The Handpicked Collection Volume 6 from Inspirations Studios is out, and it’s a humdinger!
This series of project and instructional books from Inspirations Studios launched in 2024 with the first three volumes. Each volume is a gold mine of needlework projects across a wide variety of embroidery disciplines.
If you want to explore all the previous volumes, you can find my reviews for them through the following links:
Volumes 1 – 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
These books were a hit from the start. I knew they would be! There is so much about them that is pleasing! In true Inspirations style, they feature stunning projects with pattern pages, materials lists, step-by-step development, and stitching (and finishing, where applicable) instructions. And all of this is packaged in a volume that is beautiful to behold!
Folks who jumped on the series’ from the start avidly continue to grow their collections as each new volume is published, and those who didn’t get in on the beginning of the series are gobbling up the later volumes in anticipation of the next print run on the earlier volumes. They are Popular!! And with good reason.
Let’s look at Volume 6 up close, shall we?
Volume 6 of The Handpicked Collection features ten lovely projects in a variety of techniques, including stumpwork, stumpwork combined with goldwork, needlepainting and other surface embroidery, goldwork and silk embroidery, Chinese silk embroidery, Kantha embroidery, and counted work with a variety of decorative whitework fillings.
There is, in short, something for everyone. The projects encompass a variety of skill levels, too, making the book perfect for beginners and beyond.
As is always the case, the designers of the projects included in the volume are some of the best known needlework designers from around the globe. You’ll find a variety of well-known needlework artists from Australia – Jane Nicholas, Tania Cohen, and more – as well as designers from Canada, Europe, the UK, and South Africa.
For each project, the reader is presented with an abundance of photographs of the finished piece, staged in a variety of ways, along with multiple photos and diagrams that accompany the step-by-step instructions.
There’s a thorough materials list, tips and techniques for the type of embroidery, individual stitch instructions, finishing instructions where applicable, and in the back of the volume…
… there’s a pull-out collection of all the designs, full-sized.
While each volume in the series always has a great selection of projects, there are always several in each volume that catch my eye and set my needlework-lovin’ heart a-flutter.
In volume 6, there are a few projects that call to me, but there is one in particular that grabbed me by the collar, shook me up, and said “THIS!”
That’s Tania Cohen’s Spring Knot Garden.
Good grief. I love it! I love it so much that I really want the kit! *Sigh*
In previous issues of Inspirations magazines, you’ll find that Tania has several designs for these “knot garden” style tiles worked in metal threads and silk. Each is beautiful – but this spring one? It’s pretty much everything I like: goldwork, silk shading with silk threads in pretty spring colors, and lots of texture – all in a very pleasing design.
I just really like it a lot.
Speaking of kits, did you know that there are kits for all the projects in the Handpicked volumes? There are! You can find all the kits for Handpicked Collection Volume 6 here on the Inspirations website. Just remember to work out the currency conversion, depending on where you’re located (and pay attention to shipping rates and customs duties).
There are, of course, many other projects in the book! So even if goldwork and silk aren’t Your Thing, you’re bound to find something within the pages that is Your Thing!
Jane Nicholas’s Crocus, Clover, and Jewel Beetle is classic Jane Nicholas: a handsome beetle accenting an exquisite, graceful floral arrangement of crocuses and clover.
Helen Stevens’s seaside scene with the graceful tern hovering above a distant shore framed in with prickly sea holly – and her quote from Masefield’s poem (I must go down to the sea again…) – is alluring on so many levels, especially for a gal living in Kansas who grew up on the coast!
Trish Burr’s clean, crisp Eglantine & Berries is a delightful piece, and quite accessible to beginners who want to give soft shading techniques a try.
And for those who love counted work and pulled thread work, or for those looking for some great finishing instructions for small projects, Kim Beamish’s charming combination of whitework fillings with blue accents adorning a wide variety of finished needlework accessories will definitely appeal to you! What a great collection!
For those looking for a challenge, one of the most intriguing projects in the book, to me, is Hannah Mansfield’s Summer Wildflowers.
Combining metal thread embroidery and stumpwork, Hannah has conceived this elegant wreath of summer flowers in gold and silver, set on a circular silver base, staged with a candle centered in the wreath. I think this project would be a fabulous challenge! Besides its use as a candle wreath, I could see it being used to adorn, for example, a ring-bearer’s pillow at a wedding, or even framed in a deep frame, surrounding some sort of precious momento. It’s such a unique project – it’s sumptuous in a way, but it’s also very delicate and chic.
And More!
There are a total of ten projects in the book, and you can see them all in the product photos in the shop listing, here.
In a Nutshell
If you haven’t begun to collect the Handpicked Collection from Inspirations, start now! Eventually, I’m sure they will reprint the earlier volumes.
The books are a wonderful, affordable, tidy collection for your needlework library, and they feature gorgeous, accessible projects in all kinds of styles of needlework. There’s no negative to them – you really can’t go wrong with this fabulous collection!
Where to Find It
We carry The Handpicked Collection Volume 6 here in the shop.
If you’re looking for a deal on some previous volumes in this series, we also have a few copies of Volume 5 available in our Damaged Books listing. These were just slightly damaged in shipping, but they are still perfectly usable and beautiful books. They’re available at a slight discount due to the minimal damage on them.
And while you’re at it, you might check out the rest of the books in our Damaged Books listing. We’ve got a few favorites and they’re all available at a discount. We update this list periodically – once they’re sold out, they’re gone for good!
And of course, we have Volume 7 of the Handpicked Collection coming later this year, so keep an eye out for that!
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