Monthly Archives: January 2011

The Garden of Swallows

As a follow up to my last post on colcha embroidery, Julia Gomez was kind enough to send in a photo of her incredible masterpiece, El Jardín de las Golondrinas (The Garden of Swallows). It won Best of Show at … Continue reading

Posted in Colcha embroidery, Embroidery around the world | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Indian Embroidery II

One of my commenters, Sharon, requested more information on Kantha embroidery. I think she will be very happy with this post!  I found my information through Deepa’s blog, which has a nice section on Indian embroidery (other embroidery too, but … Continue reading

Posted in Bead embroidery, Free resources online, Indian embroidery, Surface embroidery, tutorials | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Indian Embroidery

I found Lakshmi Sadala’s very cool blog when she commented on one of my posts. I’ve linked all the photos in this post to the original posts on her blog, so you can just click and go look. I absolutely … Continue reading

Posted in Embroidery around the world, Free resources online, Indian embroidery, Surface embroidery, tutorials | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Hmong embroidery II: Chain stitch and mirrors

Update: This seems to actually be Indian embroidery. See this post on Indian embroidery for more information. In my last post on Hmong embroidery, I promised to show you more Hmong embroidery pieces. And here is another one! This is … Continue reading

Posted in Embroidery around the world, Indian embroidery, Surface embroidery | 4 Comments

Hmong embroidery I: Geometric cross-stitch

Today I have two embroidery pieces to share, both very detailed geometric cross-stitch designs. My parents bought these in Thailand at the Chiang Mai Night Market in the mid-eighties (they had an awful lot of fun in the mid-eighties, as … Continue reading

Posted in Cross-stitch, Embroidery around the world | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Colcha embroidery

Recently I discovered another style of embroidery: Colcha embroidery is a traditional New Mexican wool-on-wool embroidery using the colcha stitch. It dates to the Spanish colonial era (colcha is also Spanish for quilt). When I investigated further, I discovered the … Continue reading

Posted in Colcha embroidery, Embroidery around the world, Free resources online, Surface embroidery, tutorials | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

O Canada

I was thinking. My philosophy of embroidery is: I know how to doggie paddle so why not jump in the deep end? Sink or swim, y’all! If I get stuck then I desperately hope that Needle ‘n Thread can bail … Continue reading

Posted in Cross-stitch, Design sites, Drawn thread, Hardanger, Surface embroidery | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Drawn thread embroidery

Today I found you a (free!) beautiful 19 page tutorial on drawn thread work from the Heritage Shoppe. This shows you, in detail with many photos,  how to do the work in this picture. It’s a type of embroidery where … Continue reading

Posted in Design sites, Drawn thread, Free resources online, Hardanger, tutorials | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Kalaga: Burmese angels dancing

This is a kalaga, from Burma (Myanmar), which my parents bought in the mid-eighties. Traditionally, there are padded figures in the middle, and they are heavily embroidered with sequins and other decorations. In this piece, the figures are five dancing … Continue reading

Posted in Bead embroidery, Embroidery around the world | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Portfolio of Designs for Embroidery

The Antique Pattern Library strikes again: This is a free 1929 pamphlet by Joan Drew, which consists of a 1 page introduction and 16 pages of nothing but design outlines. The contents are mostly flowering plants and birds, in a … Continue reading

Posted in Free resources online, Historical, patterns and designs | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments