Part 1 Collecting and filtering
It often starts with inspiration and collecting that inspiration . Of course everyone does it in their own way, but I'm all about mood boards.
I have quite a collection of magazines to draw from and it starts very simply with collecting images. You can of course also find a lot online (for example Pinterest), but that can lead to far too long scrolling sessions with an overload of choice. If you are super handy with a tablet and illustrator, then digital is definitely a great choice. I love paper and my brain works better when I see images in front of me... magazines for me! 
I often know a theme or color in advance, as in this case I felt like doing a work with not too much color so that the techniques and structures come into their own. The funny thing is that I then find those images that I think fit the atmosphere/theme. If you go into it blank, select what catches your eye. I grab a stack of magazines and tear out what I like. Don't think about it too long, just select. Filtering comes later.
Timer
Oh yes, I give myself a maximum of an hour, otherwise you will forever be weighing up which picture fits or not. So now I have a collection of images and I'm going to scroll and filter until I have a nice composition. Sometimes I think about size, sometimes I don't. I usually end up with A4 or A3 size, but it can also be smaller or larger. With this design I ended up with A3, but that of course also means that you will be embroidering longer ;) You can keep the image that you do not use this time in a folder. I now have 5 folders full of inspiration images and that is so nice!
If the composition is to my liking, I finalize the mood board or collage and then it is ready for the next step: determining the type of surface, material and color . I will explain that in part 2.
Need tips on how to get inspiration? I'll give it here