Hello Spring? Coming soon? It doesn’t seem like it the past couple of days. At least not here in Chicago, nor all of those other lucky people who were blasted with FEET of snow! I am used to Mother Nature and her surprises for us in March and April sometimes. But I won’t show you photos of the mess! I am thinking Spring today. This tiny little pillow was once a free pattern out there on the internet, but it seems to have disappeared. I love it because it not only had a Shamrock for March, but extends into May for Les Muguets Day (May 1st…in France) with the tiny little Lilies of the Valley. I believe it was by Danybrod.
Finishes better late than never:
This one was stitched by Southpaw Stitcher and it is one of my favorites! I LOVE the lone deer and the quiet dusk-like feeling you get with the blue linen and barren trees!
Southpaw also did this Winter Cardinal. She LOVES stitching birds and has quite a collection of them!
These were gifts for the holiday each one done with the recipient in mind. A project roll with a matching project bag! The project rolls open on the end and can hold thread, scissors, needles, patterns, etc. Fun to make and they include charm pulls on the bags dedicated to each person’s interests.
Here is another winter cardinal. This one is Little Red Bird from the Little Stitcher Shop on Etsy. It is SO nice to just go on-line and be able to download a PDF pattern! If you haven’t tried it…you need to! Instant gratification!
I do a LOT of pillows for my client Pat and this one is fun and amusing! I love the fact that the dog has no eyes. He/she could be ANYONE’S pet! And that HUGE bone…why surely that is any dog’s dream! I love the colorful fantasy flowers as well. Fun just to look at!
Here is another one done by Pat. Brings me into Spring for sure. It is so soft and delicate and the purples and blues so pastel. I hand-dyed a silk ribbon to match. Beautiful.
This Lavender Needlebook was stitched by Lynn. I adore lavender (although I can NEVER seem to get it to grow in my garden). The inside has a lavender lining and wool lavender pages for needles. I hand-dyed more silk ribbon for the closure. Lovely.
New Techniques and Stitchers Alive and Well…
It has been very busy the last couple of months stitching French Boutis needlework. I will be teaching a couple of classes in French Boutis coming up soon and I have been busy with stitching more patterns for other classes and kits. It is nice to know that there are adventurous women out there wanting to learn this ancient art. So often we look at our young people today and wonder if the Needle Arts will disappear. I don’t think so. We had this discussion just the other day at a needlework group with waning membership. One friend mentioned that she knows of a lot of young people doing stitching…they have lots of digital connections and just are not joiners of our “old” needle work groups! (So true Marj!)
So keep on stitching everyone and keep on learning new techniques and methods and pass them along to our young people everywhere!
Amities, Averyclaire
Averyclaire 