Words to Stitch By

Moving into a new home is always an exciting thing for me, whether its only five miles or hundreds of miles.  This time it was only across town, but boy is it alot of work anyway.  There is still some painting to do, lots of furniture rearranging, and some serious organizing to do too.  And that's just the inside of the house.  I can't wait to get my hands on the garden.  So there may be some crafty before & afters in the coming weeks (including a hot pink wall in my sewing studio!) but for now I want to share some embroidery that I've been working on when I'm too tired for anything else.

A couple of years ago my shop carried a cute collection of metal wall plaques with various gardening related sayings on them like "Gardeners Know the Best Dirt," and "Don't Just Stand There, WEED!"  There were also a few general sayings, and one that really moved me was "Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You."  Turns out, this is a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt and its a great inspirational concept.  Good for small business owners, good for shy people trying to be more outgoing, good for those of us who procrastinate on the hard stuff, good for learning new techniques in your craft.  Good on lots of levels.

I think about it from time to time, so I created a graphic with some fun fonts and started stitching.  Its not a proper sampler, but with its stem stitch, satin stitch and long & short stitches I think it has some interest as a stitchery and its almost done.   It may stay in the hoop, or I may frame it. 

Do you have any favorite inspirational sayings or quotations? Ever think of stitching them up into a little wall decor? 

Welcome Gnome Embroidery

It's official! My first embroidery pattern is now available in my Etsy shop.  Its a fairly simple design using mostly back stitch, along with french knots, lazy daisies, chain stitch and a pinch of flat stitch.  Its a simple sketch so there are lots of options with your stitches, and many places to use the pattern.  It would be cute on a pillow, embellished dish towels, frame it or create embroidery hoop art, a quilt block or a tote bag.

Its super cute with red & white polka dots around it, isn't it?  Polka dots, gnomes and mushrooms just go together don't they? 

I included a page with my color choices and the stitches I used, along with some basic information on transfering patterns to your fabric. There are a couple other embroidery patterns in the works here in my studio (also known as my couch), along with a few ideas in my head and I'm really enjoying the thought of sharing these with you!