Inspiration: Karen Ruane

karen I got a sweet note from Meri of Agulhas da Meri blog suggesting that I feature Karen Ruane’s lovely work on Contemporary Embroidery blog. Meri says,

Exquisite embroidery! It is worth a detailed observation, I think.

I couldn’t agree more. I check her blog every day! Her work is so delicate, so unique; and her photographs are as breathtaking as her needlework. She’s a stitching goddess. Add her to your blog reader, too, so you don’t miss delicious tidbits such as the gorgeous puffs shown above. Look again. Each puff is about 1 cm in diameter (just under a half-inch). How tiny must those French knots be!

If Karen’s work is new to you, be sure to browse back through her blog to see the variety of works she undertakes and her utterly original approach. Time well spent, I promise.

And thank you, Meri, for the kind reminder.

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Natalka Studio is an Etsy shop based in Ukraine with a wide variety of cross stitch designs, including realistic, detailed designs with women doing various things, holiday patterns, geometrics and more.

One of the biggest categories in the shop is called girl cross stitch, which features detailed designs of women with flowing hair doing things like drinking coffee, dancing and carrying flowers. There are seasonal projects in this category as well as a couple having to do with hobbies.

I like the knitting one, of course, and almost shared the sewing one as the featured pattern above until I realized the thread is coming off a cone on the floor and there’s no pedal for running the machine.

The one I am sharing here isn’t actually in that category but it is really cute. Little Girl with Watermelon uses 21 colors and measures 73 by 73 stitches. That’s 5.21 inches or 13.3 cm square if you work it on 14 count fabric. I love her messy hair and the little dress and matching bows. You could also change the colors if you have a little girl who isn’t as into pink (or doesn’t have brown hair).

The largest category on the page is animals, and there you will find wild animals like monkeys, pandas and sloths; ocean creatures such as rays, an octopus and a blue tang fish; frogs, dogs and geese, among others.

There are also a lot of Christmas cross stitch patterns, which include a lot of traditional motifs and some more whimsical themes. I like this one of Santa resting by the fire with his boots off.

In addition to all these you’ll find pretty flowers, a bunch of mostly floral bookmarks, a whole big set of patterns with lemons, and a lot more. The fruits and berries section (if you like fruits other than lemons) would be perfect for decorating your kitchen or breakfast area.

Check out all the great patterns they have to offer at Natalka Studio on Etsy.

[Photo: Natalka Studio]

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