Connecting to an old skill...Meet the Goddess...
Most of the time. my creative energies go into quilting, but I recently started a project in another medium that takes me back to my creative roots, so to speak. The first creative skill I ever learned, when I was a young girl, was embroidery. I had put it aside for many years in favor of quilting, until I met The Goddess. Literally, I felt as if something was pulling me towards her when I saw her.
I have been a longtime admirer of Cathy Wiggins' talents, and I have seen the original interpretation in leather...this was something I could do...and for some reason, I keep thinking of this on the back of a jeans jacket. Maybe I'll do another one.
This version was done by Cathy for Global Artisans Designs, as a kit. You may not know this, but one of my side gigs is working with other creative artists as a marketing person, and I do work for Global Artisans - this isn't technically a promoted or paid post, but I do want to disclose that fact. The hyper link above will take you to a page showing all the designs that Cathy has created for us, as of this posting.
Global recently changed their kit configuration for all their artists, and this gave me the added bonus of seeing a new kit up close and in person. The patterns now come pre-printed on a custom panel, which is what's shown on the cover of the pattern. The printing is permanent, and does not come out - no matter how long your piece is in process. The markings are very clear, and easy to follow.
The inside cover of each of the patterns contains an illustration of basic stitches written for Global Artisans by Catherine Redford. Catherine is a long time friend of Global Artisans, and she has stitched a number of the designs for us, as well as often working the booth when she can. She is a great resource to us when we can get her.
This tutorial is a great piece to work with if, like me, you're a bit rusty with your needlework. Each kit also contains a needle, which is properly sized to the thread in your kit...so this really is one stop shopping to just start to stitch.
Oh, the thread....the color - the best part. Each artist who creates a kit for us gets to curate a collection of the threads to be used in their piece, and that mini-collection is included in the kit. Global Artisans is a leading importer of threads by House of Embroidery out of South Africa, and comes in a variety of weights (perle 05, perle 08 and perle 12...5 weight is finer than 12 weight). This kit comes with the 5 colors shown at left in a perle 8 weight. I had never worked with perle cotton before, and I really like the way it looks against the patterns and fills in the design.
One of the things which surprised me was that there was no color key to work with, as I've experienced in the past. That gives the maker total creative freedom...my Goddess could look completely different than yours, or from another one I might do...all I have to do is to change the where I put the colors. Here's my progress picture so far...
