embroidery–stumpwork and goldwork and swirling lines!

    157
  109. I love doing samplers. I have done quite a few Christmas Ornament this year which has been really fun to do.

    158
  110. Although I am still a beginner, for me it’s all about flowers and birds. I am drawn to the Jacobean style as well as botanicals.

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  111. I find that I continually are drawn to floral designs, especially ones that are folk art based. I love the look of Schwalm for this very reason. Have a happy holiday season!! And once again, thanks for all the giveaways.

    161
  112. Although I stitch lots of flowers and birds, I always look for connections between my life and the thing I’m stitching. That’s because I generally stitch/quilt stories of my own making and I like them to be knee-deep in family lore and personal memories. And – because the fabric book I’m working on contains an abundance of memories – I’m trying to balance the old with fresh, unusual stitches I’m doing for the first time!

    162
  113. Trees! Free hand trees are my all time favorite embroidery subject. Big ones, little ones, bent ones, fall ones, well, you get the idea.

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  114. Thank you for all your helpful tips, ideas, and instructions. My favorite subject for embroidery are flowers & foliage! LOVE your work!!

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  115. I am drawn to flora and fauna! I love all things nature and love how stitching can bring it to life with needle and thread. Thank you Mary for the opportunity to play and the chance to win those lovely tools! Merry Merry Christmas!

    165
  116. Hi Mary!
    My favorite subject to stitch is my upcoming running project next year- I’ll stitch all my running maps from my run tracking app on my phone to create a map unique to my movement around San Francisco. It’s for a show at the Hanging Threads Gallery at the San Francisco School of Needlework & Design.
    Thank you for the raffle and happy holidays,
    Margaret

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  117. I gotta tell ya, it’s all eye candy for me because when I go to Cathe’s shop in Alameda I WANT EVERYTHING just like a kid in a candy shop but I usually get drawn to the gold work and black work items and Nicola Jarvis’s birds. If I think about all the items I have created though it turns out I make more Samplers than anything else but with gold/silver or black work. Thanks for making me think about the stitching I have done

    169
  118. A difficult question, I love birds and animals but also flowers,it depends on my moods, I do stitch a lot of sampler type designs as well. Currently working on an advent stitch along, with silk threads, a real Christmas Treat.

    171
  119. My favorite subject to stitch in recent years has been birds – thread painting! I cannot seem to get enough of Trish Burr’s beautiful designs! 🙂 So, I keep stitching away, slowly mastering the art of threadpainting…

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  120. Merry Christmas, Mary 🙂

    My favourite subjects for stitching are flowers and birds. I love the way flowers look stitched. And I love, love, LOVE birds! All kinds of birds really. As a matter of fact, my Christmas tree is bird-themed, so that ought to tell you something, lol. I love needle painted birds, and they way they look almost real. But stylized birds have their place as well. All over my Christmas tree, actually, lol.

    Thank you for the chance to win such a wonderful giveaway. This would be wonderful to get in the mail. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours

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  121. Looking around my home , I most frequently stitch flowers followed by butterflies whether in surface embroidery, stump work or black work. Next would be flowers with butterflies !

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  122. You’re absolutely right – these are the kinds of goodies I’d love to find in my stocking Mary! Thank you so much for another great Giveaway 🙂 My favourite subject is flowers, and I’m really hoping to teach myself needlepainting this year so I can stitch some realistic wild roses. No matter the kind, they make me happy!

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  123. I am a Sampler person and a Hardanger person. There are some beautiful kits out there. I love the variety of Stitches you can use in samplers.

    179
  124. I love samplers, because I enjoy doing a little bit of lots of different techniques or stitches.

    180
  125. The subject I find I stitch most often is butterflies. I embroidery them, appliqué them, and quilt them. Now that I have this reputation, friends send me pictures and links to kits and BOMs (butterfly of the month). And I don’t seem to have any trouble finding ideas on my own. Butterflies, real or stitched, just make me happy.

    183
  126. I love to trees. I live in the woods and watch the changes for the trees throughout the seasons

    184
  127. Favorite embroidery subjects are floral. To my eye, floral subjects provide the opportunity to employ the most shape variation, color and style variety. I also feel that depictions of the floral elements of nature are peaceful, pleasing to the eye and remain fresh for long periods of display.

    186
  128. I like to try all sorts of designs, and seem to go through phases. I’ve had a sampler phase [which I tend to fall back on for anniversaries, birthdays and births], but I’ve also stitched birds in crewel work and cross stitch, animals, and flowers and leaves! I stitched psalm 23 with an accompanied scene twice for two relatives as well! Currently, the UK Embroiderers Guild is running its Kickstart Project and this year the subject is geology and fossils, so I’m planning to embroider the bedrock geology of my county, show it in cross-section and then work fossils found in the bedrock in different types of embroidery techniques, putting it all into a book and annotating it. I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew, but am planning to visit a local museum to sketch and photograph the fossils they have. Wish me luck!!!!

    187
  129. I like to stitch up flowers. Not very original, but I like them. I usually prefer realistic, but have been known to do a few stylistic ones. I also like to do Christmas ornaments, and angels seem to be a bit of a theme for me.

    188
  130. Hi Mary,

    I love to stitch birds. I’ve made a hummingbird, a blue jay, a red cardinal, an American robin, a little bee eater and I am preparing to stitch a kingfisher. I have too a splendid photo of a grouse and I’m thinking of it… oh it should be a marvelous stitching, I’m sure. But I like to vary too and try different techniques and subjects. It is a vast world, isn’t it?

    Diane from Montréal in Québec

    189
  131. My favorite subject to stitch is whimsical animals. I have done pillows,3-D , ornaments, etc. I use lots of stitches and can use lots of color combinations si it can be personalized based on the recipient. My grandchildren love to see what I am stitching next.

    190
  132. Animals, animals, animals – Domestic and Exotic! Love needle painting with both floss and crewel wool.

    191
  133. I love stitching ladies. I found Gay Ann Rogers queens and I have been working on them for the last couple of years. I also do cross stitch ladies. I love the costumes and the faces.

    192
  134. Presently, I’m all about anything bridal in my stitchery quests. My niece is getting married in November, 2019. She’s all about family and our contributions we will make to her special day. I’ve already finished her corner of her grandmother’s hanky she carried on her wedding day; and a biscornu ring pillow. I have 2 garters to make, the adornments to the bridal slippers, a cover for her bible, and anything else she has planned for me to do in the way of needlework. I am honored she has asked me to do this; and would feel blessed to use the tools the Haystack is giving away to finish all the details for my niece’s wedding!

    193
  135. Bunny slippers, check
    Fuzzy blanket, check
    Stocking, check
    Those goodies look fantastic.
    It changes over the years, currently I love stitching birds and geometric designs.
    Thanks for organizing the giveaway, Cheers!

    194
  136. My favorite thing to embroider is nature. I love the look of sewn trees and leaves, small animals, flowers, and even water.

    195
  137. I like to stitch small things, usually some sort of flowers, that I can use on my quilted postcards. Both the small designs and the postcard size provide instant gratification, plus, I have a supply of cards/gifts for most any occasion.

    197
  138. My favorite embroidery subject is birds. After stitching Birds of Paradise, I researched the actual birds online. All the swirls in the embroidery made more sense after seeing the real birds in action.

    198
  139. My new favorite thing to stitch are animals. I have just started doing Crewel and the animals are so much fun. I also like to stitch floral designs, so I guess the best would be a flora picture with a few animals.

    199
  140. What’s my favorite subject matter? I’m a botanist, so it’s definitely flowers. I seem to stitch a lot of birds too, though. They go so nicely together!

    Merry Christmas!

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  141. I love all the butterflies that cn be stitched with a huge variety of techniques, stitches, thread and colors. Nature is wonderful in its creativity with colors.
    There is a saying that I love , I do not who to give credit, but It is “Creativity is intelligence having fun”So lets have fun!!
    Merry Christmas..

    202
  142. My favorite embroidery subject is floral patterns. There are so many opportunities to play with color, whether I want soft muted colors, or a bright, cheerful pop of color.

    203
  143. I love stitching floral patterns! The beauty of a garden full of a variety of blooms and greenery inspires, calms and always amazes me. What a beautiful world we live in. I try to bring some of that beauty into my embroidery. I use nature to help inspire me in my color choices. I am also becoming mo9re adventurous in my stitch selections to bring texture and a more realistic look to my work. I just love flowers!

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  144. I like floral as a subject for embroidery, but I’ve never tried a sampler. I’m thinking after the beginning of the year when all this crazy preparation for Christmas is over I might like to try a simple sampler with florals and animals perhaps. I haven’t tried any complex embroidery, but it is good to push one’s skills or so I’ve heard. Maybe Santa will give me some bravery this year.

    205
  145. I enjoy stitching geometric patterns such as Native American or Arabic designs. I have stitched several of these to be framed or as pillows.

    206
  146. Though I do some of my own designs, stylized cats and dogs for pet owner friends; my absolute favorite motifs are wheat and abstract wheat patterns. The bulk of what I do are vintage MidCentury pieces, abstract and geometrics.

    207
  147. I am a very eclectic stitcher and choose my next projects by whatever strikes me at the time. But, I am more drawn to stylized and geometric designs.

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  148. My eye is always drawn to geometric patterns, but I tend to satisfy that liking with Hardanger. My needle is attracted to character and floral designs to practice thread painting with.

    Thanks for the giveaway to you and Needle In A Haystack, a great store to do business with. They have been extremely helpful to me in sourcing substitute materials for projects.

    210
  149. My favorite thing to stitch is Animals. I am currently doing Wool Appliqué with Embroidered stitching on each piece

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  150. I love a variety of embroidery styles and designs!! Which is why I probably enjoy samplers. But Mary’s kaleidoscope designs are stunning and captivating, they never become old!

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  151. I enjoy florals and scenes the best. I am getting back into needlework and am hoping to hone my skills and broaden my interests.

    213
  152. My favorite subject has to be birds. I have really wanted to try a stump work bird but I am not sure I have the skills. I used to do some fancy and padded stitches with crewel embroidery and think it looks similar but am just not sure.

    215
  153. My favorite thing to stitch is the crinoline girls/ southern belles for my granddaughter in Georgia. We have embarked on the task of making her a crinoline girls quilt. I’m waaay over my head bit having so much fun embroidering appliquing and choosing colors and stitching away all by hand. Enjoying it so much and trying to be brave trying new things.

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  154. Flowers, flowers and more flowers. Thank you for your great tips and ideas and information. Merry Christmas to all.

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  155. Oooh, I’d love to see all those things in my Christmas stocking! Very, very practical.

    So, my favorite stitching subject is plants. Leaves, flowers, vines, entire plants, whatever. The possibilities are just endless.

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  156. I find myself stitching flowers for the most part but dream of doing a Trish Burr bird or one of the little animals I see in my Helen M. Stevens book. What an delectable away of stitchy goodness! I bought my Hardwicke Manor hoops from them after reading your article about them. I love them.

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  157. I am definitely a bird person. I enjoy cross stitching them for the most part and have just stated to embroider them . Thank you for your tutorials, blog and generosity. Merry Christmas and the best to you in 2019.

    221
  158. i would say that my favourite subject matter for embroidery would be wildlife. i love birds and insects especially to use in stumpwork and i tend to go towards the historic look in my pieces. i love the old raised embroidery and the lack of scale they used.
    thanks so much and happy holidays.

    222
  159. Most of my projects are cat-themed. Cat pictures, cat-shaped samplers, cat Christmas ornaments. I love cats! =^.^=

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  160. I am a beginner and have dreamed about stitching mandalas and florals. This kit would be so awesome to win!

    225
  161. Flowers! I have such admiration for the beautiful, almost minimalist florals created by some of the Japanese artists; I haven’t yet worked in that style, as I am trying to be good and work through my existing projects! My current wip is the little scotch thistle by Jane Nicholas.

    226
  162. My favorite subject is the Maine landscape. I am making tiny silk and wool landscapes with embroidered details, especially trees and flowers.

    227
  163. Is it possible to pick one favorite? I was a math teacher so counted work appeals to me the most, geometric designs like Hardanger and pulled thread. But I also love Christmas and usually try to stitch something holiday-related every year to help sustain the holiday spirit!

    228
  164. I love doing geometrics. Changing colors or weight can make the same design look different. It is like opening a present, you are never sure of what the result will be based on the beginning.

    229
  165. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is flowers. I love, love, love flowers. Thank you Mary Corbet and Needle in a Haystack for this opportunity. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and Happy Holidays to all!

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  166. Mary, I so enjoy your emails. I am 92 yrs old and do not do too much embroidery now but still enjoy all your hints, etc. I have done lots and lots of stitchery in the past. All kinds and for many years belonged to EGA. Just know your efforts are enjoyed by many.
    Dottie

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  167. This is a wow opportunity for 2 lucky stitchers! I am a needlepointer and at least 30% of my projects are Christmas themed, many are Santas. Several recent projects are less traditional in color – I have 2 Santas that focus on pink and one is lime green!

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  168. I love to embroider small scenes that tell a story. I also love birds and flowers.
    I have an American patriotic one I’m eager to start. I also am eager to start a fairly big tree with lots of birds and animals sitting in it. And one more seashore scene of two little children on the beach looking at shells.
    Plus I also am easily interrupted with a small project.
    I used your lovely pattern of holly leaves and berries for four Christmas gifts. They turned out lovely. Thank you for the beautiful patterns you gave us.

    233
  169. I love cute little animals to stitch and love to mix threads to make the critter look adorable. I like cats, rabbits, mice, and stuff like that. I prefer smaller projects so I can carry it around to work on at odd minutes when I am waiting.

    235
  170. My favorite stitching subjects are monsters and mythological beasts, although I stitch flowers a lot too. Thank you for this give away.

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  171. I would have said that I did not have a favorite, but if you look at my work you see flowers. I started with crewel to Japanese silk and the latest has gone to stumpwork. All fun! A very Merry Christmas to everyone!

    238
  172. I tend to knit seasonally. But, I like floral, trees, and I love the holly & evergreen corner piece you recently posted for dishtowels. Embroidering a nutcracker dish cloth right now.

    239
  173. I like to stitch mostly wildlife designs. Ferns & trees, bears & birds. I do mostly wool applique designs, but love to add embroidery details to the designs.

    240
  174. My favorite subjects to embroider are birds, and I’m not very good at it, but still I do my best. As my skills improve, I hope to get better.

    241
  175. My favorite subject to embroider is flowers/landscapes – it is fun using different stitches and threads. My runner up in embroidery is geometric patterns in needlepoint experimenting with different stitches.
    Thank you Mary and Needle in a Haystack for a great give away!

    Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very Happy and Healthy New Year to you Mary and fellow embroiderers!

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  176. I look forward to your post and I always learn something new.
    I like all topics for stitching usually what ever season is coming up next. Especially love to do mixed stitches on crazy wool pieces.

    245
  177. Good morning – I’m so excited that we’re down to single digits on the countdown to Christmas – that means my stitching is not gift related now – it’s for me – because it’s too late to get anything finished as a gift(that’s my story anyway).

    I do a lot of different types of embroidery – pictures, samplers, surface motifs etc. but my favourite embroidery is samplers – particularly the ones that have a variety of stitches used in each of the sections. And I always look for suns and moons…maybe not as the focus of the piece but, if there are celestial bodies in a sampler, it’s likely to end up in my stash.

    246
  178. I would have said that I did not have a favorite, but if you look at my work you see flowers. I started with crewel to Japanese silk and the latest has gone to stumpwork. All fun! A very Merry Christmas to everyone!

    247
  179. I’m having a hard time picking a favorite subject since I’m just beginning to explore embroidery, I would like to do a sampler in the near future.

    249
  180. My favorite embroidery subject is small flowers to make a garden scene. I enjoy making baby clothing and love making a horseshoe style baby bonnet and embroidering a small garden on the horseshoe shaped back.

    250
  181. My favourite embroidery subject is birds and animals. Whether I embroider by hand or machine I tend to always lean that way.

    252
  182. Hi Mary,
    I tend to stitch what takes my eye. Whether it be a design in embroidery or cross stitch, color, surface or dementional, no preference as far as traditional or contemporary. I love it all. Plus I like the challenges that go with being versatile.

    253
  183. I love birds, and this year completed my first needle painted bluebird, with the help of a kit by Tanja Berlin. Next, I would like to try a Jacobean crewel style bird as I’ve been so tempted by the beautiful work I’ve seen by members of the needle n thread site.

    255
  184. I particularly love stitching reproduction samplers. Smalls such as pin cushions, etuis, and scissors fobs call to me too.

    256
  185. Most of my stitching is for special occasion gifts, so my favorite subject matter is whatever will suit the recipient. Usually this means a combination of lettering (message) and motif (birth month flower, hobby, animal, or other important symbol). If I can finish it in a reasonable length of time, put it in an envelope, and mail it, it is a favorite!

    257
  186. What a lovely array of tools, and I love ordering from Needle in a Haystack! I’m a sampler girl myself….been stitching them since the 1970s, when there were not quite as many true reproduction places out there, but always managed to get what i needed, and love the fact that there are so many available today…..so many to stitch, so little time to do them all!

    258
  187. My favorite stitching elements are flowers. Any kind in any stitch. I frequently use bullion stitches which are becoming old friends.

    259
  188. Hello,
    A very Happy Christmas to all and to all good luck !
    I love designing dolls and their clothes, I also embroider a lot of my work.
    So I am constant need of these wonderful supplies.
    I hope one day if you have not covered sculpting and embroidering dolls faces you would be so kind as to make it a topic !
    I would love your insight and advise.
    Thank you so much for your time.

    260
  189. What a great give away! Sure would like to find it in my Christmas stocking.
    My favorite and go to stitching subject is Quaker motifs and samplers.

    261
  190. My favorite embroidery subjects are trees. So many types, colors, shapes. I just found an idea on The French Needle for a picture of pine cones worked in a gold thread with a fluffy type of thread worked to look like snow on them. So lovely. Living in Maine, I have 4 seasons with the same trees and never ending inspiration.

    262
  191. I love flowers and/or plants! There is so much variety and that enables me to choose from some of the more unique stitches. Also, I can choose different fibers from silk to wool. It keeps me in touch with my love of gardening, too!

    263
  192. I enjoy stitching special gifts for family and friends. I stitch. Dogs, flowers and designs specific to the persons receiving the gift.

    265
  193. I love cross stitching birds. I’ve stitched Paula Minkbinge’s great blue heron and a reproduction of Eleanor Parr’s which has 18 beautifully replicated birds in the border and many, many 7-stitch black birds in the scene. I also did a kingfisher needle case. I’m just naturally drawn to birds. Tho, I’ve actually stitched more flowers than anything else, I guess.

    267
  194. My favorite subject matter is floral – often mixed with geometric elements in techniques like Hardanger. Recently I’ve been doing things like crewel and goldwork, and those have been mostly floral.
    Mary in MN

    269
  195. My favorite subjects to stitch are florals and whimsy which just makes me smile while I stitch (maybe even laugh out loud!). Love your blog Mary!!

    274
  196. I love florals especially silk ribbon embroidery although I used to embroider with my mum who was a beautiful stitcher I’m trying to brush up on my stitches and learn more. Your tutorials have been a godsend thank you so much Mary.

    278
  197. I like all kinds of botanicals, samplers, and some abstracts. Not so much on the animals and people. It’s so hard to get the expression and eyes right.

    279
  198. I am quite new to embroidery and haven’t done lots yet but I’m gathering ideas, reference books and tools. This gift would be a welcome addition to my needlework kit. I am most attracted by flowers and think much of my near future work will be flowers but I’m about to begin one of Mary’s mandalas (the stitch-along one, at last) and am looking forward to dealing with all the interesting shapes. I’m very attracted to Jacobean patterns too and have just purchased a couple of books about that kind of stitching. Merry Christmas!

    280
  199. I love, love, love stitching women’s faces. I find people so interesting that seeing how an artist interprets expression and personality is fascinating to me. I’m game to stitch a wide variety of women’s faces.

    282
  200. I am definitely drawn to floral designs. The colors and shapes of the flora and leaves just make me want to stitch.

    283
  201. Canvas work geometric and samplers are a favourite stitching for me , also enjoy hardanger.
    Thanks for chance to win such a beautiful and useful collection.
    Enjoy the holidays.

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  202. I enjoy stitching geometric designs, animals, insects, and flowers. Looking through my upcoming projects, I see a lot of birds, bunnies, and flowers.

    285
  203. Floral, definitely, and I’m not picky about how realistic it is. I like the more natural ones as well as the stylized, geometric patterns. There’s just something delightful about stitching leaves and stems.

    286
  204. I like free form embroidery, especially on old fabrics, lots of french knots or kantha style running stitch. Maybe some flowers or some wording if the piece calls for it.

    287
  205. Lately I’ve been stitching a lot of birds and foliage – partly because I’m trying out some new techniques and partly because I have always loved birds.

    291
  206. You’re giveaway is a stitchers dream! thank you for this opportunity. My favorite style is sampler. I love variety. Happy Holidays.

    292
  207. i love free hand embroidery. using vintage cloth and trims and lace to construct new pieces. embroidered with stitch, beads and sequins. Making new embellished cloth pieces. embellishing seams, adding tabs, buttons, frills and fringes
    Secondly, i love samplers

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  208. My tastes in designs are eclectic from vintage to traditional to steampunk. The subject matter can be florals, animals, fractals, samplers. I like to try anything that catches my eye. Thank you for these wonderful opportunities to win some special gifts.
    Jan

    295
  209. Hi, I am a quilter who loves crazy quilts and from it I have slowly found the world of embroidery and it luscious colors and dynamics. What I enjoy mostly is stumpwork and goldwork. I have been fortunate to take some classes and it has open a whole new world of adventures . In addition, of course, I like beadwork and ribbon embroidery. But what I found most fascinating is how much there is too learned. How is it that within the world of embroidery one looks into the future while simultaneously learning from its rich past history.

    Thanks, and Happy Holidays

    296
  210. What a lovely idea ,asking about our
    favorite subject matter for embroidery…i think it would have to
    be flowers.Any and in all kinds of techniques,from realistic(well, I try)to totally stylized-and/or abstract.

    297
  211. My favorite subject matter is another – it depends. I’ve recently finished a number of geometric designs (counted canvas, bargello) but I’m working on St Basil’s Cathedral and a dressmaker’s dummy. One project that I finished recently is Carolyn Michell’s On the Edge. This is a mix of birch trees with geometric design on the side.

    Vickie

    298
  212. Hi, love love love your website, I am a crazy quilter and wool appliquer, I love the birds, and a quilter. Not as much quilting as I used to, got back to embroidery, something I can do while travelling!

    299
  213. My favorite subject is animals; especially birds. I’ve done several projects of birds in needle painting (patterns from Trish Burr), before striking out on my own with a bust of my beautiful American Eskimo Dog in needle painting.

    300
  214. I am drawn to a variety of subjects, I.e., samplers, nature scenes, floral subjects. Colors pay a big part in what I am drawn to.

    302
  215. Plants and animals are on top always. Even when doing borders or corners, I prefer floral, vines or paw prints.

    303
  216. Oh, I love to embroider botanical motifs and usually gravitate to scrolling vines and leaves when I am needle “doodling”. Although, I love a good historic sampler. Truth be told, it really doesn’t matter to me what I’m stitching, just as long as I AM stitching.

    Thanks for the chance to win this great give-away!

    304
  217. I love floral work. I can use lots of colors and lots of different stitches – endless possibilities.

    308
  218. I love working on samplers, mostly for wedding gifts and other special occasions.

    Thanks for all your wonderful posts.

    309
  219. I like more abstract designs that emphasize the beauty of stitches and thread themselves – the essence of needlework.

    310
  220. I always seem be drawn to butterflies, I’ve embroidered them ,beaded them, made them from ribbon even made a lg crazy quilted one

    311
  221. What a wonderful collection of goodies! My all-time favorite thing to stitch is samplers. Beyond that I love houses and willow trees!
    Willa

    312
  222. I’ve done many redwork designs, floral designs on pillowcases, cross-stitch and crewel work. I like variety, whether it is florals, geometrics, or samplers. Thank you for the opportunity to be in the drawing.

    313
  223. Hands down, it’s got to be samplers. I collect early 20th century ones and I love stitching new interpretations by today’s designers.

    315
  224. Pretty much all my stitching is for decorating pillowslips and crazy quilting, with the occasional sock-pairing geometric stitching across the toe line. So I would have to say it’s largely geometric, with little flowers thrown in intermittently.

    318
  225. Christmas themes are my favorite because of the colors used and the sparkle. They are the first to come out at Christmas and the last to be put away. But animals are probably what are stitched the most. Much of the work goes into charity projects so animals seem to be on everything from quilt blocks to tea towels.

    319
  226. What a lovely array of special items for embroidery.
    My favorite things to stitch are Christmas items, especially trees embellished with beads.

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  227. The natural world of plants and flowers is my favorite subject for embroidery. There is an endless amount of inspiration just outside your door!

    322
  228. Hi Mary,
    Thank you so much for all of your inspiration and for your willingness to share your talents regarding embroidery! I love embroidering Sun Bonnet Sue, and flowers and snowmen. I may give butterflies and birds and other little critters a try this coming year.

    Merry Christmas!
    Kelley Tippery

    324
  229. Alphabets, alphabets and more alphabets! A most generous giveaway – thanks for the chance to win.

    325
  230. My favourite thing to sew rather varies. Like many people I’m mostly drawn towards nature and colour.I tend to work organically and am influenced by what see,view and the threads and textiles that I’m have stirred me,that call to me. To be honest ,I probably need to be more disciplined and plan my projects more,but at the same time I am a creative ,to answer that that deep instinct inside me ,to work with my hands.

    327
  231. I enjoy stitching samplers. I recently finished a very large sampler that was full of flowery motifs. It was so much fun to stitch!

    328
  232. Hi Mary! I do really enjoy Christmas projects. And now that I have retired to New Mexico, I enjoy stitching Southwest themed projects. And I enjoy starting off with a blank canvas and working counted thread projects…I guess I like it all!
    Merry Christmas! Diana

    329
  233. My favorite is stitching reproduction samplers, especially the all red ones. They just tug at my heart when I see one.

    330
  234. My favorite things to stitch are animals. So far this includes crewel, needlepoint, cross stitch and now needle painting. In particular deer, and of course, though not an animal, owls.

    332
  235. I am Drawn to, and end up drawing in my own designs, nature shapes or scenes. I love the so-called organic flow of the shape of natural objects and the patterning of the chaos found there. Whether a simplemcross-stitch or a contemporary gold work piece you’ll find natural beauty there!

    333
  236. Flowers are my favorite thing to embroider. They come in such a beautiful array of colors and shapes. And they require different interpretations depending on whether one is doing counted cross stitch, silk shading or stumpwork so they are never boring to stitch.

    334
  237. Wow, the goodies just keep coming! You’ve had some really great giveaways this Christmas. My favourite things to embroider are combinations of stitches/colours/ threads on crazy quilt seams. There are so very many possibilities!

    336
  238. Birds are my favorite creative friends in most of my work! Living along the flight path of many migrating birds has lead me to follow their interesting lives and add them to my collages and wool embroidery in particular! Recently, after doing an Eco dying class with natural found foliage on silk…birds will be nesting soon! NOW… I have visions of a trove of tools to create my visions!

    337
  239. Hi Everyones,

    My favorites embroidery subjects are flowers and monograms, and, or, monograms with flowers!
    Thank you.

    338
  240. My favorite subject matter is flowers. I have stitched things with many different subjects but most often I’m stitching flowers.

    339
  241. Oh what a wonderful give away.

    My favourite subject matter for embroidery? That’s difficult as I like to chop and change. I’m essentially a band sampler kind of girl so I suppose that means I like stylised and geometric patterns, but I also love stitching work from designers that make 3D designs and that challenge me, such as Jenny Adin-Christie, and Amy Mitten and Jackie du Plessy and Tricia Ngyen to name but a few. They take me out of my comfort zone (counted work) and challenge me and make sure that I keep learning all the time

    340
  242. My ih my! What an amazing sticking that would be. I’d be jumping up and down! My favourite subject used to be flowers but just recently it’s been people!

    341
  243. I’m a florals or geometric stitcher in regards to embroidery. All over the place with needlepoint and cross stitching. Mostly guided by texture and color in any stitching endeavor.

    342
  244. I love to stitch samplers, mostly reproduction samplers. My second choice would be surface embroidery of anything floral.

    343
  245. Florals are my favourite theme for embroidery. Presently I am putting the finishing touches on a quilt that features 50 little baskets, a center big basket medallion and a vine border all of which contain state flowers. Each hand appliquéd flower is embellished with embroidery.

    344
  246. What an absolutely wonderful giveaway- -Needle in a Haystack is one of my favorite online stitching supply store. For Christmas I requested a new Hardwicke fanny frame, and having a smaller replacement hoop would be just great. Lately, I have been returning to Asian/Japanese cross stitch projects, especially Geishas. Whoever wins the giveaway will be a very lucky stitcher. Happy Holidays!

    346
  247. My favorites are stitch samplers. Not reproductions of antique samplers, but ones whose purpose is to learn and practice new stitches. Since I’m still relatively new to embroidery, these are ideal projects for me. In 2019 I plan to design my own samplers and also stitch the Lattice Jumble from Needle ‘n Thread.

    347
  248. I love to stitch anything small! Since collecting antique dolls is what got me reinterested in needlework, I love white work edging, Victorian embroidery, miniature samplers and even small silk ribbon embroidery on pillows and doll clothes. I have even done miniature counted cross stitch on doll size needle cases, pincushions and sicssor cases. I guess I love it all, in miniature…

    Kathy Singleton

    348
  249. My favorite stitching subject is florals, particularly historically inspired ones.

    I had a stroke in October so I’m trying to get comfortable with a needle again. So far I feel really fumbly but it’s coming along. I’m threading my own needles!

    349
  250. Don’t usually enter these because I never, ever win, but these are such beautiful and useful products that I’m going to try once more! I love reading about the history of all types of needlework, and am amazed at the store if knowledge on this subject shared to us by Mary Corbet on this site. And I always love seeing the work completed by her readers.

    350
  251. Flowers are my favorite thing to stitch. I find that I can easily do it freehand and I can be very creative with design, colors and style. Each flower comes out unique and I really enjoy the finished product.

    351
  252. Thinking back on it, I must say birds before all else. I have embroidered, appliqued and quilted (sometimes all three on one bird) birds realistic and fantastical. Most recently I have had an owl obsession. Always an opportunity to use a variety of stitches and techniques.

    353
  253. The gremlins seem to have eaten my original comment – hopefully it doesn’t come through twice now

    Good morning – I’m so excited that we’re down to singles digits in the countdown to Christmas – it means I’ve run out of time to stitch gifts and can stitch for myself (that’s my story anyway)
    My favourite things to stitch are samplers…all sorts, but my favourites are the kind with different stitches in each section. And if a sampler has suns and moons, so much the better – I’m very much a fan of celestial bodies.

    354
  254. I’ve been trying this year to expand my stitching and so I’ve stitched lots of different things but I enjoy looking at a couple of pictures that I did that were of a cottage and one of an old fashioned street scene with trees and buildings.

    356
  255. I like about any embroidery project but my favorites are stylized flowers. Jacobean is fun and pretty when finished. I’m also partial to something with a Bible verse on it. When I hang it, and walk by, it reminds me of good words from the Lord.

    358
  256. Merry merry Christmas Mary!! What do I stitch? I like to think I have tried it all and my go to is decorative embroidery. Bullion roses, satin stitch bows, shadow work anything, and so many times this is all added to my smocking love. But I love all the needle works…crewel, cross stitch, hardanger, smocking, embroidery. I enjoy it all. I need to finish much! Truly need fine tools more than I need more projects!!
    I enjoy your posts, lover the FB group and hope you are having a great holiday!!
    Keep fine stitching alive for the future generations…..my motto..my hope..
    Karin

    359
  257. I have always embroidered flowers, as most embroiderers have, but now I find myself stitching more and more animals, especially in crewelwork. The range of beautiful animals that feature in so many crewelwork designs, are so easy to stitch in this medium and look magnificent when completed, I have to stitch more and more of them. I’m looking forward to my Christmas gift from my husband this year, as I know it is The Crewelwork Company’s “Running Hare” design. I shall probably start on this project on Christmas afternoon.

    360
  258. I love stitching people…portraits (Sue Stone), cats, and Japanese embroidery by Yumiko Higuchi, crewel embroidery, the simplicity of Kathy Schmitz designs, and small surface embroideries for my grandchildren.

    361
  259. I find that I am drawn more & more to reproduction samplers. I am amazed that young girls were able to stitch such lovely works of art.

    362
  260. I think I’m a bird person although I haven’t stitched any large enough for lots of detail. That is definitely on my bucket list.

    363
  261. My favorite subject matter is reproduction samplers that exhibit a hillock or grass that is filled in Entirely . To me this gives the appearance of an embroidered piece, rather than only cross stitched.

    367
  262. Depending on technique, I love birds, silk ribbon & Brazilian embroidery flowers. I also love everything with a Celtic design.

    368
  263. I love to stitch Christmas. Angels, nativity, Santa, snowmen and women, bells, Christmas trees. I love them all. So far I’ve framed all I’ve done. Just about ready to move on to Christmas pillows and tea towels. Such fun.

    370
  264. I am not sure I have a favorite, but I do like samplers, especially historic reproductions. The fact that several stitches are practices is appealing but seeing the work of generations passed is fascinating.

    371
  265. I tend toward all types of flora subjects, but I admire the possibilities with bugs and birds. I have my eye on those next!

    372
  266. Definitely a floral person. The variety of colors, stitches, and floral presentations all contribute to the end product.

    374
  267. I am very new at hand embroidery. So far, I’m liking flowers (did a small poinsettia), and characters (presently working on a rooster). I’m enjoying the learning process of which I have a lot to learn!

    377
  268. My favorite type of embroidery is Hardanger. Typically I stitch very geometric patterns that have plenty of cutwork. Patterns made by the negative space really appeal to me and I love when you move the embroidered piece from one surface to one of a different color it changes the look of the whole piece.

    379
  269. I love to stitch tiny flowers free style and 3 dimensional. But I also love to embroider pictures of quilts, bouquets of flowers and birds in treetops. Something about birds in treetops brings such calm and peace during times of angst and tribulations… and when they’re complete they always bring a smile of joy for years.

    382
  270. I’ll stitch anything, really — with varying degrees of success — but I guess I can can say that I’m happiest when I get a character right!

    383
  271. Oh my! So many useful things!!

    I’ve put my hands to everything from samplers to cutesie kawaii stuffies to serious historic blackwork to realistic floral stumpwork so I really enjoy everything. But what really gets my goat are realistic pieces – I am especially fond of Jane Nicholas’s stumpwork bugs though the “realism” in Salley Mavor’s upcoming bedtime book is so inspirational also – the world you can create with needle in thread!!

    384
  272. I have always avoided animals, I can never get them quite right. Flowers are fun, and I’ve enjoyed stitching words as well.

    385
  273. Geometric with lots of counting, whether it is needlepoint, black work, hardanger or any other technique. That is my favourite type of embroidery.

    386
  274. I haven’t really settled on a favorite subject for embroidery. I am still trying different things. I have done a little cross-stitch, a goldwork project, the MC Christmas ornament, Swedish Weaving, Chicken Scratch, and a Brazilian Dimensional embroidery project. I am currently stitching quotes onto towels.

    387
  275. I’m definitely a bird person. Just getting back into embroidery after years of cross stitch, crocheting & quilting.

    388
  276. I am crazy about birds and especially blackbirds and I must have any pattern with blackbirds. I also love samplers with needlework tools, sheep, spinning wheels and birds.

    390
  277. I find myself drawn to birds! I love them. I have 4 bird feeders that my two cats and I love to sit and watch. Birds are so small and fragile and they fly! So baffling and amusing!

    I love to do wool applique and birds are often the subject of my projects. Embellishing my projects with embroidery stitches is the best part!

    391
  278. What’s your favorite subject matter for embroidery? I love to embroider redwork patterns on to flour sack dish towels.

    393
  279. My favorite subject matter to stitch is sheep. My children made the most adorable Christmas ornament of a sheep when they were in preschool and I’ve seen their little faces in all the sheep patterns.

    394
  280. I had to pause when I thought about your question. At first I thought well I do a lot of different embroidery, stamped work – baby bibs, table clothes, placemats & napkins; free hand embroidery on shirt collars & clothing; and samplers. So I walked around the house and I found that I have predominately hung framed samplers – American & European historical samplers and modern interpretation samplers such Teresa Wentzler’s Egyptian sampler & her peacock sampler. I then looked among my to do projects and there too I found sampler patterns out numbered every other type….so I guess I would have to say I most frequently stitch samplers. I’m actually surprised to find that out! lol 😉

    395
  281. Plant material, real or imagined. Not necessarily floral. So, moss and branches. Seed pods. Ferns. Some reimagined flowers. These all seem to need a bug.
    Trying to push myself into other themes.

    396
  282. I am VERY new, I just started about 1 year ago. I tend to really admire flowers. I am not a sampler person, bird, or subject. I am currently working on a flower vase. Everything I see is beautiful and love getting emails regarding hand embroidery.

    397
  283. What a wonderful giveaway, thank you. I love Scandinavian and Eastern European motifs in embroidery, in particular geometric motifs.

    398
  284. Hi Mary,
    What an exquisite giveaway. So exciting.
    When I stitch, between doing my quilts, I love stitching flowers and samplers; occasionally, I throw in a victorian Santa for the holidays. I love the rich reds of Christmas.
    Have a wonderful holiday, Mary.
    Thanks for everything you do for us.
    Colleen in Canada

    399
  285. Wow! Do we have to choose one? Haha! I will have to choose floral! Flowers! Flowers! Flowers! There can never be too many!

    401
  286. I’m a floral/botanical person, but I generally stitch in a more Jacobean than realistic style. I also love samplers- they stay interesting throughout and I learn a lot, but I probably don’t get as polished a result on the new-to-me stitches.

    402
  287. I have been mostly working on flowers and birds, I am in the process of the Hummingbird Project which includes both and I love the wonderful array of colors. However for Christmas I am giving hand done monograms on flour sack towels. I ordered the towels from the website you had listed, they are lovely. All of my family has so much “stuff”, I wanted to give something useful,beautiful and of keepsake value. I am having a wonderful time trying different techniques on each towel, I asked each one for favorite colors so it’s been fun picking out thread colors and doing a lot of shading. I am getting comfortable with satin stitch and french knots which I had shied away from. Monograming is quickly becoming a favorite stitching project for me. Your stitching videos have been vital for me, thank you for such clear instructions. My daughter’s birthday is Christmas Day, and I think for next year I will do the Christmas Trees project.

    403
  288. I am a sampler person. I enjoy finding ways of putting different stitches together and getting an idea of how they would work together. I feel that doing samplers gives you that. Samplers also give you a fancy way of learning a stitch rather than just doing it on a piece of cloth over and over.

    Fredi

    404
  289. I collect flowering weeds and grasses that grow wild and also take photos of wildflowers. My favourite form of embroidery is hand-drawn illustrations of these plants which I then embroider. I prefer not to follow patterns for some reason.

    405
  290. As a child I loved to embroider the floral designs my mother and grandmother transferred on to pillow cases. Pretty pillowcases still give me the warm fuzzies no matter who did the work. Now I decorate things I make out of felt. Maybe a face on a bunny and flowers by his feet. I still love flowers. Fruit too. Love strawberries. My 70th birthday is Friday the 21st. Maybe that will bring me luck. No matter I’ve had over 60 years with my needles and thread and it’s been wonderful.

    407
  291. I am not sure that I have a favorite subject matter to stitch. I’ve pretty much done it all but I do love to stitch samplers which may encompass many different subjects since they frequently have birds, flowers, trees, etc.

    408
  292. My favorite design motif? I’d have to say that over the years I seem to be drawn mostly to Christmas designs. I love making ornaments. cross stitch and needlepoint.

    409
  293. I enjoy embroidery, not just any one subject but ALL things. Sometimes it’s geometric, sometimes flowers, and sometimes animals. I have never done people though, and while I’ve tried words, it was more of a chore than pleasurable. It all depends on the intended recipient and technique.

    411
  294. My design source for embroidery is most definitely ‘floral’. Flowers have such an array of colour, their individual design can be stylised or not, they can be adapted and used for so many things too. I just love silk shaded flowers with a touch of goldwork to enhance their beauty. Amazing – and thank you so much for your blog, I’m a huge fan and love receiving your emails.

    415
  295. Wow! What great giveaways these have been this year (and what generous folks!). I tend to do more floral embroidery than any other kind, but I like doing small motifs of whatever tickles my fancy, especially for gift giving. (One of the most fun embroidery projects I completed was a Yumiko Higuchi chart of winter skiers; one of the skiers is a polar bear! I used Aurifil wool thread to embroider it). I like to have lots of little stitching for those 15-minutes of stitching slots, but I also tackle larger pieces (such as an embroidered neck scarf) that takes a while to complete (my current one is a two-color–burgundy and white–floral motif on sage-colored linen). I think I might start Christmas stockings next and work on them for the years it’s just me and the hubby during the holiday.

    417
  296. My favorite subject for my stitching projects is birds! I love the different colors, textures and varieties of birds! It is a pleasure to stitch something you love!
    Thank you for the opportunity to win the wonderful needlework tools!

    418
  297. Food themes, no matter if it’s a blackwork artichoke, a needlewoven peapod, a stumpwork pomegranate, and, of course chile peppers in everything from Casalguidi to crewel. Merrily your give-a-ways brighten another year!

    420
  298. Relatively new to needlework, two years, I love it all – geometrical, samplers, animals, scenes, floral. I also love all the tools and threads and gems and beads. The world of needles and threads is a lovely one!

    421
  299. I love stitching Christmas items, primarily ornaments for my tree. Every year I find myself making maybe 5-10, but the problem is having someone else finish them!

    422
  300. I like traditional designs with a twist, that is, traditional subject matter, such as flowers, but styled to be, say, Art Deco or to be a bit abstract. I have a collection of vintage domestic embroidery items–tea towels, table runners, doilies, etc. Often, the embroidery is intact but the item itself is stained or has holes or insect damage. I salvage the vintage embroidery and then incorporate it into an original piece, adding my own contemporary work to it.

    423
  301. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is animals! I’m not much of a people person, or a building person. I’ve also done some landscapes, but I love stitching animals. Especially elephants, dolphins or whales, and butterflies! One of my largest projects to date is Supersize Max Color Amazing Animal Kingdom charted by Heaven & Earth Designs. It’s huge, and it will take me forever, but it is packed with all sorts of animals, and I just love seeing them come alive!

    424
  302. I find geometric patterns enjoy along with animals – owls, whales and elephants are my favorites.

    426
  303. I love to work samplers particularly band and geometric ones with complicated stitches like Waffle, Jessica and Sprats Head. I curse while mastering them but when it is all done I get a great deal of pleasure admiring the finished products hanging on my walls. And I love Needle in a Haystack. I have a great needlepoint store in NYC but they don’t have the great variety (space limitations) of fibers that Cathe has available on line. Would love to see her shop and meet the gang.
    Mary-Hart

    428
  304. Usually any living thing and many variations thereof…all plant, birds, animals…people not as much…I like the outlines of people to stitch. I gravitate the most to animals.

    431
  305. I love embroidering flowers because there is such a large variety. I do enjoy birds too. Especially ones with flowers incorporated!

    432
  306. I love stitching samplers the most. But I have to admit that I love all kinds of stitching themes. Samplers give me constant change and some little surprises. They’re always easy to pick up and continue.

    433
  307. Recently I’ve been doing redwork which involves all kinds of subjects. I recently completed a Kathy Schmidt block of the month quilt.
    Our quilt guild has started a wool club and our latest challenge is to complete a project with a minimum of 6 motifs, double or triple layered using 6 different embroidery stitches that we have not done before for embellishment. (Similar to Sue Spargo type projects.)
    Love your newsletters!

    434
  308. Lately I have been embellishing my quilting with embroidery. I have added embroidery to quilt blocks in traditional patterns to make pillows to coordinate with the quilts. I’m also working on a sampler quilt project that incorporates a significant number of embroidered blocks called the Splendid Sampler 2. It’s a lot of fun, and I’ve started adding even more embroidery in kind of a Scandi style to work with my very modern fabrics as I embellish blocks that are piecework. Also working on a pattern to coordinate with a quilt I am making using repro French fabrics. As you can tell, I enjoy having lots of different projects going simultaneously. Thanks for this giveaway, Mary, and wishing you a joyous Christmas season and happy 2019. Your blog has been a delightful find for me this year.

    435
  309. I love all embroidery patterns and patterns THANK YOU FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL PATTERNS MARRY CHRISTMAS

    436
  310. What a great giveaway. I seem to be drawn to flowers lately as I find them a challenge and need the practice. I also like pieces with lots of different stitches so I can practice them. Love your articles. I learn so much.

    437
  311. I love doing birds, either imaginary or realistic . My imaginary birds become comical and flamboyant with plumes and startling tails ! My more realistic birds are done with more attention to the true colours and shapes, but still they take on a personality of their own. After birds, I love doing people. I have done a series of Frida Kahlo images, with her hair embroidered with flowers. So flowers are also my favourite thing !

    439
  312. I’m a sampler stitcher. I like both traditional and modern samplers. I love LOOKING at reproduction samplers, knowing I’m unlikely to ever stitch one! Being a sampler stitcher means I stitch a lot of sayings, flowers, and birds, since they are quite common on both traditional and modern samplers. What started me with samplers is all the different stitches used. I’m a stitch junkie.

    440
  313. I have stitched a variety of things but my current desire is to stitch beach scenes. While I have many ideas as to how I want to stitch them in my mind, I’m hoping to start sketching them out after the holidays. I can’t wait to let the creative juices start flowing!

    441
  314. Hi Maria, I love embroidering birds, real landscapes, embroidering my face recently, and samplers to learn new stitches.

    442
  315. I’m a transplant from Colorado to the Oregon coast, and after 35 years, I’m still enchanted with all things oceany and beachy. I love doing underwater scenes using lots of different materials and techniques. And – I can use my favorite colors.

    444
  316. I seem to be holiday theme stitcher. Halloween and Christmas trees. The technique, linen or canvas, designer and threads all change depending on the subject. Love the variety of designs available and the desire to display them keeps me stitching, stitching.

    445
  317. I love stitching flowers and birds in crewel work. I love working with wool especially and I love your website for all the info and being able to drop in to watch videos on how to.
    Being so far from US it is great to see things that one can buy online.

    446
  318. I love stitching flowers and birds. I think it’s the shading that makes them so special. Mother Nature doesn’t make the same thing twice, not does she make solid colors, so really nice tools help with these kinds of projects.

    447
  319. I am most attracted to nature inspired themes and geometric designs. Birds and small creatures as well as mountain and seashore scenes are things I feel particularly drawn too. But I also love Kurdy Biggs’ geometrics, pulled thread and hardanger designs, and bargello patterns. I also love Christmas and Halloween designs. I am willing to stitch almost anything if it fits the person for whom I am stitching it.

    448
  320. I have just starting hand embroidery which I have wanted to do for a long time. I really like florals but would like to learn to do birds.

    449
  321. I love to do Hardanger embroidery! Worth the fun, with a pretty & sophisticated finish! Thank you, Susan

    450
  322. My subject matter seems to be floral. Abstract and traditional with bugs, butterflies and dragon flies.
    thank you so much for the content provided on the website, it saves my sanity frequently!

    451
  323. It’s hard to say my style. I don’t embroider anything to technical. I like flowers and am drawn to reds and pinks in designs since I mostly use the colors used in the design.

    452
  324. I love embroidering flowers, especially poppies, and usually California golden poppies. When I travel I embroider a dish towel with California poppies done very simply to give to my host in another location—my towels are in India, Russia, Australia, Vietnam, Germany, Argentina, Panama Brazil, Romania. I recently visited two friends originally from California that presently live in the Chicago area and presented each of them with a poppy-embroidered dish towel to remind them of home. They loved it!

    Although Needle in a Haystack is very near where I live, I rarely visit, so this would be great. Mary I can’t believe that you were born in Alameda! I was born across the estuary in Oakland!

    453
  325. I don’t like to focus on any one thing/category, but musical instruments and motifs are my favorites–probably because I am a musician. I also like animals and flora.

    454
  326. I love a variety of stitching projects. I find I am most attracted, however, to more modern styles. I am fascinated by some of the free-hand work I see online, and the year long projects that people post. I hope to someday be able to take on a project like that and complete it!

    Meantime I am enjoying the 12 Trees of Christmas. I don’t think I will finish it in time this year (life got in the way), but it will be done by the end of January for certain. I have not done anything this challenging up to now. It isn’t a difficult project. Just more involved than I’d attempted before. And I am loving it!

    455
  327. OMG – how to narrow it down. Sometimes it depends on my mood and how I’m feeling about life in general. For the most part, I concentrate on the Lavender and Lace Designs which are obviously figural. Occasionally, however, I like to work on something abstract such as the new fractal designs that some designers are creating.

    456
  328. I have always enjoyed samplers. Over the years I have made family history samplers for friends and family.

    459
  329. The kind of embroidery I most admire is traditional Jacobean style crewel. I’ve never been brave enough to try it though! Most of my embroidery is seam treatments and small motifs for crazy quilt blocks, although I do love a lot of samplers. There’s an ongoing blackwork project (never-ending LOL) in my cabinet too. I’m particularly enamored of the Quaker style samplers, actually. I spin also, and have played around with using my own handspun threads and yarns to do some work on what you call a doodle cloth 🙂

    460
  330. I love threadpainting and are very drawn to stitching animals, mostly birds with flowers, so a little of both floral and animal.

    461
  331. I’m a sampler person. Love all the different stitches and trying new and exciting threads to go along with the stitches.

    462
  332. Favorite form are samplers. They harken back to a time when children would learn the art of stitching and many lost values to carry forth in life. Would love to learn goldwork – so beautiful. Thank you.

    463
  333. I like to embroider flowers, bees, butterflies, animals, some stylization is great. People are okay, but the faces are challenging to get right.

    465
  334. Flowers, as realistic as possible. I use them as small embellishments on bags or for handmade cards or just because….

    466
  335. Overall I would have to say flowers are my favorite subject. I usually don’t like to stitch people, but Gay Ann Roger’s queens are a noteable exception. They are my all time favorites.

    467
  336. I’m crazy about butterflies in flora and fauna. I love to stitch beautiful butterflies in their natural habitat in their actual colors but I also enjoy stitching cute butterflies in all kinds of settings and colors on dish towels, hand towels and placemats. So far a tablecloth overwhelms me!

    468
  337. I mostly embroider for historic recreation purposes, so most of my embroideries are based on existing embroideries from the middle ages and Renaissance. I don’t generally do copies, but more of an “inspired by” kind of thing.

    469
  338. I like butterflies, cats, mice, birds but have embroidered many different subjects, geometric canvas, samplers.

    470
  339. Hands down it’s peacocks for me. I love the colors and the range of design in which this beautiful bird can be expressed.

    471
  340. What a lovely tool collection!

    I do mostly florals – they adapt to crewel, embroidery, cross stitch, stumpwork. I use lots of different threads and can create thread samplers using florals.

    472
  341. I love working on geometric designs when doing counted work (cross stitch, Hardanger) , but really enjoy free-hand embroidering flowers and delicate motifs. Would be difficult to choose among the two…

    474
  342. I’m definitely a flower girl. But, if something catches my eye I will stitching all kinds of things.
    Thanks
    Melinda

    475
  343. Most of my stitching includes flowers and trees, shrubs, etc. No matter what I’m working on flowers tend to bloom!

    478
  344. Ooo, such a wonderful array of tools!! I do truly hope I can win one of the sets. It is hard to say what my favorite subject is to stitch. I have a wide range of interests. But I think that beautiful designs from nature always attract my eye. Both flowers and birds, but any subject of nature well done makes a beautiful embroidered piece.

    479
  345. I mostly cross stitch, only recently venturing into surface embroidery with some basic embellishment kits where all the decisions are made for me and a crazy-quilt online class. In cross stitch, though, I tend toward seasonal themes, mostly autumn, Halloween, and Thanksgiving because i love the colors – warm, homey, and welcoming!

    480
  346. My favorite subject matter to stitch is floral and other plant life especially that of Australia and the U.S. Thank you for this great giveaway. Have a great day!

    481
  347. I hadn’t really thought about my subject matter until I read this question, but looking back it is probably plants and floral patterns. When I first started embroidery I did quite a few birds, too. Now I am a big fan of Johanna Basford’s coloring books as design inspiration!

    484
  348. I am most drawn to the organic elements around me. The plant life – flowers…leaves…weeds…that hydrangea that does not want to die!

    485
  349. For canvas pieces I’ve done mostly geometric style pieces, which I love. As for cross stitch, I’m currently doing a large Mirabilia fairy and have done a few of them (L&L and Mirabilia). A lot of times I’m picking pieces for workshops that are more technique driven – still have to like the subject matter, but it is occasionally secondary to the technique.

    487
  350. I have been religiously practicing the stitches that you so kindly show in your tutorials. I am slowing learning and enjoying the process oh so much! Would love to win your generous gift to get me going on my way to a true embroiderer!
    PS – I am unable to use lowercase on the first letter of my email address. It should be a lowercase “J”.

    488
  351. I probably stitch flowers more than anything, though I would guess that the preponderance of floral patterns is the reason for this. I don’t particularly enjoy stitching patterns that have large areas filled with long and short stitch; small doses of this type of shading are good enough for me. I like patterns with variety.

    Pick me!

    490
  352. I like trying new ideas and also using old patterns in new shape.

    Feels the worst about putting up pants.

    491
  353. My favorite subjects are flowers and birds. I especially like the Jacobean style and have several projects in my queue that I hope to get to this coming year.

    Thanks for the great series of giveaways. This was fun and introduced me to some new products I look forward to trying.

    Jacquelyn

    492
  354. I am a beginner and am perfecting my stitches. I really like flowers and landscape and hope to do embroidery painting.

    493
  355. The subject matter I find myself most drawn to is samplers. When I see patterns for samplers, I look to see if there are lots of different stitches incorporated into the design. I recently did a small sampler nametag and each sampler row was a different stitch. It was small, but so much fun!

    495
  356. I love to embroider… started with Redwork. A variety of outline stitches mostly of whimsical design. Most often now, I enjoy sampler work… or embellishing applique. Enjoy (trying) to learn new stitches.

    496
  357. I haven’t had a lot of experience with needlework….maybe a bit above beginner, I find myself drawn to dragonflies, butterflies and birds.

    497
  358. I’m a quilter so I love stitching pictures that look like quilts, both the individual blocks and little quilts.
    I love your blogs and website! Keep up the great work.

    500
  359. I really like doing Celtic designs
    Have been work in Scottish family crest will be bordered in Celtic knot desins

    501
  360. I love stitching Halloween designs – pumpkins, owls, witches – I love them all! I also love the combination of orange and purple on a Halloween design.

    502
  361. I like seasonal project – trees, wreathes, snowflakes at Christmas, pumpkins in the fall, flowers in the spring etc.

    503
  362. I enjoy using embroidery to embellish quilts. Adding color, detail, and texture can make a big difference.

    504
  363. DRAGONS! I love dragons and love to work them using rayon, silk, and metallic .. even a touch of holographic threads.

    505
  364. I’ve been stitching since I’m 8 years old. I’m almost 73 as I type this. I’m aware that overtime, I’ve changed subjects, but now I seem to switch up between “samplers”–with a naughty twist (older people can get away with that) and an ongoing love affair with Kimonos. I use my work as wall hangers–And I use Mary’s idea for getting inexpensive art frames as the mounting (saving me mucho dollars). Of course i have the too-many pillows, and I also enjoy using, especially kimonos for the top of footstools.

    Thank you for giving me a reason to think about a 60+ years life in love with the needlearts.

    My late husband used to say: ‘Honey, you have enough “stuff” to last 250 years. And I think now he was absolutely right. But, even with that insight, I just keep goingX!

    506
  365. My favourite subject when it comes to embroidery would have to be flowers! Their beauty brightens up any room, and they always remind me that even though it might be winter….spring and summer are on the way!

    507
  366. Wow. What a large package of great stuff!!
    My favorite subject matter would have to be flowers, leaves, and assorted flora. That is the favorite SUBJECT matter. Nature is the most inspiring, and a great color palette!
    I also like just doodle designs, too!
    Fingers crossed!

    510
  367. I really like samplers. They are timeless and always give me pleasure to look at and stitch. I also like to make Christmas ornaments for family and friends.

    512
  368. Flowers! Nearly all my embroidery is based on flowers, with their associated leaves, my second-favorite subject to embroidery… which includes holly leaves and berries, of course 🙂

    Holly (not born in December, though!)

    513
  369. No matter what I look at I am always drawn to floral embroideries.mostly Jacobean. There are so many beautiful and stunning florals out there that you’ll never run out of things to stitch! I am currently working on a Jacobean piece ( my very most favorite) . I believe I am drawn to Jacobean because it reminds me of days gone by and vintage stitcheries. With all the different stitches I am learning , every stem, leaf or flower I stitch can be different than the last. I love to experiment with the different stitches because I like the look of variety.
    Good luck everyone and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

    514
  370. I am a beginner embroiderer – but I am probably more interested in geometric work. I am a smocker and those are the designs I tend to do. I am looking forward to ramping up my embroidery skills in 2019.

    515
  371. My favorite embroidery subject is monograms. I especially appreciate all the monograms you have provided–they are so much fun!

    516
  372. My favorite embroidery piece is flowers. I love the bright colors and enjoy the contrast from the leaves to the flower colors.

    519
  373. Thank you for offering these gifts.
    I like birds and I like samplers. I stitch both. If I find a chart with just birds I stitch them on smalls. I also stitch samplers with and without birds if I like the sampler.

    520
  374. Hi Mary, a beautifull give away indeed. I mostly like floral design for my embrodery stylized or not but I also use geometric pattern for drawn thread work. I wish you a very Merry Christmas.

    521
  375. I like colorful projects that present a different level of difficulty each time. To that, I like to add new stitches, new color combinations and of course, new techniques. That is the reason why I am totally in love with Needle’nThread. Besides all the above, I also find inspiration in your articles and book reviews: Mary Corbet is the reason of my stitching book collection that lead me to the most exiting stitching projects that I ever started! At present I am stitching a Macarena Virgin all dressed in lace. I a looking into all your recommendations and sneaking into all your projects so I can find the best representation of the lace in her dress. I visit Needle’nThread almost every day!…and it is always my pleasure.

    523
  376. Thank you, Mary, and Needle in a Haystack for this great giveaway.
    I do find this question very challenging, as I am all over the place with my embroidery. I looked on my walls, and I have stylized designs, geometrics, samplers, birds, flowers, and animals. I even have a UFO with a beetle! I usually chose a project based on color and and the strength of my initial reaction to the design. Then comes subject matter. There are some lovely designs out there, but they are so pale that I always pass them by.
    Stitching is very helpful during stressful times. And the most relaxing is a simple, uncomplicated design—usually geometric. Is it my favorite? probably yes!

    524
  377. I lean toward embroiderying drawings of animals and people or both. I am drawn to whimsical drawings of these subjects

    526
  378. Wow – what a generous bundle of goodies for some lucky winner(s)! For me, I would have to say that I love stitching flowers the most – there are so many different ways they can be used!

    527
  379. I’m afraid I like everything but prefer some styles more than others. Holiday themes, quilt designs, florals and landscapes are my favorites.

    529
  380. I am a sampler person; most any kind will do but I especially love 17th Century English Band-style samplers.

    530
  381. I like a variety of subjects for embroidery. I would say I tend to like animal designs, wild animals like birds, or domestic pets. Floral designs are also a favorite of mine.

    531
  382. I increasingly find myself entranced with flowers. I’ve recently found stumpwork and thread painting. (I wish I had paid more attention when I had the opportunity to take art class in middle school). I am fascinated and take photos of the real thing to copy. Also I really want to depict the sun shining through the fall leaves as they glow with reds and oranges and,…

    535
  383. Samplers are definitely my passion. Particularly the complex 17th Century band samplers where there isn’t an inch of linen left unstitched. It makes my heart sing just to think about it! Thank you so much for the opportunity to join this competition.

    537
  384. What a lovely giveaway Mary. Thank you. I don’t have a favourite subject matter but I do have a favourite stitching technique which is needle painting so I do tend to veer towards animals and plants but I also enjoyed doing the Roseworks dragon. Whatever it is, I like it to look realistic rather than styalised and filled in rather than outlined. Thanks for the chance to win and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

    538
  385. Hi Mary! I love to embroider animals. The fur can look so real and the faces are often adorable. I made a tiny fox from a kit, and I have a book of various cat faces, and also lots of birds. I love doing these, but they’re mostly for me. I have to finish Christmas presents first!

    539
  386. Oh hi!

    This is such an easy question. It didn’t make me furrow up my brow or anything. My favorite thing to stitch is flowers. I like roses and peonies, wisteria, pansies, and I like them best in natural settings – the very opposite of geometric designs. Sweetpeas! Violets! Some of my earliest memories are of picking these flowers to bring indoors. Now I can reproduce them in various ways, such as needlework, pastels and paints.

    540
  387. Oh, wow. I love working with texture and geometric patterns: one or two colours and trying to create the whole with stitch choice and spacing 🙂
    Thank you for this amazing giveaway series!

    541
  388. I’m new to embroidery, but my latest inspiration is fossils. Think of trilobites- they have so many bumps and ridges and interesting surfaces to recreate in thread.

    542
  389. This is an amazing gift! I’m drawn mostly to people- I’ve stitched a lot of angels – but I also like florals and stylized, geometric designs, especially for canvaswork.

    543
  390. Stylized forms like mandalas intrigue me and quick little recognizable items like houses, cats, flowers are fun to do for sachets or some little gift item.

    This year also included a fair number of catnip toys stitched up on felt. We picked up two new kittens and my friend also got two kittens with us. They love the simple shapes stitched up with catnip filling.

    544
  391. My subject manner is probably equally divided between flowers and birds. I also like counted work so I have quite a few geometric designs, trending toward blue/purple and fall colors.

    Thanks for the opportunity from Needle in a Haystack. There are a number of items that I have not used, and would enjoy exploring.

    547
  392. Florals. Florals, and more florals. Although I’ve done my fair share of samplers and enjoy the variety of stitches one gets in those, it’s the flowers that I want to hang on my walls.

    549
  393. I love all sorts of subjects for stitching…flowers, Japanese motifs, cross stitched samplers…I do like variety!

    550
  394. I like stitching flowers/gardens especially with a contrast of something man-made such as a fence, house, bicycle.

    551
  395. I find flowers are my go to subject it. Spring and Summer I find myself out in the garden, not stitching, but playing in the dirt. Embroidery and wool work are my winter “dirt playing”.

    552
  396. My favorite subject to embroider is anything to do with the sea!
    I love the water rather a river, a lake or an ocean!
    I love the colors whether they are earthy in the rivers or lakes or bright colors of the beauty of the ocean bottom.
    What fun it would be to win these treats for my Christmas stocking!

    553
  397. I love to stitch samplers with birds and small animals as well as any subject coming from the good old days, brings back so many memories as I work the stitches

    554
  398. My favorite theme for stitching is floral abstraction. Since most everything I do is abstracted, this seems to be the way my flowers are achieved also.

    556
  399. My favorite subject to stitch has changed over the years. I started with teddy bears, moved on to realistic flowers, geometric designs, and now have been doing samplers. But actually, I’ll stitch any subject where the design and colors appeal to me, as my stash proves!

    558
  400. My fav for needlework is the sampler. I’ve done birth samplers for each grandchild and several miniature samplers framed and placed on the wall above my bed serving as the headboard.

    559
  401. I live to stitch birds! And i really really need to win. I hope i do. We have no needlework shops here in Morocco and I would be so thrilled!!

    560
  402. My favorite subject to work with embroidery has to be animals. I’ve done some Trish Burrs (a cat), some Tanja Berlin (an owl) and I’m ready to start on an elephant family from a coloring book pattern. I’m not into samplers, although I do like the look of them, just don’t want the hassle of doing them and will do flowers, but they’re not my favorite. Always work with my project in a hoop – except when I do Sashiko, then it is in my hand. Would love the goodies bag from Needle in a Haystack. I’ve seen their site, just never bought anything – yet! Thank you Mary and Merry Christmas to you. I’ll think of you in your bunny slippers, coming down the stairs, dragging your blankie…

    561
  403. My favorite subject to work with embroidery has to be animals. I’ve done some Trish Burrs (a cat), some Tanja Berlin (an owl) and I’m ready to start on an elephant family from a coloring book pattern. I’m not into samplers, although I do like the look of them, just don’t want the hassle of doing them and will do flowers, but they’re not my favorite. Always work with my project in a hoop – except when I do Sashiko, then it is in my hand. Would love the goodies bag from Needle in a Haystack. I’ve seen their site, just never bought anything – yet! Thank you Mary and Merry Christmas to you. I’ll think of you in your bunny slippers, coming down the stairs, dragging your blankie…

    562
  404. I’ve been stitching for 40 years, so have many different interests. I set up workshops for my EGA/ANG chapters and must cater to different interests, so I try to accommodate a lot of different themes….counted needlepoint, subjects derived from famous artists like Eleanor Groh, surface embroidery combining canvas and fabric, whitework, ethnic themes, designs from nature….on and on. Never get bored that way.

    563
  405. What an awesome collection for the give away. I mainly do natural items like trees, seeds and florals.

    564
  406. Birds! We have a very popular bird feeder and I love stitching all the different varieties of birds that come to it.

    567
  407. That’s a hard one. I really like to stitch anything that has lots of fun, happy and bright colors. I seem to tend to do animals and flowers. Especially cats. Just love a good cat design.

    568
  408. For embroidery I am mostly a flower person – but I prefer to incorporate them into a scene like gardens or mountains covered in spring blooms. Quilt squares come in a close second.

    569
  409. I do most of my stitches on crazy quilt hearts, pincushions or boxes. I want to do some embroidery on my quilts.

    570
  410. What a fun giveaway–thank you!

    My favorite embroidery subject is really more of a style: traditional Scandinavian designs. I love both 19th-century bright florals and very, very traditional Norse designs (for my SCA clothing). The combination of bold shapes and nice chunky threads makes them enjoyable and rewarding to stitch.

    571
  411. I mostly cross stitch but I’m trying to get back into embroidery. I mostly love to stitch houses and landscapes when cross stitching and florals when embroidering.

    574
  412. I love all embroidery, but favorite would be using beads, thread and goldwork to embroider a design of floral or religious designs.

    575
  413. I’m drawn to things leafy, especially if they have pithy sayings. I try to work on at least one for my son each year. This year I’m on:
    Good night moon
    Good night cow jumping over the moon
    Good night all the ****
    piled high in the
    corner of the room

    All encircled by lovely scrawling leaves.

    That’s what I do when doing cross stitch, for surface embroidery, leaves always just suck me in. There’s an odd bird in the mix, a few pine cones and snowflakes. But mostly leaves.

    576
  414. I love samplers and seasonal things. enjoy different stitches. the samplers are all kinds, not just reproductions. thank you for doing these give-aways. your sponsers are great. I am greatful for the chance.

    577
  415. I love to stitch samplers or florals. The samplers are fun because you get a sense of accomplishment as you complete each motif or line and there is a good variety of stitches and/or designs so you don’t get bored with a piece.

    578
  416. I prefer to stitch either Geometric or Country Primitive style patterns preferably in either samplers or smalls so that you feel like you accomplished something.

    579
  417. I am most definitely a floral person. It is not something that I have on home decor fabrics but I find it completely fascinating to draw and stitch flowers.

    580
  418. Hi Mary,

    I truly love flowers and plants of all kinds and love love love stitching them. Thanks so much for your blog. I’ve learned a lot.

    581
  419. For the most part I am definitely a floral person when it comes to embroidery. I have even managed to decorate my recent project of Christmas Tomtes (gnomes) with flowers, including a 3 layer detached buttonhole rose (which I was very proud of, it was one of those times where everything went spot on & the result was exactly what I was looking for, that just doesn’t happen very often !). It’s not always a floral design I go for but embroidered flowers are perfect for decorating & embellishing a design. Brazilian embroidery is a great example of this, flowers & vines done in this surface embroidery gives a wonderful, tactile finish. I have completed a cross & have a sugar skull waiting to be started in this way.

    582
  420. my favorite thing to embroider is flowers…probably because they are somewhat easier. (I am a beginner) plus they’re versatile…I can put one or two here and there on my sewing projects.

    585
  421. Oh, this is a tough question. Birds, Woodland Critters, Floral, Geometrics???

    I do believe that Floral with a few Woodland Critters would be my favorite.

    Merry Christmas to all.

    586
  422. I love flowers. I love to stitch them whether it be embroidery, cross stitch or petite point. I love to look at flowers and smell them in the garden.

    587
  423. Lately I am into monograms with floral designs as I have by completing Christmas gifts. I do like birds to stitch, my favorites cardinal, chickadees and bluebirds.

    588
  424. What’s your favorite subject matter for embroidery?
    Wow, that’s difficult to put it down to only one, but I would have to say I enjoy a floral with a bird pattern in goldwork. I love the combination of flowers and birds and of course the richness of the threads, the wonderful variety of colours, the textures and thicknesses.

    589
  425. I have two subjects that I particularly enjoy embroidering. The fist is Halloween! The second is birds. Thanks for the opportunity to win such tasty goodies.

    590
  426. I like stitching flowers and leaves. I use different stitches to have different effect on both flowers and leaves. I liked the leaves samplers that you blogged in the past.

    Thank you for your blogs and emails.
    Best wishes,
    Sophia

    591
  427. I love designs from 3 or 4 hundred years ago using flowers and insects but they need to have an element of symmetry for them to be pleasing to my eye. I prefer to use muted colours for a faded appearance rather than the brash colours used in the past. I also love the texture of wool so I do enjoy crewel work designs.

    592
  428. My favorite subject to embroider are florals. I’ve been studing the oriental art of using silk threads and needle painting. It’s Facinating work, and such a delicate art.
    The colors are all so rich, they bring pure happiness when working with shading.

    Needle and thread has been so much help with designs, tips and tutorials. I would never have started embroidering without Mary’s website. I look forward to your emails.

    Merry Christmas to you Mary, thank you for being there!!!

    593
  429. My favourite embroidery subject to stitch is usually flowers and birds .I am drawn to botanical themes and find pleasure in trying to captivate nature with thread and needle! Cheers to all!

    594
  430. My favourite embroidery theme is samplers. I have worked on several different type of samplers: band samplers; geometric samplers; Quakers samplers; drawn thread samplers; and spot samplers. Many of the samplers that I have stitched symbolize a memory or a time in my life. I am currently working on Long Dog Sampler “Spirit of Llanfair PG”, as I have been to this lovely town in Wales, have a picture of the longest names train station in the world, and a Welsh Love Spoon – which the sampler consists of many Welsh Love Spoons.

    596
  431. My favorite type of embroidery is Crazy Quilting, where I can use a multitude of embroidery stitches and combinations. I can also use a variety of different types of threads. It is fun for me to see what type of effect the threads have when combined with the fabrics I am working on. With Crazy Quilting I can do holiday themed pieces or flowers, animals, houses, etc.

    597
  432. My favorite subject are flowers, ferns, trees, leaves, and birds. Nature is a big source of inspiration for me.

    Thank you!

    600
  433. Hi Miss Corbet,
    Definitely ornamental and decorative, mainly because they look nice even in one colour 🙂 I enjoy the look of figurative embroidery, but I tend to lose track of where I am in the pattern when working it…
    Best wishes from Holland

    603
  434. I enjoy stitching landscapes because of the creativity in choosing threads, both for their colors and their affect, and stitches to represent the beauty of nature.

    605
  435. My preference is towards florals however I have done a couple of birds. I lean towards the florals but change the stitches that might be recommended in a particular pattern so that I use a variety of stitches to give my work greater dimension.

    606
  436. Love samplers. Have been thankful for many years that you share your knowledge with others so readily. Hope I win but also want to take opportunity to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you.

    607
  437. i have been stitching for more than thirty years. in all this time i have stitched a picture of two robins on a branch. the rest are samplers, more that one hundred so far!. i enjoy samplers with a alphabet and a saying along with a picture on the bottom. latley i have been stitching more band samplers from the 16 and early 17 hundreds. i find tht he majority of these have alot of different stitches. this is where log on and get directions on how to create these awesome stitches.mary corbets site has been wonderful for learning different stitches.

    608
  438. My favorite subjects to embroider are words or monograms. Differing fonts are fun to stitch. Thank you for a wonderful give-away.

    610
  439. My favorite subject for embroidery is currently baby animals. But I go through phases. A few years ago it was flowers. I remember geometrics were my thing for several years.

    611
  440. My favorite stitching subject is floral for surface embroidery. I also love reproduction samplers, and I seem to stitch a lot of people in counted cross stitch (Mirabilia mermaids and ladies). Thanks, it would certainly be a Merry Christmas to win this!

    613
  441. On reflection it seems I am definitely a floral person, but not necessarily with lots of colour. I also really enjoy animals with abstract geometric satin stitch filling (like Trish Burr’s whitework with colour – I’m stitching prancer at present and loving it). Thank you Mary for this chance of a scrumptious prize.

    614
  442. Mostly, I love to stitch flowers. They don’t mind so much if they become a little wonky. Birds are my next favorite. Both are subjects I can easily do in most types of embroidery. It’s all fun!

    615
  443. I do needlepoint and love structural stitches and patterns. Bargello, patterns taken from quilts, and Celtic designs that I then work with different stitches to add another layer. I can’t seem to help myself. Last night I spent digging through Pinterest for Persian designs, in awe of the the math and balanced beauty of them.

    617
  444. Flowers are my favorite thing to embroider. I like to use different techniques including punch needle, blackwork and needle painting.

    618
  445. I love to do folksy surface embroidery, even household transfers, and use as many fancy stitches as possible. “Aunt Martha’s” patterns don’t have to be all stem stitch and lazy daisies. Kick ’em up a notch!

    Love these Christmas drawings…..

    619
  446. I mostly stitch florals, sort of a folksy style. Most are small wall hangings, couple have been pillow covers.

    620
  447. I like to embroider free style, at the moment I am embroidering a family history project onto an improv quilt.

    622
  448. Lately my projects have been strickly floral, but I like monograms. Monograms with florals, monograms with animals, monograms with buildings, well, you get the picture. Thank you for the ebooks!

    623
  449. My favorite type of embroidery is counted cross-stitch. My favorite subject are Oriental motifs, flowers, birds and cats. Also love regular embroidery, stem stitch, etc. and especially fond of making French knots.

    627
  450. I like florals and samplers. I have done butterflies and a bird or two. Enjoyed doing them but found the stitches a bit more difficult.

    628
  451. My favorite thing to embroider is flowers and woodland animals. Whether that is crewel work or counted or surface embroidery depends upon what I am going to do with the once I am done. I also enjoy adding extra stitches to my quilting projects when I get the chance. Merry Christmas!

    630
  452. Geometrics, blackwork, canvas work, and counted patterns that are intriguing. Cross stitch, samplers, hardanger and such are relaxing. But it is the process of doing the piece is what I enjoy.

    631
  453. I would say I’m a floral, geometric, and holiday in that order. Of course my blue anemone which I’m stitching for my royal school certification is giving me fits.

    632
  454. What’s your favorite subject matter for embroidery? Flowers and nature themes mostly
    Are you a floral person? yes
    A bird person? Not so much. Certain birds like hummingbirds and sandpipers.
    Stylized or geometric designs? I like both. I’m fairly new to embroidery; so I am working on simple designs.
    A sampler person? Not so much.
    A people or character person? No yet; too complicated for me.
    What subjects do you like to stitch, or what subjects do you find yourself stitching most frequently? Travel, seasonal, nature scenes and flowers; beach scenes, some birds. Water, mountains.

    633
  455. I am not drawn to a particular subject for embroidery. All kinds of designs appeal to me. Right now I am alternating between a geometric, a sampler and a scene.

    634
  456. My favourite subject for embroidery seems to change with the seasons. Just now I am enjoying working on snowflakes,reindeer and Christmas trees. In the Spring and Summer I like to stitch and cross stitch flowers, fruit and wood land animals. My stitching is one of my ways of expressing the joy of the season, each in its turn.

    635
  457. My embroidery is all over the place because the majority of it is done for my two daughters and their children. Right now it is all about the sea since my granddaughter wants a stitchers pocket and needle shell. Next year it will be all about bunnies since our fourth grandchild will be arriving and the theme for her nursery is bunnies. I am looking for patterns now and will start them after the first of the year.

    636
  458. Thank you Mary and Needle in a Haystack for this delightful gift. Needle in a Haystack is a really nice store and the staff is always so nice whether on the phone or in person. I live about 90 miles from them.
    What is my favorite subject to embroidery ~ definitely flowers, especially when most of what I stitch is Brazilian Dimensional embroidery. When I do surface work on my towels it is Tea cups with flowers on them, fruits and vegetables or chickens.
    Keeping my fingers crossed to win this gift, maybe it is my turn to win.
    Sharon ~ Modesto, CA

    637
  459. I like a plethora of needlework — from Jacobean to needlepoint — and a variety of projects (pillows, kitchen towels, center motifs for quilts, wall art, gifts, and table linens to mention just a few).

    This give-away would be a grand way to start a new year of projects. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

    638
  460. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is samplers, specifically 17th century style. I love the work done during that time period.

    639
  461. My favorite embroidery subject is whatever strikes my fancy: bold, colorful, beaded, flowers, shapes, or what I think someone will appreciate. I want to enjoy what I stitch (though I’ve stitched somethings that I couldn’t wait to finish!). Thank you for this wonderful series of drawings!

    640
  462. I love the Needle in a Haystack emails and keep most of them as they are full of great tips and info.

    I love to stitch samplers and I find birds to draw me in. Of course, a beautiful rose also gets my attention. Sometimes, I am drawn in by something such as color useage or technique on a subject I would never have considered stitching prior. I love to see what others stitch and love to get good techniques or ideas.

    641
  463. Thank you, Mary, for the chance to win. I love to embroider leaves and acorns, so I want to work up your Autumn Kaleidoscope, thank you for the pattern.

    Good luck to all and Happy Holidays!

    642
  464. I so enjoy stitching scenery but then there’s vintage Christmas things like angels and snowmen and–just everything! Thank you for offering this wonderful giveaway!

    643
  465. I have stitched a lot of samplers and birds, but lately I’m more drawn to geometric designs. The journey continues…

    644
  466. I like to stitch stylized designs the most. They can represent almost anything, but I particularly like the human form, plant life, and birds.

    646
  467. I love doing all embroidery, but I seem to be drawn to Flowers, Birds and small Animals. I like to try different things, but if a friend mentions something specific, I love to do them as a surprise present.

    647
  468. Years ago I got hooked on the Markek Angel series and have done quite a few of those. So it was a given that I followed Marilyn Imblum Leavit (hope I got her name correct), Lavender and Lace and Mirabilia. The Angel of Hope that Marilyn designed for the Polly Klaus kidnapping I did in memory of our daughter, Anne Marie, who had cerebral palsy and died right before her 5th birthday. She is framed and hanging in my living room. My other angels framed and hanging in my hallway. In my current wips is Adia the Garden Angel which I am doing for my granddaughter, Adia.

    648
  469. I love to do samplers because they can contain flowers, animals, alphabets, buildings, trees…you name it, a sampler can have it! It provides an opportunity to do a variety of stitches and one will never get bored!!!

    649
  470. I like to stitch samplers but most recently I have been stitching geometric abstractions. Right now I am doing one all in French knots with colors taken from as vintage postcard of Greece that was sent to me by my Aunt Noanie.

    650
  471. My favorite subject for needlework is definitely florals. It makes me happy to observe the way the light plays across each completed area. And I love how using different types of threads impacts the total picture. A beginner, but loving every minute of this journey!

    651
  472. I love to do flowers and butterflies. I also plan to get into stitching zen tangle inspired art. So many ideas, so little time.

    653
  473. I find that geometric designs are the interesting for me, especially quilt patterns. Animals (mainly birds) come in a close second.

    654
  474. I’m wondering if anyone else can’t provide a single answer to this question! I have 6 wonderful grandchildren so there is a good bit of embroidery done for them – outfits customized with monograms or whatever is the current favorite of each child. Love to create “smalls” as gifts for friends and for myself, usually something more challenging – quite often Jacobean in wools, So I;m thinking my answer needs to be whatever is the current project since the variety makes each one the Favorite of the moment. How’s that for a prevarication?

    656
  475. I’ve never really thought about it before, but I have done quite a few animals in my stitching. I also enjoy landscapes.

    657
  476. Looking at my past projects, my favorite subject seems to samplers or projects that have sayings on them especially if they have to do with children, dogs, or cats.

    658
  477. My favorite right now is floral, recently I have seem some intriguing 3 dimentional bugs and butterflies I would love to try also…..goldwork is on my bucket list but I don’t want to invest in all the supplies until I get to retire and have more time on my hands…I find that once I start stitching I need to continue to keep my stitching consistent. My personal stitch regulator gets better the more I stitch.

    659
  478. I can’t think of a more pleasant and healthy way to reduce the stress of one’s daily routines. A needle, some thread and a design to embellish brings great calm and happiness. Embroidery gives me strength and solace.

    661
  479. This is a wonderful and generous Christmas gift for two ladies! Of course I hope to be one of them, but in case I’m not…Merry Christmas to the winners!

    662
  480. Over the last few years I seem to have stitched quite a few animals – ducks, elephants, small Kantha style animals and different birds. There has been a sprinkling of flowers too. Thank you for this opportunity.

    663
  481. As a rule, I really enjoy stitching nature in a realistic way. I guess that I don’t have whatever it is that other people have where they can turn an inspiration into a design. I don’t have designing in me. It is quite a shame, though, because I adore triangles (which is odd… I’m aware…) and I love to stitch them (crow’s foot, raised fish bone stitch, satin stitch, sprat’s head, raised close herringbone stitch: as named in the A-Z Of Embroidery Stitches 1&2 by Search Press.) All of that aside, needlepainting animals is my jam. Getting the eyes right is so important and so satisfying.

    664
  482. Hi Mary,
    My favorite thing to stitch would have to be flowers. I often make up my own designs, and I usually follow an improvisational approach, making things up as I go. There are so many colors, textures, and shapes in flowers the possibilities are endless — like making a painting.
    Warm Regards,
    June

    665
  483. I am a particularly engaged by geometric patterns. I love to work them in overdyed threads and enjoy the challenge of manipulating the threads to create an effect. That effect could be shading or balance between sections or highlighting a particular element.

    666
  484. My favorite are geometric designs with lots of color and variety of stitches. I guess that is the mathematician in me.

    667
  485. I really like stitching samplers, especially ones that use only one color of a shaded/variegated thread but I do multi-colored ones as well. I also like to make what I call boudoir pin cushions. I use tea cups and make a ring of flowers for the top . It’s usually a free style kind of thing and I add beads and sparkling blending filaments. This style translates well for ring bearer pillows for weddings. Ah, heck, I just like to stitch and would love to win this package. At any rate, Merry Happy Christmas and Holidays.

    Wendy

    668
  486. I love Art Nouveau designs and have lots of ideas for abstracted, swirly designs — but what I end up using almost always, and have a great fondness for, are florals. Lots and lots of florals on just about everything! (including one of your free floral border patterns that I’ve just adapted for the centre panel of a blouse – hoping to finish that before the New Year!)

    669
  487. I think I will choose a sampler to stitch since it will give me a connection to historical needleworkers as well as give me a variety of stitches to do.

    670
  488. Flowers. I’m always drawn to needlework with flowers, and the floral elements are the first thing I notice about a design. I’ve done mostly counted work for a while, though, and not much of it is floral. But I have a few surface embroidery projects planned, and they all involve flowers.

    672
  489. At 86 years young, and having been stitching since my Mom and Gran taught me about 5 or 6., and having dabbled in many types and styles of stitchery, my very favorite are Samplers. I have done them for Births, Weddings, Anniversaries, etc. I reslly enjoy “just Samplers” on all subjects, Some are reproduction copies, some are very modern, but I love them all !!!

    675
  490. I’m very excited to enter the contest. I love stitching. My favorite stitching is miniature creations. I love Christmas stockings and samplers in miniature. Thanks for the contest. Peace.

    677
  491. Wonderful giveaway! My favorite subject would be baby animals. Who doesn’t love to look at a cuddly little fuzzy baby!

    678
  492. I enjoy embroidering flowers and birds. I have recently done a scene with butterflies which I also really enjoyed doing. This looks like such an amazing giveaway – I would love to own it! Thank you, Mary, for your exciting run up to Christmas!

    679
  493. I am more inclined to stitch geometric designs, but I have just recently learned to transfer photos so my daughter’s image will be my next big project. Starting slow with that — blacks and grays only. Hope to learn it quickly and possibly try with colors.

    Merry Christmas Mary – and all stitchers. Looking forward to ideas, tips and just plain old reading of the info in 2019.

    681
  494. It has actually been quite awhile since I did serious embroidery work, but I always loved to stitch animals. My grandmother was my teacher, and that is what she did mostly, too; although I never did as wonderful a job as she did!

    683
  495. What’s my favourite embroidery subject? Well, I like geometric designs: I have done “Sands in the Desert” twice – once for my friend, and then again for me, because I enjoyed it so much.
    I love the appearance of little fluffy birds, although I haven’t done any yet – but I will get into them some day. If someone could design me some New Zealand birds I would be very happy – there are heaps of Australian and American birds to do, but only simple counted cross stitch NZ ones.

    685
  496. I enjoy landscapes with lots of flowers. I also do lots of tea towels with kitchen motifs, fruits, and veggies. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

    Dianne

    686
  497. I am a historical person. I adore those Bayeux tapestry patterns, the Celtic knotwork copied from the Book of Kells, the Cluny tapestries….if I could do Opus Anglicanum, I would!

    I also like bunnies and geometric patterns.

    688
  498. I seem to be most interested in landscapes recently for stitching. It used to be flowers but I just finished Trish Burr’s miniature landscapes and enjoyed them so much I found anther landscape painting I liked and am in the process of needlepainting it.

    689
  499. I just love florals. They are different all year long and can be as simple as a daisy or complex as a rose.

    690
  500. When it comes to embroidery, I’m drawn to animals, birds, & bunnies. I love to do needlepoint geometric samples. Stumpwork takes me to flowers and small insects.

    691
  501. My Children always said that my brain is square. I guess it is so. I love geometric charted needlepoint pieces. And Hardanger is a favorite also. but on curvy days I work on angels from Lavender and Lace.

    692
  502. My favorite type of embroidery is floral. Or monograms. Or floral monograms. Flowers can be elegant, sweet, silly, or fun, depending on the design and thread choice.

    693
  503. I have, up to this point, stitched mostly monograms and floral designs. However, I am currently working on a butterfly design and hope to stitch more birds & bugs in 2019. I’ve really enjoyed your website as a resource for stitch guides and vendors for embroidery supplies as I’ve gotten back into embroidery over the last 2 years.

    694
  504. While new at embroidery I do feel drawn to Jacobean style especially florals. However, I love countryish crewel work. I love the wool threads,the colors and the nature themes.

    695
  505. At the moment I am obsessed with embroidered landscapes, detailed and realistic embroideries on layers of fine fabrics with an overly of organza as taught by Judy Wilford whose book is called Embroidered Landscapes.

    696
  506. I have always had a strong fondness for anything with sheep on it but find that I am attracted to birds as a subject matter more and more now. I think that is due to retirement (yay) and having more time to stop and observe them. I love samplers that include a variety of birds and if there’s also a sheep or a dog, all the better.

    697
  507. I am particulary drawn to flora and fauna – I like the medieval tapestries and the modern takes on them.

    698
  508. Wow that package of tools sounds like a dream come true! Thank you for the opportunity to win.

    699
  509. I do enjoy decorative monograms but I also love critters and botanical pieces. Christmas ornaments are always in process. Many interests and not enough time.

    701
  510. Hi Mary

    Flowers, flowers and more flowers. I just love flowers of any kind – real or embroidered. I love the different colours you can choose when doing embroidery, also the different textures and stitches you can create.

    702
  511. Flowers, leaves, anything botanical, would be first on my list of preferred items to embroider. But doing border stitches and pulled threads are also enjoyable. Chicken sctratch. Just to sit down and pass a needle through fabric is a joy. However, many tiles, it’s not what , but for whom. That is often the greatest gift of being able to embroider. Somebody who is waiting for that item with anticipation.

    703
  512. Oh my goodness! I am a sampler person, and I’ve stitched many of them! I tend to work reproduction samplers, “specialize” in samplers with cats, and samplers where the original sampler maker is a name connection – usually Sara(h). One of my Sarah’s is Sarah Elizabeth Brooke, and it has lots of name connections: obviously I’m Sara, but also my daughter is Sara Elizabeth, my niece is Sara Brooke, and my mom’s (Sara) maiden initials were SEB. I’m really excited to be receiving in a few more days a reproduction chart of Sarah Dean (my mom’s married name and my maiden name). I have also stitched Mary Applewhite; Applewhite was my grandmother’s maiden name. So far, I haven’t come across a Sara or other name connection of a reproduction with a cat.

    704
  513. I have completed a lot of cross stitch samplers but I do more floral designs when working free-style hand embroidery.

    705
  514. It’s hard to say just what would be my favorite subject matter. I am definitely more traditional in my work. However, as I look around at much of the embroidery I’ve kept for myself (because every crafter knows that most of our work ends up as lovely gifts), I have landscape and nature. One is a beautiful valley with mountains in the background and a majestic eagle. Another is a countryside scene in Fall colors. So… to answer this question in a long about way…. I’d have to say landscape and nature.

    I’d like to add that I’ve really enjoyed your e-mail newsletters and I use your website stitching tutorials all the time. You are an amazing instructor. Thank you for all the time you take helping others, like me. Have a wonderfully blessed Christmas!

    706
  515. Absolutely love shapes- random colourful, scattered, bunched. Always something that needs a handful of happiness.

    707
  516. Flowers, flowers and more flowers. So nice to have them indoors in the cold winter.
    Carrie PlaneNut

    708
  517. My favorite is animals as I love them and they add a lot of character to a piece.
    Cats are my favorite, but birds and hedgehogs are also on the list.

    709
  518. Thank you for putting together these giveaways. Please enter me for the one for the tools from Needle in a Haystack. My favorite subject matter is botanical – I have taken many many photos with the hopes of making them into embroidery projects someday.

    711
  519. I love to stitch cats. Found a cat in the street and brought it home. Haven’t had a cat in thirty years. Forgot how much fun they can be. So…I am now drawn to stitching that features cats.

    713
  520. I love to embroider beautiful flowers because of their soft lovely forms. They can be shaded and colored to note their dimensions and textures. It is surprising how different they can become by simply changing their colors and positions in a piece. I never tire of stitching beautiful flowers.

    714
  521. I’m very eclectic, the tyoe of embroidery depends in yhe oerson receiving it. For the most part, although I orefer more textural or dimensional versions of whatebpver I make.

    Lovely set in this giveaway.

    716
  522. Although it seems that I stitch a lot of flowers, particularly Susan O’Conner’s Elizabethan designs, I really love stitching birds like Trish Burr’s wonderful lifelike birds. They look like they could fly away anytime.l”

    717
  523. At the moment, I am in a Unicorn phase. I am stitching the Unicorn in Captivity and next up are two of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries (the petite point ones on silk gauze.

    718
  524. My favourite subject matter for embroidery is Samplers as you can do a wide range of stitch techniques and make it personal for the person who you are makeing it for.

    719
  525. I am inspired by all sorts of things to stitch – but mainly scenery, flowers, trees or geological specimens rather than people or animals

    720
  526. I stitch whatever suits my fancy at the time. Right now I’m stitching the 12 trees of Christmas. It’s a great project but I thought it would go faster as they are only about 3″ tall. I’ve learned a lot of new stitches.

    721
  527. My favorite subject matter changes, but one of my favorite ways to approach projects is based on coloring books. I love the adult coloring books, but have also used children’s coloring books to make quilts for friends and family members. I love bringing the printed pages to life.

    722
  528. Greetings! I love to embroider Islamic calligraphy. Satin stitch, outline stitches and even filling stitches work perfectly with the soft curvy lines of the Arabic alphabet . Plus, the content is prayer, so each stitch is a blessing .

    724
  529. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is animals! I love animals, I’m going to start stitching a portrait of my dog with her own fur I’m spinning into yarn.

    725
  530. I am drawn to a variety of subjects, but the natural world provides so much inspiration. I think flowers and insects will always be high up on my embroidery design wish list. Realistic or stylised designs are equally appealing … I love silk shaded florals, gold work beetles or scrolling white embroidered flowers and leaves.

    727
  531. This is really hard. I really love to embroider things from nature, so favourites are anything from the outside, flowers, animals, even seashells on the beach.

    728
  532. I love stitching flowers. I love using new, to me, creative stitches to create them. I recently stitched a bird which I enjoyed, but flowers are my first love.

    729
  533. Along with many embroiderers who also love the garden, my favourite theme and subject for embroidery are flowers, flowers and more flowers…life’s wonderful adornments!

    730
  534. Hi Mary! Merry Christmas. By far, I am attracted to symmetry in all things. I am not sure if that limits creativity or not (I love Jackson Pollock and that seems anti-symmetrical… who knows). So, I like geometrical forms and William Morris and Frank Lloyd Wright. Aren’t we fortunate that there are so many styles from which to choose?

    731
  535. I really like to do flowers, some butter flies and dragon flies. Though I’m kind of new at this, I find it very relaxing and I really enjoy things that are colorful.

    732
  536. Since joining my local Embroidery Guild I’ve learned so many new techniques and am still learning that each new type becomes my new favourite. Until I try the next thing

    733
  537. I most like stitching flowers:-along with all the bugs and creepy crawly things that live in and around them.

    734
  538. I love abstract stitching. I just stitch a curve, and follow it, building texture and pattern with different threads and stitches.

    735
  539. What a great question! My first answer was flowers and birds but when I thought about it the subject I stitch the most is Christmas. Whether it’s ornaments, Christmas cards, or gift bags, I stitch Christmas projects all year long. It’s such a jolly time.

    736
  540. I am a sampler person. I love to try out new thread, thread not meant for embroidery, thread that might be good for embroidery, and thread I have dyed some odd color that might be nice as a bottom layer of some brighter stitches. The size needle I use makes a world of difference in the stitched result, though the fabric is almost always linen (upcycled from thrifted clothing). I have, quite literally, notebooks filled with samples of stitch variation and thread possibilities, others are stretched on wooden stretcher frames and hang on the walls of my studio. Asking “What if . . . ?” and then digging into all the answers I can come up with is my way of exploring this wonderful world of textile craft and art. I have always wanted a job as the official sampler-in-residence, but no one knocked on my door and offered me my dream job. *sigh*

    737
  541. I love working with arabesque shapes. Whether floral and vines or purely abstract designs, the curve is fun to work and pleasing to see.

    738
  542. Easy to answer this one! I like anything floral. Scenes with flowers, just flowers, baskets with flowers…I’m sure you get the idea. I like all kinds of embroidery but I like the simplicity of surface embroidery and the beauty of the stitches. Thank you, Maryann

    739
  543. I have stitched a variety of embroidery over the years……flowers, scenes, ships, etc. My last few projects have been Asian themed….mostly geishas. I love the kimono designs and the colour palettes are wonderful! Want to attempt gold work, so I could sure use the Mellore/laying tool. All the best for 2019!

    741
  544. I really love band samplers, especially historical ones from 16th and 17th centuries. Florals often feature but there are sometimes beasties and also lots of geometric designs – they’re all great fun!

    743
  545. In embroidery I am a floral person. I just love embroidering flowers. Each one is so different, each with its own subtle shading. Whether they are sewn in cross stitch or free-hand embroidery.

    745
  546. My favourite subject matter is… cloth. I really like the light and shadow in the loose, draping folds of flowing robes, dresses, and sleeves!

    746
  547. Not sure I can stick to one subject for stitching. I really like historical themed projects; from celtic intertwined designs to blackwork shirts, enjoy them all. Thanks!

    747
  548. I love embroidering flowers, and things that touch my heart and matters for me.
    People, dogs, quotes, landscapes..
    But flowers are my favourite theme.
    xx

    748
  549. My best stitching love is either reproduced historical samplers or samplers based on historical stitching. I so enjoy the threads connecting women through the centuries.

    750
  550. I love both florals and birds, but since I have more birds than flowers, must go with the birds!

    752
  551. I’m just returning to crewel work after many years away. I too lament the loss of good local resources but am very thankful for places like Needle in a Haystack.

    I find myself drawn to Jacobean design- florals, although I’m currently working on a very sweet fox and floral design to get me back in the swing of things.

    Thank you for the giveaways! Good luck to me .

    753
  552. I think I like doing children and women best. I also like scenery. I love trying different techniques in those subjects, for which I have you to thank for introducing me to many of the techniques I’ve tried.

    754
  553. I tend to lean to the geometric designs or anything that has a lot of bright colors. I also like to stitch different things such as one eye with a colorful iris a witches circle on linen or a group of same tree but unexpected colors.

    755
  554. My favourite subject matter for embroidery is blackwork, specifically the counted historical ones that can be found. The style crosses the centuries and countries to have become a well known & loved embroidery by everyone.

    756
  555. Florals and seasonal pieces are what I gravitate towards these days.

    I want to make pillow covers for all seasons and holidays so I can switch them out every month – a breath of fresh air introduced to the every day furnishings and a visual cue of excitement for the current holiday or season. Since florals come in all colors, I can accomplish seasonal decorating with through the color palettes. That way not every piece has to be a holiday picture like a pumpkin, stocking or turkey.

    757
  556. I enjoy a variety of things to embroider. Samplers are great ways to practice the stitching and have variety. Something I have done quite a bit of, is adding embroidery to sewing/quilting projects such as blanket stitching around the outline of trees or adding french knots, back stitches, etc. on a Christmas ornament. Embroidering letters is something I also enjoy. Traditional rather than modern is certainly my preference.

    758
  557. My favourite subject matter to stich is DEFINITELY flowers!
    I’m currently working on an initial that has a bunch of bright coloured flowers! Those colours simply perk me up!!!
    Thank you,
    Gin

    759
  558. My favorite form of needlework is reproducing historical samplers. I have been doing this since 1981. I am now doing surface embroidery on the Plymouth Tapestries from pilgrimhallmuseum.org due to come out completed in the Fall of 2021 for the 400 yrs. anniversary of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Please learn more about them from Pilgrim Hall Museum. pilgrimhallmuseum.org

    760
  559. My favourite subjects are lifelike wildlife projects but I break free to do samplers to keep me sane. For those I like medieval-type themes and also ones with naughty words. 🙂

    761
  560. I absolutely love stitching flowers of all kinds. Trees are a close second. Birds as well. Actually, anything in nature.

    764
  561. Well, I’m still so new to this that I don’t really have a favorite subject or style. I’ve done a sampler with a gardening theme, and I’m finishing a tea towel with a “Spice of Life” theme. I’m planning some snowflakes next. I’m daunted by selecting fabric and knowing how to finish my pieces, but I’m really enjoying this new handicraft. 🙂

    765
  562. Although I have done a wide variety of needlework projects, my most recent projects that I am drawn to are in the sampler genre.

    767
  563. I think I am a sampler person .I have done about fifty since starting to cross stitch in 1993.i love alphabets.There are so many ways to stylise them ,flowers ,animals ,clothes and poetry can all be incorporated in them. Thank you for the opportunity to win this wonderful prize .

    768
  564. I haven’t embroidered very much yet, but when it comes to freehand embroidery I’ve had the best luck with flowers so far. I’ve tried a few animals, but I had trouble getting the eyes “just right”, so I wasn’t happy with their expression and didn’t finish them. Actually, maybe I should give them another try.

    Well, merry Christmas and I hope your business is doing well.

    769
  565. It may be a bit off, but I like to stitch domestic objects – glassware, eating utensils – and food, especially cakes.

    770
  566. I am definitely a floral embroiderer. What a lovely variety of goodies Needle in a Haystack has contributed!

    772
  567. What a wonderful package. I have eclectic taste. I love florals, animals and geometrics.

    774
  568. Snowflakes and motifs that make me think of snow at Christmas- definitely not something we see here!

    775
  569. My favourite is photorealistic (ie thread painting) portraits, human and animal. While thinking up ideas for those, I like to relax with samplers.

    776
  570. I mostly do sweet embroidery on baby garments or heirloom dresses. I’m in the learning stage and eager to branch out to other types of embroidery

    779
  571. I love birds. Stylised ones rather than realistic. Usually crewel work adapted from DeMorgan tiles myself or from kits by Nicola Jarvis. Using cotton in small areas amongst the wool produces a jewel like effect. I almost always turn them into cushions.

    780
  572. Although I began my cross stitching with small projects like card inserts and small cute things, my real loves are samplers of all sorts. I am a slow stitcher , but I really like large projects, all the while wishing I could start a new project.

    781
  573. My favourite subject for embroidery is stylized flowers. I am collector of all things in the “arts and crafts” style and William Morris is my hero. I love all his flower designs and enjoy embroidering them in different stitching forms: cross-stitch, thread painting and hooking!

    783
  574. I seem to find myself stitching flowers more than anything else. The infinite variations of the types of flowers together with different forms of embroidery make for absolutely endless combinations.

    784
  575. I absolutely love monograms (especially in whitework, it’s so delicate!), and also fandom-based cross-stitch I do a lot. My favourites are Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, and they mainly exist of quotes and such, in various fonts and with various embellishments.

    787
  576. I love most to stitch flowers. But even more, I love the look of cloisonne. Join these two loves and I am attracted strongly to art nouveau stylized floral designs in goldwork and stumpwork.

    788
  577. I would probably have to say flowers would be my most common subject, whatever the stitch type. Freehand embroidery, bullions, stumpwork, crewel work, thread painting and cross stitch – the design usually involves flowers.

    789
  578. I’ve been obsessed lately with pollinators! Stitching bees, birds, butterflies and moths in both cotton pearle on linen as well as goldwork on silk. Thanks for the fun giveaway, Mary!

    791
  579. Oooh, what a splendid offer!!! Many thanks to Needle in a Haystack and to you for giving away such a wonderful Christmas gift!
    I’d love to stitch fantasy scenes, mythical creatures, surreal stories. There’s all in it: plants and animals and people and buildings … but I’m still learning various techniques. That’s why I loved to stitch my first Assisi sampler. The mythical beasts where already in it. 🙂

    Angela from the Ore Mountains

    792
  580. Oh dear! Trying to determine a favorite anything in the stitching department is tough for me. It’s probably safe to say that my favorite ‘subject matter’ for embroidery would be “samplers”. Yes, the traditional with alphabets, various stitches, small motifs, figures, borders and name and date variety, for sure. But my overall collection of stitched pieces is also a sampler of different styles, techniques, materials and subject matter. It ranges from traditional samplers to goldwork, stumpwork, punch needle, hardanger, beading and many more. I’ve stitched flowers, birds, geometrics, words, feathers, people, cats, dogs, furniture and much more. Finished items range from tiny jewelry pieces to large traditional samplers, ornaments, embellished clothing items, and LOTS of needlework smalls (pincushions, needle books, scissors keeps, etui boxes, and such). SO, yes “samplers” and a wide sampling of the world of stitching!

    794
  581. For me its anything Halloween! I love the oranges, rusts, purples and coloured backgrounds we can find these days.

    795
  582. That was a challenge to answer! I have such a range of WIPs, it was difficult to find a theme, but there are two. As soon as I read geometric, I knew it was me (blackwork and symmetrical cross stitch), and it seems I also enjoy stitching stylised buildings.
    Again, thank you, Mary.

    796
  583. I just love Mary Corbet’s Website!
    Her take on things is marvelous. I have been stitching for many years, and still learn all kind of things from reading her daily emails. Hooray for Mary!!
    Looking at all things on the email today made me want to go to Needle in a Haystack again. I first became acquainted with them while taking a class from another designer, and bought so many things I could barely get them all home.

    797
  584. I am definitely a sampler person. Thank You for an opportunity to win this wonderful collection of needlework tools.

    798
  585. My predominant choice of embroidery designs come from those based on nature. I mainly embroider landscapes of prairie scenery. Flowers, trees and leaves are my next favorites. And from time to time I will do an embroidery work that is modular in design. Certainly nature is by far my most common inspiration.

    799
  586. I’d have to say I love stitching geometrics on canvas the most. I love counted work, whether it is on canvas or linen. I love blackwork, and it can be just about any design. I also love your gift this time (who wouldn’t?)! So fun!

    801
  587. My preferences are Florals and Samplers. Thank you for offering this chance to win so many goodies!

    802
  588. Since I discovered Brazilian Embroidery in 2005 it seems I stitch lots and lots of flowers. I love gardens, since I can not have one outside, I have mine indoors.

    803
  589. I would love to win this magnificent gift and would put it to very good use.
    I do love geometric designs and have done many on 18 mesh canvas over the last 30 or so years. But I have admired and have purchased a few PDF’s from Needle ‘n Thread over the last few years as I really want to extend my skills to botanicals. I do stitch many embroidery techniques but the almost free-form embroidery you do, Mary has intrigued me but I need the tools. If I win, I will be starting your style of embroidery with a New Year start.

    Thanks for the opportunity.

    804
  590. I enjoy stitching flowers always but lately have been getting into patterns that get you to practice many different kinds of stitches. I want to learn more stitches and get better at the ones I do.
    Thanks!

    805
  591. My favorite at the moment is samplers but always flowers then birds. So samplers with flowers and birds on them are at the top!!

    806
  592. My stitching has changed over the years. I use to do lots of Florals, samplers, and ornaments. Now, with grandchildren, I find animals of all kind are most welcome. But, whatever I stitch, it feeds my heart, mind, and soul.

    Karole In Texas

    807
  593. My favorite to embroider are flowers in season. I give most items away and friends seem to like them best.

    808
  594. I love geometric designs and stitch them often. I also love samplers and have probably stitched (and often designed) around a hundred birth, graduation and wedding samplers for family and friends over the past 40 years or so.

    809
  595. My favorite subject to embroider is flowers. I love flowers! The colors, the shading, the scents! We just have to figure out how to get the smell of the flowers into our embroidery threads! Scented threads, anyone? (but not perfumed…)

    ~Lynne

    810
  596. That’s kind of tough, because I really like all kinds of things. I suppose though, I like the geometrics the best. I just love different kinds of stiches and I love counted thread best. I also love the prize you are giving away – how fun!

    811
  597. i really got into stitching thanks to stitchtober, so creepy monsters were my gateway. I really enjoy working with symbolism to create still lifes

    812
  598. I love to stitch birds and also geometric designs usually but I am finding that I am also drawn to butterflies.
    This is a really great give away Mary.

    813
  599. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!
    My favorite design subjects are stylized geometric and alphabets, but with floral embellishments. I incorporate these into embroidery, needlepoint, cross stitch, knitting and quilting. I am a Gemini, can’t help it!

    814
  600. I like to stitch on anything that is Fall or Halloween. I live in Houston where the seasons are minimal. I live to stitch colorful leaves and pumpkins and Halloween scenes of haunted houses?

    815
  601. I love to stitch Americana designs and anything Christmas.
    Thank you for all these give-aways.
    Have a Merry Christmas.

    816
  602. I tend toward counted work, or at least working on even weave cloth. Being a relative newby embroiderer, I find I have difficulty keeping stitch length even on plain fabric. I guess practice would help. I like patterns and geometrics and am currently doing (among other things) a fractal pattern cross stitch. I am very much drawn toward hardanger and needle weaving, have books on the subject, only need the time to devote. Roll on retirement!

    817
  603. Trees are my favourite subject for stitching. They are versatile, they can be simple or complex in design, they are full of symbolism, they are easily embellished, and they are fun to stitch at any season.

    818
  604. Oh, I am in love with embroidering flowers – whether is’s in needlepointing or stylized Jacobean florals, I love them all!

    819
  605. I’m a Sue Spargo follower. So I enjoy wool on wool embroidery for appliqué and her lovely cotton threads in glorious colors. Her verigated threads are beautiful also. I like the look of bullion knots in size 8, 5 or 3 threads.

    820
  606. I tend towards flowers and trees starting out, but often wind up with crazy swirls and long meandering lines (especially when beading on a quilt). Most of my problem is that I generally don’t start out with an idea, and just keep doing it until I see where I’ve ended up!

    822
  607. I like to stitch anything Fall or Halloween related. I live in Houston where the seasons are minimal. So, I love to stitch anything with colorful leaves , halloween houses or witches.

    823
  608. My favorite thing to stitch has to be Christmas related. It’s a peaceful time of the year and even when things are going WAY too fast, when I pick up my Christmas stitching project, it takes me to a calm, peaceful place. It’s wonderful!

    824
  609. My favorite subject matter to stitch about varies from piece to piece because I am mostly stitching items for others. In fact now that I think about it, I’ve never stitched anything just for myself! Hmmm….

    825
  610. I am always drawn to designs of flowers especially Trish Burr’s beautiful needle painting. I also am attracted to geometric counted thread work – cross stitch of course, but also Hardanger and other such work like the Italian work Christine Bishop has made popular

    826
  611. My favorite subject matter to embroider is, without question, anything floral. In fact, I’ve just finished my sixth block (out of 11 total) of Sue Spargo’s Fresh Cut pattern. I chose to use regular quilting cottons rather than wools, and I’m embroidering over raw edges. The raw edges using quilting cottons has made this a bit more challenging as some of my fabric choices have started fraying. However, that has just meant that I’ve had to do a bit more careful embroidery. The fun part of this project is that I’m trying to learn some new stitches — it’s not all perfect, but I’m enjoying the process. I also did not want to invest in any new fabrics (because I PROMISED my husband that I would not buy any. more. fabric.), so my background fabric is some very dark gray corduroy fabric that I found in a large quantity. So I think it’s going to be a cool little quilt when finished. But florals are my absolute favorite. I also like birds occasionally, but, um, only when there are florals with them!!!!

    827
  612. I like to embroider words and sayings. In the new year, I would like to do more floral pieces. Thanks for the opportunity to win this prize.

    829
  613. Mary – I love all things floral. I don’t tell anyone this (guess I am now) – but I don’t embroider animals (at least nothing smaller than a horse)! Silly I know, but there she is. So, good thing there are zillions of flowers in this world! And thank you for offering this wonderful package.

    830
  614. I love embroidering plants & flowers and the animals near them, like birds, lizards, butterflies, dragonflies and once a praying mantis.

    832
  615. I love most embroidery but get the most satisfaction when doing florals. I love how shading makes these seem real and work hard to learn new stitches that make my work ever better.

    833
  616. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is flowers, flowers, flowers! My dream is to learn to do shading – I haven’t attempted it yet. My next favorite is birds. I purchased my very first Inspirations magazine because of a Trish Burr Christmas bird in holly leaves. I still haven’t attempted it yet. I have a looong way to go, but will be retiring in 2019 so I will have an extra 40 hours a week to practice, practice, practice!

    835
  617. I am definitely drawn to florals! That being said, geometric counted canvas work is equally as appealing.

    836
  618. I love stitching flowers and birds…especially Trish Burr and Tanya Berlin. This time of the season it’s all Christmas stitching!

    839
  619. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is flowers with birds coming in a close second. They are a bit more complicated but the result is spectacular!

    840
  620. Wow, these are coming fast and furious! I missed the last opportunity while I contemplated what my favorite color combination is. Subject matter is easier: It’s a toss-up between animals (of any phylum) or flowers, especially thistles (Scottish heritage).
    Thanks again, Mary, to you and Needle in a Haystack for this stitching give-away, and Merry Christmas!

    841
  621. My current favorite linen stitching projects are samplers., both large and small. I am currently working on Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow and a reproduction of an 1840 Biedermeier Sampler. On canvas I love geometrics.

    842
  622. I’m drawn to designs which incorporate flora, birds, fish, especially with a Celtic theme. I start sketching a design and can’t help myself its like something speaks to me from another time.

    843
  623. When I think about projects I’ve finished or am working on, they seem to cover a variety of styles. However, I think I’ve probably done more samplers than any other one style. I’ve done crewel, cross-stitch, redwork, block-of-the-month samplers; guess I like the variety in a sampler!

    844
  624. I love embroidering snowmen! I love the whimsical ones. They make me smile. They are so cheerful and happy and can be displayed all winter long.

    845
  625. I like a variety of needlework subject, but my favorites are samplers. I like all the different stitches that are involved in doing a sampler – and I have learned a lot and still do by stitching samplers.
    I have stitched samplers from different designers, but I seem to like the ones from Victoria Sampler the best.

    846
  626. I like to embroidery vintage theams and attach crazy , current verbiage . I get a lot of patterns from old iron-ons and Urban Threads .

    847
  627. I LOVE ANY GEOMETRICS!!!! love all the different colors you can use . Even stitch a design on a a couple colors then do it again and do it in different colors, looks different!!!!Al so for stitching on painted canvas, I will go to Halloween. Love all the cute (not scary) witchs and millions of different pumpkins!!!

    848
  628. Floral subjects are my favorite stitching subject. Stitching flowers is like being in a beautiful garden.

    849
  629. Cross stitch – I live floral borders and old fashioned samplers that are personal to the person receiving it. I’m just starting embroidery – so far I am enjoying working on flowers and simply improving my stitchery.

    850
  630. My favorite subject matter for embroidery would be stylized floral, something like folk art.
    Some designs can just be outlined, others filled in, but all with lots of color.
    It’s fun to just make up things and see where they go!

    851
  631. I enjoy stitching florals and birds. They can be stylized or realistic/natural and in various techniques, i.e. silk shading, goldwork, raised embroidery, crewel and counted whitework.

    852
  632. I really like band samplers. I tend to get bored quickly and with a band sampler you have lots of different things to do, but none of them are so long that a band gets boring. It also keeps your stitching skills sharp with a variety of stitches.

    853
  633. I like to stitch a variety of items but not cross-stitch. I love geometric designs and white work designs. Like the cleanness of them.

    854
  634. Having just put together a collage of what I’v made in this, my first year of retirement, it seem I gravitate towards botanical and geometric subjects – flowers, fruit, knot garden designs, a few critters …. that’s what’s so great about embroidery – the possibilities are endless!!

    855
  635. I love animals. I do all sorts of work, but the animals always are the most fun, especially in stumpwork.

    856
  636. My favorite subject is becoming religious iconography. I hope to eventually be able to work on something like vestments… many many years from now. 🙂

    857
  637. Hi Mary,
    What great giveaways this year. I would love to receive this bundle from Santa.
    My favourite subject matter is samplers, especially alphabets. I really like the little Sajou booklets.
    Thank you for a year of reading, and here’s to the next year of projects.

    858
  638. Although, I am very new to embroidery I enjoy floral patterns. This also goes along with the fact I enjoy gardening. I wish everyone the best for the holidays!!

    859
  639. Hi, Mary,

    I love to stitch flowers with little caterpillar or ladybug accents. The bugs are great for covering up my mistakes.

    Beth

    862
  640. I don’t think I have a favorite kind of subject for stitching, I’ll happily try anything that catches my eye. Looking at my past projects its hard to identify one style or type of design that I keep returning to–unless its a fondness for lots and lots of colors! My personal motto has always been “Never use one color where 20 will fit.”

    863
  641. I like doing quite a variety of subjects but my all time favorite would have to be flowers. They come in so many colors and seem to come out well done in so many different ways. I think my next project may be a combination of bright flowers with blackwork background.

    864
  642. I have an affinity towards flora and fauna which shows in my stitching choices. I am very detail oriented (too much so at times) and so I think this might be why I enjoy thread painting subjects of nature so much. I also have a tendency to favour soft, curved lines in my designs, especially anything stylized. I do find stylized designs more of a challenge than realistic ones though.

    Well, Mary …your question has been a source of self reflection and revelation for me as I hadn’t really put much thought into this before. Thank you!

    865
  643. My favorite is samplers. I love the different alphabets sandwiched between rows of fancy stitches. I like to customize them for weddings or birth samplers so they’re one of a kind.

    866
  644. Believe it or not, I am into Chickens and little chicks, love stitching around them.
    I especially like the different leaves and flowers, like blue bells. Love this thread and your emails are so informative. Thank You !

    867
  645. Most of my embroidery projects have been for new babies. So I guess it would be designs for children.

    868
  646. Dear Mary,
    Animals! Animals are wonderful and the cuter the better. Love to catch their expression in embroidery. I would cry and go straight to heaven to win today’s give-away!
    Thank you.
    Louisa

    869
  647. My favorite subject to stitch is buildings such as a cottage or barn or house. Not sure why, but I’m always attracted to them!
    Thank you!

    870
  648. I love stitching stylized floral designs, inspired by needlework of the Arts & Crafts era.

    872
  649. Samplers are my love. I enjoy researching and reproducing old samplers. My most treasured sampler is the one stitched by my maternal grandmother over 100 years ago.

    I can not think of a better Christmas gift than to win this Needlework Tools and Fabric collection. Thank you for offering this opportunity.

    874
  650. I stitch approximately one dragon each year. My husband has a dragon collection(more than 100), and this is a way I can add to the collection each year. Not all of his dragons are stitched.

    876
  651. I think your tastes change, but at the moment I can’t get enough of samplers.
    Especially as at the moment there are so many lovely patterns you can get and all the stitch alongs that are offered. These make it such more fun.

    877
  652. I love the articles that help with the choosing of the colors needed for any project I may be tackling. I am definitely a bird person. Having many in my home for pets, I love to see anything that has a bird or birds.

    878
  653. It is so hard to pick out a favorite. That’s like asking who my favorite granddaughter is! Whatever I am working on is usually my favorite and everything else takes second seat until I’m done and ready to move on to my next favorite thing!

    880
  654. My favourite subject matter is by far nature. Flowers particularly but also native bush. When I go for walks I tend to look at the form more than just the beauty and I often wonder how I could stitch what takes my eye to bring it alive.

    881
  655. Mary I thoroughly enjoy stitching floral monograms.
    Thanks for another year of sharing your knowledge and for your generosity.

    882
  656. I do love stitching flowers, but my favorite embroidery projects are historical samplers. Often there are flowers on them, but I just enjoy the connection to those young girls in the past, patiently practicing their stitches.

    884
  657. I love anything with birds & flowers in it. The more realistic the content the better. I love working on something different each time but if I had to pick one type of article, it would be needlework folders & accessories. I want to eventually have one folder set up for each type of stitching.

    886
  658. In the last few years, my kids have begun to have their own kids, so I’m focusing on stitching birth records in crewel. There’s a wide variety of illustrations typically used, although I’m drawn to animals, flowers, trees, & birds. It’s fun doing lots of different subjects!

    887
  659. My favorite subject is tea towels, I do anything that I think is cute. I have been doing baby quilt blocks which has been so much fun! I choose cute animals for the blocks.

    888
  660. My favorite embroidery subject are birds. Also, I love any project that features other animals and particularly butterflies! My grandmother loved owls as subjects and they are my especial favorites!

    889
  661. I do a lot of floral designs, both natural and stylized. I also do lots of seasonal/holiday pieces. This year I did a lot of patriotic patterns. I would love to have this selection under my tree!

    890
  662. What’s your favorite subject matter for embroidery?

    I used to be a geometric person. Now I seem to be more into samplers. Although, I’ve done some animal pictures lately, too.

    891
  663. I am partial to bunnies and squirrels. Two critters that wreak havoc in my garden, but are little darlings when stitched!

    892
  664. My favorite embroidery is geometric though I have tried a few other things I tend to drift back to geometics.

    893
  665. I’m just deciding what I want to embroider- I’ve just transitioned from needle
    Felting and am looking for a similarly creative approach to embroidery… so I am starting with animals and with the painting masters. It is such fun seeing how painters create their magic and trying to copy it in thread!

    894
  666. What a great selection for the give-away! It’s hard to pick my favorite subject as I like to work on a lot of different items. If I had to pick just one, it would have to be buildings and scenes (can that count as 1?).

    Judy

    895
  667. Birds and flowers are my favorite images to stitch.
    I have some for every season — just finished a chick-a-dee with a
    Christmas hat.

    897
  668. I’m drawn to stitching houses/buildings. Over the years I have stitched at least 9 houses in cross-stitch that I can think of, and 3 ribbon/surface embroidered panels of houses. In my hallway I have 3 framed houses on the walls, that fondly remind me of where I was living/my frame of mind at the time of stitching them. I’ve also stitched a couple of castles, and have made several small quick pieces for putting in cards. I don’t know what the attraction is, but I keep collecting cottage type patterns from magazines etc, in my physical and electronic stash – will never have enough time to make them all as of course I have a zillion other embroidery and bobbin lace projects on the go at all times – but I still keep stashing more patterns and kits away!

    898
  669. I like embroidering designs from Sublime Stitching, but not on any particular subject. I prefer small distinctive objects rather than a large, all over pattern.

    901
  670. Although my stitching is quite varied, I find that I drift towards fish or other ocean themed items including mermaids. Most of my fish are quite whimsical and a lot of fun to stitch with bright colors and fun stitches

    Tanis

    902
  671. Beetles! I stumbled on embroidered beetles on the net. Then I found Jane Nicholas’ “Stumpwork Goldwork and Surface Embroidery Beetle Collection”. As someone quite new to embroidery, I am aiming to one day complete the specimen box. I have started with the surface embroidery. It is a great learning tool as these little projects have so much variety.

    903
  672. I love to stitch detailed scenes with trees animals flowers
    I will sometimes photocopy interesting designs that are on fabric
    And stitch these
    Thank you for a chance at s great embroidery package
    Merry Xmas
    Carole

    904
  673. My favorite would depend on the type thing I am stitching. My art pieces are generally landscapes which I love doing, but I love Hardanger, and that is geometric really, then there’s x stitch, those all have people in them! And I love, love, love birds, so if I ever find the time to do needle painting patterns it most likely will be birds – or that piece like Mary did a few years ago of the adult coloring book birds. Just loved that piece too. What can I say, I like just about all of it!

    905
  674. When my needle is moving I am in my happy place. The needle could be in my hand or attached to a sewing machine. As to types of embroidery, I have primarily worked traditional surface embroidery, Brazilian embroidery and cross-stitch. Currently, I am gathering supplies to stitch a family crest with silk fabric appliqué, silk thread and gold thread. Hopefully, It will begin sometime next year. I am definitely jumping in the deep end of the pool with this project, but once again it will take me on another stitching adventure! Yeah!

    906
  675. I’m hands-down a sucker for geometrics. The traditional designs of temari are very much geometric oriented, as is the entire stitching form. When I work in other techniques, I still find myself going to geometric patterns and designs (and projects, for that matter).

    907
  676. What a generous collection of goodies!
    I don’t often get to do much embroidery, but hope to change that in 2019.
    When I do get to stitch, it is usually flowers. I have a black thumb, so the real ones are quite challenging, and I can hide my inconsistent stitching with the “no two flowers are alike” ploy. 🙂

    908
  677. Although I like flowers, Jacobean style, romantic type of embroidery, I really like stitching butterflies.

    910
  678. I am a split personality stitcher!! I love geometric counted stitching, but my other half loves cute animals in fine long and short stitch and satin stitch!!
    Choices!!

    911
  679. Hi Mary,
    My favourite stitching is stumpwork, wool work and surface embroidery. I had to think about my subjects because there are so many I’ve done over the years. I would have to say animals, florals and especially Jane Nichols stumpwork. I have done so many projects from Inspirations magazine (I have the complete collection) most with great success. Thank you for the Holly and Evergreen patterns. I am now working it on a beautiful woven tea towel a very dear friend made for me. Best wishes to all the beautiful stitchers.
    Robbin

    912
  680. My favourite subject to stitch is wildlife both real and west coast aboriginal representations.

    913
  681. Hi Mary! I like to stitch samplers, but current designs, not reproductions. I like geometric designs, and funny designs. My favorite thing is when a family member is married, I stitch a frame around their wedding invitation, and frame it. I’ve done maybe eight of them, and even though they’re the same design, they all look different. The recipients love them!

    914
  682. I have two favorite subject matters to stitch.

    As a 1770s reenactor I have a deep love of the 18th century and my specialty is embroidery. I work on reproduction pieces at events and I love the period designs which go well with our home which is faux colonial.

    An the other hand, I also love teddy bears and love to stitch pieces of teddy bears – including many which are Christmas pieces.

    If I had to give up stitching one of the two, I would not be able to choose.

    915
  683. I love to stitch trees, florals and animals. I am somewhat new to embroidery, but finding your web page and tutorials has been a HUGE help and inspiration!! Thank you!

    916
  684. I like samplers florals and antique looking items! usually one of a kind things with a person in mind.

    917
  685. My favorite subject for embroidery is samplers: reproduction, modern, band and samplers with florals.

    918
  686. I love florals (think Jacobian), birds and animals (Trish Burr), samplers (especially to try out new styles of embroidery), the geometrics of canvas work, and the little Mill Hill kits of Santas and Halloween fare for little decor items for the seasons. So no specific favourite – it just depends on what I am stitching for.

    919
  687. I most frequently stitch flowers, but am drawn to anything from nature. I also enjoy a variety of stitches. Suck a lovely gift from a very generous company.

    920
  688. I love all things bright and colourful. Indian and South American embroidery with bright geometric designs really grab me and I love to stitch paisley and stylized elephants.

    921
  689. I like to embroider flowers. I will embroider fun in a series characters but most of the patterns I am drawn to are flowers.

    923
  690. For years and years it was florals and fruits of all types. Then it became mementoes of trips, like sunsets and skylines, but also florals of that area. Then, babies had babies and it was samplers and cartoon animals.Now, I am learning new things like gojdwirk and pulled threads and I am Concentrating on giftable items, like monograms. So much to learn and I need to live to 130 to finish all my projects!

    924
  691. My favourite subject for embroidery is a hard one! I love birds and flowers, and guess that anything in the natural world is an attractive prospect to stitch. I also enjoy the fantasy and mythological world, dragons and unicorns being special favourites. Looking at my more recent projects, I think birds are most numerous, but crewel flowers are not far behind.

    The needlework tools look wonderful, and will always be welcome presents. Thank you Mary, for all you do!

    925
  692. Another wonderful give-away possibility! I tend to like nature themes, but I admire any stitched theme. Thank you again, Mary!

    927
  693. I really enjoy folk art floral pieces and pictures of children, but I also like vintage pieces. It’s hard to decide on just one thing. Variety keeps things interesting.

    929
  694. Favorite subject matter for embroidery? That’s almost as hard as picking my favorite color. I guess it has to be nature related – flowers, leaves, trees, scenery, animals, etc., or perhaps intricate designs with the more colors, the better. I mostly just love to see something emerge from thread and cloth.

    931
  695. Thank you for this lovely giveaway! Hands down my favourite image to stitch is angels. I have only done two large ones but they are by far my most favourite!

    Thanks again. Techiya.

    932
  696. Quite simply, I love to stitch the Adirondacks. Whether it’s a landscape of mountains, a close-up of tiny white flowers, or an ermine my HH photographed, I love the things that were made by God instead of man. I mostly stitch as realistically as I can, usually in needle painting, but lately I’ve been interested in primitive, child-like designs, too. And I’m quite fond of Montmellick and other white work. And, of course, I do things for friends and family that are what they like, not necessarily what I like.

    So I like a variety of embroidery subjects and styles, but I always come back to the Adirondack Mountains.

    933
  697. I love to stitch Christmas ornaments. It gives me so much pleasure to think about the person I am stitching it for and the pleasure it will give them and I really enjoy seeing the ornament take shape.

    934
  698. Over the years I have mostly embroidered florals, which I still love, but recently I have been exploring birds. I like to combine small bits of applique in my pieces and although I am still working with birds, I have a a feeling that I will soon move on to architectural images. I love color and stitch texture more than subject matter, I suppose.

    935
  699. Wow, good question and the honest answer is that I feel inspired by so many images and styles of needlecraft. My preference is for small pieces that demand precision and the planning begins when I come up with a project that challenges my skills and patience but which should give me some pride in accomplishing, whatever subject it may be.

    936
  700. I am a beginner, but I enjoy decorating clothing with monograms and linear stitching. I completed an alphabet sampler a long time ago. I am currently doing applique and embroidery on two jackets for a baby grandson.

    937
  701. My favorite subject is fauna with flora being my second favorite and I love more modern needlework, even though I appreciate what I consider more traditional needlecraft. Basically I just love it all!

    939
  702. I love counted cross stitch and simple outline stitched flowers. Would love to win one of these fabulous collections.

    940
  703. It’s definitely all about flowers for me! I have extensive gardens and anything floral (fabric, paper, boxes, notecards, embroidery) makes me smile!

    What a wonderful give-away. I’d love to win, of course, but will be thrilled for whomever wins to have all these new treasures added to the stash!

    941
  704. I like to stitch people and animals where subtle stitching can convey body language and personality. My favorite part is when they “come alive”!
    Thanks for the fun give always, if I could only win☺️

    942
  705. I like Jacobean patterns and the kind of leafy acanthus fern stuff – so I guess stylized plants. I also enjoy geometric patterns, since there’s less to think about in some ways.

    943
  706. I enjoy stitching florals mostly, however I also love experimenting with combination stitches with wool appliqué. I have done Brazilian embroidery also. So much fun! What a fun prize!

    945
  707. Hi, Please delete if first comment comes to light. My comment disappeared in cyberspace.
    My favourite to stitch would have to be birds & flowers. The more realistic the better. As to the articles I stitch, anything that I can afford & that appeals to me or I think would suit someone I know. My items I like, I’m aiming to do a folder & accessories for each type of stitching. Thanks.

    946
  708. I’m a beginner and don’t have much knowledge on embroidery, but I think it is beautiful and want to learn more. Thank You Mary for all your information you put on your site.

    947
  709. I love embroidering flowers. I love to do Brazilian embroidery. You can make so many flowers so realistic they are almost lifelike. I love color, too. I can make flowers that look realistic or I can get creative with all those beautiful threads and make flowers of my own creation. I am definitely drawn to flowers as my favorite thing to embroidery.

    950
  710. My first thought was everything. After thought, my top two categories are monochrome white or cream geometric and Christmas themes?

    951
  711. My favourite subject matter is animals, both real and fantasy, in lots of different embroidery techniques.

    954
  712. I’m a character person but find I do I love samplers a lot and they always have people-most if the time.

    955
  713. I find myself stitching people the most. I love the challenge of trying to portray a true expression, either in the eyes, or in the overall picture.
    Merry Christmas Mary.

    960
  714. Floral. I have always loved flowers and all the wonderful plants that surround us. I am amazed at the beautiful way that designers capture the essence of their beauty in needlework.

    962
  715. I love the stylized Jacobean birds. It’s so much fun to experiment with colors and stitch variations.

    964
  716. I tend toward floral and nature, but I’m also fascinated by Jacobean designs and the concept of telling a story through tapestry.

    967
  717. I have 13 Grandchildren and I have embroidered a set of 7 flour sack towels for each of them. I could not pick out any one subject because each one is a new adventure. After I stamp them and pick out my thread for the set, I spend every spare moment on them. You have shown me so many new stitches since I recently subscribed I can hardly wait for the holiday baking to be done so I can get busy on my flour sack towels.

    968
  718. I like flowers as needlework subjects. I have not tried thread painting yet, but love the effect. I have also done several complex cross stitch patterns of Victorian mansions in northern California, my second favourite suject.

    969
  719. I love floral embroidery and have been using your videos and wonderful information. I just finished a floral letter! So excited!! Thank you for all the help and wonderful instructions that you have so generously blessed us with. I am learning so much and would be so excited to win these goodies!

    Merry Christmas!
    MaryAnn

    970
  720. Little critters are my subject of choice! Simply outlined creatures make great little motifs. I also like to do more abstract, but meaningful, small designs as parts of larger projects. And small scenes, nothing too intricate in filling in, but some satin stitched deer running in a forest leaving behind little footprints… I’ve been working on doing “in the round” scenes decorating the outside of relatively simple drawstring bags, and its been very satisfying!

    971
  721. I would love to try all these products. Having a life style change, it would come in very handy. I love to stitch all sorts of designs and ideas. I do a lot of holiday motifs, ezp. for Christmas but all stitching motifs, beer designs for my homebrew hubby, sometimes wine things for my mom who lived in the Sonoma region for many years, all types of things. I love variety. Thanks Needle in a Haystack! And Mary also!!

    972
  722. My favorite type of needle is historical sampler – especially the band samplers of the 17th century, although my favorite sampler I have stitched is a Mexican 19th century sampler. I love the history of needlework and the stories the samplers tell. Following a complex chart is fun and challenging. Switching up colors and stitches adds my style to a chart.

    Thank you for all you do for the needlework community,

    Lois

    974
  723. Sure can’t pick one of the kinds that I like to embroider! Might depend on the person, or the occasion but I certainly do decide exactly what theme fits the purpose.

    976
  724. I’m rather partial to samplers although I do like doing numerous Christmas decorations for all my stitching pals.

    977
  725. I love geometric designs like mandalas. There’s something very contemplative and meditative about the repetition and building of design.

    979
  726. What a wonderful give away!! My favorite things to stitch are animals. I love to do small animals. Thanks Kim

    980
  727. I am a floral person.
    I love embroidering flowers trying to incorporate all the stitches that I can. My favorite is fine embroidery.

    981
  728. It is a tossup between birds and butterflies but in the end the Butterflies win. Whether stitching “real” ones or make believe ones, the variations seem endless and so easy to be imaginative when stitching them.

    984
  729. I love birds and have recently finished a gold work stump work piece based on a historic tile. Thank you for the opportunity of winning some goodies for Christmas.

    986
  730. My favorite subject matter to stitch is nature themes, the more natural looking the better (although in cross stitch, not techniques like silk shading). Mostly flowers, but also birds, bears or other woodland creatures.

    987
  731. I guess I’m a cross between stylized and sampler. I often work on hand dyed textiles and let the piece determine the stitches.

    989
  732. My favorite subject to embroider is nature especially trees and tree leaves….in the colors of spring or automn. For christmas decorations I love angels and chérubins.

    990
  733. Your story about a fuzzy sleeper, blanket and bunny slippers was so darn cute—–I pictured myself on Christmas morning minus the coming down the stairs part, our house is one floor. I would love to see my Christmas stocking stuffed with all those wonderful stitching tools. To answer the question, I don’t have a favorite subject, when I find something that catches my eye I go for it and that becomes my favorite until my next project. I guess I am a buffet stitcher.

    Merry Christmas and thank you so much for sharing your love of stitching with us.

    991
  734. My favorite thing to stitch is tiny stuff. Therefore, I like samplers. Perhaps I like these things because they don’t take long to do.

    992
  735. First, thank you Mary for your wonderful gift giving, and your wonderful site for reference. It’s the best.

    My favourite subject to embroider: That’s a tough question. I’ll admit I enjoy looking at all the irreverent needlework comment projects that go along with modern embroidery, but I keep coming back to nature as something I actually want to embroider. It can be a landscape scene, a garden scene, anywhere flowers or birds are sure to be found. For whimsy, I just downloaded The Quilting Snow Ladies from Chickadee Hollow Designs, which can be found here:
    https://www.chickadeehollowdesigns.com/shop/The-Quilting-Snow-Ladies.htm
    They are adorable. This way I can blend quilting with surface embroidery. 🙂

    993
  736. I love a variety of embroidery subjects!
    Thank you for offering a chance for a wonderful giveaway!

    994
  737. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is always anything to do with animals. Pets, wild animals, birds, mammals, sea creatures, insects, reptiles. Anything and everything. I enjoy working on the eyes, the fur (really hard for me!), markings (stripes, jaguar rosettes, spots, etc etc). Of course, the environs of the animal(s) are also really fun!

    995
  738. The “Tree of Life” is one of my favorites motifs stitched in both wool and floss. I am also stitching hexagon crazy quilt blocks using various stitch designs, silk ribbon embroidery, beading and adding charms.

    996
  739. I like line samplers for the variety of stitches used and often the color changes. I particularly also like saying, one with a thoughtful message. I will change the saying if it doesn’t impress me.

    997
  740. My most favorite subject matter for embroidery are flowers and leaves. In my local shops find myself drawn to kits full of flowers and when walking my dog I am always thinking how I would stitch the flowers and leaves I see.

    This morning I amused one of my neighbours by taking photos of some roadside weeds, but they were delicate and pretty. (dog was not impressed with having
    his walk interrupted either.)

    998
  741. La verdad es la primera vez que participo en un sorteo y nunca me he detenido a pensar cual es la temática que más me atrae, cuando algo me llama la atención lo hago sin importar la temática, gracias por los temas que expone son muy bonitos y me han servido mucho para realizar mis proyectos. Feliz Navidad y Prospero 2019 desde Colombia (Sur América)

    999
  742. I am primarily a floral and scenic type of stitcher. I like quiet places with many colours as in water and sunsets and trees and hills. I also have recently been enjoying some geometric stitching in a variation of pattern darning but any misplaced stitch is not so forgiving as in nature where there is perfection but irregularities are acceptable.

    1002
  743. I have a bird in almost every project I stitch. So I guess my subject matter is birds. In fact as I think about it, I want to go start a new project that incorporates a bird. I am thinking a snowflake scene with a bird wrapped in a quilt.

    1003
  744. Birds! I love birds in all their forms, from stylized suggestions to realistic needle painting. I love vines and leaves and flowers as well, any elements that contribute to a well balanced composition. That said, I also enjoy the traditional sampler, the beauty of the form of learning;)

    1004
  745. My favourites are birds, and flowers.
    Thank you for the chance for the give-away!
    I enjoy, and look forward to your email.

    1005
  746. I have done mostly Christmas scenes, Santas, etc. I have recently started expanding out from cross stitching and have tried geometric, flowers and insects. Have yet to decide on what I like the best.

    1007
  747. My favorite subjects are florals, both traditional and stylized, with classic crewel ones at the very top.

    1008
  748. What a joy it would be to have this set of Stitcher’s Essential. A wonderful selection for my wool applique and great for all the embellishing that comes with it. Please tell Santa “I’ve been good”. Thank you for the great offer!

    1009
  749. I guess I am a floral person. I love doing flowers. but I have also loved the butterfly sampler I did.

    1010
  750. I love to stitch a variety of subjects. I find that I usually stitch something with a floral theme.

    1012
  751. My favorite subject is Christmas tree ornaments. I make an ornament every year for each of my nieces and nephews and their children. Each person has a specific theme: angels, snowmen, etc.

    1013
  752. I’m completely taken by White on White embroidery and am trying to learn all that I can about it. Monograms and Ciphers (?cyphers) with designs around the letters are what I like the most followed by designs that can be used for table runners, etc. They’re so beautiful and I don’t have to worry about any color choices!

    1015
  753. Mostly flowers with a few rural scenes. As long as it is relatable to me personally so it is worth all the hard work and unpicking. Although there is this tiger in a pool of water in cross-stitch…..

    1017
  754. I love to stitch wintery things, snowmen and snowflakes, and all things related to cats and dogs. I love the holidays, mainly Halloween and Christmas. It’s fun to switch out my decor with the seasons!

    1018
  755. I guess I never thought about what I was stitching. I guess it’s a stitching potpourri. Most things I stitch are more stylized. I love the stitch itself and like to use them in lots of ways. I also like some geometric like Hardanger, pulled and drawn thread. The joy is in the stitching.

    1019
  756. My first love is samplers, especially early 16th-17th century styles. I also love the scrolling vines and flowers seen in elizabethan embroidery.

    1023
  757. My favorite things to stitch is a floral design where I can mix stitches, threads and add beading if appropriate. I often embroider my quilt labels using a floral frame and have just started using your monogram alphabet with flowers, Mary.

    1024
  758. I love samplers and probably do them the most, but I really do an assortment of stitching from wool applique to Blackwood to simple embroidery.

    1025
  759. I love all kinds of needlework, so to pick only one is very difficult. I enjoy samplers, flowers, white on white, as long as there is a needle in my hand…I am happy

    1028
  760. I can’t decide if its flowers first or animals, guess I’d have to say it’s a tie. My maternal grandmother taught me embroidery when I was 8 or 9 and I’d stay at their farm for a couple weeks in the summer. I guess I must have been annoying her as she said “sit down I’m going to teach you something useful”. I was hooked, although I have learned many arts and crafts, embroidery is THE one I come back to as relaxing and am proud of the results.

    1030
  761. My favorite subject to embroider is flowers. I love making any and all types and in any color palette.

    1031
  762. I tend to stitch more snowmen and angels as ornaments and wall hangings. The season is longer for those items but can never rule out good ole Santa! Have done many of him!

    1032
  763. I’m a newbie with stitching, but at this point in time I’m drawn to thought provoking statements, and geometric designs. Large, bold color statements, and simple stitches. Thanks for all you have taught me Mary on your site. You are my mentor.

    1033
  764. I do cross stitch for my family & friends. I am interested in learning more about other embroidery. Would be a great gift.

    1034
  765. I love Needle in a Haystack. Great store and customer service. I am often teased by my family as I love stitching geometric pieces. I am currently stitching samplers, but I have a desire to start a new needlepoint geometric. Favorites are Gay Ann Rogers and Ro Pace.

    1038
  766. I like to embroider flowers although I find myself equally stitching birds and geometrical. Go figure! Thx.

    1039
  767. I fell in love with samplers a long time ago. I then came across Quaker designs which satisfied my love for geometric. So now my favorite design to stitch are old Quaker samplers.

    1040
  768. I like to stitch samplers and this time of year, I also like to stitch Christmas ornaments.

    1041
  769. I love geometric patterns on fine canvas and Mandalas. Also thread painted birds. I like to make them into little boxes or book covers – something that can be used.

    1042
  770. I love to stitch samplers preferably ones with specialty stitches although somehow lately I’ve ended up with cross stitch ones from the 1800’s with lots of flowers and figures human and animal.

    1043
  771. I love stitching botanicals and landscapes. Thanks for providing these fun drawings! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

    1044
  772. I mainly love surface embroidery, cats, flowers, portraits (Sue Stone), Japanese embroidery (Yumiko Higuchi), Mary’s Christmas trees, and Kathy Schmitz’s simple embroidery, that she stitches without a hoop. I do like more complex work as well, Tanja Berlin’s needle painting and gold work, but I like to be able to work on simple designs while travelling on transit.

    1045
  773. My current favorite subject matter includes mandalas and celtic designs. I’m also fascinated by medieval iconography and plan to explore that in the near future.

    1047
  774. My favorite stitching projects (there are two) are Moira Blackburn designs–I just love the stitches, how the project looks upon finishing–just everything about them. The other is the Prairie Schooler Santa series, which I’m slowly working my way through.

    1048
  775. I tend more towards scenic, floral stitching -realistic or fantastical. Although, I’ve been doing some visible mending recently; and for that I’ve mostly been doing more geometric, sashiko-inspired stitching.

    1050
  776. My favorite thing to stitch is samplers. I enjoy having some challenging stitches mixed in with the cross stitch. If the design has flowers or birds that makes it even better! What a great give away! Thanks for the chance to win a great collection of sewing tools!

    1053
  777. Over the past year my stitching subjects have been seasonal as I try to increase the number of decorations we have for holidays other than Christmas. Thanks, Mary!

    1054
  778. variety is the spice of stitching, both in subject and form (counted thread, needlepoint, beading)

    1055
  779. My favorite subjects to stitch are flowers and insects associated with flowers such as bees, ladybugs, and butterflies.

    1058
  780. I really enjoy stitching animals, the special part about it is that they were all friends of mine when I was a small child.

    1059
  781. Well Mary what a lot of questions to answer, but the prize is definitely worth it. My favourite subject matter is definitely floral, usually single strand silk on silk but lots of cotton too. I prefer to design my own, that way no one knows if I’ve made a mistake. Quite often it is a scene or part of a scene that becomes a feature piece. I loathe back stitch and think it is over used. Bullions would be what I get the most Oh and Ah over. Variety is what I enjoy the most. Learning something new or using it in a new way. Im a traditionalist and enjoy discovering the history of embroidery styles not just stitching them.

    1061
  782. I love to embroidery birds! The more color they have the more I love them! I am using the shading and blending techniques. Still relearning after a 30 year break!

    1062
  783. Hi Mary. My favorite style of needlework is the simplistic style of the Arts and Crafts era. I also enjoy intricate wedding and birth designs. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

    1063
  784. I like to embroider flowers and hearts. For a long time I liked everything to be framed in a square, but love the hoop designs I see on Instagram.

    1065
  785. I love learning about the history of embroidery and am very attracted to historical sampler patterns, especially the ones stitched by young English girls as part of their education.
    I also love embroidering birds and have about 4 projects on the go at present.

    1066
  786. What a great giveaway! And what an easy question … furred or feathered, the creatures around us are my favorite subects! (followed closely by the flora and fauna …

    Thank you for the opportunity! And for the heads up on Needle in a Haystack!

    1067
  787. Oh Mary, this is a generous giveaway!
    I love giving my hands to stitch anything and everything but I always find myself more so than not stitching primitive samplers.

    1068
  788. My all time favourite is Jacobean Crewel. I love the Jacobean style flowers, leaves, birds and animals. I find it so relaxing to work these pieces. My next favourite is designing and embellishing fabric landscapes. I get to play with both fabric and thread stash.

    1069
  789. Good morning Mary, wow another great give away! I love embroidery tools! My favorite season is Christmas therefore I enjoy stitching anything that relate to Christmas, Santa Claus, advent calendar, tree decoration etc. Thanks again for the incredible opportunity and hope you have a good week

    1070
  790. Being a person who loves nature, I love floral designs! I especially love the look of intertwining vines. I hope to spend more time working on executing padded stitches.

    1071
  791. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is flowers. I do enjoy a variety of subject matters as well. Thank you for the wonderful giveaways you’ve been doing!

    1072
  792. The majority of my pieces either represent a place/location I have visited on vacation/travel OR of lighthouse ( I have lived near the ocean for over 40 years)

    Happy Holidays to ALL my fellow stitchers & especially to you, Mary !!!

    1076
  793. I love all kinds of needlework, with Jacobean crewel designs done with floss rather than wool, are my favorite. Love the multitude of stitches, always learn or “inventing” something new.

    1077
  794. My favorite subject tends to be flowers. I mainly am interested in creating doll clothing for specific small dolls. I love to do border designs that feature small flowers, bullion knots etc. I also enjoy geometric designs that are great for skirt and bodice trimming. I have also featured tiny flowers in my designs.

    1078
  795. Thanks again for a great opportunity, Mary and Kathe.

    I usually stitch floral, abstract or even architectural designs. I am ornithophobic so I have big problems with the current fashion for bird patterns.

    1079
  796. I generally like to embroider animals, and am working my way towards doing a couple of Trish Burr robins.

    1080
  797. My favorite subject to stitch kind of depends on what type of stitching I am doing. For needlepoint I am definitely drawn to geometric designs; silk ribbon to flowers, thread painting to animals and birds. And I just love the tools being given away – and have nothing but praise for Needle in a Haystack. I have ordered numerous times from them.

    1084
  798. My favorite embroidery is shadow work on baby or children’s clothing. I love using hand dyed floss to embroider a beautiful bow. Watching the colors gradually change as I stitch the bow is amazing. I love using fine needles and scissors as I stitch. Diane Polley

    1085
  799. My favorite subject is samplers. I what the little girls did at such a young age and I struggle with it as an adult.

    1086
  800. I really love stitching flowers. The colors, the variety and the ability to use lots of different stitches when creating something is very appealing to me.

    1087
  801. G’day Mary,
    At an artist’s fair I stopped to look over a framing stall. The owner said she could tell what subject matter an artist painted by just looking at them. She pinned pretty garden flowers and birds onto me.
    You can’t always tell a creative person by the make of their coat!

    I go for out of the square designs, abstract or stylistic. A variety of subject matter, from cottage items to treetops and clouds to, dare I say, flowers and birds but, it has to be different, unconventional, even puzzling.
    Cheers, Kath, Australia.

    1088
  802. I’m definitely a floral person. With a garden of wildflowers I’ve got lots of
    potential subjects to stitch…oh the fun.

    1089
  803. My favorite stitching is a complicated abstract project with many different stitches and different threads.

    1090
  804. My favorite subject for embroidery seems to be wolves, based on the collection of “do me next” patterns, LOL. I do love realistic animals and Christmas designs, though I only seem to do small Christmas designs as ornaments. I have some lovely Christmas samplers in my stash, waiting patiently for their turn.

    1091
  805. Love tulip needles. Use them for sewing Hexies together. Not use any of their embroidery needles. But love to try

    1092
  806. I like florals and birds. I like stylized like jacobean and also traditional. I do enjoy samplers as well.

    1093
  807. I really enjoy samplers as well Victorian period embroider. I am working on a Victorian set of pillow cases hoping to finish them in time for Christmas!
    Thank you Mary and have a Wonderful Holiday Season.
    Yvonne

    1096
  808. I love doing Hardanger–the traditional off-white on off-white. An when working in color really love working flowers, trees, vines and critters. I also love working all of those in blackwork!

    1097
  809. My favourite subject for stitching is nature and flowers and plants in particular. I love all forms of flowers and am quite happy stitching in shades of blue or pink. There are so many stitches that can be incorporated into flowers and leaves and I am continually experimenting with new stitches and colours

    1098
  810. I usually end up stitching samplers the most often but I’m in love with flowers and tend to gravitate to something with flowers in it and the more color the better.

    1100
  811. My favorite subject for stitching is nature. I can’t imagine anything more beautiful and perfect than flowers birds animals etc. With the variety that nature provides there is always something else to stitch and so many ways to interpret them.

    1103
  812. I love floral patterns – I like to invent flowers and greenery.

    I have to say, I’m much better at stitching organic things. But I’m working my way into trying more geometric patterns. I like them but I’m afraid super precision isn’t my best skill.

    1104
  813. I find myself doing mainly floral stitching. Different threads and stitches make each project different. I also occasionally do animals and birds. Each one has it’s appeal.

    1105
  814. Hello! My favorite thing I enjoy embroidering is animals, but anything kitchen themed for dish towels and such is definitely a close second!

    1106
  815. It depends on the embroidery technique My favorite needlepoint designs tend to be geometric samplers. For surface embroidery, I like crazy quilting, which can encompass every type of design. The possibilities are endless!

    1107
  816. I love stitching band samplers. Not a specific subject or design, but rather a variety of specialty stitches, including pulled and drawn.

    When I do stitch motifs, I like flowers and sheep.

    Shepherd’s Bush are some of my favourite designs, as they often combine a variety of counted stitches with my favourite themes.

    1108
  817. Wow, what a glorious gift give away!!!! I’m definitely a floral person. I’m a “nubie” to Brazilian embroidery and I’m “over the moon” excited to be learning to make bullion roses and the back stitch and several leaf stitches. I love your tutorial videos!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise!!

    1110
  818. Hi Mary, I am so excited about another opportunity to win a giveaway. My favorite subjects to stitch are BIRDS, BIRDS, BIRDS and Hearts. I seem to love the heart shape and cannot get enough of birds also, especially chickadees. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Cheers Anna

    1111
  819. I love counted work – samplers on linens and geometric designs on canvas. Precision speaks to me! Thanks for the giveaway opportunity, Mary.

    1112
  820. Right now I am embroidering flowers, and trying to improve my skills !
    Next I want to try a mandala. Happy holidays !!

    1113
  821. It’s geometric designs all the way for me! I’m drawn to mandalas and knot gardens and bands, especially if they work right through the rainbow in colour order….gorgeous.

    Thanks so much to you and the various suppliers/retailers for putting these lovely prizes together!

    Alison Owen

    1114
  822. Stylaized or geometric I think would cover it. Never really thought about my preference, I like so many different and varied things. That’s perhaps why it takes me so long to choose my next project.

    1117
  823. I have a very eclectic mix of stitching. But I tend towards the natural world and mythical realms. People and manmade don’t feature. I love birds (Trish Burr), butterflies and undersea wildife. Dragons, gnomes, Green Man, Mother Earth, some unicorns, fairies and elves (not to sweet or pretty).

    1118
  824. I am extremely interested in starting to do geometric embroidery. It is a matter of finding time to start something. I’m the sort of person who does things for others rather than finding time to do something for myself. Maybe it’s time to start!

    1119
  825. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is the paisley, because there are so many things that can be done to a paisley and it’s beauty can be used on almost any creation.

    1120
  826. I enjoy nature scenes and animals the most. I also like geometric designs.
    Merry Christmas Mary.

    1121
  827. OOOh I really want to win this one…. so many goodies on my wish list!!
    My preference is for fantasy subject matter…. but since I rarely keep what I stitch the subject matter often includes cats, chickens angels, hearts, flowers and verses, often related to stitching 🙂

    1123
  828. I am always drawn to natural designs. Flowers, leaves, branches and animals. I also tend to stitch more traditional designs.

    1124
  829. I don’t have a strong preference for any particular subject, just anything that catches my eye. Over all the years I have stitched, probably the only noticeable trend is the predominant absence of people, although the odd one has slipped in here and there.
    Overall I love variety, novelty and making things that match other people’s likes and interests (I’m currently stitching a frog for a friend who is obsessed with them).

    1125
  830. Flowers in a range of stitches and any way I can find of personalising. I really enjoy initials entwined with flowers or vines, and have made new home photo album covers with two initials satin stitched in graded colour for the humans and a satin stitch dog’s head for their precious pooch.

    1126
  831. I enjoy doing florals and animals. I really enjoy your newsletters – I’ve learned so much from you – Thank you!

    1127
  832. Flowers in a variety of styles and stitches. Also, personalising gifts with initials illuminated with flowers and leaves. One of my favourites was a new home photo album cover with first initials entwined with vines over a satin stitch of their precious pooch.

    1129
  833. I love to stitch nature objects: birds, flowers, succulents. In my classes though, I do a lot of applique with my students which is also really cute!

    1131
  834. My absolute favorite subject matter to stitch are samplers. I love samplers and have spent countless hours stitching them, researching them and searching local, and some not so local, embroidery shops on my quest to find new and more challenging samplers.

    1132
  835. I love cute things/fandom things as gifts for my friends. It’s really fun seeing people experience needlework that is something they don’t expect, especially if they have only ever thought of embroidery as something grandmas do. I’m still pretty inexperienced and just starting out with it, so most of the things I’ve made are very simple, but I love it.

    1133
  836. My favourite style to stitch, among many, is reproduction samplers because I love the different motifs and their historical significance.

    1134
  837. Flowers predominantly, I think embroidery is a great medium for them. But I’ve also ventured into birds!

    1135
  838. I am very much enjoying the reincarnation of Elizabethan Stitching and all the Surface Stitching that goes with it. There are many challenges and projects that I have got involved with – some are rather enormous and others are more manageable, but I have been able to scale down some to make some lovely Kris Kringle gifts for my stitching friends also. Whilst I generally have a pretty considerable stash of threads and fabrics collected over many years, the addition of a wonderful set of embroidery tools and equipment would make a heavenly contribution of my collection. Here’s keeping my fingers crossed for extra good luck!

    1136
  839. I love stitching reproduction samplers because of the vast array of different motifs you can find in one design. My favourite among them, though, are the stylised pots of flowers and trees.

    1137
  840. I like all kinds of whitework, Schwalm, Pulled thread, Surface embroidery, Hardanger.
    I like the texture of the stitches and threads to tell the story.

    1138
  841. My favorite stitchable are samplers of a more primitive style. Any sampler with various trees, American flags, birds, houses or cottages, intrigue me. I try and incorporate a mini American flag in most of my pieces.

    1139
  842. Just love Mary’s detailed photos of stitching methods, great tips and clear photos make it so much easier to tackle tricky stitches. Must say Mary that your colour choices are so great, I vacillate for ages trying to choose colours

    1140
  843. I like fonts and alphabets. I have designed multiple alphabets for friends and family and I really enjoy turning fonts into cross stitch patterns. I like trying to sort out the correct proportions and curves.

    1142
  844. My favourite thing to stitch is quirky, almost abstract designs, closely followed by monigrams and alphabets.

    1143
  845. I enjoy ‘bringing in to life; initial letters from 16th and 17th century typography. They include, apart from the illuminated letter, flowers and animals.

    1144
  846. I enjoy flowers of all kinds from crewel work to fine white work. I try to do my own drawings, but I am tempted by kits and new techniques

    1145
  847. My favorite subject matter to embroider are butterflies. A symbol of happiness to me. Just as embroidery brings me joy.

    1146
  848. My favourite item to embroider has to be flowers and all things to do with nature. its real me time trying to fit in some extra minutes here or there during the day to stitch until the evening and I can sit feet up and I have time to just indulge .
    Annette

    1147
  849. As a miniaturist, I mostly do petit point on 42-48 silk gauze, but I am currently working on a carpet on 32 count. I have tried gold work on miniature, and would like to try other embroideries. In real life I have completed 2 embroideries on linen, a piece featuring landmarks in London, and a pair of tiny owls – both projects started by my mother! I like the historical component of embroideries – both stitches, and the topics!

    1148
  850. I enjoy stitching — all types of patterns and designs. I don’t have a favorite, but I do like samplers.

    1149
  851. I love to work on historical samplers, but I have also worked on a whole range of projects that include other subjects, especially flowers and gardens. Happy Christmas everyone!

    1150
  852. I tend to lean more toward Sampler type designs.
    And I love to stitch Samplers that have a house on them, I am drawn to houses.
    Marilyn

    1151
  853. I can’t say I have a favorite subject to stitch, though I’m partial to geometric designs on canvas at the moment. It’s nice to stitch something I don’t need extra light and magnification for.

    1152
  854. I am very much a beginner stitcher, but when I have done embroidery, it tends to be floral. I enjoyed stitching different grasses and seedheads onto some of my hand made felt and I was so pleased with how they turned out.
    I love using split stitch in particular and it works well for me as an outline stitch. ( I like the thought that it is such an ancient stitch and went off researching Opus Anglicanum which does use this stitch a lot.)
    I hope to continue improving and using floral motifs – perhaps I should make that a goal for 2019?
    Best wishes
    Ellie

    1153
  855. I love hearing and reading about the use of different threads and fabrics. I am new to straying away from kits and venturing into kitting my own from patterns and making substitutions. I love the adventure and discovery

    1154
  856. Hi Mary,
    Such awesome give-always! Thank you so much. I like to embroider anything from nature mostly. I love birds and animals and sea life…
    Merry Christmas to you!

    1156
  857. My favorite subjects many years ago were samplers. I started doing cross stitch and did many Wedding samplers for friends and family. It is nice to see them still hung in their homes after many years. I also did many Christmas themes and trees. I dropped cross stitch and now have started to teach myself embroidery through your site. We have moved on a lakefront property and want to try water landscapes and trees. Also nautical themes for boat and home. I love some of the techniques I am about to try! Also, I want to be brave and even attempt to embroidery my childhood home. I love old houses and this would be a great accomplishment if I can. I zentangle and would like to incorporate this art also into embroidery. There are so many things I want to do with embroidery cannot wait to start some of them

    1158
  858. Since I do a lot of work for gifts, I tend to tailor a work to the person I’m making it for. But more and more in the last years its been work the littlest people in my expanded circle. Lately its monograms on baby blankets and such. Or, my favorite to do little pillows that can hang on doorknobs and such with a trio of floral/woodland designs done modified from the Jane Nichols stumpwork books. My favorite was a pillow for my cousin for her wedding — daffodils, strawberries and foxgloves in a swirly design. Stuff with a pillow form, add a little lace, and a piece of cord to hang it — done.

    1159
  859. I enjoy embroidering geometrics and small flowers and monograms. I try to do pieces that are useful e.g. placemats and household linens. I also enjoy doing Hardenger.

    1160
  860. I have stitched many Christmas themed gifts. Also some of Trish Burr’s florals. Thank you for this wonderful website I look forward to all of your posts.

    1161
  861. I love to stitch holiday scenes and images – especially Christmas and Halloween. Currently working on a snowman at the moment.

    1163
  862. Love all subject types but tend to do more flowers. Thank you so much for this thoughtful give away event!

    1164
  863. It seems mostly animals – real and imaginary…real: mostly raccoons; imaginary: dragons. Oh, and a thing not animal…trains.

    1165
  864. I love embroidering animals and flowers but I would love to needle paint birds in silk if I could find the confidence to do so.

    1166
  865. As a crazy quilter my thing is using a variety of stitches to create seam treatments. Merry Christmas everyone. Thank you to Mary and all the wonderful suppliers of goodies. I am always up for finding new suppliers and have purchased from several of these wonderful suppliers.

    1167
  866. i like the jacobean style of flowers as well as colorful pictures. thank you for this give away.

    marysue c

    1168
  867. My favorite subject matter for embroidery would have to be Samplers. I enjoy doing the ones with messages and with perhaps a scene along the top or bottom. They give me the most challenge and a wider choice of stitches can be encorporated into them.

    1169
  868. I love to stitch floral and samplers! Preferably in colors to match my home that I can display via easels, wall hangings, or pillows. I can enjoy them twice!

    1172
  869. I love to do geometrics with beads. Also ribbon embroidery. And Alabama Chanin! Thanks for this opportunity.

    1173
  870. I am a long-time subscriber—thank you so much for sharing your love of needlework. As a beginner I am drawn to floral designs primarily, perhaps because I hope they are more forgiving. Thanks to Needle in a Haystack for their generosity.

    1174
  871. I really enjoy variety. I’m new to the world of embroidery and amazed at what people can design. There is just so much to learn.

    1176
  872. I tend to stitch animal patterns when I’m embroidering and the Mirabilla women when I cross stitch.

    1177
  873. Seems to be geometric designs, but on further thought I think it depends on the kind of embroidery I decide to start (lots of different embroidery in progress). Geometric when doing counted canvas, hardanger; flowers and birds needle painting, and historical when doing cross stitch.
    What a beautiful grouping of tools!

    1179
  874. Oooh, this is a tough one. Probably my favorite designs are realistically florals or birds, done in needlepainting. I’ve never actually tried to do birds, but it’s up on my list soon.

    1180
  875. My favorite form of stitching is Crewel Work, I love its crazy shapes, its variety of stitches and use of colour and it’s proportions, it’s way out of proportion, insects bigger than flowers but it all comes together somehow.

    1181
  876. There is nothing that I love more than beautiful tools and needlework equipment. There is always something new to help make my needlework time easier and more enjoyable. I would love to win this wonderful prize, especially at Christmas time. Best wishes to all, Fay

    1182
  877. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is anything small. These days I find my time and patience short and I like to work on designs I can quickly complete. I do enjoy geometric designs with several different colors.

    1183
  878. I have recently come back to embroidery after many years and am enjoying stitching flowers. They are easy for this rusty stitcher to do!

    1184
  879. My favorite thing to embroider are flowers.Green thumb I don’t have (more like a black thumb when it comes to growing flowers) but I do love them so I embroider flowers with whatever material I can get my hands on. Would love the tools. thank you.

    1185
  880. My favorite subject matter is small animals. I have stitched cats, dogs, mice, rabbits and as well as several other furry creatures. It brings me joy to attempt to capture their likeness with needle and thread.

    1186
  881. My favorite subject to stitch are florals. Lately I have expanded to include geometrics, but my favorites are florals in Cosmos or DMC floss and Perle cotton. I have just started using wool thread for my wool Applique projects.

    1187
  882. My favorite is probably flowers. But I do all kinds of stuff like butterflies, flowers, trucks for grandnephews, all kinds of stuff. My favorite topic is that I want my embroidery to be usable wearable everyday art

    1188
  883. I enjoy working on various subjects, florals most of the time or scenery and also birds. Nice to mix it up and work on subjects I normally don’t work on. I also like to work on applique and add embroidery to make it personal. Happy Holidays to everyone this year.

    1193
  884. Oh, my… My granddaughter is always asking me what my favorite color is, or favorite dessert, or favorite … whatever! And I can never answer her! I have too many “favorites”! So asking me to pick just one needlework project as my favorite is an impossibility! Counted thread (cross stitch, kogin, blackwork…), beadwork on fabric, embellishing wool felt figures, bargello needlepoint, embroidery on clothing… I love it all! And having a chance to win these tools to use in all these glorious projects is such a blessing! Thank you, to both you, Mary, and Needle in a Haystack, for the opportunity!!

    1194
  885. Well, it depends on the item. If it’s something for Christmas, my favorite would be horses.

    But if it’s something for a bedroom, bathroom etc., then it may be floral or another design that fits the room.

    1196
  886. I enjoy stitching people, individuals and characters watching them come alive in my hands. To watch as their eyes light up, a smile cross their face and a personality develop is exciting.

    1199
  887. What a lovely collection of tools. Thank you and all the suppliers for offering such great holiday sweepstakes offerings.

    I used to say I was a sampler stitcher. Modern and reproduction samplers in counted work. Period. But lately I’ve been drawn to the florals and surface embroidery. I struggle with people. I’m ok with charted people, depending on the designer, but not so much otherwise. And I’ve wanted to get into goldwork every since I stumbled across this site!

    1200
  888. My favorite subjects are varied. I do a lot of animals, samplers, christmas ornaments (40/year) and EGA classes and projects. If I see something I like….I stitch it. Both my children love cats both big and small. My grandkids like whatever I send them. I love samplers or palm trees. I plan to make a few Christmas trees from your book next Christmas. Have a wonderful holiday season.

    1201
  889. I absolutely love creating Chrismon-style ornaments. I am drawn to the beautiful fine gold metallic thread, snowy white base and iridescent white seed beads. I enjoy gifting the ornaments to friends and family!

    1202
  890. I have done some floral designs — based on reality and fanciful imaginings but, I am was very taken with Jane Nicholas’ stumpwork beetle collection. I would say I have returned to the insect world most often for inspiration. The shapes, textures, and colors of beetles and moths (found elsewhere), individual and as part of a pattern, are endless! Happy Holidays to all!

    1204
  891. Your question is hard for me because I love so many types to embroidery; and to be honest, my favorite type is usually whatever project I am working on at the time. Also, I choose my projects based on whatever style that I think the recipient of the project would love. I incorporate miniature stitcheries onto sewing supply cases, bible covers, eye glass cases, phone cases, hankies, and then also bigger projects like table runners, table clothes, kitchen towels, place mats, quilts and wall hangings. . . . I don’t sell my work, just make beautiful one-of-a-kind gifts. (I hate making the same thing twice — that’s my biggest vice. I lose interest as soon as a project is done; because there are so many other new ideas that I always want to explore.) And I love embroidering, cross stitching, quilting, and sewing every day. However, your question is what is “my” favorite. For myself, I am always drawn to landscape designs, small or large — and this year I’ve especially loved making cameo designs inside borders, (like a stitched greeting card) with vignettes of vintage nostalgic places: like mountains, seashores, or street scenes like specialty shops, houses, bridges, barns or beautiful churches. Some of the vignettes are of children’s antique toys and sewing supplies, or kitchen appliances, dishes, fruits and vegetables. After I make about 12 of them, I incorporate them into a thematic quilt top. Sometimes the squares in a quilt are names of loved ones and special thoughts and prayers for someone who is old and sick — so a variety of calligraphy lettering and narrow border options are great for individual blocks! Using unique lettering for each project keeps me motivated so the projects move along quickly. I also love making anything with monograms and often add a hand-stitched monogram onto my original designs of quilt backing labels which I like to mimic the overall quilt theme. I love inspiring bible quotes and encouraging, positive sayings. Sampler quilts are always fun too; and any new narrow border patterns I come across often turn up in my samplers for baby and wedding gifts. I love stitching animals and plants, flowers and insects too. Sometimes the animals are realistic; but other times they are novelty, quirky and humorous — all depending on the personality of the recipient. I even love really abstract animals that are very abstract and filled with words or scrollwork, like a coloring page. I don’t embroider many people, except in profile or walking and seen from behind though, probably because I hope the viewers will be able to see themselves in the “story” of the design. All of your lovely designs inspire me. Some show up directly, and others become the base for further embellishment. I love rework and blackwork, modern and very traditional — and I am never happier that when I get the opportunity to teach the fine arts of sewing and embroidery to new people, both young and old. To be honest, when I pick up my needle and thread, I never really am certain what the final result will be. It’s almost like I am channeling the inspiration as I stitch. LOL! I hope that is a close enough answer to your question to enter the competition. Well, either way, it is my honest response. I love all of the sewing arts and love to share each type of crafting across multiple disciplines. Every day that I find time to stitch is a really great day! Have a great stitching day everyone!

    1205
  892. As time goes on, I am more drawn to flowers and birds to embroider and crosstitch. The colors and variety seem unending and the joy I get from the finished project stays with me.

    1206
  893. My favorite stitching design are flowers , leaves and vines. I like patterns that are open and flowing. My grandchildren like me to stitch butterflies, ladybug and bees

    1207
  894. I’m just getting back into stitching. I enjoy doing ornaments, monograms and small projects that are reminding me of the joy of a completed project and the fun of learning new stitches.

    1208
  895. My favorite subject matter to stitch is seasonal pieces. I love to decorate for each season/holiday, so I’m usually working on something for the upcoming holiday. I also do stitching as gifts for family and friends.

    1209
  896. My favorite stitching project is a sampler. They are so varied and use so many stitches and designs, one can never run out of ideas. After I finish three major projects ongoing, I plan to begin a band sampler using surface, pulled, and drawn thread motifs.

    1210
  897. I tend to like sampler pieces and geometrics. Often it is the mix of design and color that draws me to a piece.

    1211
  898. Definitely floral! Inspiration from the garden, or from embroidery styles around the world, or my absolute favourite, playing with petal shapes and infinite colour choices to create a floral image that could only grow in my mind.

    1212
  899. I love stitching flowers. My favorite was a dandelion I designed and stitched for a niece. Then all of my babies were boys, so I started stitching a lot more animals. I did manage to sneak in a set of cattails though.

    1213
  900. I LOVE to embroider science images: whether it’s a DNA or RNA molecule, or a neuron, or a cell membrane, I most definitively love embroidery as a type of science communication tool. Note: I work in a science research institute 

    1214
  901. I guess I use memories for my selection of embroidery. It’s Grandma’s flower garden, my little girl on her bicycle, a birdhouse that reminds me on my favorite place, a heart wreath pattern that reminds me of my loved one who passed away. It’s the people I know and the places I’ve loved that inspire the kind of embroidery I do.

    1215
  902. With a passion for all types of needlework, I most love stitching and beading anything nautical.

    1216
  903. I do a lot of new and restoration of ecclesiastical items which include crosses of various types and sizes. I thoroughly enjoy working in this area with a group of like-minded women.

    1217
  904. I love stitching pieces that resemble political posters and I like them to have a contemporary message, whether about climate change, world peace, women’s rights. I think you get the picture.

    1218
  905. I don’t actually have a favorite subject matter because I like a variety of techniques. I do really enjoy doing Christian symbols for my church.

    1220
  906. I have mostly stitched botanical designs. Lately, I have been drawn to tree and herb designs. Last year I stitched hand drawn lavender designs for sachets. What an amazing prize package this week! Thank you Mary!

    1221
  907. Recently I have been making a lot of crazy quilt squares, so I would have to say that my favorites right now are silk flowers. They are so fun to make.

    1224
  908. I really enjoy working on sampler reproductions from the 1700’s .

    Thank you for the generous give away!

    1225
  909. My favorite subjects to stitch are flowers and animals. I like stitching outdoor woodland scenes with lots of colors and textures.

    1226
  910. I am a newbie and enjoy the simple projects. Am not after the real detailed but enjoy reading your blog and all the detail that you freely share. Have your basic books and LOVE the on-line videos – have learned so much. Thank you for your generosity.
    Merry Christmas

    1227
  911. I find myself stitching floral designs most often, but I also occasionally stitch a bird or a geometric pattern. One of my most recent projects was a moon-and-stars mandala in gold and silver on a dark blue satin ground. I enjoy stitching flowers the most, because there are hundreds of different options and varieties. And half the fun is drawing the design first. Flowers are so much fun to draw: their stems and leaves offer countless opportunities for elegant interwoven borders and streaming curly tendrils. Birds are good for practicing needlepainting technique, and geometric patterns are nice when I want to just stitch without thinking very far ahead.

    1228
  912. My subject matter tends to shift. But, I always seem to be drawn to wreaths (with or without birds), lighthouses, and all things autumn because the colors just suck me in. Thanks for the opportunity to win the prizes BUT more importantly the opportunity to learn from you. Thanks for being here for us !!

    1229
  913. I love the alphabet. Letters of all kinds. I have embroidered several individual letters of varying sizes. I like Mary’s alphabet ebooks for ideas and Anna Maria Horner’s Love from A to Z transfers. Each creative letter is about 6” high. I’m going to teach children embroidery this coming year, by taking the first letter of their name and embellishing it with different stitches.
    I also love Mary’s flowered alphabet letters. I did design a beautiful W from the Susan O’connor Monograms beautiful book. I wish we could post pictures here!

    1230
  914. Florals, exotic birds (the more colors the better!) and wool felt folk art designs.

    This has been a wonderful Stitcher’s Christmas this year, Mary. Thanks so much for all the time and effort you put in, not just for this, but throughout the year with your articles and beautiful photos.

    Merry Christmas and a most excellent New Year.

    1232
  915. I enjoy stitching simple retro scenes. This includes any holiday. This simple stitching genre always relaxes and brings a smile to the recipient. The really fun part is incorporating new stitches to a retro pattern.

    1233
  916. Samplers–it is a great way to both teach techniques and have a selection of designs. One does not need to do a lot of the “same” pattern. Samplers of old show us this. Joyce

    1234
  917. I Love Flowers! All kinds of flowers. And the more in the design the better. I love the old 40’s material with the great big blooms. And I love how you can design your own. But I also love old samplers. I would like to design my own with my great grandkids names. I love your store. Even though I mostly do online shopping since I live out in Western Kansas! Ha. I have been embroidering for 65 years. Thank you.

    1235
  918. My favorite subjects to stitch is flowers…..definitively flowers,in differents techniques and fabrics

    1237
  919. Mary,
    As my tastes have changed I stitch mostly whimsical/fantastic animal and floral designs although I like ribbon floral work too. Thank you for your blog-one of the first things I read in the morning!
    Merry Christmas!

    1238
  920. I don’t know if I have a favorite subject matter to embroider. I live so many things! I love birds and flowers, scenes and trees, abstract and realistic. I choose my subject from the actual drawing. If I love the drawing I want to embroider it. Many times it’s because of a special technique that I choose my subject matter too.

    1239
  921. Hello Mary!
    My favorite subject for embroidery…it is hard to choose! It can be animals, flowers and birds, nature things, delicat subject that will give me a challenge and a chance to learn new things and progress in embroidery!

    Thank you for the time you give us for our learning!

    1240
  922. I’ll throw my hat into this one- what a fab giveaway! My thanks to you and Needle in a Haystack. My favorite subject matter for embroidery inclines to the liturgical. I’ll do other things for some quick fun (or necessity- haha), but I am definitely a liturgical girl.

    1241
  923. Flowers, flowers and more flowers. And sometimes, a little bird in the sky.
    ¡Hoy hasta un poquito de mal inglés!
    Me encantan las flores en muchos colores. Los dibujos geométricos y repetidos me aburren y me hacen abandonar la labor. Prefiero cosas variadas y ver como cambia el aspecto general según añado colores.
    Gracias por tu atención.

    1243
  924. I’ve stitched mostly words- quotes, names, monograms, etc. I hadn’t really thought about it, though. Guess I need to branch out! Thanks for the giveaway!

    1245
  925. I think my Favorite is the Learning Process & doing it all successfully. Still Learning So Much, but creating with the Wool Appliques’, rather it be Birds or just Beautiful Flowers, which I just finished a project on, a Beautiful Winter Scene at Christmas! No matter, I Love the Different Stitches & how they all come together to really Finish a Beautiful Project in Wool.. What you have offered for the Giveaway are All so Nice & would help me a lot! Thank You so much for offering this for a chance to win! Good Luck to Everyone.. Merry, Merry Christmas to All there..
    Jacqueline Taylor

    1246
  926. I do a little bit of everything. I tend to stitch a lot of religious symbols and heraldry though, and I do find that enjoyable.

    1247
  927. I just started to learn sashiko embroidery with traditional patterns, that is fun. Wool embroidery with folklore style are great.

    1248
  928. As I look around at the various embroidery & counted cross stitch pieces I’ve done over the years, I see that my most frequent subject has been houses: Victorian houses, English cottages, and a farm house, for example.

    1249
  929. Hi Mary. I have been a lurker on this site for years now and this is my first time commenting.

    I consider myself a “history nerd” and I mostly try to stitch in the method and style people did 500 or more years ago. Therefore I look for patterns from history. The Bayeux Tapestry (Embroidery) fascinates me and I plan to recreate one of its sections.

    I enjoy your site and have gotten a lot of inspiration from it. When my granddaughter asked me to teach her to embroider I immediately brought up your site. The same with my niece. Thank you for all the time and effort you put in.

    Merry Christmas to you and yours.

    1250
  930. I am always drawn to patterns, possibly because of my mathematical background, in particular, circles and spirals. As I have aged, I have developed a love for flora and found that crewel work can satisfy both my love of pattern and symmetry whilst including floral elements.

    1252
  931. I like to create under water scenes using ribbons, organza, thick and thin threads, layers of tule and even real shells. I use the feather stitch, french knots, colonial knots, the drizzle stitch and many other stitches.

    1253
  932. I like to do figures as it’s interesting for me to work out how to do the face, the hair, the draping of the clothes etc.

    1254
  933. My frequently embroidered favorites have always been flowers or truly any “growing” thing. I can whip up a flower quickly anytime, and enjoy the results on my towels, pictures, and pillows. Merry Christmas Mary!

    1256
  934. Thank you, Mary, for the chance to win such a wonderful assortment of goodies – how fun to just dream of winning! When I’m looking for inspiration, birds, animals and flowers are what take my time, although I also love doing holiday-themed projects.

    1257
  935. I like a combination of satin stitch and stumpwork. I made a cabinet of curioseties with motives from medieval manuscripts. I even made some sheets for the crib. Of my grandson with mice fithing snails, also from manuscripts I do want to try my hand on or nue goldwork. Th

    1258
  936. My favorite subjects to stitch are flowers and mushrooms! The colors and shapes in the natural world are just astounding. My least favorite has to be people – they just never turn out right for me.

    1259
  937. My favorite thing to embroidery are animals, fish, and birds! Other words love to embroidery nature!

    1261
  938. Flowers are my favorite subject matter for both surface embroidery and counted work. And I love it when birds or rabbits are incorporated in floral designs. Depending on the technique being used, I prefer realistic designs but for needlepoint (tent stitch) and counted work both realistic and stylized appeal to me.

    1262
  939. I like it all! I do counted cross-stitch when I need a “take to a meeting or event” project. Usually I bring either a bookmark kit or a Kissing Pillow that we (EGA) do for deploying soldiers in the Northwest. At home I work on the latest seminar or chapter project – whitework, pulled work, blackwork, etc. Or I pick up my new love – tatting. I have so many UFO’s and WIP’s that I can keep stitching until the day I die.
    I love your blog and website Mary. I use it often and refer people to the tutorials all the time.

    1263
  940. I am mainly a floral pattern stitcher although I have done some character projects for holidays.

    1264
  941. My favorite subject varies depending on the type of needlework. If I’m doing Brazilian embroidery, I really prefer floral designs. For counted cross stitch, lately I’m leaning toward more retro designs with a variety of subject matter. Needlepoint seems to be birds, cats or florals–unless it’s counted canvas; then I prefer geometrics. Most embroidery seems to be floral or nature designs. I apparently have a wide range of needlework subject interests.

    Thanks for the great giveaways this year!

    1265
  942. My heart always goes to flowers, but lately I’ve been loving anything whimsical – flowers, houses, animals, birds, trees, or any combination thereof. Give me the crooked, the out of proportion, anything with a bit of goofiness and I love it.

    1266
  943. I like to stitch people and these are difficult to do. I am a painter and like to replicate with a needle what i can do with a paintbrush…..not easy .

    1268
  944. My favorite subject changes like the weather in Baltimore! At this time, however, I’m all about animals. I’m completing a portrait of my cat, which needs some whiskers redone before framing.

    1269
  945. What I like to embroidery most is something for the kids. I have embroidered flowers for pillowcase dolls and Sunbonnet Sue for a quilt. I plan on learning a new technique for clothing for me.

    1271
  946. I enjoy stitching natural subjects like plants and animals, especially birds and butterflies, and also interesting bands in band samplers and borders.

    1272
  947. I am eclectic in my choice of subject matter for embroidery, although probably cats rank at the top (Boris, Malcolm, and Nancy say “Rightly so!”). I go to a weekly stitching group at my local embroidery shop, and when a new chart of cats comes in, the proprietor places it where she’s sure I’ll see it (and usually, buy it, to add to my collection of pieces I’m going to work some day). But I also like pictures of places I have visited, other animals, especially hedgehogs, dragons, flowers, and many other things.

    1273
  948. My favorite “subjects” for embroidery are what I think of as rhythmic–abstract to semi-realistic (e.g., Celtic patterns to Moorish to blackwork to Jacobean). I heartily admire the skill that goes into needle painting, but it doesn’t speak to me the way sinuous patterns do. And a touch of gold never hurts.

    1274
  949. I don’t honestly have a favorite subject. I think of something I think would be cool to stitch, and I go with that.

    1275
  950. Hello Mary, what a wonderful giveaway, a special Christmas present. The designs I’ve been stitching mostly are of a Jacobean style but not necessarily with wool. I love Helen Blomkamp’s books and Colleen Goy’s designs. These are my most frequent, otherwise I love floral designs. Have a wonderful Christmas, I look forward to all your new projects in the new year. God bless regards Mandy xx

    1277
  951. I have only completed 2 projects .. 1. was a pillow sham with frogs and pond scenes and 2. Was a pillow sham with squirrels for my moms room and 3. Working on another sham with birds and bird houses for a gift. Really enjoying my embroidery time. The hardest part is choosing coordinating colors for the projects.

    1279
  952. I love flowers and plants in general, but my very favorites are stylized art nouveau anything. Those graceful curves always catch my eye, no matter the medium.

    1280
  953. I have dabbled with most tyes of embroidery but keep coming back to flowers and styalised flowers in crewel type patterns

    1282
  954. I love to do anything “folk art.” I try to do as much free-form work as I can, and apply it everywhere – art quilts, bags and purses, clothing, etc.

    1283
  955. Hi Mary, I am a floral and animal person mostly. Have never been into samplers, although I have a pattern for a drawn thread sampler that I am planning to stitch next year.

    Wishing all of the group A Happy and Safe Christmas.
    Jenny

    1284
  956. What’s your favorite subject matter for embroidery?

    I tend to stitch things in similar colors. I love pinks: light pinks, berry colors and such. I have to be careful I don’t stitch all pinks when I get to choose the colors. I stitched Bitty Blooms by Jacqueline Steves and my favorite flowers were the ones I stitched in pink!

    1285
  957. What an interesting question, one that I have never considered before, but one which tells me something of myself! I’ve done lots of detailed counted thread, like black work and geometric designs and drawn thread work, and I really like the repetitive, neat, exact nature of this. However, equally I have done many stylised free embroidery designs, including stumpwork. Even my ribbon embroidery is stylised rather than photographic. But I do not do figures, perhaps because they just look creepy!!!!

    1290
  958. My favourite subjects are flora and fauna, anything to do with the natural world will have me “happy stitching” for hours on end. =)

    1291
  959. I like doing rows of traditional stitches as outlines, and also like a more abstract look–just rows of various kinds of straight stitches.

    1293
  960. I have pretty eclectic tastes in needlework subject, but I believe I have stitched more floral designs than any other subject.

    1294
  961. I tend to work on things that I would call pastorial views. A birdhouse with bird and flowers in and around it. A farm scene. I usually do those kinds of embroidery because I can do a little bit of everything. This time of year I might do just about anything depending on what I’m in the mood to do. I’m sure you know the feeling.

    1295
  962. I enjoy stitching character persons. My samples are a majority of floral with character persons. I do alot of I guess you would call it childrens themes or storybook. I want to make a quilt with all these pictures I stitched.

    1298
  963. I love samplers and anything fall or Halloween. I will do gifts for others with their favorites too.

    1299
  964. I like to realistic wildlife with my embroidery. In particular I have made numerous butterflies in various techniques.

    1300
  965. Nature is my favorite. The best project begins with a simple idea and to freestyle as I go….animals, vegetables, fruits, flowers and trees. Thinking about the person I am stitching for and creating a bit of world for them.

    1301
  966. I am a nature lover so therefore I love stitching nature related things – animals, birds, flowers. Thank you again for the opportunity to enter to win such lovely prizes.

    1302
  967. I like to do quilt blocks with embroidery in backstitch and french knots. I like samplers especially if they are historical.

    1305
  968. I enjoy stitching more abstract and geometric designs such as mandalas and tessellations. I love modern, bright patterns and tend to veer away from more traditional floral and nature scenes.

    1306
  969. My favorite subject to stitch is angels. Thank you for a chance to win such nice supplies.

    1307
  970. My favorite things to stitch are samplers. My second favorite things are a house and barns,or groups of houses, or a village.

    1308
  971. I really like stitching birds. Always make me think of Spring. Most bird patterns include flowers also.

    1309
  972. Most often I find myself stitching people and faces. Recently I have been working with images of cemetery angels and stained glass style Saints.

    1310
  973. I love to stitch flowers and gardens, especially if they have a variety of textures and colors, especially if they come in kits. I often find myself stitching kits. I embroider in part to relieve stress and kits are the ultimate in stress-free crafting.

    1311
  974. This one is hard for me as I’m a new embroiderer and still exploring and finding what I like. I guess my favorite right now would be designs that let’s me try out new stitches.

    1312
  975. Wow, what a giveaway, thank you to you, Mary and to Needle in a Haystack!
    My favourite subject for embroidery is a wide category, anything from nature really, be it a dog, bird or flowers, or tree…………

    1315
  976. I have been mainly a stitcher of counted techniques like pulled thread and drawn thread – traditional type embroidery. However lately I have concentrated on monograms and needle lace. Monochromatic techniques and white on white has a timeless quality to me.

    1317
  977. I like to further embellish printed fabrics to make the print more unique, add embellishments to my children’s clothes and embroider flowers too. These give me lots of variety and challenges.

    1318
  978. Since I am just a beginner I am trying to find what I like best. At the moment I like floral arrangements, since they use lots of different techniques and give a sophisticated looking end result. Perhaps I’ll continue making those, or perhaps something completely different. Who knows?

    1319
  979. I mostly stitch floral motives. With simple stitches you can create such a huge variety of flowers and leaves, it never ceases to fascinate my. And flowery bouquets make for pretty pendants too. I really love it.

    1322
  980. I am more of a Sampler stitcher and any sampler or anything with a house will call to me every time.

    1325
  981. I tend to stitch by season, but even so everything I stitch tends to contain a animal of some sort. Black Cats at Halloween, bunnies at Easter and deer for Christmas

    1326
  982. Who doesn’t love to stitch flowers and birds? I stitch them stylized but maybe someday I’ll become artistic enough to needlepaint a bird, like Trish Burr.

    This is a great giveaway from my favorite shop. Thank you Needle in a Haystack, and thank you Mary.

    1327
  983. The stitching that I’m mostly drawn to are samplers. I enjoy the variety of stitches used and enjoy watching my work come to life as I stitch them. Thank you for this wonderful site, I love to introduce my other stitching friends(the ones that don’t already subscribe) to it.

    1328
  984. I’m definitely a sampler person. I like all kinds of stitches and making samplers gives me the chance to use any stitch I want. A flower can also be used if I want to fill an area. There is just so many possibilities. A great way to learn new stitches also.

    1330
  985. Definitely love stylized anything! I feel like there’s more room for individuality and creativity for me there.

    1331
  986. I am still a beginner, and, I think will always be. As a beginner I love Mary’s monogram book because the monograms are not such an overwhelming project that I feel is too big for me to try. I especially love learning new stitches and learning about threads and colors. I learned how to transfer and make monograms big or small. So much fun! Thank you Mary!

    1332
  987. Happy Holidays Mary!!!

    My very favorite embroidery are flowers, all types and colors. Flowers have such a unique coloration, they are so much fun to stitch and such a challenge to duplicate their colors.

    Thanks,

    Teri

    1333
  988. Since I’m unsuccessful with ‘realistic as seen in nature’ designs I am drawn to stylistic floral designs. That isn’t a bad thing because I can be completely free with color choices.

    1334
  989. I have stitched a variety of subjects over the years, but if the subject is autumn, I am drawn to that immediately. I also prefer smaller pieces, so I am looking forward to stitching “A Thousand Flowers.”

    1336
  990. I’m more of a floral person but I also love geometric patterns. I’m still looking for that geometric pattern that I just have to stitch. I might have to design my own one day 🙂

    1337
  991. I have something of a peacock obsession! Otherwise I like motifs rather than actual representations.

    1340
  992. I love Quaker designs (original and modern versions) and stitching small and other petite projects.

    1341
  993. I’m still too new to have a favorite as I’m trying out everything I can! I enjoy the floral monograms and liturgical motifs. Would love to blow open 2019 with lots of new projects!

    1343
  994. It’s hard to choose just one. I am more intrigued by the project as a whole; the techniques, colours and the subject matter. In the past year, I have worked on a bird pattern by Nicola Jarvis (from Inspirations #82), a number of metal and silk pieces (Alison Cole, Jenny Adin-Christie, Sarah Homfray), a Dorset button, some surface embroidery and canvas work, too! (I should add that all of these are in what Mary calls “rotation;” i.e., none are finished – all WIPs!)

    1344
  995. I like floral patterns of all type but I especially like Jacobean themes. But I do all types of floral patterns. I like working in different threads from wool to silk and metallics.

    1345
  996. Animals are my favorite stitching subject. Layering different colors for the fur and adding the white highlight in the eye are fun challenges. An animal or animals in a natural setting is calming to stitch and provides quite a bit of color and stitch technique variety. Who doesn’t want to see a little fuzzy face when stitching?

    1348
  997. I find myself drawn to birds and to butterflies. I won’t start this project until after the holidays but I’ve gathered my supplies. I merged two photos I took of some butterflies on my butterfly bush this past Spring. I played around with them until I got the perspective right and the colors adjusted so the picture I’ll make my design from looks the way I want it to. Here I go on butterflies again!

    1349
  998. I am happy to spend all of my stitching time on Hardanger embroidery and my favorite subject matter in Hardanger is the various old-style flowers. They are fun to stitch and they add variety to the traditional stitches.

    1350
  999. I love stitching flowers and animals. Almost all of my projects include those. I have tried more geometric but I rarely get far on them.

    Thanks for the give away!

    1351
  1000. When I was mostly doing cross stitch I really liked doing samplers. Now that I am concentrating on surface embroidery I gravitate toward florals. So many different flowers to stitch!

    1352
  1001. My favorite stitching projects are based on antique needlework pieces, especially the earliest known examples. I may never be able to own an antique piece but that doesn’t mean I can’t share in the creation of an example of something that may have been stitched by a young girl 200+ years ago. My internet searches brought me to a piece of work created in the country that would become Italy and includes a mermaid and plenty of bargello work. I hope that my needlework will be deemed sufficiently well done to be saved, shared, and enjoyed in the future.

    1353
  1002. What’s your favorite subject matter for embroidery? Are you a floral person? A bird person? Stylized or geometric designs? What subjects do you like to stitch, or what subjects do you find yourself stitching most frequently?

    My favourite subject matter for embroidery is Jacobean designs. I especially like Tree of Life designs for the little animals on the mounds and the birds of all proportions. The whole lack of proportion between the elements amuses and intrigues me.
    I also enjoy modern crewel designs that are influenced by Jacobean designs such as those by Sue Hawkins.

    1354
  1003. I am totally entranced with the geometric designs found in Blackwork & what Liz Almond has designed. Filling is the spaces, the line intersections, designs that are light or heavy giving a different effect.

    1355
  1004. My favorite subjects to embroidery are flowers, birds and symbolic designs. However, my favorite happens to be flowers with all their vibrant colors!…and there are so many floral designs. It can be difficult to choose among them. I enjoy crewel embroidery.
    Carolyn

    1356
  1005. Hmmm . My favorite subject matter to stitch are floral, dragonflies and birds. They just make me happy to see them come alive as I stitch!

    1357
  1006. I am on an oak kick right now: I’m exploring designs with oak leaves and acorns; with all the colors from spring greens and pinks through the darker greens of summer and fall browns, oranges, reds and yellows.

    Thank you for these opportunities!

    1358
  1007. I find that I am working counted projects with a dash of glitter. I seem to always add a bead or two for that extra little “wink”.

    1359
  1008. Such a fabulous give-away! But the question is a difficult one to answer… I think that I am mostly a floral person, but I have also done geometric work like some of Liz Almonds Blackwork designs, as well as one or two birds by Trish Burr. But mostly I like floral designs, somehow they speak to me most!

    1360
  1009. I found this very hard to answer as I tend to try most things. I love hardanger and pulled and drawn thread work so I guess geometric designs would fit this. I also love trees, fungi and plants – not necessarily flowers. This sort of fits my love of the earthy colours.
    Thanks for the opportunity to be involved in the 2019 Christmas give away.

    1361
  1010. I don’t know if I truly have a favourite style or subject of needlework. Depending on my mood and situation, I guess my preference is for stumpwork/goldwork florals (think Alison Cole and Deanna Bertleson) when I’m feeling focused, canvas work (think From From Nancy’s Needle and Carolyn Mitchel) when I’m relaxed and Redwork snowmen and freestyle pillowcases when I need to relax!

    1362
  1011. Your site is a grand source of information, thank you. I enjoy nature as subject matter to stitch; flowers, grasses, trees, green growing, even weeds. Susan

    1363
  1012. I actually don’t have a favourite. All kinds of things appeal to me. Florals, geometrics, paisley. It really is a case of what designs inspire me to stitch.

    1364
  1013. Florals are probably the most common thing for me to embroider, or floral inspired abstract designs.

    1365
  1014. This past year I have been doing lots of flowers and bugs..wool embellishments and appliqué…next year I have thread painting birds on my list and kaleidoscopes.

    1366
  1015. Allmost all things i choose to embroider are my own creations, small and neat (on both sides). Lately it has been different kinds of fantastic insects, but other imaginary animals can be fun to embroider as well. Usually they are very colourful as well.

    1367
  1016. Mary, I like it ALL! I think embroidery is an beautiful art form, and highly underrated. My mother always told me to pick one (of anything I was doing), but I like variety and creativity. And I want to do it all!

    1368
  1017. I just love to stitch historical samplers. My favorites are the early 16th-17th samplers; both the motif samplers and the long, narrow band samplers. They offer great variety in stitches and designs as well as the chance to research the era in which they were stitched.

    1370
  1018. I find myself drawn to florals most often with little garden insects and animals mixed in. This fits in perfectly with my latest achievement this year-my Master Gardener certification!

    1371
  1019. Hi Mary,

    My favorite subject for embroidery is a tied between floral and ladies in clothing from various past eras. With the floral needlework, I am a bit fussy. I like my flowers to be fairly realistic like the work of Trish Burr. Guess I better start getting more silk shading practice.

    Shannon

    1372
  1020. I’m a gardener. I love stitching on all the subjects in a garden, such as perennials, hummingbirds, butterflies, and of course, bees.

    1373
  1021. I love surface embroidery for the different textures and appearances that can be obtained with different stitches. I like variety and have stitched animals, people, words, etc. However, I find myself always looking at floral “possibilities”. Floral type projects are a mainstay of my work.

    1375
  1022. Although I’m a long time reader of this page, I’m entering a drawing for the first time — these items are too nice to pass up! I love to embroider seasonal floral patterns. Anything pretty. But I also have done some gaming themes for my boys, like Mario and Luigi.

    1376
  1023. Having grown up gardening I’d have to say my favorites are flowers and birds. In Florida we do this basically year round!

    1377
  1024. My most favorite topic of embroidery is nature. Not only birds and bees, but trees, scenery, animals of all types and butterflies. Not only in cross stitch, but in surface stitches, needlepoint and beading. Of course I would not turn my back to any other stitching topic that catch my eye. Sometimes I just see an example of something and think I have to try that.

    1379
  1025. Am working, as a novice, with prose texts, some quite long. For now trying to find a fluid “writing” style. Planning to incorporate sampleresque imagery. I do love abstract flowers for fun. Snappy Holidaze everyone!

    1380
  1026. I love to stitch leaves. I like to use different leaf shapes and use them for applique and quilting. The shapes might be lobate, oblong, lanceolate, cordate, or linear. The possibilities are endless and can fit in any space and provide interest.

    1382
  1027. I gravitate toward geometric needlepoint projects and flower and bird surface embroidery patterns.

    1383
  1028. My favorite thing to stitch is science related stuff, particularly biology. Anything from plants to the contents and structure of a cell, and a more recent make was an anatomical heart on a satin clip frame purse. I’ve also seen some other great and detailed embroideries of anatomical parts (eyeball diagram, uterus) and some parasites at different stages in their life cycle. Fascinating for a biologist!

    1384
  1029. Mary, After following your site for almost a year now & practicing on other projects while watching video after video, I’m now confident enough to stitch on some of my favorite clothing from beautiful linen shirts to a surprisingly soft, boiled wool sweater! I asked for exactly what you described at the beginning of today’s post—a stocking full of embroidery-esp silk-threads!
    I love geometric designs & the Mandalas are an incredibly find! I’d love to do your Tree in all 4 seasons. But I’m also pulled toward abstract work that simply forms as it goes along or might have a few lines here and there to guide the movement. Most of that work, so far, has been suitable but for either a frame or stitching onto a painting canvas and worked in lightly or changed completely! It can be a mix of many unconventional materials and objects (I have enough beads and stone to open a store!) since I don’t have a proper thread stash yet. But the seemingly endless chaos is always balanced by the end. Everything will be more toned down for clothing.
    One linen blouse will get some dogwood flowers, their leaves & a possible goldfinch to flutter around replaced buttons with antique mother of pearl of my grandmother’s. I got a few lovely buttons from her and can almost feel her with me while wearing them. So there will definitely be her favorite dogwoods and birds around those beautiful buttons!
    The other is white linen with a light blue stripe. My approach there would be to match a linen thread to the white background & am strongly considering doing a sampler on it scattered all over the shirt using the blue stripes as marked lines. Definitely that one will be an “Altered Clothing” vibe about it.
    I’d still go with abstract & geometric & mandalas with a few nature details as well. Especially trees, it’s always fun to take a photo of bare branches looking up from the base of a big tree to get the image of outstretching limbs. Those I’ll be great to stitch!

    I would love to enter the Christmas drawing if not too late.

    1385
  1030. I am a Botanist and I am very fond of stitching flowers and other plants. And along with these flowers so nice Butterflies or Bees.

    1386
  1031. This is another awesome giveaway. While I hadn’t thought of it before, I guess my favourite subject matter is floral or natural. Thanks for making me think about that.

    Heather M.

    1387
  1032. I would love to embroidery anything vintage or farming. I just bought a house that was built in 1924 so I would like to bring back memories from that era.

    1388
  1033. It took me a while to consider the answer then… I looked around me, I usually stitch and embroider flowers, they attract me with their beautiful colours, they can be realistic stylised or whimsical. They suit modern or traditional styles and make me feel happy. Birds sometimes find their way into the designs echoing the flowers they sit beside. One day I would love to try a mandala, they seem to draw you in.
    Thank-you for these wonderful give aways. Congratulations to all the winners, and. I wish everyone the compliments of the Season. Warmest wishes to all

    1389
  1034. Anything floral is definitely my preference. You just can’t go wrong with flowers although bees would be a close second.

    1390
  1035. I love sewing florals. Whatever form of sewing I do I only ever stitch florals. Then I never do a thing with them! It’s the pleasure of sewing… But I’m starting to think I should get them framed or made up for the new house.

    1392
  1036. At the moment my favourite stitching subject is little characterful cottages with gardens around, chooks under the trees ,apples on the trees and dropping on the ground a dog or cat at the door, a light in the window and a decidedly crooked chimney on the roof and then turning the whole lot into a dear little pincushion. What fun !!
    Thank you Mary for your generosity and have a happy and blessed Christmas.
    Chris M from Australia

    1393
  1037. I’m still a beginner, so I’ve mostly been sticking with easy samplers and trees. My hope for 2018 is to branch out into some more interesting kits and see what really grabs me!

    1394
  1038. Looking back I find that I like to stitch almost everything in any technique: florals, a lot of animals, grafic designs, women. I prefer cross stitch but also dabble in hardanger, whitework, schwalm empbroidery, needle painting, ajour, drawn thread, … The only thing I am so far not interested in is classic cross stitch samplers.

    1395
  1039. I’m all about the animals. I really enjoy stitching different kinds of fish but I think what I stitch the most of would have to be canids. I love stitching different dog breeds but my absolute favorite subject is the coyote. There’s a lifelong history of fascination with them for me. They’re beautiful and very misunderstood creatures that could do with some reverence in my book lol.

    1396
  1040. Because I do a lot of counted canvas work I seem to end up with lots of geometric or stylized shapes. Love using all the threads and stitches

    1397
  1041. I did only cross stitch subjects until Monday. On Sunday (December 16) I’ve found your website looking for a pretty monogram pattern I could stitch on a handkerchief. I am making my third nowand I love the little flowers:-) I hope after Christmass I’ll try more…

    1398
  1042. I’m drawn to colors so scenes with birds and flowers seem to be my most stitched items. I live drawn threadwork to though because of how delicate and beautiful it looks.

    1401
  1043. Hello Mary,

    I mostly embroider flowers, it seems, but I like to do bunnies a lot. I wish I could do better with small animals like my bunnies but like I tell my children wishing only gets you so far you have to work at it to improve!

    Thanks for the generous giveaways. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

    1403
  1044. I like stitching. Cross stitch, floss embroidery and crewel it’s all good! I guess I’ve been doing samplers lately including one started in 1988!

    1404
  1045. Usually I love floral/leaf, birds and mammals. However, I’m loving the mandala embroidery designs and the more stylized Jacobean style of design as well.

    1407
  1046. Wonderful supplies for someone who loves to do handwork, especially when I see these come from a place I lived at as a teenager.

    1408
  1047. My favorite subject for embroidery is flowers! So many of my projects are all different kinds and colors of flowers. Needlepainted, stumpwork, crewel, you name the technique- I stitch flowers. Next I would like to move on to butterflies and birds. So much to stitch and not enough time!

    1409
  1048. Great prompt! Made me really think about what I typically choose as subject matter for my stitching and I realized that I tend toward the very stylized geometric tyoe of designs, so even when I am working with more nature-based images, like trees and plants, I tend to turn them into very stylized designs, not natural looking designs.

    1410
  1049. I like to embroider Holiday items. Things that I can make that bring a little something extra to someone’s world.

    1411
  1050. My favorite embroidery style is the Arts and Crafts period, mission style. I love William Morris, etc.

    1412
  1051. Wonderful supplies for someone who loves to do handwork, especially when I see these come from a place I lived at as a teenager.
    My favorite thing to stitch is little birds and animals, and I am beginning to learn how to do stumpwork.

    1413
  1052. My favorite stitching subject is baby animals. I have stitched them for all 6 of my grandkids.
    I live a couple hours away from Needle in a Haystack. Well worth the drive when I am going to stitch something special. They carry fabulous linen and serge the edges for me after it has been cut to the size I need.

    1414
  1053. Lately I have enjoyed embroidering woodland animals. I embroidered a denim jacket with woodland and barnyard animals on the front with a travel trailer and chickens on back. I wear it when our old time music band plays at nursing homes.

    1416
  1054. I haven’t embroidered much lately but I love to embroider nature, flowers and animals.
    Thank you, Mary, for the chance to win.

    1417
  1055. Birds are my thing. Birds in a natural setting with flowers, plants and nests are even more enticing to stitch.

    1418
  1056. Hello! What a beautiful giveaway and lovely idea to have ‘A Stitcher’s Christmas’. Thank you. I like to snag photos of graffiti and embroider them on cuffs. Different bits of graffiti can be quite interesting. Right now I’m exclusively stitching crewel work for a course I’m doing for the EAC. It’s mostly floral but I do take liberties with my samplers and throw in the odd turtle here and there. Merry Christmas!

    1419
  1057. I don’t think I have just one favorite, I’m more of an equal opportunity stitcher. Florals, geometrical, stylized designs, samplers, figuratively pieces. If they speak to me, it’s all good.

    1421
  1058. I enjoy stitching historical or historically based designs. This means both recreating things fron the past (e.g., a sampler or a blackwork border) and doing modern designs that use techniques or design elements from the past (e.g., Jacobean-style crewel work). Within that broad scope, I most prefer designs with flowers and animals. But I have a Gay Ann Rogers kit (Elizabeth I) I’m almost afraid to start (much delayed for family reasons).

    1422
  1059. I’m a floral person. I love the combination of florals with all different kinds of leaves for beginners. Thanks to Mary Corbett’s Needle’nThread I have learned so much!!!

    1423
  1060. So far, I’ve been a huge fan of stitching insects thanks to Jane Nicholas’s books! But I’ve been learning more about flowers from Trish Burr’s books and hoping to try my hand at birds soon too! My mom loves birds and I would love to be able to embroider something for her.

    1424
  1061. I love stitching landscapes, flowers and trees and currently enjoying learning a variety of different techniques including canvas work, goldwork and silk shading. xx

    1425
  1062. I am in love with needlepainting, so flowers are my favorite subject. “Painting “ with all of the colors of floss lets me mimic nature.

    1426
  1063. I love stitching historic designs, 17th and 18th Centuries, in crewel and surface embroidery. I also love stitching florals and herbs.

    1427
  1064. This one kinda set me back- reality is a novel concept! I love still life, scenes, but most of my pieces contain florals! I’m a seasonal

    1429
  1065. This one kinda set me back- reality is a novel concept! I love still life, scenes, but most of my pieces contain florals! I’m a seasonal person, loving autumn and winter so I stitch those predominantly no matter the subject. I do alternate methods- crewel, Hardanger, cross stitch, embroidery techniques sure make the same subject so much different so I tend to alter that! Thank you Mary for another year of stitching guidance!

    1430
  1066. I don’t think I have a favourite…I love HUGE Golden Kite patterns, samplers, seasonal (the 4 seasons), birds, cats, florals, farm critters,,,,about the only thing I don’t stitch is Halloween 🙂

    1431
  1067. My favorite things to stitch is anything Christmas, scenery, and flowers. Am also into zenbroidery. I most often find myself stitching flowers.

    1436
  1068. I love stitching geometric designs.

    Thanks for running this year end give away. It’s been fun!

    Shelley

    1437
  1069. My favorite subject matter for embroidery is a floral and vine design. I particularly like designing and stitching roses with vines.

    1439
  1070. My favorite subject for stitching is landscape. I love to stitch trees, flowers, lakes, and skies.
    Thank you Mary.

    1440
  1071. Much of what I have finished is seasonal. I can’t pass up strawberries. A sampler needs strawberries.

    1442
  1072. What a delicious collection of treats! I’d have to say, nature is my go to stitch inspiration…plants mostly. I love botanicals in every style, but stumpwork insects and flowers top the list!

    Merry Christmas all!

    1444
  1073. I love to embroider flowers and insects especially in Stumpwork. I also enjoy doing samplers and whitework.

    1447
  1074. I love stitching all sorts of things but I am very partial to butterflies and they seem to sing when they are stitched in fine silk threads. I also stitched my horse this year and it was amazing seeing her come to life again, she died quite a few years ago. I have dabbled with embroidery for many years but am thinking that it is time to do more and increase my skills. I am looking forward to stitching all those flowers, birds, animals, bugs, butterflies and more!

    1448
  1075. Definitely enjoy sewing woodland type subject matter, so leafy plants, trees , with some flowers and the odd bird, bunny or deer thrown in and bees .

    1449
  1076. I love to embroider florals, especially crewel-style florals; but I also love to cross-stitch ladies, mostly Nora Corbett designs.

    1450
  1077. Since I make a lot of baby clothes, I embroider mostly tiny bullion roses, vines, and leaves. But lately I’ve really been enjoying the retro kitchen designs from Aunt Martha – dancing veggies, ironing kittens, naughty puppies. Lots of fun!

    1452
  1078. I love flowers, but recently I’ve been drawn towards birds and their many colours and the movement of their wings. Funnily I don’t really like most birds in real life

    1454
  1079. I really love to stitch anything that is nature – trees and animals especially! Thank you and Happy Holidays!

    1455
  1080. In my sewing, I enjoy making Christmas and autumn decorations. Autumn is my favorite season so anything with autumn scenes,
    colors, pumpkins, leaves (well, you get the
    picture) and I’m in Heaven.
    I am brand new to embroidery and am just ordering supplies for my first project. How
    exciting this is! So many choices! I am going to do some small flowers on a flour sack. It
    seems like a safe place to start for a newbie.
    Wish me luck!

    1456
  1081. I love to stitch anything floral such as baskets and wreaths with all kinds of threads or silk ribbon. I also like to embroider monograms.

    1458
  1082. Florals! I like the shading and interplay of stitches and fibers one can use to produce varying textures.

    1459
  1083. I really like alphabets and samplers of all types, but also enjoy stitching smalls and geometrics. I usually dislike stitching people, but enjoy florals, animals and Quaker styled motifs

    1460
  1084. It’s difficult to answer, it’s like having to chop my right arm off I love flowers, bugs, birds, animals….. Sooo maybe …. nope I can’t choose- I’ll just say flowers

    1461
  1085. I find myself always stitching flowers. Seems to be a nice way for me to get them into my life since I don’t have a green thumb.

    1463
  1086. My favorite subject matter is anything that’s not words. Lol. I enjoy embroidering flowers or animals or literally anything but words and numbers.

    1464
  1087. I will pretty much stitch anything, but lately I seem to be leaning towards samplers. I like something that challenges me, keeps my mind and fingers busy. Love learning new stitches and techniques.

    1467
  1088. Thank you so much for hosting these wonderful give-aways!

    As a beginner embroiderer I haven’t completed very many projects yet, but the designs that I am most attracted to are animals, fruit, stylized designs and florals.

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

    1469
  1089. I love stitching trees and birds the most. They are more forgiving than geometric patterns and figures. Flowers are next, but the colors of trees and birds make them the favorites by far. A landscape of pine trees may be time consuming, but I can stare at them for hours

    1470
  1090. Favorite subject matter for embroidery would be flowers/landscapes, but often I will just see a pattern I love and stitch that.

    1471
  1091. my favorite subject to stitch about is probably Halloween … or maybe it’s flowers … no, definitely landscapes … maybe…

    1472
  1092. I love freehand floral designs (my thought being that there is a flower somewhere that looks like my design)! I recently embroidered two doll faces-probably a new favorite.

    1474
  1093. My favorite subject to embroider are animals. Generally cute designs, but I’d like to move into more realistic depictions as my technique improves.

    1476
  1094. I’m fond of biological subjects, especially flowers and little bugs. I’m anxious to learn stumpwork.

    1477
  1095. I find that I go back to florals, geometric or sampler designs all the time. I have just finished a floral design of summer flowers.. Love to work on samplers, contemporary ones or reproduction samplers. It is interesting to see what was designed before and to realize that a lot of them are from young children. Qiite awe inspiring.

    1479
  1096. More often than not, I find myself doing flowers or landscapes. Monograms are close behind the first two choices.

    1480
  1097. So many ideas, so little time! I keep thinking I’ll do a grande floral or still life, but I am always excited to start another piece that incorporates the reciever’s interests. It may include an animal or tree, or a favorite saying. Then, I embellish around them, sometimes with lacy, delicate lines, other times with geometrical or ethnic designs. Colors rule and guide me through the process. Somewhere in the piece I place an angel and a Peace sign. I try to make them inconspicuous. I hadn’t given much thought about what I like to do the most, but these samplers with mixed subjects and techniques must be it because that’s what I keep doing! And just when I think I’ll do a grande entryway floral, someone else asks me if I will make something for a loved one. I get curious about the intended recipient, and before I know it, I have a new project outlined and I’m excited to get it started.

    1482
  1098. I love to do Christmas and Halloween designs and then I make them into ornaments. Thank you for the chance to win such a great prize!

    1483
  1099. Patterns that flow and have interconnectedness in colour and/or design. Some geometric and some floral. Mary your giveaways are EXCELLENT! Hope I win one this year!!! Fingers crossed.

    1484
  1100. Nature is my favorite subject, especially seasonal changes in nature. Animals, plants, flowers, etc. When I was looking for embroidery fabric, a cross stitch shop told me about Needle in a Haystck and your blog.

    1486
  1101. Happy Advent! I enjoy stitching nature – specifically flowers and birds! I’m currently having fun with the Holly and Ivy design from your wonderful blog! Thanks from your lovely work!

    1487
  1102. Mary,
    What an incredible giveaway! Thank you for being an inspiration to continue to challenge myself and grow my skills. I love to embroider and have done flowers (LOTS of flowers!), people, homes, pets, etc, but my absolute favorite is to talk a walk and pick up bits and pieces of nature along the way… an interesting rock, a wildflower, a feather, unusually shaped or colored leaves, sticks, moss or seed pods. Once I get home, I arrange my treasures in a pleasing arrangement, take a photograph and then turn that into an embroidery piece. Sometimes it’s a single fall leaf, or a seashell, other times it’s lots of little things. It’s always fun and a great way to see the beauty that is all around us each day!
    Merry Christmas!

    1489
  1103. Mostly I like floral designs, but find myself stitching any project most needed. Currently I am stitching a guild logo and monogram on tea towels used at our gatherings.

    1490
  1104. Thank you Mary for you interesting and encouraging pages. I look forward to reading them as they come in to my inbox. I hope you and your family have a very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

    1491
  1105. I like stitching letters! Adding that extra touch to a finished object with your name or a message is very charming to me.

    1492
  1106. I love counted symmetrical patterns. Although at the moment I’ve been doing historical band samplers

    1494
  1107. I’m not sure that I have found my favorite thing to embroider (after 50 years), but I have always embraced flowers. I do love crewelwork Jacobean designs and have some kits waiting for me. One thing I do know for sure is that I like a challenge! I recently did Plaited Braid for the first time and loved it. I hate to do any stitching where I have to count.

    1495

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