I have a friend who takes pictures for me of ecclesiastical embroidery that she comes across in her travels.

When she leaves town, I never know if she’ll run into something picture-worthy, but when she does… it’s always exceptional!

On her last excursion, she was able to photograph an antique altar frontal. This piece was donated to the monastery that owns it, and the provenance is not known.

But there’s something about the style of piece (we’ll talk about it below), and of course, there’s the sheer beauty, skill, and splendor of the piece that’s worth noting, even if we don’t know anything about where it came from.

When it comes to historical pieces of embroidery – large historical pieces of embroidery, especially – it would be difficult to conceive of one that is more widely known than the Bayeux Tapestry.

I like the Bayeux Tapestry. I like the history of the era. It’s a subject that always holds me fascinated.

So when this particular article popped up in the newsfeeds a week or so ago, I knew I had to share it with you – it makes good weekend reading!

The first time I saw a hand embroidered lampshade was in a book on Schwalm embroidery, sent to me by Luzine Happel, an expert in Schwalm embroidery from Germany who writes beautiful books on how to do Schwalm work.

I marveled at the pristine whitework stretched taut over the frame of a lamp – and I thought, “Now, there’s an embroidery finishing technique you don’t see too often!”

If you’re unfamiliar with Luzine’s Scwalm website, you should check it out! She features a nice article on an embroidered Schwalm lampshade, here. This is the lampshade:

Lately, I’ve gotten quite a few folks asking me about Bluprint, and what the differences are between Bluprint and Craftsy.

A while ago, I reviewed quite a few of the Craftsy online embroidery classes that I like, explaining why I like them, what’s in them, and how they can be of value to the beginner (and beyond). They’re especially suited to those who don’t have classes or guild groups close by, or who might not have the wherewithal (flexibility in time, finances, or what-have-you) to attend face-to-face classes.

Recently, Craftsy and Bluprint have been showing up together online, so I want to explain the differences and highlight some pros and cons for those who are curious about the two.

If you’re still in Autumn Mode when it comes to stitching, but you’re floundering about for some embroidery design ideas, I’ve put together a small collection of free fall-themed hand embroidery patterns to help you out!

If you’re new to Needle ‘n Thread in the last couple years, you might not be aware of the extensive collection of free hand embroidery patterns on the website. You can find many of them listed here in the Patterns index found in the main menu. You can find the most recent additions listed here, organized with the tag “free embroidery patterns.”

In fact, did you know you can search Needle ‘n Thread by topic, by visiting this list of organizational tags? It’s a fun way to navigate the website. After 12+ years of blogging, there’s a lot of useful stitching information on Needle ‘n Thread – it’s fun to dig up old gems by foraging through the topic list!

But I digress – back to the fall pattern round up!

Many of you, I know, subscribe to Inspirations Magazine, which is one of the longest-running contemporary magazines devoted to hand embroidery.

It’s been going since the 1990’s, when I was in college. I’ve previously told the story of my introduction to the magazine (and how I used to steal my sister’s copies) here, if you’re interested in reading a bit about my backstory with Inspirations.

The latest issue is a fantastic celebration of needlework and an exciting milestone. The latest issue is #100, and that’s definitely something to celebrate!

When #100 arrived in the mail the other day, I just knew I’d have to share it with you, so that those of you who don’t subscribe will have a chance to know what’s in this issue, and perhaps take the leap and at least purchase the single copy (if not start your own collection of the next 100 issues!). Issue #100 is an excellent sampling of what Inspirations Magazine is all about.

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t received your copy yet and you like to savor the surprises in each issue, you might not want to read ahead, because I’m going to highlight the projects in issue #100.