For October, I thought I’d reduce my needlework stash by foraging for some Autumn-themed colors. I came up with some great threads, trims, and embellishments for this month’s stash contest! It was fun picking through things, but it made me realize I have to get out to the studio and do a little more organizing! In the meantime, though, here’s this month’s stash contest.
The Loot – threads, trims, and embellishments!
I found, among my thread boxes, an Autumn pack of Appleton crewel wool. I know it had a purpose when I purchased it. Since then, I’ve “inherited” about 300 skeins of Appleton. This little handy package, then, is just perfect for a give-away.
There are ten skeins of Appleton crewel wool here. Nice colors, aren’t they? If you haven’t stitched with wool before, this is a good way to try it out!
This probably doesn’t look that impressive, but let me tell you about this little piece of ribbon. It’s a little less than half a yard of the softest, silkiest, velvety-smooth shiny ribbon, deep golden orange on the side with the nap, and brown on the other side. It would be pretty on a crazy quilt, or it would even make nice trim, I think, on a greeting card. The ribbon is about a half inch wide. It’s very limp and soft. I love this ribbon!
These are two little charms – a fox and an adorable tiny owl with big eyes.
The trim on the left is a multi-colored braided trim that’s kind of funky but fun. I’m pretty sure there’s well over a yard there, and maybe closer to two. The ric-rac is tiny ric-rac in yellow, accented with orange – another embellishment for greeting cards, quilts, doll clothes, anything… There’s half a yard.
And finally, aaaaaaaahhhhh. Silk! You know I have a thing about silk threads. I love them! On the left is almost a whole skein of Caron Collection Waterlilies. The skein has already been cut in stitchable lengths. On the right is a skein of Eterna mini twist. It’s a nice soft twisted, overdyed silk.
What You Have to Do to Win
In my August stash give-away, I asked readers to give ideas for future stash contest questions. So many great ideas for contest questions were submitted!!
Su J offered three really good questions, and I’m going to use one of hers this month. So, this is what you do: read the question, click on the “click to comment” link at the bottom of this post (you have to be on the website at this post, not on the newsletter), and submit your answer as a comment at the base of this post.
I’ll make a list of the comment names, shuffle them and number them, then pick a random number to choose the winner. Please make sure to sign your post with your name or nickname, if you post anonymously.
Here’s the topic for your comment:
Tell me about the piece of embroidery that gave you the most pleasure to do, and why?
The contest is over on Tuesday, October 14th at 5:00 am my time (CST, USA). I’ll announce the winner on Tuesday, and the winner will need to contact me with a mailing address. The contest is open to anyone, anywhere.
Have fun! Good luck! Don’t be shy!
I do my embroidery as Crazy Quilting. I made a birthday block for my granddaughter when she turned 1 year old. It was a joy to do and now I use it as the wallpaper for my blog. ;0)
I have done many different types of embroidery projects, but I think the one that gave me the most pleasure was a stamped cross stitch pillow I did for my grandmother. I was about 11 years old and I was so proud to be doing a project for her after all the quilts and dolls she’d made for me. I wish I knew what happened to it!
Bounces! First she uses one of my questions, and then I’m the first to comment!
I know I posed it, but it’s a toughie this one. The two projects that are vying for it are like from the sublime to the ridiculous
It’s a toss up between the Family Tree Embroidered in Couched Goldwork on Silk Satin for my Parent’s Golden wedding. I loved doing that because of the anticipation of the reaction when I presented them with something really special, but it was a really hard project to do, and a bit stressfull.
So the accolade goes to one of my little meme of making projects for a friend of mine who is going through a tough time. It was a loose reproduction of an 18th century pocket from the Fashion Museum in Bath, in lovely rich coloured silks, done in chain-stitch. It was such a pretty fun little project, I loved the colours, and I loved thinking of Sarah’s surprise when I presented her with something so small and perfect.
The embroidery piece that made me feel great was a crazy quilted block that I made for a class I took with Sharon Boggon. It challenged me and helped me think about embroidery in a different light. The stitches I used turned out just the way I planned them or better. I learned alot by experimenting with differing threads in thickness, shein and colour and how this makes a seam treatment much more dinamic and interesting.. It was great fun.
Melisa B
The piece of work that gives me the most pleasure is a Christmas piece that just says “Merry Christmas” in several different stitches. It’s about 12 X 20 and have a beautiful gold and green frame. The colors are brilliant and it looks awesome on the wall. I think it will make an excellent heirloom for one of my kids.
I wall hanging of simple flowers because it was my own design in my favorite colors and simply it makes me happy to look at it!
My favorite embroidery was an old kit of flowers that was given to me as a pre-teen (many years ago!) I was hooked and eventually sold Creative Circle-remember those needlework parties in the early 80’s?? Teresa S.
Several years ago I made myself a cat cross-stitch that had a few different types of stitches and I really enjoyed doing it because it wasn’t all straight cross stitch! I ended up liking it so much that I made another one for a good friend of mine since he loves cats too. He still mentions every now and then how much he enjoys it, so that makes me happy =)
My favorite thing that I have embroidered was the saying “Love you more”. This is what my Grandmother would say to anyone of us every time we would say goodbye. I was lucky enough to inherit a piece of her original wedding dress that I embroidered the saying on. She passed away two years ago; but everytime I look at my embroidery, I can hear her voice saying: “I love you more!”
I really enjoyed working on my girl’s baby bib. First project, first child–it just meant so much to create something meaningful for her. It was a new beginning, in more ways than one
I’d have to say Bent Creek’s Four Season’s House. I’d been on a break from cross stitching for a few years and that was the first project I finished after that break – haven’t quit yet!
The piece of embroidery that gave me the most pleasure to do was the very first piece of cross-stich I ever did. I was 14, recuperating from surgery, missing school, stuck in bed, and my Grandmother from England, who was visiting us in Vancouver, bought me some 14 count Aida and my three favourite shades of green floss and taught me how to cross stitch using an old Swedish design. I still have the piece and I cherish it.
It was an embroidery I did in memory of my mum. It had an autumn theme as this was her favourite season. I loved stitching with real silk and I also incorporated leaves from one of her shrubs that had it’s autumn red colour. It had all the significant dates of her life stitched on there so my children would know her-they were only babies at the time. It gave us a permanent reminder of her, and just helped me to come to terms with some of the pain of her early death and a sense of accomplishment as it was the first time I had done any embroidery of my own design.
Mary,
I am glad you asked about a piece of embroidery that I had pleasure in doing and not the biggest headache or unfinished projects and why they are still unfinished. When I saw the wool in your stash give away I thought of a wool kit I did when I was about 16 or 17 years old. I enjoyed this kit even though it was quite a large project for one who never sewed with wool. It measures 16″ by 7 1/2″. I just found it a half a year ago needing to be washed, laid out and framed.I remember the wonderful evenings I spent on it and saw it come to life with all the colors. It is a wooden post of a fence with four birds scattered about. Blue morning glories climbing the post. Some kind of wild flowers around the post and some grass blades. Sorry for a long comment but I just had to share this with you. Thanks Maria P.
Mary,
I think the piece of embroidery that’s given me the most pleasure to do recently was the decoration of a “Roses from the Heart” bonnet destined for a VIP. I was commissioned to commemorate his female convict ancestor who was 12 when transported to Australia. I researched the Victorian language of the flowers and stitched in silk threads. I’m so pleased with it despite being extremely nervous at the same time. After all, it’s not everyday you get to send your work to the Prime Minister is it? See my blog at TIF September first thoughts if you’d like to see the outcome.
Hooroo,
Christine
http://missmuffettwo.blogspot.com
Lovely goodies as always! This question is a simple one for me to answer too. It was a crazy quilted wall hanging I made for one of my best friends. She loves anything with animal prints so I collected everything I could find and then scouted around until I got a baby picture of both her & her husband, a copy of their wedding picture, and a picture of their complete family. I included the pictures in the wall hanging, surrounded by animal prints and all sorts of geehaws that fit the theme. She cried when she got it (actually, I did too!).
I would love to win this – beautiful colours. my favourite piece -my embrodiered book of fruit. why? because i embroidered a series of motifs using different styles – not so much of any one things that i got bored, i tried lots of new techniques, I copied some designs and other i designed myself – and the work just flowed, no glitches, stress and i was excited about the project from start to finish
Since I’m a new embroiderer, I’ve only completed a few projects so far, and I have to say that I enjoy each one more than the last. However, I did really like stitching a pomegranate for an artist friend who just opened a shop called “Pomegranate.” I think it’s because I know she will really appreciate it when I give it to her for her birthday.
Thanks for this opportunity!
Many years ago, I did a series of pillows in four-way bargello patterns. The patterns were my own designs, and I worked them in pearl cotton – so shiny and soft! I gave them away as gifts to friends.
Man, I am a total noobie at embroidery, but when I was about 6 or 7 my grandma taught me how to do counted cross stitch, we picked up one of those beginner kits at the craft store. It was a big purple flower with a bit yellow center and a big smiley face on it.
She was, of course, working on this amazing cross stitched landscape of her own design with BEAUTIFUL silks and it was so big she had to use a floor stand. I felt so pretty with my little plastic hoop and my little project of my own.
I don’t think I ever finished that project, but my grandma have bonded over crafts since then. My mom and dad are divorced and my mom got custody, since she is my dad’s mom I never got to see her much, but now every time I knit or sew or embroider, I think of my grandma sitting next to me on the couch stitching away quietly into the night, and i feel connected to her in a way that i can’t explain.
So that silly little flower was my most important and loved project. It started a beautiful relationship with my grand mother that I might not have had other wise.
My favourite piece of embroidery is one I am still working on – it’s a sampler of Whitework techniques. I am making it up as I go along and I am loving the emphasis on textures and patterns it produces, without any colour to distract the eye. I am really pleased with the way it is turning out, and I am so glad I decided against a band ssmpler – it almost has a patchwork effect.
Jocelyn
My favorite project so far has to be a book cover I did recently. It was a arabic/celticy type knot with three sections. I worked it with DMC pearl cotton in a woad blue on imitation linnen.
I had been going into the hospital for a right heart catheter and took the project with me. when I was checking in and getting ready for the proceedure there was two older ladies also checking in. They smiled at me very nicely but didn’t say anything. Later when I got out my sister told me that they ladies had asked to see the project while I was in the exam. She said they oohed and ahhed over it. After a really unhappy bout in the hospitial that really made my day. apparently the one older woman told my sister that it was nice to see simple traditions carried on.
My favourite piece was an icon. I stitched it about two years (I made many other works at the same time), but now, when it hangs in my room, I like it more and more.
And another work, which pretends to be one of my favourities, is the sampler, which I am creating at the moment using the ornaments of weave.
I made a forest scene using a step by step from a magazine. The reason why it was my favourate? It was the first ever free-machine embroidery I had ever done and I suprised myself when it turned out half decent! I was quite hook after that
Thanks for the wonderful candy give away. Kimx
My favorite piece was the anniversary quilt I did for my parents 50th wedding Anniversary. It came together so nicely.
The embroidery picture of bluebirds on bamboo that I did after studying one of Helen Stevens books for hours and hours upon end. Up until then, I had only done very simple stuff but I think these birds turned out just great for a first try at something so scary. It was a confidence builder and I’m ready to try these georgeous threads on something else. There is a picture of my birds on http://www.myspace.com/busybee1952 if anyone wants to see.
My favorite is a big owl, done with about a million different needlepoint stitches in wool. I still have it, framed on my wall. Big eyes and looking silly – the first really complex needlepoint I did. Such fun.
Sally
My favourite is a giant cross stitch kit – “Floral Splendour” from Elizabeth de Lisle.
It was about 270×350 stitches, a colorful bouquet with lots of interesting detail.
Another favourite is a needlepoint pillow made with speciality stitches.
(I stitched this two pieces simultaneously, the first on 36 count evenveave, the second about 5 count canvas. The switch always was weird…)
For me, my favorite embroidery is part of a bigger project. Lately, I’ve been making dolls for girls I know, and embroidering the faces to look like characters from movies and shows they like. It’s a small project, and not overly complicated…but I love it, if only for the reactions from the girls when I get it right!
I did a lot of crewel when my children were young. I made pieces for each of my children. The one that means the most is an eagle soaring among the mountains. My son made sure he took it with him when he left home and told me that it meant a lot to him. How much better can that get!
My first project was a small dish towel as a teenager. I will admit to putting the needle away until I was in my 50’s because I absolutely detested it!!! Happily today I am working on a Brazillian Embroidery sampler that will probably take me 3 lifetimes to complete. I have a feeling it will become my favorite when it is completed. Most of my embroidery is done in snippets on crazy quilts and as embellishments on quilting projects. Call me slow but steady.
Deborah
My favorite project so far? I think it is the monogrammed tote bags I made for my 3 daughters. I got the monogram design from your Index, printed it, used a transfer pencil, and stitched it the girls’ favorite colors. Then I fused it to the tote bag. I’m in the process of trimming the sides with ribbon and adding more embellishments. Grace B.
Mary:
Thanks for doing these give-aways!
And now to your question…I’m a beginner, so I’ve only done two projects so far. I took up embroidery a few months ago with a fairly simple project (using satin stitch only), then moved on to another. Not knowing much about needlepoint, I hadn’t realized the second one, a crewel embroidery kit, was quite a bit more involved. The second kit used seven different stitches–six of which I didn’t know how to do. I probably would have given up if I hadn’t come across your video library of stitches to which I referred constantly!
So I guess my favorite would have be my second project…I realized just how much fun embroidery could be and I’ve started another. Here’s a picture of my recently-finished project. Don’t look too closely…I’m just figuring out this stitching stuff!
Hi Mary!
The piece of embroidery that gave me the most pleasure to do was little bags that I made like gifts for my son birthday.I embroidered in punchneedle the Spider Man and it was a chalenge for me,because his web is very dificult to do and his face has many web wires.The bags were small and the drawings had that to be small to.It was so fun and the children loved.
Kisses
Valquiria
The most enjoyable project that I did when I was expecting my first child. I was learning to do embroidery. It still hangs in her bedroom and she is 32 years old and expecting her second child. I will cherish that project forever.
I recently worked a swirly design on the leg of a pair of black slacks. It was going to be all white, but I ended up with leaves and a couple of flowers swirled into it so used two strands of white floss and one strand of light green for the leaves and two white and one pink for the flowers. I then embellished it with A/B clear seed beads. I was so sorry to see it end that I did a small swirl on the other leg and then, still loving it, I made a loose black vest to wear with the pants and did the big swirly, leafy, flowery thing on both sides of the front of it. It was such fun to do that I may do it again using slightly different colors on something else. Lalah
My most enjoyable embroidery project was an oriental themed crazy quilt wallhanging. Thinking up ideas and stitching the different seam treatments and motifs for the patches came very easy on this project.
I think to date my favorite project was the quilt and pillow i did for my son. We lived with my mom at the time and my sister was living in the nursery and I couldn’t nest…so I embroidered this adorable little quilt with bears on it doing various chores. It was the first embroidery I’ve done in a long time and the first time I’ve turned it into a quilt. Also it was for my first child…and it’s something he can use when he has a child.
~ Dene
Recently I embroidered a CQ cell phone pouch, with little sprays of flowers. One of them was a forget-me-not from “A-Z of embroidered flowers”. A stem with buds and 4 full flowers and some leaves, embroidered with 6 different stitches. Another spray from “Inspirations” existed of a bullion rose, a daisy and a forget-me-not in french knots and some leaves.
I just love those little sprays. They look so simple and perfect at the same time, and they can be finished in about an hour.
It was a simple and easy embroidery done for my grand daughters last year.I enjoyed it
because i decided to make both a suit for the first time, entirely sewed by me. And the pants have an embroidery all around the bottom and I succeeded in finishing both suits in time for a family celebration!
The piece of embroidery that gave me the most pleasure was an Emie Bishop sampler…it was extremely difficult and I had to make lots of changes to it. This was a 50th birthday present for my youngest sister who is suffering from leukemia and lymphoma. My Iowa sister and I flew into NC to surprise her on her birthday. She cried when she saw us and then again when she opened the present. It was worth all the work!
Sheila in California
My favorite piece ive done so far is a cute saying If Mother says no ask Grandmother. i hung it in my kitchen.
My brother built an open potting shed, my sister in law grew flowers in it and around it and morning glory climbed over it. From a photograph of it I transferred it to fabric and stitched it with stab stitch, french knots and beads. It was the best thing I did.
Barbara
The embroidery piece that made the most impression was a holly hobby picture that I made for my mother when I was in my teens. It used many different stitches and was a challenge that I met.
The piece that gave me the most pleasure (and continues to give me pleasure) was a pulled thread white work pattern from the German Anna magazine. I could barely put it down until I had finished it, I stithed every spare minute I had and it took me about 3 weeks to finish it. My tutor helped me with some of the stitches. This was before the wonderful internet videos that are available on this site. My tutor died not long afterways so I have a lovely memory of her.
I was 7 years old. My little brother wanted a Yankees baseball cap just like the one his best friend wore. It had the letters NY embroidered on it in snow white thread. So he gave me his best cap to stitch. When it was done, he was delighted and wore it often. But I knew that it looked like a poor quality of Mountmellick stitching when I was trying for smooth padded Satin stitch! Oh, well!
Several years ago, I made a small needlebook using a vivid, jewel-toned tapestry material on the outside. On the inside double-thick felt “page”, I embroidered a two-tone celtic knotwork design on both the front and back. I made the knot up in my head, and transfered it onto the black felt using a pricking technique and white spray paint. All these years later, I am still using the needlebook. I love it because of two things: 1) the beautiful colors of the tapestry fabric on the outside that I carried to the inside and used in the embroidery, and 2) because I made the entire thing up in my head, using my own design. Everytime I look at it or pick it up, I think “I made this!” and it makes me feel good inside.
Hugs!
Lori
My favourite project is my current one – my “historical sampler of the 16th and 17thC in England”, because it’s the result of so much research, and I’m learning now so much in the practical sense.
And I think it’s kinda pretty.
Wow! What a great giveaway!
My favorite project is a crazy quilting bag that I made for a swap. It was very difficult to give away.
Three years ago, after retiring, I joined an Embroidery Class at my local Quilt Shop. The project was “Bushel of Baskets” 31 baskets 10″ finished (by quiltcountry.com. The teacher was limited, 1930’s look. Even though they were using beads, they were told to only use sparingly. However, along I come and used a lot of beads and very colorful at that (which depended on the block). I also used different stitches (instead of: outline, stem, lazy daisy, french/colonial knots). These ladies had been working on this project for over a year. I finished all of mine in 4 months. I created my own version of a Med Orange/Light Orange Log Cabin. The background blocks were in a very light orange. I put nine blocks together. I still have another 26 blocks I haven’t done anything with as yet. A bigger size might be too much? Anyone who sees this quilt just loves it! People wanted to buy finished top before quilted. This October 16th, I will be getting it back from having it machine quilted (not long arm). The machine quilter has said that this is the most beautiful quilt she has ever seen.
My enjoyment came from using suggested colors and improvising with added colors and stitches (Chain, Fly, Spiderweb, Bouillon, Satin. And, finishing a 4 month session (meeting once a week).
If you would like to see some of my blocks, I can send them to you, and then you can return them.
It’s a tough call but my favorite piece was an embroidered shirt that I made for my husband’s renaissance faire outfit. The embroidery covers the sleeves and collar and I handsewed the shirt as well. It was as authentically Elizabethan as I could make it and I worked the whole thing sitting on a stool in front of my shop at the ren faire using period needlework tools. At one point a very elderly lady walked up to me, took it out of my hand, turned it over and looked at the back. She shook her head and said “well, you’re still young” and walked away. It really was great fun and I’ve reached an age where it’s nice to be called young.
Sara Wisdom
My favorite piece is my first sampler. I just started embroidering a couple months ago and after all these years have finally found my creative freedom. It feels so natural and free flowing as compared to any other craft/art. I am comfortable going into a project without a plan on colors or design. I just stitch whatever feels right with whatever color fits at the time. I call it my organic approach to creativity. Thus, the sampler is my favorite piece, simple yet intricate piece of me.
my favorite is 3 magic pillows ( also called Quillow) I made for my children several years ago. I used for the pillow part silk ribbon embroidery with their first initial such as S for Sam and decorated in embroidery of flowers, leaves and other things such as branches. Another would be a quilt done in different types of embroidery, applique, and piecing: the quilt I adapted from PieceMakers from several years ago. I enjoyed mostly because it relaxed me during my lunch our and I could take it with me. love the softness of thread, the 2 d effect of the threads, the colors .
Hello Mary, love this site and your work thank you so much for sharing.
The embroidery project I enjoyed doing so much , many year ago, was making a 21 st birthday card for my now husband.
I embroidered a celtic cross, with the lakes of Kilarny through it on the material cover of the “card”. I also made a pale blue lined envelope for it from cotton and embroidered a stamp in the corner and his address in Old english script. It took me five months to complete.
I was so much in love, every stitch was a pleasure.
Bridie in Ireland
There are a few projects which gave me a lot of fun. I really love to embroider, to work with needle and thread.
One of my favourite project is my quilted bag. On the centre of the front it has two fishes embroidered on linen (an embroidery, not cross stitch). It’s a pattern from DMC embroidery book by Melinda Coss.
About two years after I finished this embroidery I needed a bag to carry books. I layed down linen with fishes on my desk and I was matching pieces of fabric. I made my bag of strips on the filling I used polar (jumpers are made of this) and I gave cotton lining.
It gave me a lot of fun because I created it all by myself. An embroidery is from a book (I used other threads – less DMC, more Polish and Slovakian mouline), on the back I quilted sun from quiltmaker.com but I created quilt pattern and I choosed the fabric. Nobody has a bag similar to mine. I was repairing her a few times but still I like my bag.
Bye
selveiin
P.S. My previous post was anonimous. I don’t know why.
Hi Mary
lovely stash you so generously give away every month thank you for your generosity.
Anyway the piece of embroidery I di was for my late Mum our granddaugher {Her Great granchild}We had some studio photos taken of Caitlin when she was about 6 months old- I took the photo and converted it onto a piece of silk fabric and then put on some lovely silk ribbon roses and also some embroidery on it. Mum was so happy to receive it she cried for quite some time- This then was my all time favourite as it gave her much pleasure to have the silk picture
My favorite project was my EGA name tag done in stump work. After
admiring stump work for several
years I finally joined an EGA group in hopes of learning that
technique. An added bonus was
meeting a gal that was happy to
teach me and we now are good friends.
My favorite project was an embroidered tea party quilt. The blocks were from Crabapple Hill Studio. How sweet of you to have a give-away.
Well you got me to delurk for this one and come away from the reader to your blog to comment.
My favorite piece is a wool jacket I made in Penny Rug Wool on Wool style back in 2002 or so, titled “Rise and Shine.” It was my own design and used buttons from Grandmother and Great Grandmother’s button boxes. A chicken and sun rise theme – Grandmother raised chickens and sold eggs, Mother always woke us each morning with the call “Rise and Shine” — so the jacket was a tribute to women of the family. Still wear it often.
So enjoy your blog.
Jane
Your question immediately brought to mind a piece I had started years ago while in my teens…I never finished it but passed it along to my Mom to do what she pleased. Well, many years later after my Mother’s passing my sister and I were going through her things and there it was … all finished. I had completely forgotten about it. It was a sad and yet happy moment for me. I now have it framed and hanging in my home office.
Annie (Michigan)
I got the most enjoyment from embroidering (smocking) a pillow cover for my daughter. It was black, back smocked in black and then on the front I used the design from the bottom of one of my shoes as a starting point and a design evolved. (Have you ever looked at the bottoms of your shoes – the designs on the soles are amazingly lovely.) I used all her favorite colors, turquoise, coral, bright blue and several others, and when it was done it looked as if I had sewn thousands of tiny beads onto the smocked fabric. She loves it and I love the fact that I worked on it at a friend’s house way out by the ocean until it was completed. It is a Bailey Island, shoe sole design and it’s so loved.
Love your blog!
I did the embroidery on a nice linen towel. It was practically my first embroidery project and looked pretty good to my newbie eyes.
Kate
A tough question! After a lot of thought I think my favorite(s) were the two assignments I did for Sharon Boggon’s Sumptuous Surfaces class. They were my own design and each stitch was a discovery! Most of my work has to “age” before it gets framed on otherwise finished; these went into a frame immediately!
The stash giveaway is gorgeous – and all my favorite colors. Hope I win!
I recently tried crayon tinting for the first time and had a great time doing it. It had been awhile since I colored so that was fun, plus I used a cute design ( a freebie from Pimp Stitch). After I colored and ironed it, I embroidered it and was really happy with how it turned out. I have the finished design in a hoop and propped up on a shelf so I see it every day and it always makes me smile.
I have thought about this little cushion I made back in the early 70’s for a literature class. We were reading The Hobbit and the teacher asked us to be creative and come up with our interpretation of a hobbit. I embroidered Bilbo Baggins and made a little cushion out of him. I kept it on my dresser for many years and recently tried to find it.
I love any kind of embroidery. I love doing all the little touches
I love making the pieces that I can add my touches to it like beads and such. I also quilt and on my applique I will use embroidery to make the touches that makes he mine.
I love ribbon embroidery. I haven’t done much put I want to. I have been collecting all kinds of stuff for a crazy quilt. That will be one thing that will be created by me.
Jammie
my dearest friend of 32 years lost her mom from alzhiemers a couple of months ago. i helps clean out the house. i found one pillowcase that belonged to her mom, susan my friend had already made a hand embroidered O on it years ago. that was her moms initial. well i framed the O with chicken scratch and sent it to her. susan had come here and thaught me how to chicken scratch and the pillow case was the first thing i did to surprize her. she loved it. and a wonderful precious gift that was her moms. oh i cut the pillow case and made a small pillow from it.
queenie
So far the embroidery piece I loved the most was the queen size patriotic jean quilt I made. I embroider a heart with a flag in the middle on about half of the squares. I also embroidered family members in that served in the wars.
you spoil us!, Iwould love to win this stash, and thank you for these Kathyinozarks
The embroidery piece that I truly loved doing was a wall hanging of four antique cars for my amazing brother Jim. He went to VPI for college which was some 9 hours away from us in NE PA. Six years older than I and a model brother, I missed Jim terribly. My mom suggested I make him something for Christmas. Every stitch was done with love and adoration for my brother. That was 35 years ago and I will never forget the joy I received in sewing that project.
The embroidery project that gave me the most pleasure was stitching the messages that had been written on a t-shirt for my son. He volunteered at Tracy Aviary, and the staff gave him a t-shirt which they all signed and wrote a short message. I stitched over the messages, and used it for a block in his high school graduation quilt (I made one for each of my kids). While stitching, I thought of him, the fun he had, and the kind people who allowed him to work there. Kathy
Mary,
you are amazing;once again another awesome giveaway.
My favorite piece that I have worked on is the Bear I made my son. He hasalways had a thing for real bears and finding one that was not cutsey was tough. He is 16, and has the framed cross-stitch bear on his bookcase in his room.
Ruth M
My favorite embroidery was my first Crazy quilt small project for my first grandaughter..a dolly’s cover for a small dolly’s bed.
I put on her and my name and the date of doing…and Megan treasures it still which is heart warming.
Thank you for letting me take part in this fun.
Best wishes from Pam UK
The piece I’m working on now! I haven’t embroidered for MANY YEARS. I decided to get back into it and I’m making a dinosaur appliqued T-shirt for my nephew’s 1st birthday. That’s how I found your blog – I couldn’t remember some of the stitches I wanted to use!
My favorite embroidery was the first project that i did. It was a simple acorn embroidery on a stitched dress. It makes me happy to look at it even today.
I did a crewel embroidery piece for my then-fiance-now-husband-of-almost-26-years which was a sailboat out in the ocean. It was worked almost entirely in satin stitch in ocean blues, sunset oranges and yellows and a little white and red in there somewhere too. Even though I never really enjoyed satin stitch, this piece gave me such pleasure because I knew he would like it. And he did.
MGM
I think my favorite so far is the one I’m working on: it reminds me of childhood and the home where I grew up (large bougainvilleas), of our “second honeymoon” and of beautiful sunny dry weather (compared to hot and humid in the East coast).
Besides, since it is an open design that I continue working things into, I’ve been learning more and more about stitches and color shading!
My favorite piece was a picture of the house I grew up in. My father built the house when I was 4 years old (1956)and my parents sold the house after all their kids were grown (1981). I drew the house and stitched it as a gift to them when they moved. I was always very proud that my dad built the house himself because he was not a builder by trade.
I thought this would be an easy question to answer, Mary. However I just can’t choose. I had really done no embroidery for more than 50 years except for some crossstitch when i took Sharon Boggon’s class – Sumptuous Surfaces- so I was absolutely ecstatic when I actually finished the first piece I did for that class- the delight in working out a theme and carrying it to fruition were amazing. All this joy despite the fact I knew those stitches were far from perfect. After more than 12 months I find that each piece I try gives me so much satisfaction – esp. as my knowledge and skill level increases ever so gradually. In between I am enjoying sampling pulled thread stitches and am venturing into the scary world of Hardanger. Nonetheless I must settle on that first embroidery, with all its inadequacies, from July last year -stitched in monochrome based on the idea that peace has to begin in the individual. Thankyou for making me think about my interesting journey.
My favorite piece was Nova by Genny morrow. I love color, and this piece has a spray of all the colors of the rainbow and used many shades of floss. The piece has something like 366 blocks, and each uses different colors and a variation on cashmere stitches. Each block took me about one hour to do, so I could get two or three done in one night. Because there was so little repetition of color and exact pattern, it really held my interest!
Probably the first piece of freestyle embroidery I ever did, a birth sampler for my niece – I had done cross stitch samplers for a few years I’d planned to do some thing a bit different then I hurt my wrist and couldn’t sew for about a year..
Hi Mary,
Lucky to have got in – missed it almost this month. The time difference saved me.
The piece I enjoyed most was a set of 3 oval shaped mats made on Organdy cloth. I made the scallop edges and 8 similar bunch of flowers around the perimeter on each. Each tiny bunch about 2 inches in size. It is my most cherished piece of embroidery, because of the hard work and care that went into it.
Thanks.
Shrenika.
this is interesting that the first needlework project that I was really proud of was a preprinted Peg Bag that came from a very old fashioned embroidery shop in sydney called the” The Stitchery”. My Mother who had taught me how to embroider at a very early age would go in to Town to visit this shop which had wooden drawers and printed embroiderys pinned to the walls. So thinking back it was as thrilling for me to go to the shop and buy a Difficult and Adult project to do and which I gave to my mother.I was 11 yrs and she still has it.
The embroidery I enjoyed the most was a pillowcase I embroidered for a friend. It was my favorite for two reasons. One, it was my first detailed embroidery. Every time I finished a section, I rejoiced b/c I was learning a new craft. I had been wanting to learn embroidery for years. And two, the embroidery was for a friend and I loved seeing the happy look on her face when I gave her the pillowcase. Oh by the way, your website gave me the courage and inspiration to do the pillowcase! Thanks!
My favorite piece of embroidery was a cross stitch piece that I did for my grandparents after they retired. It was a grandmother rocking on one side of the fireplace. She was hand sewing a piece for a quilt, and a grandfather rocking on the other side of the fireplace smoking a pipe. In the front center of the fireplace lay a cat on a round rug. The inscription was “Twice as much husband and half as much money.” My Father inherited this framed piece and I will eventually inherit it when my Mother is no longer living.