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
June 8, 2020
Good morning, my friends! And Happy Monday!
Over the next few weeks, off and on, I’m going to be sharing with you some embroidery and needlework books that have been stacking up on my side table for a while. It’s time to hew down the stack!
Today’s book is The Kew Book of Embroidered Flowers by Trish Burr – something I’ve been looking forward to for a long while! I can’t wait to show it to you!
June 4, 2020
Today, just a quick update to show you a finish – specifically, the bird variation of my Jacobean-inspired design explorations.
The non-bird version is still floating in limbo. I’m suffering the Starts and Stops on one area, but I hope to address it this weekend.
In the meantime, we can celebrate The Bird!
June 1, 2020
She’s a dull tool.
It’s not a very nice thing to say about a person.
But sometimes, believe it or not, it’s a great thing to say about an embroidery tool!
Today, I’ll present a case wherein the dull tool is the highly desired tool. I’ll explain…
May 29, 2020
Many moons ago, while I was beefing up my tambour embroidery skills, I stitched this bird as a practice piece with the tambour hook.
You can find the bird design here.
I officially called the bird Little Bird of Paradise – but in my head, she has always reminded me of Gertrude McFuzz – the silly, vain bird concocted by Dr. Seuss – so that’s what I affectionately call her.
In Anna’s version of the Jacobean design that we are stitching congruently, Gertrude is the star of the show, replacing the main element on my version. So, perched on top of the typical Jacobean nonsensical and stylized tree, you will find the Little Bird of Paradise mentioned above.
I don’t know exactly why Anna’s embroidery is progressing so much faster than mine. Either she’s spending more time at it (somewhat likely?) or I’m just a slow stitcher (likelier!). She has a certain stick-to-itiveness for any given task, whereas I’m more of a Distraction Magnet. Give me any opportunity to be distracted, and I’m off!
Both of us have had our frustrating moments, picking out parts and re-stitching them.
May 27, 2020
Well, howdy there!
I took a long weekend off from writing so that I could accomplish a few goals in the studio, have a little R & R break before the summer push, and get in some organizing on my publishing calendar. I needed to do some Thinking Work.
Did I accomplish everything I planned to accomplish? … uh. No. But I made some headway. I think the Rest & Relaxation got in the way. And that made it a great weekend!
I hope you had a great weekend, too!
I managed a bit of progress on my Jacobean design. See:
May 20, 2020
It’s time for a little embroidery project progress report!
Usually, on Friday afternoons and Tuesday mornings, Anna and I get a chance to work on our Jacobean-ish embroidery projects. By the time Wednesday rolls around, we finally have something to share. You’d think that we’d make faster progress, but lately, we’ve both been taking out as many stitches as we put in!
Right now, for lack of anything better, we’ve turned Dr. Seuss-ish, and we are calling the projects Thing 1 and Thing 2.
If you’re just joining in on our coverage, you can read more of the back story in the progress report from last week, which you’ll find here.
Today, I’ll show you progress on both Jacobean projects, and I’ll share some insights, thoughts, foibles, and whatnot that we’ve had along the way.
May 18, 2020
It’s been a while since I’ve done any kind of in-depth needlework product review. This particular tool has been on my radar for a while.
When a friend inquired about it recently, wondering if I had tried it and what I thought, I figured I’d take the plunge and purchase it. That way, you can know if it’s something you’re interested, and you can be aware of pros and cons before you purchase it.
The tool in question is the hoop floor stand by Nurge, a company that I think is located in Turkey, that’s recently made some inroads in the wider needlework market, especially in Australia and a little bit in the UK. Nurge products aren’t widely available in the US, but they are showing up here and there, now and then.
I’ve tried their hoops – I bought a set of them many months ago and I’m not quite sold on them compared to those I already use – but today, we’re going to take a look at their floor stand, which can hold most types of embroidery hoops.
The review goes into great detail, so if you have questions, read through the review thoroughly first and then feel free to ask anything you want to know in the comment section.
