March 3, 2017

Beautiful & Functional – A Slate Frame & a Give-Away!

Ahhhhh. Two momentous things for you today!

Wait… make that three! It’s a banner day!

First, I want to introduce you to a new (and beautiful, and functional, and strong, and light – and a little bit different) slate frame that’s on the market.

And then, to spread the joy a bit, we’ll have a give-away! Because I know you want one, too!

And mixed in with it all, you’ll get a sneak peek at a new project that’s been simmering on the back burner.

Update, 2019: At this point in time, I’m cautioning folks about purchasing from Mythic Crafts. After a very successful crowd-funding campaign in January of 2018, many of the backers have still not received their goods from backing that campaign. I hope that Mythic Crafts is able to fulfill the orders made during the crowdfunding campaign, but until they do, I don’t recommend ordering from the company’s website.

Update, July 2019: Mythic Crafts is out of business.

Uncategorized

March 1, 2017

February Finish – Modern Crewel! & Books Winner!

I love meeting a deadline – even if it’s just a self-imposed one.

In fact, I’m not very good at meeting self-imposed deadlines, so it’s always really exciting when it happens. My goal was to finish Modern Crewel by the end of February, and at 9:36 last night, I put the last stitch in.

I loved working this project! I think it’s a gorgeous, fun, and instructive project, accessible to all levels of embroiderers from determined beginner onwards.

Below, I’ll show you the changes I made in the embroidery on the hillocks, list all the articles pertaining to this project, and announce the winner of the three A-Z embroidery books from last week’s give-away!

Modern Crewel Embroidery Design, Finished

Uncategorized

February 27, 2017

Modern Crewel – Close to Finished & Handling Shortages

Happy Monday!

Let’s start the week with progress on Modern Crewel – this kit that I reviewed here.

For those who have written asking for a pattern and materials list, you’ll find it in Inspirations Magazine issue 90, which you can order here in print form or here in digital form, if you don’t already subscribe to the magazine. Inspirations also offers a materials kit here.

I’m two steps away from finished on this project, and I’ve run into two snags in the form of materials shortage in the kit. So here’s my weekend progress and a little chat about how to overcome a materials shortage in a kit when the materials are not easily had.

Modern Crewel: embroidery project progress

Uncategorized

February 24, 2017

National Embroidery Month Book Give-Away!

Well, I haven’t said a lot here on Needle ‘n Thread about National Embroidery Month.

Yes, February is National Embroidery Month! Yay!

The thing is, I don’t really get into the generic naming of months or days for the awareness of things. Like “World Nutella Day.” What does that mean? Are people supposed to eat more Nutella that day than any other day of the year? Or are they just supposed to be aware that Nutella exists? I already struggle with the fact that Nutella exists! I don’t need to be reminded!

Does it really matter that November 6th is National Basketball Day? Or that March 1st is National Pig Day? Or that May 4th is Star Wars Day? If more people knew that January 23rd is Handwriting Day, do you think they’d have better penmanship?

And, really. Do you want the world to celebrate National Naked Day?

If I tried really hard, I could probably elaborate many reasons why I don’t get into these kinds of things. Among them, I might mention their arbitrariness, their (often) superficiality, their lack (in most cases) of clear foundation or reason for existence (Count your Buttons Day? National Absurdity Day? Tell a Lie Day? My mind boggles!), and, when it comes to things, the little inkling that they smack of marketing ploys. I bet more Nutella is sold at the beginning of February than any other time of the year.

And while I can get behind the notion of a more intensely embroidery-focused day or month, the fact is, every month is National Embroidery Month in my mind. I’m always asking myself how we can make others more aware of the art of embroidery, how we can pass the art on, how we can preserve it, enhance it, spread it, explore it…

Still, all that said…. ok! I’ll bite! It’s National Embroidery Month, after all! And to celebrate it – as it draws to a close – let’s have a give-away!

Uncategorized

February 22, 2017

Modern Crewel – Tips on Twists & Needles

Ah, Embroidery Project Rotation! It can drive you nuts or keep you sane, depending on how you look at it!

These days, I have several embroidery projects going, and I work them in a kind of rotation schedule. I showed you earlier this year how I organize multiple embroidery projects at once. And as the year ticks along, things are working out ok with all of them, although, admittedly, some projects are getting more attention than others.

We’ll chat later on about the pros and cons of working many projects in rotation (and I’ll show you a couple more that I’ve added into the mix), but today, I want to update you on Modern Crewel, this project kit that I reviewed here, featured in Inspirations Magazine issue 90.

There are two tips I want to share that surfaced while I was stitching along the other day. I think they’re worth knowing, whether you’re working this kit or not!

Modern Crewel - Surface embroidery project progress

Hand Embroidery Patterns

February 20, 2017

Free Hand Embroidery Pattern: Dillmont Rose #2

Happy Monday!

To get your creative juices flowing for the week, here’s a cleaned up version of another Therese Dillmont design! This one is similar in some ways (we’ll talk about those below) to the Dillmont Rose I shared with you a few weeks ago, though a little simpler.

The design was originally intended as an embroidery design. It is from Dillmont book on Colbert embroidery, which you can read about here. It would also make a wonderful design for quilting and for crafts like paper crafts and card making.

Let’s chat a little bit about Colbert embroidery, to clarify some ways this design could be used for that style of needlework.

Free Hand Embroidery Pattern: Dillmont Rose #2

Hand Embroidery Books

February 17, 2017

Beginner’s Guide to Goldwork – New Edition!

Oh dear.

I promise this isn’t shameless self-promotion here. There’s nothing about this book that has to do with me, except for the fact that I love the book…and the fact that my name is on the cover.

There’s a new edition to Beginner’s Guide to Goldwork by Ruth Chamberlin out. I wrote the foreward. Why? Because I love the book!

I reviewed Beginner’s Guide to Goldwork a long time ago, way back in 2007. It became hard to find for a while, and now it’s been re-issued – a great boon to embroiderers everywhere, because now the book is widely available again, and affordably so!

There are many reasons why this book nestles deep within the cockles of my heart, but there’s one reason in particular. I’ll share that with you today, because if you’re anything like me when it comes to your embroidery journey, you’ll understand!

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

Beautiful & Functional – A Slate Frame & a Give-Away!

February Finish – Modern Crewel! & Books Winner!

Modern Crewel – Close to Finished & Handling Shortages

National Embroidery Month Book Give-Away!

Modern Crewel – Tips on Twists & Needles

Free Hand Embroidery Pattern: Dillmont Rose #2

Beginner’s Guide to Goldwork – New Edition!

Connect with Mary

How-To Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos