Inspirations Issue 87

Do you ever find yourself in an embroidery rut, only using those techniques that you know very well and feel comfortable working? It can happen so easily and sometimes it takes a little courage to step out of your comfort zone to try something new. There are always those nagging doubts - can I do it, will I mess it up, will I waste my thread and fabric? And we all know that those questions are never answered until we try! One of our aims here at Inspirations is to introduce our readers to a wide range of exciting techniques from a variety of sources, traditional and contemporary; to broaden your embroidery horizons and share some of the amazing work that is being created around the globe. We want to inspire…

Paulina Bartnik is a talented artist who makes incredibly gorgeous bird brooches combining needle felting and embroidery. Each brooch is unique and perfectly captures the delicate beauty of the feathered subject. Tell us something about yourself – your family, where you live, where you work, what you love. Art has been always an important part of my life. My father is a painter and my mother is an art teacher, so as a child I discovered all different kinds of art. I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (the capital of Poland), where I live. I work at home, running a small graphic studio with my partner. I devote my free time to what I love the most - embroidery and other kinds of handicraft, painting, photography and cooking. I…

Close your eyes and dream of the most beautiful folk costumes you can. Think of the colour, the fabrics, the patterns, the texture, the cut of the garments, the stitching, the embroidery. Imagine the people who create these beautiful works of art. You might imagine that the work is done by grandmothers who have grown and lived in the costume’s region all their lives. Quite possibly that is often the case, but not always. JOSELYN MOEN PÉREZ is a Norwegian bunad manufacturer who was born half a world away in Chile. The daughter of Chilean parents, Joselyn started sewing during her childhood. Her mother had a home-based business as a skilled tailor. Her grandmother was also a skilled seamstress and her grandfather was a cobbler. From an early age she enjoyed…

In issue 85 of Inspirations we featured an article on the restoration and reinstatement of the superb altar frontal that was stitched by wounded WW1 soldiers for St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. ROSALIND WYATT was surprised to discover that her grandfather, John Cameron, was one of the 138 soldiers who worked on the frontal while recovering in hospital. His involvement in this project gave him a lasting interest in and love of embroidery and here she shares his story. ”JOHN CAMERON was born in the north-east of Scotland and grew up near a little town called New Deer. As a young man, he and his future brother-in-law, Jimmy, made a scouting trip to Australia to decide upon immigration, planning on staying a year or two before returning to Scotland. Then the war…

QUEENSLAND SEW CRAZY QUILTERS stunning quilt exhibition will be held from September 30–October 2, 2015 at the Helensvale State School, Lindfield Road, Helensvale. The exhibition will include more than 100 quilts, trade tables, quilting demonstrations and the opportunity to win a beautiful quilt. Food and refreshments will be available and there is free parking. Opening hours are Wednesday: 12pm to 5pm, Thursday and Friday: 10am to 4pm and entry is $5.00 which includes morning or afternoon tea. Proceeds from the quilt raffle will be donated to the Hummingbird House. Contact Carleen Condon by phone: (07) 5573 6020 or email: carleen@icunet.com.au for more information. TASMANIA STITCHING AND BEYOND’S next biennial exhibition, ‘Out of Hand’ 2015 will be held during October at The Long Gallery and Sidespace, Tasmanian Arts Centre, Salamanca Place, Hobart. Stitching and…

Miniature Needle Painting Embroidery Trish BurrMilner Craft Series 2014Soft Cover 200 pgISBN 9781863514705RRP $39.99 Trish continues to delight us with her beautiful embroidery and in this book she focusses on a selection of charming small scale projects ranging in size from 6cm x 7cm (2½" x 3") to 9cm x 14cm (3½" x 5½"). Always fascinated by miniature art, she has wanted to embroider smaller pieces for many years and here she shares twenty superb designs plus updated information on working long and short stitch and how to adapt it to fit different situations and projects. As she says in her introduction, ‘If you do not own any of my previous books, this book will show you everything you need to know about needle painting embroidery and more. If you do own some…