Starting at the begining…

This is sort of where my journey begins. It’s kind of scary, but mostly exciting. I’m not used to putting myself ‘out there’ for the world to see. So this is as much for me, as it is for anyone who wanders this way.

Organization and accountability. When working on a project, of any type, those are two of the most important priorities. Without those two things, nothing but chaos can prevail. Anyone who does any type of work with deadlines, knows that. But even without deadlines, these two things will help keep your project moving smoothly. So part of this blog will be to help me stay organized and to hold myself accountable for projects.

As this is about hand embroidery, I guess I should share a piece of work that I created. Well, not just me. Some friends who live in AZ found this Irish pub called Rúla Búla. The symbol above the door was this beautiful celtic knot stylized sea-horse. I was asked if I could recreate it for them. I had no deadlines, which was good and bad. I changed up some of the colors to colors I had seen in the Book of Kells in Trinity Library, Dublin, Ireland. I used all split stitch. My floss was DMC cotton and my ground cloth was a mid-weight muslin. While I had done smaller projects, before, this was the first time I was doing something “real” and I was giving it away!!!  The finished embroidered piece is roughly 9 inches in diameter. And because I was giving it away, I wanted everything to be neatneatneat. All in all, it took me a couple of years to complete. Why? Because I was disorganized.

I have posted the original art from the pub and my embroidered interpretation.  I hope you like it.

Rúla Búla pillow