Mandala Embroidery

When I ordered this beautiful Mandala Embroidery book last year I was dying to break out the embroidery hoop and floss again, so I did.  I combined it with a thought of being super-organised for a June birthday present for my dear and very lovely friend, Judith.

It was tricky deciding which of the beautiful designs to stitch, but this one won out and is aptly called 'Friendship Meadow' (no 11 in the book).  I chose soft, pretty hues of pink, lilac, green, yellow and orange to stitch with.  My choices were influenced by J's beautiful lounge room where I lose all ability to concentrate on our conversation because there are so many exquisite and unique little bits and pieces of design detail and decor, and my eyes are always distracted by the beauty I notice this time that I didn't last time.  

As you can see the wooden hoop looked bit bare when it was fitted.  So, I hunted out my little bundle of 6 Liberty fqs and found this PERFECT print to wrap the hoop with.  

I haven't tried wrapping a hoop in fabric before, but it was really not too hard.  I put double sided sticky tape on the inner and outer flat sides of the hoop (about 6 inches at a time so as not to be left having to hold the sticky wood) and just wrapped carefully.  The fine Liberty made this really easy.  Next time I need to work a wee bit closer at the beginning and ends of the wrapping to cover the little bits I didn't do, but as you can see in the picture below those have easily been hidden by a little scrappy bow ;-)

I added a little strip of the Liberty just looped and tied around the screw fixing which will allow J the choice of hanging her hoop or just propping it on a shelf.  

Carina's design worked up so beautifully and was such a pleasure to stitch in the early months of this year.  If you love embroidery, or would like to have a go, this book has some gorgeous designs and you can simplify the stitches if you need to though it's mostly backstitching, so not too tricky.  The book comes with iron on transfers for each design.  This was a new experience for me, and I'd recommend if you are new to iron on transfers, to try one of the designs you don't like so much on a scrap of calico or sheeting.  Each transfer works for a number of times, but I "wasted" a couple of mine because I didn't really know how hard to press, for how long etc.  I had a couple that were too feint and a wobbly one because I just lost balance while doing it - doh!

As you know, Judith runs her own Quilting Classes business from a beautiful studio in Belfast, so I couldn't resist having this print made up for her birthday, too.  Creativity is Judith's God gifting and I have watched her, and been inspired, dare I say "infected", by her talent and passion for so many years.  She is most certainly passing it on!