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
September 10, 2014
If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m a sucker for monograms.
I assert, here and now, for the world to know, that I love monograms!
But the other day, I had an interesting conversation about them with a pal. The conversation made me re-evaluate my relationship with monograms – it hasn’t decreased my love of them, mind you, but it set me thinking…
September 9, 2014
Do you ever get really stuck into your embroidery, completely engrossed in it, with the absolute certitude that you will not only reach your daily goal but surpass it, everything just ticking along exactly as you wanted it….when suddenly….
…suddenly…
…out of nowhere… the phone rings, the unexpected happens, some sort of interruption comes? They’re not necessarily bad interruptions – but they are interruptions.
This happens to me a lot. And it’s always when I’m the most settled, the most determined, the most engrossed, and the most certain that I’m actually getting somewhere.
In particular, it happened the other day when I was working on the hummingbird feathers on the Secret Garden project. And I was so sad to leave them! I was having such fun!
September 8, 2014
I’ve been saving some little needlework news snippets for a while, so today, I think I’ll share part of the list with you. Kick back and join me for a cup of coffee!
First, some delectable eye candy!
September 6, 2014
Saturday morning! The birds are frolicking, the air is cool (mid-50’s! Yes! Autumn is coming!), the windows are open, my tea is hot – in short, it is a perfect morning to sit and chat with you!
Now and then, I come across newsy needlework bits, important information, interesting blog posts, splashes of inspiration, or just some neat little embroidery-related thing that makes me think of you. “Ah, I’ll share that with my friends…” So I keep a list. And eventually, they morph into a weekend chat.
Today, though, I’m just going to concentrate on one bit of news, because I think it’s important. We’ll have a chat about the other bits, later on.
September 5, 2014
Besides being the last day of the first week of September (already? where does the time go?!), today’s the day we find out who wins a brand-spanking-new copy of Cheryl Fall’s Simply Samplers, which I reviewed a couple weeks ago.
A short recap of the book: Simply Samplers is a nice beginner’s embroidery book for both cross stitch and surface embroidery. It covers all the basics and makes a great starting point for folks, young or old or anywhere in between, interested in getting into stitchery for the first time.
September 4, 2014
Last week, I posted the I & J monograms for this particular alphabet.
They weren’t the greatest hits in the world – the I is ok (it was the original), but the J (my re-draw) was another question. Someday, I’ll go back and try to re-imagine the J!
In the meantime, though, forward with the alphabet! Today, the K and the L.
September 3, 2014
Today, I’m going to review for you an absolutely luscious needlework book called Delicious Embroidery, by the mother-daughter team of Lesley Turpin-Delport and Nikki Delport-Wepener. It’s brand new on the market, and you won’t find it too widely available right now, but I’ll list some sources at the end of the article.
As the name implies, Delicious Embroidery loosely parallels a cookbook approach towards the embroidery and mixed media projects within.
It’s a fun and fascinating book, for both its instructional content and its visual content – it’s definitely one of those books that deserves Coffee-Table Status. I think even non-embroiderers would enjoy browsing through it and marveling at the contents!
