Ladybug Embroidery Class – Inspiration Behind the Design

The “big idea” for most of my embroidery and quilting designs doesn’t just happen. There is usually an image, a story, a conversation, a color combination in the garden, something that sparks an idea. The sketch pad comes out and I begin to lay out different ideas. There might be a half a dozen (or more) sketches before one takes hold and I begin to develop it into the finished design. There is also much back and forth as I pull different elements from the different sketches and new details evolve.

“Ladybug,” my most recent embroidery design, has its beginnings in a major housecleaning and reorganization project…

Over the last couple of years, my husband and I have listed and unlisted our home a couple of times as we have toyed with the idea of downsizing to a smaller house and yard. After our daughter graduated from high school last spring, I began a cleaning out phase that is still in process – going room to room with a critical eye, sorting items into the stuff to keep, the stuff to give away, the stuff to donate, the stuff to recycle, etc. While sorting through my collection of costume jewelry, I found inspiration for the series of embroidery classes I will begin teaching later this month at Maple Home Market in Downers Grove, IL.

The series begins with “Ladybug,” which takes its inspiration from some of the pins I found, including those pictured above and below. The design is also a homage to my Aunt Leslee who passed last summer – an avid gardener who loved ladybugs and who taught me how to needlepoint. Our first project, a ladybug motif, of course! That project is yet to be unearthed in my cleaning and house re-organization endeavors – a definite motivation to continue!

With winter temps plunging below freezing this weekend, thinking about ladybugs somehow warms me up! Learn more and register for the class here.