What are passionate people made of? ……

What does Sachin Tendulkar love to do and what does he do most of the time? What does Bill Gates do most of his time! I was reading this book “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell, where he mentioned that successful people spent 10000 hours working on their passion before they hit the news.

So coming back to : What are passionate people made of? …… They are made of their passion!

This series of articles is dedicated to embroiderers who do what they love the most – stitch, stitch and stitch. The moment they see something they like, they stitch it. If they are happy, they stitch, if they are depressed, they stitch. Embroidery, needlework and stitching could as well be their middle name.

Check out Feeling Stitchy and you will know what I mean.

The cup cake embroidery is the first I have ever seen (and I doubt if I may see it again).

How does one embroidery a cup cake?
a) Trace around the template using your wash out or fade out marker.
b) Draw your design onto the fabric. Scribble the logo and then go over a few times with the needle to fatten it up. The best lining to use is plastic backed curtain lining, albeit one could work with regular cotton or linen & then fix a couple of layers together before you do your blanket stitching.
c) Stitch your design.
d) Cut around the template shape.
e) Blanket stitch around the edge.
f) You just need to stitch a little hook & eye onto either side of the join once you’re done with the stitching.

And there you are ready to go with cup cake embroidery – what is now missing is only the CAKE!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

One of our endeavours has been to bring the embroidery enthusiast into the limelight. Some of the best embroideries have almost gone unnoticed since there had been no platform to display their hidden art.

EDG now invites all the home embroiderers to display and air out their art to the foreground..!

We introduce a platform for all of you – EDGZone! (Spread the word around).

Lets not step back… Go ahead and embroider those beautiful designs in machine or hand!

We would display the best ones under the category : “Embroiderers” : with all relevant details. Do not miss this chance to get recognized…

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

What is Art Quilting?

Quilt art, sometimes known as art quilting, is an art form that uses traditional quilting techniques to create art objects. Practitioners of quilt art create it based on their experiences, imagery, and ideas rather than traditional patterns. Quilt art generally has more in common with the fine arts than it does with traditional quilting. These forms of art generally adorn walls.

A quilted work of art consists of two layers of cloth held together by stitching. A middle batting layer made of polyester, cotton or even silk is also incorporated.

Although quilted art originated in traditional quilting techniques, quilt artists now may use many different processes to create their artwork, including painting, dyeing, stamping, piecing, collage, printing (often incorporating a photograph printed onto fabric), applique, and other complex cloth processes.

Check out the art quilt above this post!  Isn’t it a beauty?   This is part of a recent collection at Morris museum.

The exhibit is a testament to the collector, John M. Walsh III of Martinsville, who has a passion for quilts and a keen eye for picking the best. “Today he is recognized as a major collector of art quilts,” said Linda Moore, the Museum’s chief operating officer. Walsh’s interest was stimulated when he attended a quilt conference in Louisville, Ky., in 1992, where he met one of the speakers, quilt expert Penny McMorris. Walsh was captivated by these innovative art quilts and vowed to start a collection of his own. With the help of McMorris, who agreed to work with him as curator of his new collection, he has amassed a collection of more than 80 quilts, whose subject matter ranges from nature and landscape to narrative and abstract art.

Being brought up near the shores, water has been close to his heart as is evident from his words here – “We not only seek out the best of the best, we try to help artists financially by commissioning special works from them, so that they will not feel bound by commercial issues, but will feel free to follow their own visions. My only prerequisite for commissioned pieces is that they have something to do with water,” said Walsh in a recent telephone interview.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Dear All,

You are welcome to visit the Embroidery Forum.   This has recently been launched…  Feel free to post in your articles in relevant categories and use it as your area to unwind.

There are various broad areas of interest like embroidery digitizing, business, technical  which are further subdivided into more specific topics.

Join the embroidery community and stay linked in.

Warm Regards

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

United Arab Emiratie Zareena showcased the true Arab, Pashno cultural embroidery patterns in the recent Dubai fest. The hallmark of her collection are the lush embroideries on single one-piece gowns. Blending old, vintage Afghani references, Zareena uses the thread zari and the gotha (the metallic fabric used richly in Indian wear) as well as luxurious crepes and chiffons to accentuate the sparkle in her embroidery. Every piece is distinct and different from the previous piece and in this lies her excellence. The bejewelled embroideries are made to perfection and have fans raving for more of her collection. Her firm belief is that simplicity is the essence of beauty and all her collections derive their elegance from their clean cuts coupled with a rich look.

‘I await inspiration. I do not plan it,’ she explains. ‘It could be a simple piece of jewellery that might take my fancy and become an inspiration for an entire collection.’

Married with two daughters, Zareena has successfully launched and maintained three businesses with the support of her husband, Colonel Mohammed Murad. She looks towards India for inspiration due to its age old tradition and culture. She has started an enterprise in Delhi with a team of designers and embroidery craftsmen. Her endeavors include a well-known beauty salon and a wedding events management company. She juggles between family life and her career and maintains a healthy balance between the two. ‘Without harmony at home, a woman cannot achieve heights. My family is my strength,’ she points out.

EDG wishes her all the best in her bejewelled embroidered life!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

We start a different series today… A series of famous embroiderers who have needled their way into the embroidery news of the world. They could be tutors on embroidery, writers of embroidery books, experts in embroidery digitizing software or plain and simple embroidery enthusiasts.

We start with Kathleen Bentley Tackett of Blaze Branch, Dorton who has developed an expertise in applique patterns. It is said that her applique finishes are so good, that the stitches seem to disappear like magic.  This is primarily due to the finesse skills garnered through her many years of practise.   As a child, her main motivation to take up sewing was her grandmother and in her own words: “I would stand at her sewing machine and watch her making pretty dresses for her daughters”. As a young woman, she worked towards getting a tailoring certificate and made the uniforms for the Virgie High School Band. She loved making complicated stuff. Four years ago she took up quilting with the help of her daughter’s quilting machine. They trade their talents with Kathleen doing the applique by hand and her daughter doing the quilting.

Kathleen has given a few remarkable appliques away to her loved ones : one to her granddaughter in California — “Basket of Roses”; one to her grandson — “Mexican Star”; and one to her grandddaughter in college — “Lavendar Tea.”

She is currently working on a “Through the Year with Sunbonnet Sue” quilt. It has 12 appliqued squares, one for each month. The patterns are made up of pieces of material in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. July’s square is patriotic; February’s is Valentine’s Day; September’s shows Sunbonnet Sue on her way to school … and so on.

With over 20 quilts finished and two more started, Kathleen is always flooded with new ideas and new patterns. Besides those mentioned, she has made: “Devil on the Run,” “Flower Garden” (hand quilted by Pike County Quilt Guild member Zetta Mullins), “Cabin in the Woods,” “Chain of Jewels,” “Garnet Glaze,” “Courthouse Steps,” “Maggie’s Flower Garden,” “Christmas,” “Mystery Quilt,” “Storm at Sea,” “China Blue,” “Grandmother’s Flower Garden,” “Robert’s Flower Garden,” “Folk Art Freedom,” “Cathedral Window” and “Autumn.”

Kathleen belongs to the Pike County Quilt Guild that meets at the Pike County Extension Office and has also won a prize in the guild’s Hillbilly Quilt Show, in the Miscellaneous category.

Lets wish her the very best in her embroidering career ahead!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites