September 2, 2014
D is for Doing
Besides the Secret Garden hummingbird embroidery project, I’ve been doing other embroidery-related stuff behind the scenes in my little spot here in Kansas.
September 1, 2014
Secret Garden Embroidery: Top of the Wing
Happy Monday! And if you’re enjoying a three-day weekend today, double-happy Monday to you!
It’s Labor Day here in the US. To celebrate, I’m going to labor with some stitchy stuff – and a little cleaning and organizing.
But in the meantime, I want to show you the top of the wings, or the wing “caps” on the hummingbird.
Last week, we left off here:
August 29, 2014
Simply Samplers – A Give-Away!
Because it’s Friday…because we’ve all made it to the end of another week…because it’s Raining in Kansas (which is always happy news in August!)…today’s a perfect day for a give-away!
And today, courtesy of Stackpole Books, I’m giving away a copy of Cheryl Fall’s Simply Samplers, which I reviewed earlier this week.
August 28, 2014
More Embroidery on the Wing & the Growth of Orts
What do you get when you cross a hummingbird wing, a frustrated embroiderer, the wrong colors, and a pair of sharp scissors?
Right.
A larger orts pile.
I’m sure there’s a joke in there. If I tried really hard, I could probably string this whole thing out into a series of lousy puns.
But I’m too nice to put you through that!
August 27, 2014
Monograms for Hand Embroidery – I, J Daisy & Rings
Whenever I come across monograms for an I or the J (or is the J or the I?) in old publications, I mourn the absence of one or the other, or at least of one distinct from the other.
In old monogram alphabets, it is very common to see only the I or the J. The reason? It’s really because they can be substituted for each other, in most of the scripted monogram alphabets. Whether you use the offered letter as an I or as a J is up to you – it can work for either.
August 26, 2014
Secret Garden Embroidery: Winging It!
I mean that literally. I’m winging it on the Secret Garden embroidery project right now – just testing some approaches on the wings, trying this and that, and changing my mind and starting over.
It’s not necessarily the best approach in the world, if you’re trying to be an efficient embroiderer!
August 25, 2014
Simply Samplers – Book Review
Simply Samplers by Cheryl Fall is a delightful instructional book for hand embroidery and cross stitch, great for beginners!
The book is suitable for adults who are getting into embroidery for the first time, and I also found it perfect for handing off to youngsters, to give them a good foundation for stitchery with plenty of starter projects to embroider. I handed it off to my 11 year old niece for her to read, explore, and experiment, and she found it easily accessible and understandable.
So here’s my review of Simply Samplers so you can see what it’s all about, in case you are a beginner looking for somewhere to start, or in case you have a beginner in mind that you’d like to help out!
