Create State Embroidery with Land That I Love

Me with a project celebrating one of my favorite states – Michigan!

Hi everyone!! Today I wanted to share one of my favorite techniques with you – hand embroidery! I love to travel and whether I am on a plane, train or automobile, I love to bring a project along with me. My preferred summer trip is to Northern Michigan, where I have been going every summer for most of my life! It’s truly my home away from home (home being Kansas City).

My best-selling embroidery book – Land That I Love! – is a great project book that is super customizable for any of your favorite towns, states or colleges. If you are looking for the perfect road trip project, we recently added the book to my website shop in its complete form as an instantly downloadable PDF! This is a super easy way to have the entire book at your fingertips while traveling – just print the pages you need as you need them! If you prefer a paperback version, it can be found at Missouri Star Quilt Co. & on Amazon

Using colorful towels will really showcase your stitchwork!

One of my favorite features of this book is that it includes line art for all 50 states. There are so many personalized design options to choose from – That includes the shape of the state in two styles and sizes, the state name with font choices (plus the state slogan!), state flowers, birds and major cities…. even collegiate pennants like the Ohio State pennant below!

I love to honor my favorite places by making something special that you couldn’t find in a store. State artwork makes a perfect gift – I make them for hostess gifts, birthdays, graduations or even ‘just because’. I love using a colored or striped towel to embroidery on, just look how it makes your stitches pop!

Ohio tea towel done in the traditional redwork style

If you prefer a more classic look, you can always stick with a single color for your entire project. Any color will work, but if you choose red, you are really leaning into the traditional Redwork look for embroidery – it’s a classic technique that has really stood the test of time. This red stripe towel is also the perfect companion for your Redwork project – find it on the Colonial Patterns site HERE!

A look inside the book and great tracing tools from Colonial Patterns

If you are wondering how to get the designs off the page and onto your fabric, I recommend Colonial Patterns’ Aunt Martha’s Tracing Paper and Pencil. Personally, I love this kit and it’s a great tool for tracing any line art from, well, anything! Just trace with the pencil and iron on for an easy design transfer. Another option for transferring a design to fabric is using the Sulky Stitch ‘n Stitch and ink jet printing the image, instead of tracing. This gives you a perfect reproduction to stitch. For more about this product check out my Crossroads Thread YouTube video series.

My Kansas pillow made with Ticking!

I am a Kansas City girl through and through, so for my pillow project I included all of the Kansas options. I didn’t want to pick sides (but I am a Jay Jay Jayhawk) – so I added both the premier Kansas college pendants, for K-State and KU. Applying your embroidery project as a patch to a pillow is a great way to use denim, vintage fabrics or a fun coordinating print in state colors.

For my Kansas pillow I used vintage Ticking as my main fabric. Ticking is an awesome option for coordinating with embroidery. It comes in a lot of color combinations (red, blue, black…) and offers a timeless style for your project. If you would like some additional projects and to learn more on the textile history of Ticking, be sure to check Vintage Modern Maker’s Ticking Primer! The course not only shares the story of Ticking it also features several practical sewing projects. To see a video preview for each course just visit this page.

I was so inspired by this vintage travel game & Michigan teatowel

By the way, did you know the history of state linework goes back a long way?! As I was researching this book, I found endless inspiration in vintage travel coloring books and even in old games. The simple illustrations are timeless and the book includes both vintage and modern fonts to choose from for your project.

Add all your favorite state details!

If you would like to learn even more about the story behind the book and my signature Vintage Made Modern style, be sure to check out the video below! I hope you get inspired and I can’t wait to see what you create!

Get inspired with Amy!

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