This week

For some reason a whole week went by without blogging. There were happy occasions at home (birthday parties!) to prepare and recover from. Sad happenings in the news to ponder about... So this is a bit of a hotch potch post about my small crafty news from this week.

I finally got round to updating my Princess and the Pea Sampler PDF pattern. The previous version dated from 2010 and since then I somewhat improved my PDF making and computer drawing skills.  Find the updated pattern here! I have a whole new pattern in the works by the way, it's one of my loveliest yet (at least I think so) and I hope to bring it to the shop before the end of this month.

I continued work on my Blackwork try out piece. After a shaky (and wonky) start I kind of got the hang of stitching that diamond shape. The whole composition is a bit static and not really refined like this impressive blackwork Whale's tail but you have to start somewhere, right? Also, I'm tempted to use other colours than black. Back in the 17th century it was not uncommon to use other colours than black either! This lovely piece by Sami Teasdale shows how you can get all creative (and colorful) with this traditional technique.

Kingfisher by Sami Teasdale

Find more fabulous pieces on Sami's blog Teasemade. I picked up some new blackwork tips from another recent addition to my Stitchy library called the Stitch Bible by Kate Haxell. I haven't properly read through the whole book yet (it also covers other techniques like Crewel and Hardanger) but found the instructions and diagrams in the blackwork section really useful. And soon I need to make room on the shelf because Sami is actually going to send me this book about Blackwork, as she had two copies. How sweet is that?

Ok that's all from me this week. Hope you all have a great weekend. :)

Foxglove in stitches and an embroidery workshop

I managed to get a little bit of stitching done on my big Bear and Fish project around Christmas time. Deciding on what the best way was to embroider the Foxglove was hard. I tried different things, un-picked a lot of stitching but now I'm quite happy with how the Foxglove turned out.

While the stitching might look a bit frumpy and not-so-subtle up close, the over all photo gives a better idea how it looks in relation to the whole image.

Photo and Embroidery by Georgia Mc Donald

In other news: Claire over at Patch Fabric and Haberdashery in Lowestoft, Suffolk (UK) has an Embroidery Sampler workshop planned on February 23rd using my Princess and Abel patterns. Go check the details here. Unfortunately I can't be there myself but I have met Claire at the Fat Quarterly Retreat in London last year, she is a lovely person and I just know the workshop is going to be wonderful!

Within the next week or two I'm hoping to release a new pattern, I'm not going to reveal exactly what it is except that it is not too large and comes in three different varieties (all included in the one pattern). :)

A small giveaway to celebrate!

Well guess who turned three this month? My Princess and the Pea pattern! I sold my first copy of this pattern on the 19th of March 2009 and I am happy (and grateful) that I have sold quite a few more patterns after that. Part of the success must be the lovely example piece my embroidery pal Georgia made of this pattern! We never met 'in person' because I live in the Netherlands and Georgia lives in Australia but it shows how through internet friendships (and long distance collaborations) lovely things can be made!

I'm giving away three Princess and the Pea PDF Hand embroidery patterns (or if you already have one, one of my other patterns of your choice) to three lucky blog readers! You don't have to jump through hoops to enter, just leave a comment (a nice one preferably) and tell me your favourite (fairy)tale! Giveaway ends this Sunday 12 a.m. Amsterdam time. Be sure to check back to find out if you have won or leave an email address so I can find you. If I can't find you I will have to re-draw.

Good luck everyone!


Giveaway has ended, winners will be announced later today!