Today, I want to share with you a piece of ecclesiastical embroidery worked by Kate – her first piece of ecclesiastical embroidery, as a matter of fact.

I think she did a terrific job on it!

Today, I want to share with you three things that every avid embroiderer should read.

Two are what I’d call “serious” subjects – they’re for embroiderers who think about wider issues related to needlework.

The third…well, the third is your dessert. It’s your reward for reading the other two articles. So, if you clean your plate on the first two articles, you may go ahead and follow the third link.

Or you can go for dessert first and save the substance for later…

Whatever order you take, they’re all worth reading!

Some stitchers following along with the Secret Garden project have written to ask for tips on how to simplify the embroidery on their versions of the project, especially with regards to long & short stitch fillings.

At times like this, I wish I were an octopus… or a double-octopus (a sedecipus?). With 16 hands, I could embroider all the possibilities for every follow-along project on Needle ‘n Thread. Just imagine! And that way, I could answer so many questions visually, which would be easier all around.

But, since I only have two hands, we’ll have to settle for a few general tips. You can apply these to any surface embroidery project, not just the Secret Garden project.

To that end, here are some suggestions and thoughts on simplifying embroidery projects to make them more accessible to your own particular levels and likes.

I’m a huge fan of whitework embroidery of all types. And although I don’t do a lot of whitework compared to other forms of embroidery, I do dabble in whitework now and then.

One of my favorite types of whitework embroidery is Schwalm whitework.

I love Schwalm whitework for a few reasons: 1. It offers a never-ending plethora of variation, especially when it comes to fillings; 2. It involves relatively simple stitches, which makes it easy to get into; and 3. With its crisp white finish, airy openwork areas, and simple folky design elements, it’s really beautiful and, at the same time, it’s accessible. It doesn’t overwhelm.

Since it’s Saturday morning, how about we have a nice cup of coffee together while we browse through a wonderful Schwalm embroidery resource?

I have The Worst Time Ever trying to name hand embroidery designs.

It’s a great source of wonderment to me, how designers can repeatedly come up with apt, catchy, or elegant names for embroidery projects, kits, and designs! Or how thread manufacturers can come up with diverse color names that work!

When I try to come up with clever and appropriate names for designs or projects, words like thingy, stuff, and whatchamacallit come to mind.

Once upon a time, I thought about resorting to a numbering system. Project 1. Project 2. Project 214a. But that would be even worse, wouldn’t it?

So I really put my thinking cap on for this design, and I named it Rococo Bud.

It’s not necessarily a clever name. But it beats Acanthus-ish Thingamabob.

And if you say it ten times fast, it ends up twisting into nonsense words, like ropocobut, which makes it doubly entertaining.

Last time we looked at the Hungarian Redwork Runner project that I started some serious eons ago, the second end section of the runner was underway.

Here’s a brief little update on the slow progress of this project, just to prove that it isn’t forgotten and hasn’t been shelved!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a Stitch Fun tutorial! I’ve been aching to write one, though, for quite a while!

This particular combination of stitches results in a rather frivolous and fun spoked wheel. It would be perfect for adding to dimensional embroidery projects, Brazilian embroidery, highly textured embroidery, free style embroidery, and so forth.

Before we begin, if you’re not familiar with buttonhole wheels and bullion knots, you might take some time to watch the buttonhole wheel video tutorial and the bullion knot video tutorial.