Three cheers for spring! Love is in the air, and the birds are in full song. Today’s new design, Paradise Birds, is a joyful celebration of birds and romance.
Paradise Birds was great fun to design – and stitch. I didn’t follow a graph paper chart, and all I knew was that I wanted the design to be entirely birds and hearts, with enough space in some of the hearts for them to potentially have initials or names stitched in them.
Going back to my roots in tapestry weaving, I started stitching at the bottom and worked up (most of the time!). I really enjoy this sort of freestyle designing. A rule I set myself is that once I’ve stitched something it’s not allowed to be taken out.
I restricted myself to fifteen vibrant shades of Anchor tapestry wool while I was stitching, and the design grew very quickly.
On some evenings I was stitching away while watching The Great British Sewing Bee, and on one occasion I skilfully managed to stitch my scarf into the back of the tapestry. Apparently I’m not the first person to have done this…and probably won’t be the last!
We’ve made our finished Paradise Birds into a cushion, using blue woolly fabric for border and orange velvet for piping and backing.
Top tip alert Paradise Birds could be folded in half and made into a specs case – perhaps containing a birthday or wedding cheque? We can’t take credit for this idea – thank you to the stitchers who have told us of their plans to use some of our other small designs in this way. Jolly Campervans, Country Cottage and Birds in a Tree have all been turned into very special gift wallets.
New designs for 2019 The early part of each year is a very busy time for tapestry designing, and we are designing and stitching away to bring you more tapestry projects for later in the year.
We really hope you like the new Paradise Birds tapestry kit and that you’ll enjoy stitching it if you choose this kit as your next project.
Kelly
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