November 7, 2014

Economic Alternative for Embroidery Stands

Several weeks ago, I reviewed this hand embroidery hoop stand – a hoop on a stick – and it prompted quite a few emails and comments from readers.

Most readers were chiming in to report great things about their sit-on hoop stands. Many readers hadn’t heard of them before, or didn’t know they could be found in the US.

And several readers wrote in with a very legitimate question, which I want to address today.

Condensed, the questions posed boiled down to this: “I would love to have a way to embroider with both hands free, but I just can’t afford to purchase a stand right now. Do you have any suggestions for a less-expensive alternative?”

Embroidery Question: Economic Alternative to Embroidery Stands

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November 6, 2014

A Bird in the Hand…

You know the saying, A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush? It means that what we already have is more valuable than what we hope to get some day.

I’m thinking we could apply this to the Secret Garden Hummingbirds, now that one of them is completely finished. I learned a lot when embroidering the first bird – and I suspect the future hope of having the second bird eventually finished will not be quite as interesting a journey.

But … it will certainly be a faster journey!

So, I finished all the embroidery on the first hummingbird, including the bird’s beak, which I’m still debating about. Perhaps you can help me?

Hand Embroidery Patterns

November 5, 2014

The End

If you’ve been collecting the letters for the Daisy & Rings monogram alphabet, you’ll be happy to know that today, we’ve reached The End.

Sometimes, The End is a great place to be!

For those of you just joining in here at Needle ‘n Thread, you’ll find this complete alphabet of monogram letters available here.

Each letter has a free PDF printable with three sizes of letters on it. And many of the articles that accompany the letters offer stitching tips and ideas, links to monogram resources, and so forth.

Without further ado, here’s The End of the Alphabet – letters Y and Z.

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November 4, 2014

I Believe in UFOs!

No, really. I do.

If you’re new to the embroidery / quilting / needlecrafting world, you might think I’m a little off my nut here. But if you’ve been in the game for a while and you’ve had contact with other people in the hand crafting and needle arts world, then you’re probably familiar with the term UFO, and you know what I mean by it.

A UFO – strangely enough – is an UnFinished Object.

This particular moniker has always irritated me a little bit. Why do we call it a UFO?

Firstly, unfinished is one word. So, if anything, it should be a UO. But I realize that sounds equally silly.

Secondly, who calls their embroidery work an object, anyway? I generally call it an embroidery project. If I don’t finish it, it’s an Unfinished Project.

An UP.

Hand Embroidery UFO's & Why We Have Them

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November 3, 2014

Redwork Embroidery – Stalled, but Not Forgotten

Remember this redwork runner? Oh yes, it’s been a long time since I mentioned this particular embroidery project!

This past May, it reached the point where all the chain stitch on the runner was complete – the Hungarian braided chain stitch is all that’s left to do on the unfinished portion of the runner.

The project’s been nagging me lately, in a quiet way.