If you’re an inveterate arts & crafts sort of person, then perhaps you have a Bucket List of projects that you dream about getting to some day.

I do.

I have a Project Bucket List. They’re not all embroidery projects, but a whole lot of ’em are!

But see, my Project Bucket List has one Mighty Big Flaw.

And this is the flaw:

There is no one bucket large enough to contain my list.

And so I often wonder if I will actually ever achieve anything on that list. Knowing myself, my life, and my circumstances, I often tell myself rather practically that it isn’t likely I’ll get to one of them, let alone all of my BLPs (which I pronounce “Blips”) – Bucket List Projects.

What kind of attitude is that? I argue with myself. As my Mom used to say, “Say you can, say you can’t – either way, you’re right.” In other words, it’s really up to me.

I’m here today to tell you that right now, at the end of January in 2025, I have taken One Step towards One BLP.

Do you ever use stretcher bar frames for your embroidery projects?

I do. I use them especially for small-to-medium sized projects that will take longer to work, but not as long as projects that I’d set up in a slate frame – which are usually pretty extensive projects.

I like stretcher bars because they’re quick to set up compared to a slate frame, they provide excellent tension if they’re set up correctly, and, if you’re using certain stretcher bars, they’re adjustable.

When I use stretcher bar frames, I always use Evertite Stretcher Bars, and since I’ve received a repeated question about stretcher bars and about Evertite Stretcher Bars in particular, I thought I’d answer that question here.

Remember last week when I asked you to let me know your questions, challenges, hurdles, mountains, molehills, difficulties, and what-have-yous that might cause you frustration when you embroider?

I received a lot of emails about the backside of embroidery. It kind of made me sad, because it tells me that people are adding undue stress to their creative projects that are supposed to be stress relievers.

So today, I’m going on record to say this, once and for all:

STOP.

Please stop stressing about the Back of your Embroidery.

Now, I’m not saying “Don’t ever think about the back of your embroidery.”

Rather, I’m saying “Don’t worry so much about the back of your embroidery that it becomes a crippling, stressful factor for you.”

Pull up a chair, pour yourself a nice cup of something warm and soothing, and let’s have a good old-fashioned natter about this topic. Hopefully, we can put to rest some misconceptions and give you some general guidance to relieve your anxieties over the back of your embroidery.

Part of the embroidery design process is choosing color options. This aspect of designing a needlework project from scratch can be a stumbling block for many people – including me!

If you find choosing colors for needlework intimidating or difficult, you are not alone! Still, my most basic color-choice guideline when people ask me about colors, is this: it isn’t rocket science. There’s no hard-and-fast rule. The colors you choose for your own personal needlework projects should be, overall, colors that you like, that please you, that make you happy.

If they’re not, you’re going to fall out of love with your project pretty quickly.

This morning, I’m Musing Over Things.

Actually, I’ve been musing over Things for the past many weeks. But this morning, I’m developing detailed lists from my musings on Things.

I want to fill out my Topic Lists with some more relevant, useful needlework topics – topics that you find relevant and useful. So I’m going to propose a question to you, and I hope you can take a little time to answer it.

I’m going to indulge in one of my favorite needlework topics today – ecclesiastical embroidery. When I found out that there was (finally!) a new book on the topic coming out, you can bet I was pretty excited!

I ordered it right away from the UK (it’s not released in the US until this April) and received it last week.

Ecclesiastical Embroidery: Techniques and Projects by Heather Lewis is both an instructional and a project book, as the title promises. It’s a hard-bound book published by The Crowood Press. It covers the standard approaches to embroidery used to embellish the accoutrements of worship, as well as information on symbolism, design, and construction of some liturgical items.

Let’s take a look at it up close, shall we?

Is 2025 your year to learn a bit more about the history of embroidery? If it is, then you’ll want to check out a new offering from the Victoria & Albert Museum!

The Victoria & Albert has this on-demand lecture course on English embroidery available, and of course, I am intrigued.

Besides the notable subject matter, you’ll see that it’s a self-paced lecture course, and it’s very reasonably priced (and the British pound is relatively low right now).