It goes by so many names, this technique of creating realistic shading in embroidery.

But no matter what name it goes by, and whether there are slight nuances in the meanings of the different names, all the techniques named above involve the dominant use of long & short stitch.

I use the terms in today’s title pretty much interchangeably, while I use the specific term long & short stitch to refer to the stitching technique used to shade – and which can also be used as a solid filling technique, too.

Lately, I’ve received several questions from beginners on how to get started with the techniques used in needlepainting.

So today, I want to share some resources that will help the embroiderer – whether beginner, novice, or advanced – take the plunge into needlepainting and learn how to successfully shade in embroidery.

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Kathy Shaw’s new book, Stunning Stitches for Crazy Quilts. You can read that review here.

When I wrote about this little stitch sampler needlebook, I received quite a bit of feedback about the difficulties of keeping stitches and lines straight and consistent. With my little sampler, I used the linen to guide my lines and keep them straight, but we don’t always work on fabric with an easy-to-see weave.

And that’s where these embroidery stitch templates designed by Kathy Shaw and distributed by Creative Impressions come in handy. I thought I’d show them to you today, in case they are something that can benefit you in your embroidery journey. I’m going to explain what they are, how they’re used, and share some pros and cons with you.

Good morning and Happy Wednesday! This morning, just a quick update on last weekend’s stitching!

I’ve been embroidering up some small garden border designs for upcoming summer classes.

Remember the mushroom question from last week? Well, I put that one aside until I can adjust it a bit, and I moved on to the next garden scene, which has a few more elements in it and is for older participants.

Last year, when Inspirations Studios produced the new index for issues 1 – 100 of Inspirations Magazine, there was no doubt in my mind that I needed one.

I have all the issued of Inspirations, thanks to my sister, who passed me all the older issues from the earlier years of the magazine.

Each issue is a delight, full of beautiful embroidery projects for every level of stitcher. There is a certain classic timelessness to most of the projects in the magazines, so they never really seem to age. I never grow tired of flipping through them!

But … there are times when I want to find a certain project that I know I’ve seen in one issue or another, and it takes a long time to flip through those individual magazines.

And that’s why a magazine index comes in so very handy. But the new 1 – 100 index is handier than most, thanks to the meticulous details in its arrangement. This is perhaps the most thorough search tool ever produced for a magazine!

I was going to title today’s blog post (which is actually yesterday’s blog post, but I had a publishing hold-up yesterday morning) “I’ll Give You Three Guesses.”

But then I started looking at the things, and I figured many of you would guess right away, anyway.

One of my biggest behind-the-scenes projects during June has been preparing embroidery kits and instructions for The Leafy Tree, a project I finished a while ago and for which I received many, many requests for a kit.

And so I’m putting together a kit.

This is one of the features of the kit, and although it’s time-consuming, I think it’s worth it:

It’s summer. And in summer, I like to host children’s embroidery classes. For those who don’t know, Needle ‘n Thread actually sprang from children’s summer embroidery classes that I taught way back in the summers leading up to 2006.

This past week, Needle ‘n Thread turned 13 years old. And even though there was a break due to lack of a teaching space, I’m happy to say that, as of last summer, I’m back to offering summer classes for local children and youth.

I think it’s important to teach children the needle arts, to show them that they can create beautiful things with their hands, and to give them the opportunity to learn a creative hobby. Even if they don’t stick with it “full time” in their early years, there’s a good chance that they will eventually come back to it.

I’ve been prepping the project samples for this year’s classes. We’re doing two projects. I showed you the first one (this sampler needlebook and a less complex variation thereof) already. The second one is another flour sack towel, because these give the kids a “picture” to embroider and a finished object to display.

But I’m not quite sold on this particular class sample below, and I’m thinking I need to make some adjustments. Take a look…

I’m a huge advocate of simple stitching.

This isn’t to say I don’t like to get involved in complex projects – I do! But I also like (I love) the notion that hand embroidery doesn’t haven’t to be complicated to be pretty!

Case in point, this wee floral sprig…