emily's doll & pincushion blossoming among the lettuce |
Here is a pincushion stitched by my friend Emily. She followed my instructions & patterns, but her pincushion is unique. It resembles the pincushion I created, and yet this one is clearly Emily's own beautiful work.
snail applique by caroline (pattern tester extraordinaire) |
My friend Caroline created this linen shoulder bag with snail applique. In the book I added small touches of embroidery to the pocket, but Caroline did something very clever; she added embroidery which echoes the swirling silver snail-trails I find in the garden. (Additionally, she added veins to the leaf, which is also her own unique interpretation!)
herbal pocket doll stitched by alice & her mum |
I adore this little yellow & lavender doll which Alice helped create (and I adore Alice's sweet face, too.)
greenwood tree wall hanging created by caroline |
In my books, my designs are simple and relatively unornamented, leaving room in the patterns for personal interpretation, customization, extra embroidery, beading, etc... Designs with less ornamentation also reflect my personal style. I am an avid admirer of Salley Mavor and Elisa Kleven. Both these artists create complex and intricate work; however, if I imitated the intricacy of their work (which I love and am in awe of... every little detail), I wouldn't be true to my own style. (Occasionally I will even add extra beading or embroidery to a project and then rip it out again because it doesn't look right to me.)
my little son playing with the wall hanging sewn by Caroline |
Are you feeling inspired to try some of your own variations and interpretations? I always enjoy & appreciate seeing photos of your work inspired by my books -- please email photos any time!
P.S. Did you know that, starting Monday, February 2nd, there will be a blog tour for the new book? I will be posting the schedule this Friday, and you will be able to check in here every day for the next 2 weeks for updates about where to find the blog tour posts. See you then!
Greetings from down-under. What delightful projects. I love these..... Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for the new book to come out. I have a gift card for amazon and went shopping last week. But I saved enough money on it to get your book!
ReplyDeleteAll very lovely work! my favorite I think is the pin cushion but all are lovely. :)
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