I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more
Contact Mary
I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more
Contact Mary
January 8, 2015
The last time we looked at the Secret Garden Hummingbirds, I proposed a little color controversy, polling you all for your opinion on adding red to the second hummingbird.
Many good points came from that conversation as you chipped in with good advice, approval, or disapproval! And a couple questions arose, too, two of which I’ll clear up today while showing you a wee bit more embroidery progress on the birds.
January 7, 2015
A while before Christmas (golly, the holidays went by fast, didn’t they?), I made a list of a dozen hand embroidery books that would make great gifts.
On that list were a few books that I haven’t reviewed yet for you, and today, I want to share one of them with you.
You see, it’s a gorgeous book. It’s the kind of book that inspires thoroughly. The kind of book that makes you say, Wow! I want to do that!
And it’s unique in many aspects, which makes it doubly desirable.
The book I’m talking about A-Z of Silk Ribbon Flowers by Ann Cox, published by Search Press.
January 6, 2015
Just in case goldwork embroidery is somewhere on your New Year’s Resolution list, I feel Absolutely Compelled to let you know about a wonderful resource for goldwork kits and supplies.
It’s not a new resource – au contraire! – but you might not be familiar with their goldwork embroidery kits. And if you’re not, you might want to know that not only does this renowned company carry goldwork kits, but many of their goldwork kits just happen to be on sale right now.
What could be better?
But what really compelled me to announce this particular happy circumstance today is the fact that one of their kits is this magnificent goldwork crown:
January 5, 2015
Remember the impromptu hand embroidered Christmas ornament I finished right before Christmas?
January 3, 2015
It’s a wintery, shivery day here in northeast Kansas. Rumor has it, there’s snow coming. But right now, it’s just dark, misty, bleak and cold. And on mornings like this, it’s hard to believe that spring will ever come!
To help speed spring along, I’ll be mailing out this Breath of Spring embroidery kit to one of you next week. But to whom?
Let’s find out!
January 2, 2015
Off and on, I love to spend time doodling about with hand embroidery designs that eventually, I’d like to embroider!
Some of this fiddling is done in sketch books, some is done on the computer (usually after I’ve played about in a sketch book), and some is done on vellum over old embroidery patterns, photos of old pieces of embroidery (from ecclesiastical embroidery collections I’ve visited), or over real pieces of embroidery that I’ve collected.
But you know how it is. You understand this dilemma:
So many ideas, so little time.
Today’s hand embroidery pattern is one example of an excerpt from an old folio of ecclesiastical embroidery designs. I cleaned up the excerpt, made some changes to it, and ended up with a stylized blooming something-or-other.
And because I have such a gosh-awful time naming things, I’m calling this one Bloomin’ Branch: A Stylized Motif for Hand Embroidery.
January 1, 2015
Happy New Year!
When the New Year rolls around, I like to take stock of what I managed to accomplish the year before, and examine what I want to accomplish in the new year.
