Today is my last day of writing for Blisstree, so I couldn’t leave without sharing some of my favorite posts through the years!
There have been posts that people have loved, some that got a way bigger reaction that I ever expected and those posts that people have said “thank you for writing, that’s helped me”.

In no particular order, here are some of my favorites…

My post about a free pattern for a Snuggie has gotten more popular than I ever imagined – apparently people want to make these… lots and lots of people!
You can’t get much easier than these ribbon roses …read more

Milan Fashion Week is just wrapping up the runway shows for the Spring & Summer 2010 collections.
I love browsing through photos from the shows and seeing the incredible mastery that the designers have with fabric.  They can take a humble bolt of fabric and turn it into a sculpture or a piece of art.
Not sure what I mean?
Check out these lush flowers from Colombian designer Leal Daccarett:

Aren’t those fabulous?  I can almost smell the peonies…
If you want to see some amazing embroidery, look at this outfit from Pakistani designer Deepak Perwani:

Unfortunately, I can’t post a high-res image, but trust me …read more

In the creative world, we now have “altered couture” instead of recycled or remade clothing.  I like the term though. 
It implies high fashion and enables people to take pride in using their creativity to make use of worn and worn out items in their closet…or ones they find at rummage sales and second hand shops.

In addition to altering used clothing, these new designers (whether it’s someone who does this for a living or you simply stretching the clothing budget) use embellishments and embroidery in creative ways.
Some of the pieces of altered couture I’ve seen are:

An apron made by cutting away jeans except for the front with …read more

Do you tend to stick to a few tried and tested favorite hand embroidery stitches?
I know I’m guilty of primarily working in cross stitch and the standard needlepoint stitches, the tent or half-cross stitch.  I may bring out the lazy daisy or back stitch if I’m not working on gridded canvas or Aida cloth…
But there is a world of stitches out there!

Have you ever heard of the “Droit stitch” or the “Stepped Sheaf stitch”?  How about the exotic-sounding “Turkey”, “Egyptian” or “Romanian” stitches?
If you’d like to expand your stitching repertoire, the Stitchopedia website is the place to start your search.  …read more

I spent my afternoon walking through my local conservatory.  It was such a treat to get away from the city for a couple of hours and just enjoy the tropical flowers and lush plants from all over the world.
Of course, I can’t leave my camera at home and so I’ve got dozens of photos of lovely plants to use as inspiration.  I find that the “macro” image is the one that interests me the most, so I rarely seem to end up with the whole flower or plant in the frame.
One game I like to play is imagining how I …read more

Since I covered my five favorite sewing supplies yesterday, I thought I should take a look at my embroidery supplies today
Since I do both machine and hand-embroidery, but covered sewing yesterday – I’m just going to share my 5 favorite hand-embroidery supplies in this post.
In no particular order…

A good embroidery hoop – I have very particular likes and dislikes when it comes to embroidery hoops.  I plastic hoops that are between 4″ and 6″ across (I find that larger hoops strain my wrists), that adjusts with a screw (I don’t like spring hoops) and one that has a …read more

Free motion quilting is a fantastic tool for fiber artists – it adds dimension, interest and can act like a drawn line on the surface of the fabric.
It can be challenging to get started for some people.  They tense up and get frustrated because the line isn’t flowing as smoothly as they’d like.
Some teachers recommend beginning with drawing simple stipple patterns (like the piece of one of my art quilts shown here) on a piece of paper.

I’ve never had good luck with that though – the movement of drawing on paper is the exact opposite of quilting.  With drawing, you’re …read more

Do you need a new book for inspiration?
How about a great how-to book?
Why not a book to polish your existing skills?
Now is the time to stock up!
Interweave Press is holding their annual “Hurt & Overstock ” book sale, with great discounts on craft, fiber art, jewelry, knitting books and much more.  I’ve gotten some fantastic deals on “gently damaged” books from them over the years.
What kind of goodies can you find?
How about $12.48 for “Bags With Paper & Stitch “?

“Explore the art of papermaking and how to transform these distinctive papers into unique, one-of-a-kind handbags embellished using modern techniques. Fiber …read more

Jenny, from Sublime Stitching, has created a free Fourth of July gift for you all!
She has created a totally free fireworks embroidery pattern, and then uploaded it to Flickr, so everyone can download it and use the pattern for some holiday fun

There lots of different options for embroidery patterns.  Why not embellish a favorite t-shirt?  Just place a layer of tear-away interfacing behind it and stitch away.  Did you know that you can embroider on paper?  Transfer the pattern and have fun.  How about enlarging the pattern and making a patriotic tote bag?
image: Stock.xchg

I recently picked up an adorable cross stitch kit.  I normally prefer to buy patterns and then pick embroidery floss up separately, but I just couldn’t find a pattern I liked.
The benefit of buying a kit, is that if you only need a foot of a particular color, you don’t need to buy a whole hank of floss.
Of course, the downside is trying to separate 25 different colors of embroidery floss that have been knotted together…
I like to organize my floss in bright, natural light.  I find I get the best color separation in natural light – there is just …read more