Swedish Embroidery

Swedish Embroidery

We were lucky enough to live in Stockholm for 3 years from 2011.  It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and Sweden generally is a country of absolutely sweeping landscapes, peppered with sparkling waters and rocky islands.    My husband bought me this cushion kit 3 years ago as a birthday present, just before we left to return to England.   As is often the case with hand sewing projects like this, I have picked it up and put it down a hundred times and it has been lurking in our sitting room in a basket for quite some time.  I am not really sure why it has taken me so long, but I guess that is a familiar story to most of you who sew.

Read More

Woven winter topiary Garden!

Woven winter topiary Garden!

I wasn't really planning another blog post before the holidays, but somehow it has come to pass.  My sewing room sort of pulls me in somedays and I get totally lost in the idea of the moment.  Even so, I am not entirely sure how I came to be making this project now....there is an internet trail of clicks I suppose. It went from thinking about what to do with a patch of our garden, to looking at images of topiary gardens, to considering that these were a good topic for embroidery, to researching knot gardens, to sketching an idea, to raiding my fabric stash and picking up my needle.   I am not always a massive fan of the internet, which seems to take over our lives and especially that of our children, but actually it is a huge resource, when ever an idea pops into our heads and we can instantly find a world of inspiration out there.

Read More