Paisley Crewel Embroidered Pillow Project

I want to share a project I have been working on for a while...... a Crewel Embroidered Paisley Pillow. This was a super fun project to make. 

Here is a close-up.

It is a variation on a different Paisley Crewelwork Project that I shared here and here. 

I used a royal blue fabric paint and the cornflower blue linen fabric I sell on my website here. To begin, I printed the paisley shapes following instructions in my new book Crafting A Patterned Home. 

Then I collected some odds and ends of blues and green crewel wool colors. I designed the pillow to go on my sister's new screened in porch. I also made a second pillow - in a bit simpler design that I will share soon. 

I used embroidery stitches that are found in my PDF downloadable pattern Circles Sampler Pillow Pattern. You can purchase that here. You can also find many of the stitches in my book Colorful Stitchery. 

I love the free-form quality of Crewel Embroidery. Each paisley motif can be treated differently - a small experiment in color and design and stitch combinations. Here are some close-ups of the different paisley motifs that I stitched. 

Hope you try some Crewel Embroidery too this fall. I have many Crewel Wool Embroidery supplies available on my website and you can taken an on-line class called Stitch It with Wool on the BluPrint and Craftsy websites. Getting into Crewel Embroidery is very reasonable - all you need is some linen fabric, wool thread, needle and a hoop. And it will bring you hours of enjoyable time creating. 

More Paisley Crewel Progress

My printed and crewel embroidered paisley piece is coming along. I wanted to share some of the photos of the individual finished paisley motifs with you all. Above each photo, I have given you the stitches I used to complete each paisley motif.

You can come to our farm and take a Crewel Embroidery class with me this summer on August 8 and 9. Class is limited in size to 8 people so this is real hands-on with lots of my help. We will have time to do some printing on linen fabric if you want to make a paisley design similar to what I have been making and sharing here on the blog. 

For this year's classes, I have decreased the price but I will not be serving dinner at the farm. There are so many great places to eat around here that feature incredible locally raised food. The bottom line was that worrying about dinner for everyone on top of teaching was too much for me. But I do throw a very nice lunch spread which will not disappoint, along with nice homemade snacks during the day. Check out all my offerings this year here. The Fabric Printing Class has sold out but I will be adding a second class since it is proving popular.

Can't get to our farm - check out my on-line class on Craftsy. See the link on my left sidebar for a special price for this on-line class.  

Onto the paisleys......

Stitches Used: Chain, Outline, Fly, Cross, Fern, Straight, Couching

Stitches Used: Chain, French Knots, Two Color Running, Threaded Herringbone, Fern

Stitches Used: Tied Cross Stitch, Laid Stitch, Chain, Outline

Stitches Used: Chain, Fern, Fly, Laid, Outline

Stitches Used: Chain, Running Stitch, Buttonhole

One of the reasons this project was so much fun and went quickly was that the paisley shapes were printed onto the fabric before I started stitching. Here is a post with that process outlined. Lots of times, with more typical crewel embroidery, entire solid colored shapes are stitched using heavy stitches such as satin stitch. Stitching on pre-printed shapes defintely makes Crewel Embroidery much more approachable. 

Another way to stitch up colorful textiles is to start with a patterned fabric - such as a stripe or a plaid. Then you can embellish to your hearts content. I did that on this pillow project from Colorful Stitchery which is available on my website in a new edition. (Photo a little pixellated - sorry.)

In a recent Martha Stewart Living Magazine, they featured some beautiful embroidered fabrics, using a print fabric as a background. Here is a link to the Flax and Twine blog which excerpted that article from MSL. 

Embroidery certainly is making a comeback! I am so happy that people are picking it up again. Rebecca Ringquist has a new embroidery book coming out which I can't wait to see. Here is her version of a paisley sampler available via her Etsy shop. 

Colorful Stitchery Giveaway

The fabulous women over on the &Stitches blog have posted a review of Colorful Stitchery here. Hop on over to &Stitches for a chance to win a copy donated by Roost Books. 

Here's one of my favorite designs from Colorful Stitchery - Cafe Dish Towels embroidered with simple motifs with cotton embroidery floss. A little old-fashioned but very useful. A very nice gift for anyone you might be making a present for! 

Hydrangea, Sunflowers, More Inspired Projects, Kate's First Big Sheep Job

It's that time of year in New England where you see fluffy hydrangea blossoms all over the place - in people's yards, outside manicured storefronts, and in cemeteries. I have a few different varieties in my landscape - like the one below. 

Hydrangeas are pretty irresistible - because of the long bloom time and the way they turn from white to light pink, then to a darker rosy brown. And they are super easy to grow - I like that. They also look great with sunflowers like in this arrangement in a maple syrup bucket.

 

Once in a while a reader will send me a photo of something they made which I inspired. I love getting those photos. Joanne from Shelburne sent me this photo of a wreath she made using the patterns and idea from my 50 Sunflowers to Knit, Crochet and Felt. I think it would be nice to come home to such a decoration. Great job Joanne. This would be a fast gift to make up for the holidays and a little different than the regular knitted gift, right?  (Joanne's son happens to be the musician Seth Glier - have you heard of him? Cool.)  

Here's a little more sunflower inspiration. These are from my newly re-released book Colorful Stitchery. Embroidery napkins with a simple sunflower motif. I used regular old cotton floss and stitched on purchased napkins from Crate and Barrel. You could easily make the napkins too. 

You can order a signed copy of Colorful Stitchery or 50 Sunflowers to Knit, Crochet and Felt in my webshop here. Or if you are on a budget, here's the link to the big boys in the sky. I, of course, really appreciate the support you all give me when you can purchase directly from me. 

The sun has come out after a very dreary rainy day yesterday. Here is a kooky Hyperlapse video I took this morning while I was helping move the sheep. The video shows Kate working on her own for the first time - doing a really big job. It went pretty well considering! I know many of you come here for the sheep and lately the blog has been all about sunflowers and stitching. A Hyperlapse video is some kind of Instagram phone app. First try for me. It condenses several minutes into seconds. It kind of makes me sea-sick to watch it but it is also kind of funny too. Go Kate! I was so proud of her. 

Good Morning From the Farm on Book Launch Day for Colorful Stitchery

So what does that mean? In this virtual world it means that stores - on-line and off - can now sell the new edition of Colorful Stitchery, published today by Roost Books where you will find an interview with me now live on their blog!

Yippee! If you are wanting a copy hop on over to my web shop for a signed copy. Or visit your local book store if you are so lucky or if you must, the giant bookstore in the sky.

And to celebrate, I'm sending you all a bouquet of Autumn Beauty sunflowers. They are looking rather ragged and finished but I kind of like that - the droopiness, the seed heads, the gentle arching of the stems. We all get tired -- even flowers.

I'm off to the Northampton Farmers Market to sell lamb today from 1:30 to 6:30. Stop by and say hi. I'll bring a copy of Colorful Stitchery for you to look at and have some to sell too!

September First + Book Release News!

Wow! September 1! Where did the summer go? I hope you all are enjoying Labor Day here in the US. I myself am looking forward to autumn weather but for now, we are all enjoying the beauty that the late summer garden brings. Here are a few shots just outside my yellow studio door. 

There is a stone walkway just outside the door which heats up all day long as it faces south. These sunflowers are blooming a few days ahead of those in my garden. I credit it to the hot stones. 

Here's one of the pretty blooms called Orange Ruffles....

This is a new one called Greenburst.

 

Here's what the garden looks like right now. So lush, including the weeds! But the sunflowers tower above them. 

Pop back in later this week when I will be doing a Sunflower Variety Round-Up for all you gardeners out there. 

Now for the big news. My book - COLORFUL STITCHERY - is being re-published on September 21st. You see, it was put out of print by the original publisher Storey Books. My new publisher Roost Books, jumped at the chance to re-design it and bring it to a new audience. Here is the new cover - how pretty!

Embroidery is growing in popularity and I am thrilled that this beautiful book is available to the new embroiderers who missed it last time. You can purchase a signed copy in my webshop here. Note that if you have the original book published in 2005, there is nothing different - except the design and the cover and my acknowledgements. The cool thing is that now my webshop supplies many of the fabrics and threads that are used in the book. And it coordinates with the on-line Craftsy class Stitch It With Wool: Crewel Embroidery (link to it on my sidebar). 

How about you.... what are you looking forward to this fall?