Inspirations Inspirations issue 94

Have you ever entered an embroidery competition? There are certainly plenty of opportunities and they come in all shapes and sizes ranging from the needlework section at your local show or fair through to international competitions offering large cash prizes. We love competitions. They give us the opportunity to give away lots of fabulous prizes. They also give us an opportunity to see what you are up to and many talented contributors to Inspirations have come to our attention through competitions. We love looking at the entries, examining the details and discovering the clever ways that a needle and thread can be used to create something spectacular. We delight in the imagination and innovation involved and most of all we admire the attitude of ‘I love what I do and I…

PATEH IS A TRADITIONAL IRANIAN NEEDLEWORK STYLE, embellishing hand-dyed woollen shawls with intricately embroidered traditional patterns in wool thread. The base fabric or ariz is woven with hand-dyed Spring wool from sheep who spend the harsh Iranian winter indoors protected from the extreme weather. This produces a fabric that is soft, luxurious and warm. Natural elements like madder, pomegranate skins, henna and walnut husks are used to dye the fabrics in colours like deep red, burnt orange and soft browns. The threads, spun from the same Spring wool, are dyed in a similar way but also include indigo colours like blues, greens, purple and black. Akhtar lives in Adelaide, South Australia but was born in Rafsanjan in the Kerman province of Iran many years ago. As a married woman she moved to…

The cypress tree, a Zoroastrian symbol of life, depicts eternity, strength, integrity and freedom. After the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century, Zoroastrian people migrated to India and Kashmir where they continued to depict their beloved cypress tree, but now with a bent over top. This symbol became known as a boteh, meaning shrub, bush, or bent tree. This symbolised the duress and hardship of the people, but also their strength and resilience. They will bend but they will not break. The boteh design was incorporated into the Indian lexicon and became a popular design for woven shawls, also known as Kashmir shawls. The Dutch East India Company imported these shawls to Europe during the early 1800's, where the boteh design became extremely popular and Kashmir weavers began adapting…

“I recall having an interest in drawing and making from an early age. As a child art and history books appealed to my imagination, and I frequently made drawings of the characters featured in historical paintings. When I was older I began to visit galleries and view artists work. I knew at that point I wanted to pursue a career in the visual arts. I wanted to be an artist and create artworks to exhibit in galleries, museums and public spaces. I maintained an interest in the visual arts throughout my schooling. From school I decided to enrol on an art foundation course particularly motivated by my interest in figure drawing. During the course I was able to develop my drawing skills alongside my interest in textiles and surface design. I enrolled…

NORTHERN TERRITORY The 2017 Alice Springs Beanie Festival will run from June 23–26 in the grounds of the Araluen Arts Centre, 61 Larapinta Drive, Alice Springs and the theme is Weaving the Magic. There will be an extensive range of workshops plus lots of beanies for sale. Further information including all prize categories is available at www.beaniefest.org SOUTH AUSTRALIA The Quilter’s Guild of South Australia Inc. invites all quilt artists resident in Australia to participate in their Quilt Exhibition, Dare to Differ 2017 that will run from September 1–25, 2017 at Gallery M, 287 Diagonal Road, Oaklands. Quilts for this exhibition should be original and innovative, predominately fibre and composed of at least two layers stitched together. Further information is available from the convenor Suzanne Gummow, ph. (08) 8268 7005 or email suzannegummow@bigpond.com The museum…

Stitches to Savor Sue Spargo Martingale 2015 | Hard Cover 144 pg ISBN 978-1-60468-722-4 | RRP US $34.99 Much as we love to stitch fabulous projects, learn new techniques and read about embroidery, sometimes it’s a real pleasure to have a book that simply immerses us in the visual delight of what can be created with a needle and thread. This is such a book, a veritable feast of enchanting images where one can enjoy the amazing designs and fabulous colours of Sue Spargo’s captivating folk art quilts then come back time and time again to spend hours poring over the incredible details. Sue’s quilts are joyous things, full of colour and texture, layer upon layer of fabrics and threads artfully manipulated to create a whimsical and wonderful collection that has been stitched…