Sunday, April 28, 2013

Linden Tree Artisan: Sara Leffler Boehnke

There is an abundance of talent at The Linden Tree Shop. Sara shared her talents with me by embroidering on my Poppy Hop panel design which Melissa Pederson made into a lovely pillow.  It is extraordinary, as you can see from the pictures below.

Sara, a graphic designer and owner of Boehnke Creative, was involved with the Linden Tree from the very beginning. She met Melissa Pederson, the owner, at their girls' bus stop and their conversation led to Sara designing The Linden Tree logo in exchange for some handmade skirts for her and her daughters.  The logo has become a recognizable icon for the shop and graces the front of the building on Beard Avenue.

Later, Melissa suggested to Sara that it would be fun to have some embroidery patterns that coordinated with her fabrics she sells at the store. Sara was up to the challenge, but before she could design a pattern, she had to teach herself how to embroider!  She did her research, figured out how to stitch and designed her first pattern,"The Sweet Cupcake".  She was hooked and went crazy for embroidery and opened her Etsy Shop HoopTdo in 2012.  Click here to visit her shop.

Like many other artisans at the Linden Tree I've been blogging about, Sara was involved in making something special out of my Modern Yardage fabric Collection Trunk Show for The Linden Tree.
On my Poppy panel, she used a stem stitch and French knots to add a tiny bit of detail to the flowers as if light was highlighting some parts and shading others. The French knots add wonderful texture to the center of the flower and the pod. Sara said she felt my art had a Japanese influence, so she thought it would be fun to do a simple sashiko-esque stitch behind the poppies, and the circles reminded her of my 'Link' coordinate fabric design.

Be inspired by the lovely embellishing she did!  Thanks so much Sara for sharing your story and your talents with me. As I've said before, The Linden Tree is my fabric family, with so many wonderful friends and talented artisans.  Please support them by shopping at The Linden Tree!  Visit the website.




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