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.