Sheela Na Gig

Sheela na gigs are figurative carvings of naked women with exaggerated genitalia often found in Ireland and Great Britain on churches. They are a variety of grotesque carving. The anasyrma- the gesture of exposing oneself- was thought to have a warding effect on evil.

I am making an embroidered sheela na gig and combining it with kolacsa-inspired Hungarian floral embroidery in this piece. The hair is very snaky and Medusa-ish, but kept pretty symmetrical to have a bit of an abstract, decorative feel.

Hand Embroidered Christmas Ornament

I started another embroidered star, this one is red in the middle. You can also see the finished blue-in-the-middle star ready to get sewn into an ornament.

Hand Embroidered Star Ornament

More work on my embroidered star ornament. You can see I even took it with me to Chuck E. Cheese. Might as well get something done while I'm watching the coats, tickets, and tokens.

Embroidered Star Ornament

I decided to embroider some star shaped ornaments. Could be Christmas ornaments. Inspired by the kalocsa style floral embroidery of Hungary. I just needed some color, since I started that brown sweater.

Floral Embroidery and Butterfly Garden

Here is our butterfly pavilion. Two butterflies were out of their cocoons when I took this picture, but I'm happy to report that all five were later released into the yard! That was kind of fun. Down below is my latest embroidery project. It started out with some traditional Hungarian motifs, then I just threw everything in! Birds, flowers, fruit, more flowers, and more flowers!

Some Knitting and Embroidery

Here is my Hungarian inspired embroidery. I've repeated the same motif four times around. It's freehand, so it's not exact, but each one is similar enough. I don't want them to look mechanically made, anyhow. I've decided to add some birds and grapes to the middle. And down here is my shawl collar cardigan in evergreen. Sleeves and buttons coming soon!

On the Needles

Working on another Hungarian style embroidery.

Working on shawl collar cardigan. This doesn't really show the color very well. It is a deep green called "evergreen". This is the back and the front right in progress.

Here is a super squishy soft ribbed and hooded sweater that is only wanting some sleeves. And here you can see I've given it some sleeves. You can find this sweater and more at My Good Babushka.

Three Things I've Finished

Here is a floral sampler pillow I've finished. All hand-embroidered. Floral Sampler Pillow on Etsy.

Here is an Octopus Sachet that smells like French Lilac. Why? I don't know. Just because. Shut up, that's why! Octopus Sachet on Etsy.

And a child size cardigan with retro, shawl collar styling and two front pockets. Root Beer Heather Cardigan on Etsy. If you like these items, please share! Happy Shopping.

Hungarian Floral Embroidery

Working on my second embroidery project inspired by the kalocsa embroidery style of Hungary. I'm going to repeat the same motif four times around the square, then I'll have to draw some more designs because I don't know what will come next.

Embroidery

I've started a new floral embroidery, inspired by the floral patterns of traditional kalocsa Hungarian embroidery. I really wracked my brains to think of something different to do, but then I felt like I was wasting too much time trying to be clever, and not enough time embroidering. Besides, these floral motifs and always cheerful and charming.

Hungarian Embroidery

Here is my little Kalocsa embroidery. I am very happy with it. It's so colorful, it's like a party for your eyes. And below is how it looks all finished in my etsy shop.

You can read more about it at My Good Babushka!

Embroidery

I'm still working on my embroidery, inspired by Hungarian Kalocsa style embroidery. I usually do some in the morning, before the kids have gone to school, and in the evening, until it gets too dark to match colors. My eyes get fatigued if I've done painting during the afternoon, so sometimes I just knit in the evening. Then I don't have to worry about matching the color of narrow bits of thread.

Floral Embroidery

The circumference continues to blossom! It is fun to use every color in the thread box, much less sweating it out over color-coordinating, and it seems to just look better the more colors I use. My flower patterns are entirely invented on the fly, and I know they are not exactly the traditional Hungarian flower embroidery shapes, but it is still inspired by the very colorful kalocsa style of embroidery.

Hungarian Embroidery

I'm drawing as I go. It's fun just to make it up and use as many colors as I can. I am focusing on making my satin stitches nice and even and proficient.