How a Cross Stitch Design Comes to Life Part 1
June 6, 2007 by Melinda
I thought it might be interesting to talk about how a cross stitch design is brought to life for me. I have been asked many times where my ideas come from and just how do I design my needlework pieces.
To be honest, I have many projects waiting to come alive. I keep a list of ideas in a small notebook and write new ones in as I go. I might read a certain passage in a book and I will think of images that might illustrate the writer’s words. I might see a landscape somewhere in my travels and do a quick sketch of it. Once, a few summers ago, I was on the beach with my kids and I looked up to see a beautiful schooner passing by in the bay. The water was calm and blue, seagulls were hovering in the breeze and standing upon the shore. The sky was a beautiful robins egg blue with thin, wispy clouds. The islands were visible in the distance and I could easily see the lighthouse off to one side shining in the sun. This image just begged to be sketched.
A lot of the time I find inspiration in nature. For instance, after a long, cold winter, the vibrant colors that come about in Springtime are just fantastic. Nature has a wonderful paintbrush that splashes colors about our gardens. I like to take a close look at leaves and flowers to see how they are formed, how the colors blend into one another. If I have studied a particular flower, I might be inquisitive and search to find out more information about it. Flowers have been associated with virtues, symbolism and folklore. I like to find associations that are meaningful to my cross stitch designs and use my images to tell small stories.
Inspiration can come from any direction for stitchers. I think the easiest way to help gather your thoughts when brainstorming is to keep a journal. Ideas and thoughts will lead you down different paths. Take notes. You might find a favorite poem and think of ways to incorporate little flower motifs of your favorite flowers and a few specialty stitches for accent.
A favorite quote of mine is by Albert Einstein and it says “Imagination is everything. It is a preview of life’s coming attractions.” How true.
