NEW THIS WEEK - May 14th, 2008
Flowers of the Bible
Free Project Instructions!
Several weeks ago, on a cold and snowy winter day, I was browsing through a bookstore, and came across a remarkable book called Flowers of the Bible, and How To Grow Them. I'll be truthful and say that I'm not blessed with a green thumb; I make plants wither and turn brown by simply looking at them. But as I paged through the book, visions of fields of colorful flowers blooming brightly in the Holy Land filled my mind and senses, and chased the winter day away. The artists and digitizers created a wide variety of designs to bring these same bright and colorful images to you. New designs include beautifully detailed, intricate flower arrangements paired with Bible verses, as well as quick-stitching vintage-style flowers for lighter fabrics. And, simple flower designs blossom on in-the-hoop pot holders, door hangers, tissue covers, and bookmarks, to bring a piece of the Holy Land to your home.
Vintage flowers of the Holy Land are beautiful on organza table scarves. Click here for project instructions!
The flowers, paired with verses, make wonderful pillows and wall hangings. You can frame the pieces and give them as gifts to friends, family members, secret sisters, Bible study partners, pastors, and Sunday School teachers. If you're interested in framing your work, free project instructions show you how to mat and frame a piece. Click here for those instructions. You can also use branches and leather lace for a more rustic frame, and those instructions are here.
Dress up a Bible or book cover with flower designs and your favorite passage. If you aren't able to find a blank cover, free instructions show you how to make one. Complete with a pocket for a notebook and a loop for a pen, this Bible cover is made of sturdy denim, a beautiful canvas for the above flower arrangements. Click here for instructions for making a Bible cover.
Grow a garden of designs, inspired by flowers of the Holy Land and favorite passages from the Bible. The above designs are available in a value pack - priced at only $17.97! Click on the images or links below to see the designs included in the pack, and add the value pack to your shopping basket.
Grow a garden of Biblical flowers on lightweight or flour sack kitchen towels. Bright colors blossom from the white towel fabric, adding a splash of vibrant hues. The vintage designs are low in stitch count with open areas, so you can use a tear-away stabilizer on the back side. No topping is necessary, as long as the towel has low or no nap. For instructions for stitching on low-or-no-nap towels, see the second half of these instructions.
The above flowers of the Holy Land designs are available in a value pack - priced at only $17.97! Click on the images or links below to see the designs included in the pack, and add the value pack to your shopping basket.
The above floral tissue holder designs are available in a value pack - priced at only $16.97! The pack includes the in-the-hoop tissue holder designs for all seven flowers, as well as flower borders. Use the flower borders to make coordinating items, such as checkbook covers, credit card holders, purses, etc. Click on the image to the left to see the designs in the pack and add the pack to your basket.
The above floral pot holder designs are available in a value pack - priced at only $16.97! Click on the images or links below to see the designs included in the pack, and add the value pack to your shopping basket.
The above floral bookmarks are available in a value pack - priced at only $16.97! Click on the image to the left to see the designs included in the pack, and add the value pack to your basket.
The above door hanger designs, along with the individual flower designs for other projects, are available in a value pack - priced at only $16.97! Click on the images or links below to see the designs included in the pack, and add the pack to your shopping basket.
Add the flowers of the Holy Land to your wardrobe! In this example, rectangles add interest to the neckline, while thinner borders dance around the bottom. Embellish skirts, shirts, dresses, jeans, jackets, sweater sets, and more with these flower designs. For instructions for repeating designs on garments, click here. And, for information about stitching on Jersey knit click here. Lightweight linen is a summertime favorite, so if you'd like to stitch the flower designs on that type of fabric, click here for helpful hints and information.
If you're interested in knowing more about flowers that are native to the Holy Land, I recommend Allan A. Swenson's book. It's called Flowers of the Bible And How to Grow Them (that link will take you to his book at Amazon). Chapter nine lists Biblical gardens in the United States that have interesting flora and statuary. You never know -- there might be a Biblical garden near you, and if not you can grow one in your own backyard! Or, if you're like me (without a green thumb), grow a garden of Holy Land flowers with your embroidery machine.