Last summer I released Something Fishy – a ready-to-stitch towel set featuring some very stylized tropical fish.

I know summer must be nearing, because many of you are stitching Something Fishy again, and I’m getting a few questions on stitch choices and other inquiries.

So I thought I’d pop in and share a few tips again for embroidering these ready-to-stitch projects. Even though I’ll be specifically talking about the fish I stitched last year, the concepts can be applied to any similar projects. So whether you’re stitching tropical fish on Something Fishy, or any of the floral or Christmas ready-to-stitch towel sets, or even an Aunt Martha transfer that you’ve pressed onto your own flour sack towels, hopefully you’ll find some tips and ideas here that will be helpful.

It’s been a long time since we’ve looked at the various voided monogram projects that I’ve indulged in here on Needle ‘n Thread!

The whole idea of “voided” embroidery is fun – it’s such a great way to explore colors and textures and stitches in free-style embroidery.

The idea behind voided embroidery is that the central focus – whether it’s a letter (as with monograms) or a silhouette shape of practically anything – is blank, devoid of any stitchery, while the background around the focal point is practically solidly encrusted with embroidery.

A couple weeks ago, I shared this sneak peek on an upcoming embroidery project featuring one of my favorite flowers, the cornflower.

It’s a funny thing. It’s not like the design is that complex, and my approach to stitching it is certainly not complicated. But sometimes, when you’re trying to work out just exactly how to stitch an element in a way that other people will be able to understand and do easily – without getting complicated! – I sure know how to get complicated.

Back in February, I began exploring DMC’s new Eco Vita naturally-dyed wool embroidery threads, working a small and satisfying little project that we first looked at here.

The project developed over time, undergoing a few changes. And then it developed into an embroidery kit – Wildflowers in Wool, which is available now.