The Embroidery Design that was never supposed to see the light of day

The Winslow Collection wasn't supposed to be a collection at all.

I created Winslow for me. After years of designing kits with teaching in mind — clear stitches, repeatable layouts, instructions written for first-time stitchers — I needed to get back to the heart of why I picked up a needle in the first place. So I sat down with my floss, abandoned the rules, and stitched the way a painter paints: one little flower here, a sprig of greenery there, layered and loose and freeform, until the piece simply felt done. No pattern. No plan. Just play.

The result was so beautiful I couldn't keep it to myself.

Inspired by an old, unkempt European garden. I named it Winslow because I wanted it to feel old — like a long-forgotten English garden or Irish cottage garden that's grown over, gone gloriously wild, and is somehow more stunning for being completely untamed. Crumbling stone walls. Climbing roses. Wildflowers and weeds living happily together. That's Winslow.

Messy on purpose. Layered with intention. Where most of our kits offer structured arrangements, Winslow leans into beautiful chaos. Florals overlap. Stems bend at unexpected angles. There's no perfect spacing, because perfect spacing isn't the point. The point is the romance of a garden that's been left to itself — and the deep,  texture that emerges when you stitch one bloom on top of another.

Recommended for stitchers comfortable with the basics. Because Winslow is layered and texture-heavy, we recommend you've completed at least one beginner kit before diving in. If you've stitched a Meadow, Avonlea, Fields, or Jardín— you're absolutely ready. The included instructions, videos and tutorials walk you through the stitches and layering, so you'll have the freeform look without having to invent it yourself.  Plus, this design is incredibly forgiving.

Every Winslow DIY embroidery kit ships with premium DMC floss, fabric pre-printed with the design, an embroidery hoop, needle, and access to the AOA library full of tutorials and videos. Original artwork — designed in a quiet moment that reminded me why I love this craft — packed and shipped from  our Fort Worth studio.  

Modern meets romantic. Wild meets wonderful. The garden that grew on its own.