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This Artist’s Breathtaking Embroidery Paintings Will Make You Rethink Needlework Forever

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Fleur Woods is a contemporary fiber artist from New Zealand, renowned for her unique “stitched paintings” that seamlessly blend embroidery with mixed media. Drawing inspiration from nature, Fleur’s work is characterized by vibrant colors and intricate textures, reflecting her deep appreciation for the natural world. Her creations have garnered international acclaim, attracting collectors and art enthusiasts worldwide.

Beyond her artistic endeavors, Fleur is also an accomplished author. Her book, “The Untamed Thread: Slow Stitch to Soothe the Soul and Ignite Creativity,” chronicles her journey from the corporate world to a fulfilling creative life. The book offers readers practical insights into embracing a creative path, interwoven with personal anecdotes and guidance on techniques such as fabric dyeing and embroidery stitches.

For those interested in delving deeper into Fleur’s artistic philosophy and techniques, “The Untamed Thread” is available for purchase on Amazon. ?

To explore more of Fleur Woods’ captivating artwork and stay updated on her latest projects, you can visit her official website or follow her on Instagram.

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A Cross Stitch I Spy at the Beach

That headline pretty much describes the Under the Sea cross stitch pattern from Una Buena Pieza, which is covered with shells, fish and other creatures of the sea. It’s not intended to be an I spy, I don’t think, and most of the same kinds of animals are grouped together, but I think it would be fun for someone who didn’t stitch it to look and see what different things they can find within.

The pattern includes turtles, jellyfish, a whale, shark, ray, all sorts of fish and shells and I’m sure other things that I’m not noticing right now. Dolphins! Coral! Seagulls!

It looks like it would be super fun to stitch and fun to have on the wall during the summer months, or even hang in a kid’s room if you know a young one who loves the beach or ocean animals.

The design is 110 by 220 stitches. It comes out to about 8 by 16 inches, or 20 by 40 cm, when stitched on 14 count fabric. It calls for 19 colors.

This design looks great on light blue fabric as shown, but in the pattern listing on Etsy you’ll also see what it looks like on a darker blue and a white fabric, and they all look pretty good so you can use whatever color you like to suit your decor or your idea of what color the “ocean” should be. There’s even a customer photo that looks like it was done on a sort of tie-dyed green fabricc, which is really fun.

However you stitch it, I think this project would go faster than you imagine because there are so many fun little things to stitch. It will be hard to get bored when you can just move on to a different animal or part of the design.

Check out this pattern from Una Buena Pieza on Etsy.

[Photo: Una Buena Pieza]