I'm fortunate to be from a family that has always appreciated - and collected - embroidery. Most of the pieces in my collection are from Spain and elsewhere in Europe, but the Spanish pieces are my favorite, as many of them were worked by aunts and other family members.

I also collect old needlework leaflets and magazines, and love to look through them on cold or rainy days, while sipping a nice cup of tea.

They're a terrific source of inspiration.

Some of my favorite vintage materials are about the embroidery from the town of Lagartera in the province of Toledo, in the area known as Castilla-La Mancha, famous not only for its cuisine, art, needlework and culture, but also for the tales of Don Quixote. This is where a centuries old embroidery tradition, unique to the area, was developed and still thrives.

Spain is renowned for its needlework traditions, including blackwork, drawn and pulled thread work, and satin stitch embroidery.

Largartera hand embroidery is worked by stitching motifs in a basic surface embroidery stitch known as the long-stitch – basically a long satin stitch – on evenweave fabric. The motifs are often framed with a combination of back stitches, the four-sided stitch, and running stitches (similar to blackwork), as well as areas of pulled thread work, as in the sample above.