Needlework designs and delights
‘The lotus flower blooms most beautifully from the deepest and thickest mud’. – Buddhist proverb This is a very personal design for me. The shorthand version of this proverb has been my go to when I felt overwhelmed during these challenging times. It’s helped me stay mindful that growth is always possible and that beauty…
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No.2 in the Bushland Quaker series I’m finding Quaker-style designs are addictive. There’s something about the symmetry and the ability to combine small motifs that is really appealing. And they’re quick to stitch up too! I wanted to do a series before I even completed the first Bushland Quaker. The opportunity came faster than I…
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An antique reproduction I can’t help it. I call this the ‘Chilli Sampler’ in my head. Those rosebuds in the border? They just look like chillis to me! And yet somehow this fits. I can’t shake the impression of heat and warmth with this sampler. The palm-like trees, the bright colours – I wish I…
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There is something so calming about stitching in a single colour. Thread after thread, it builds quickly; growing simply in your hands. And redwork has a long tradition: those charming, simple abecedaires that young girls created to demonstrate their skills have an enduring charm. With this design, I again started with an antique in my…
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Hannah Hodgkison is another charming visitor: a tiny, bright and cheerful little sampler that caught my eye. Without a date or a place, we could not locate Hannah in the historical records, but spending time with her work, I can’t help but think she was a bright, cheerful little girl. Her colour palette is unusual…
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An antique reproduction Lavenia came into my life unexpectedly. I couldn’t believe I found her, sitting quietly and demurely, unnoticed and unclaimed. I understand now why antique samplers are always referred to by their stitcher’s names, as if they were a person themselves: I feel like we met that day – over distance and over…
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This past year we’ve all had to find the beauty close to home. With this in mind, I wanted to create a design that celebrates the colours, shapes and quirks of Australian flowers. I’d long wanted to design a Quaker, which I love for their simplicity and symmetry. Barely before I realised it, I had…
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A quiet Christmas. I’m not one for Santas, snowmen or flashing lights. Christmas is hot where I live, and much of the traditional iconography just doesn’t make much sense. I was asked to create some simple Christmas designs, and really enjoyed using simple Algerian Eyelet stitches to add texture to these motifs. They really are…
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It’s not a medal, but a recognition I was playing around while working on my reproduction of H Sophia Baker, 1878, trying out the colour palette and made this adaptation. Antique reproductions can be stitched exactly, or you can adapt, change and recreate elements of the original into a new design. While trying to work…
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Not all reproduction samplers are quiet and subdued. Meet H Sophia Baker. I love old samplers. They often appear almost ghostly, having faded so far into time. Others arrive with freshly-lipsticked smile, all bright and gleaming. H Sophia Baker is one such freshly-painted gem. I love her rough stitches, her almost-garish colours and her sense…
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