Winter Wreath Crewel Embroidery

My latest finish is done!

This is a crewel version of my earlier winter wreath. I made a few changes to the pattern. Switching from white to tan fabric gave me some trouble, and I can't tell you how many times I felt compelled to take out stitches and change colors. That's sometimes the way it is though.

It is a fun project though with a bit of sparkle. It's available as a pattern with full instructions or as a kit.

I'm also re-writing the instructions for the original project, or rather, making full instructions, as I am for some of the other stumpwork wreaths I have made. And there will be more!

Right now, I'm keeping busy with plans for new designs and I'm hoping to create some classes too finally of different sorts.  They should be fun! I've wanted to for a long time.

I hope your day is great! :D

Strawberry Thief Crewel Embroidery

This is my latest finish and I'm very happy with how this out.

I really love pinks and greens on this one, they are so soft and yummy and a delight to work with.

Developing the details on this one was loads of fun. Making the strawberries with the trellis is one of my favorite ways to make them and I always like how they turn out.

On the sidebar now I have a signup for my newsletter that I am finally going to start sending. Be sure to signup for it, so you get all the updates. I'll be making special offers in there.

A Sheepish Halloween Crewel Embroidery

A Sheepish Halloween is a project I've had completed for a long time, or maybe it wasn't quite complete. I knew it was missing something, so finally I picked up my needle and added french knots to it, even a bunch of them! (Hard to go wrong with french knots, isn't it?)

The little sheep looks so huggable there next to the scary pumpkin!

I really love the warm fall colors. They are so nice to look at and work with.

I'm still working on this blog thing, there is a lot more I want to do with it, but I'm still trying to find what it is exactly that I want to say. I probably just need to sit and really think it over, but I promise it's coming. I really do want to share what I've learned about inspiration and creativity with others. Right now I feel like I have more books in me. I really enjoyed writing the first two, and I know the next one will be even better. I learn a lot myself too as I write them.

For now, I will leave you with this thought! Don't let the negative thoughts win and kill your creativity (yep, I've been there!). Push them out of your life, it's way to short to let them limit you in any way.

Summer Hare Crewel Embroidery

The Hare Crewel Embroidery has been a long favorite of mine. It was fun to design and stitch.

The motif seemed to fun not to play with some more. Way too fun! So I've made a follow up in the series, yes, it will be part of a series, yet to be created, but I have a start! The Summer Hare Crewel Embroidery Pattern is the first.

I love the colors in this! So warm and soft, feels just like a hare out in the meadow.

A couple closeups. I just love embroidery closeups!!

The rest in the series are yet to be created, and I am definitely looking forward to them all. So much fun playing with little animals!

Crewel Sampler Embroidery

This week I've taken another look at the Crewel Sampler project I made a few years ago.  This one was bigger than many of the others I have done. I do really enjoy a larger project now and then, they give me a chance to really spend more time with an embroidery and develop the idea further. 

I really wanted the look of an old-time sampler but with a little more modern feel. I'm not sure I captured either so well, but I do like the elements quite well, and it was an interesting challenge to design and stitch this piece. I'm glad I created this one! 

For this project, I used real linen twill, probably one of the most expensive fabrics I ever used! It was lovely to work with, perfect for a project that might is intended to be an heirloom.

Summer flying by, I hope you are enjoying it!

Squirrel Wreath Crewel Embroidery

What a busy stitching week it's been, and it's not over yet! There is still time to work on more projects before it's done. This will be the second finish of the week. It almost makes up for last week's lack of finishes.

 

 These colors were truly a pleasure to work with, so warm and soft.

This is available as a pattern or with the whole kit.

All these projects are learning experiences - the designs, the colors, the stitches. Embroidery really offers limitless possibilities to explore, so keep on stitching, keep on working to express yourself because there is no one else like you, and the world needs your perspective.

WIP Wednesday

Nothing wrong with being a day late as usual here. I'm working on two projects, although one is on the sidelines while waiting for more crewel colors.

My new dragonfly stumpwork is getting all the attention while waiting. The camera pretty much hates focusing on the fabric when there is too much dimension, so I've done the best I could with some closeups!

You get the idea anyways, better photos coming soon! I'm pretty much ready to work on the leaves and dragonfly wings now.

I've also got a picture of the crewel squirrel. I've got to about getting better photos. It feels like my phone does better photos than the system camera, which is admittedly a little old now.

This project I really, really like and can't wait to get the rest of the wools in! Better pics of this will soon follow for this one too!

I've hopped on with Instagram! My id is theflossbox, of course.  I'm totally blown away by the fiber artists out there! Such amazing stitching! It's such fun browsing all the great work out there. I think I'm going to do a series spotlighting some fiber artists on this blog. Soon..soon. So much to do these days. :)

Keep on stitching!!

Three Berries Stumpwork Embroidery

Here is another one of the embroidery patterns I created with people new to stumpwork in mind.

 These little insects are probably the most fun to stitch! For this project, I took the help of Trish Burr's book, Color Confidence in embroidery, which is a really great resource. I'll say more about it later because book reviews are something I've been meaning to do on this blog for a long time. (It wouldn't be a surprise to hear that I have piles of embroidery books and magazines, I hope!!) For this project, I really wanted to try some colors that I don't usually work with and this book helped a lot with that! I have already used it quite a bit and I am sure it will see much more use in the near future!

In the works this week, a new crewel project. I have to order new colors, so I think it will end up sidelined while I wait for them to get here, but here is a little peak at it.

I've worked on this til my finger hurt from pulling the needle, but I'm really happy with this so far.

Have a great, stitchy day, everyone!

Let Your Heart Sing Crewel Embroidery

I've just finished a fun crewel project I adapted from an earlier design.

I love the bright colors on the little bird, and the way the wing turned out.

I have another couple of crewel projects I want to do before I turn to do some stumpwork projects. I've promised to make the dragonfly project into a pattern, so that is at the top of the list.

There will be other projects like this one too coming in the future.

Winter Owl Crewel Embroidery

I'm celebrating a new finish!

This little owl was lots of fun to stitch. I really like the big staring eyes. They look almost worried, but it must just be the snow that's the problem. :)

 

I have a pile of new designs in the works, all waiting to be stitched up, so it's to get to work!

Have a great day!

Beehive Crewel Embroidery

I've made a companion crewel design to the popular Bee's World.

The bees are such fun to stitch, I doubt I will be able to keep myself from making another pattern with this theme.

February 2013: What is there to be afraid of?

That's the real title of my latest project but I will come back to that in a moment.

Last week I had a serious case of stitcher's block. Actually it's still there, but I can't let it stop me. It's not a lack of project ideas or designs or anything, but it's a matter of finding something that makes me want to actually pick up the needle. It's not a problem with motivation, it's a feeling that is grounded in something else.

So I tried a different approach. I picked up some materials that felt interesting to work with and used that as my start instead.

This is my free embroidery for February's journal project, and I call it Art from the heart. I didn't know what I was going to make when I started.  I started with a heart and went from there.

It wasn't at all inspired by Valentine's day. There was something else I was trying to remind myself of. And that is what is there to be afraid of? As the ongoing stitcher's block reminds me, what is stopping me from picking up my needles and materials and making something that flows out of me.

The lines on the heart represent how I feel about perfectionism. They trap us in, imprison us and prevent us from being ourselves. As I mentioned, I created this to remind myself not to let the mindless pursuit of perfection stop me.


I chose to do this project as a traditional Swedish style crewel embroidery, wool on wool. Thick wool felt is a popular material to do wool embroidery on here in Sweden. 

There is resistance where the thread meets the fabric, I can definitely say. And I won't say it's impossible, but exact, perfect stitches are hard to manage on this type of material. You have to accept that the overall effect is more important than the individual stitches.

We've had a little visitor a couple weeks ago!! This was exciting since owl-sightings are so rare.

This little pygmy owl stopped by one morning and sat in the bird box for about 10 minutes. I saw it go in. 

The owl is smaller than a cardinal. So small, but yet this bird is a predator of other little birds and small mammals.

No doubt it was here looking for breakfast. The peanuts and sunflower seeds flow freely here, so the little birds are always at hand.

January Embroidery Journal Project

Here I am finally! This time I have my embroidery journal project along with me.

This year I decided to give myself more freedom with the size of the project to allow the size to suit the project instead of the other way around. I like the 4 x 4 inch format though, so I will return to it in other projects.

This  little project I call Let your heart sing.  First a short mention of the techniques. I used an acrylic ink wash to color the fabric. Then I have coming crewel embroidery with raised embroidery.

I had the idea in my head, but it didn't quite take it's full shape until one of the commenters on Stitchin Fingers left a comment on the Folk Art Crewel Bird that it made her heart sing.

I thought that was such a nice thought that I decided to make it my theme for this month. This project is about joy. Find where your joy comes from and show it to people near you and especially yourself.

And don't forget to hear the bird's songs. They are full of the joy of living.

And by the way, you can find the tutorial for making beaded berries on my site.

More Crewel Embroidery

Here I am once again with a new finish. The first for the new year! Although I have cheated by working on this during December too.

It's already been nearly a week since I finished this.

The color choices caused me great pains. I somehow managed to pull it together well enough for it to look alright, but my problem isn't that I don't know the colors I want to use, it's that I don't have them! I will keep collecting crewel colors until I have want I need!

Peace n Love!

I had this design idea sitting around for weeks before I finally came around and decided it was time to make it. I'm glad I did! Really glad even.

I can honestly say this one was fun, very fun even. Soft wools, bright colors, fun shapes. I think I shouldn't have waited so long! Now I have another idea brewing that's in a similar style. Maybe even more shades!

This will be another square in my crewel squares project.

Fall 2012 Blog Tour Stop 5

A new stop on The Floss Box Fall 2012 embroidery blog tour. This time we are visiting Janet Brandt's blog Embroidery and the World of Possibilities. If you haven't visited Janet before, be sure you do, her works are delightful!

Stop 1: Sew in Love
Stop 2: Isabell on Flickr, aka ColourinStitch
Stop 3: SewAmy
Stop 4: Kitty and Me Design by Pam Kellogg
Stop 5: Embroidery and the World of Possibilities

How long have you been embroidering?
I have been stitching for as long I can remember. One of my very first shopping memories is loving a display of embroidery floss at a dime store. The threads were yellow/gold and that color sends a thrill through me to this day.
My parents owned a women's clothing store and salesmen would send us boxes filled with scraps of fabric from the cutting room floor. Great fun for doll clothes! It was also a great environment for all things fiber. My sisters and I did display work from a very early age and I started drawing the newspaper ads when I was 13.

 
How did you learn?
My great grandmother lived with us and she was always stitching. And my grandmother was an accomplished needle worker. I don't remember any lessons at their knees or anything quite that formal but I loved seeing what they were doing. I'm sure they must have taught me some of the basics.  I played with all sorts of creative materials on my own. I was always holed up in my bedroom making something. And I read books and magazines, anything I could get my hands on. I now have a very serious library of titles related to all things textile. Over the years I've embroidered, made dolls, hooked rugs, made quilts,and have now returned to embroidery.

 

How much time do you spend working on embroidery in a day on average?

Never enough! If I get in a couple hours of stitching a day I am very happy. Some days the hands are just too tired. Other day there is design work to do either on the computer or drawn by hand.

What are your favorite types of embroidery?

I love a variety of techniques. I now bring my experiences of crochet, dollmaking, quilting, drawing and applique home to my embroidery work. I use, I borrow, from everywhere to get the effect I want.
I started playing with stumpwork just a couple years ago. And my own version of crewel embroidery. Because I dyed my own wool fabric colors for rug hooking, I am able to dye my wool yarns for stitching. 

 

What are your favorite materials to use?

Everything! Well almost, my hands and nails are just too rough for silk!

 

Where do you get your inspiration?

I have always been in love with the ethnic embroideries of the world, eastern Europe in particular. All that red is so delicious! I love their timelessness and the universal themes they depict. Hearts, hands, birds and trees are found in most cultures.

 

Many stitchers are intimidated by stumpwork and crewel work, do you have any tips on how to get started?

Over the years I taught classes in rug hooking, applique and embroidery. The most important lesson I think I can share with any student is to have fun. And to listen to what makes you happy personally. After all that's why we do this.
More practical advice is to start small and if possible with a kit/class. Be patient with yourself, and realistic with your expectations. Practice makes perfect is a well repeated phrase for good reason!

 

What do you do with your finished projects?

Over the years most of my work has been done for publications in books and magazines as how-to articles. I've written 4 quilting books and one book about the creative spirit in all of us. I use my embroidered and applique wool quilts to illustrated that book. I'd love to carry on in that vein and publish my embroidery work one day soon. I am using my embroidery to tell the traditional stories and the stories of a "World of Possibilities" that I am creating.

What else do you enjoy doing?

I just became a docent at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The training was 13 months of amazing classes of art history as well as practice giving tours and, most important, engaging the audience. I want people to enjoy going to a museum and not fell intimidated. It's just art and we're all creative people!