Embroidered Kitty Brooch Pattern
Hello Friends!
Sorry for being so absent these last couple of months. It’s been a challenge to get much done in the studio while also keeping the house clean for multiple showings over the summer and getting Ryan to all his activities. Good news is that our house has sold and we are renters again. Bad news is that we are in the midst of packing and getting ready to move to our new house, which is exciting, but also time consuming and stressful. It will be a real push to get the new house finished in time to move in at the end of the month.
In the meantime I have been working on a bunch of stitchery samples for new patterns I will be releasing. The first of these is this new Kitty Brooch pattern. I think they are super cute and it’s hard to stop at one. Luckily, the pattern includes colorways for the four shown above which I think of as seasonal kitties: spring, summer, Halloween and Christmas. I am also always happy for folks to make up their own colorways to suit them and their pets. These brooches are completely sewn by hand and the directions for finishing are included.
I also would like to give a shout out to Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm. I first discovered her wonderful embroidery designs on Instagram and purchased one on Etsy to try. I enjoyed it so much I started doing my own designs with the split stitch method. I’ve mentioned before that I have been having issues with arthritis over the years which can be exacerbated by hand quilting and other hand stitching. As it turns out though, cross stitching and embroidery don’t cause me any problems. Since I first started stitching as a girl by doing cross stitch, crewel embroidery, and needlepoint, it feels like I’ve gone full circle with this type of stitching.
I have been trying for weeks get these patterns out in the world and just this week managed to get this first one up on Etsy, in both digital (PDF) form and a mailed paper version. More are in the works and will hopefully be done soon.
I had already been thinking about replacing my embroidered ornament kits with patterns only and this seems like the perfect way to go. The kits that are in the shop now will be the last ones in that format (with pre-printed panels). In the future I will re-do these cat, dog and trailer patterns in the split stitch style, with PDF and paper patterns. If you’ve been considering buying a kit, now’s the time to do it!
The last few photos show some new items in the shop including two brooches that didn’t make the cut for the pattern, three finished ornaments from the Cat Patches Kit, and some new folk art postcards.
Lastly, I am getting ready for a couple of holiday shows this year. I’ll be doing Christmas Goose on November 22 and 23 at St. Charles Hospital in Bend. I will also be back at the Holiday Tails Art Fair on December 7 at the Bend Athletic Club. Save the dates if you’ll be town!
