Blogtober 28- Inspiration from "Inspirations"

Last weekend, I made a new discovery at one of the local thrift stores. I always look for books on crafting, knitting, design, etc and I found some magazines that had previously escaped my awareness.


“Inspirations” is published in Australia and is dedicated to embroidery! I never knew there was such a thing!

Of course, I don’t browse the magazine racks at Barnes & Noble, or even at JoAnn for that matter. Magazines are usually deceptively expensive. For the price of two or three, I can buy a book (especially, with a half-off coupon!) that has far more lasting appeal.

And, of course, there is the ‘I am sure someone would enjoy these, I hate to throw them away’ dilemma. That same dilemma resulted in many, many National Geographic Magazines from twenty years previous living in my basement. When we moved to the desert, I finally disposed of them through Freecycle. It took awhile to find someone who was willing to take them, though…

But, back to my discovery –

These magazines are beautiful! The cover price (2001 issues) is about $10 AU, so I would not even have been tempted at full price, but my, they are full of pretty things. And full sized patterns on very heavy paper in the ‘centre’. And, step by step directions for the most interesting looking stitches! I love the ‘drizzle stitch’ just for the name alone.

This cutey-pie little snail shell is done in the drizzle stitch. The body is one long bullion knot - another new term for me, but a very cool looking stitch!

These daffodils around the cuff of a white cotton sweater are amazing! The petals are stitched in thin air! Magic!

There are several projects that are just too much ‘project’ for me. ‘Painting with thread’ is one technique that is probably better suited to those who can paint with ‘paint’. Plus, silk embroidery thread is recommended and I do not need to move on to another medium while I still have many hundreds of skeins of cotton floss! But so beautiful!

These lilacs (one of my favorite spring flowers!) are on a footstool that took three years to complete. Not continuously stitching for three years, (and I have, myself, taken three years on a couple of dish towels that I laid down ‘in progress’), but I think I would get tired of a project that … impressive!

There are even full sized patterns for making garments to embellish with embroidery!

I can hardly wait to try that snail on a onesie, or maybe a hankie, or a tablecloth, or... something!

(If you haven't already, be sure to hop over to Needles of Iron and get in on Dearest Sister's fab giveaway. Put your name in the hat here, for a bundle of feedsack fabric!)