HOW, WHAT and a Crane

With two embroiderers in the house, we do tend to have a large and interesting stash even though we have different approaches to our stitching.
Jane-Beth tells me she is a 'process' embroiderer. She likes to take classes and correspondence courses to find out HOW. Her Hows include; how do you do that stitch, how does that floss feel in the needle, how did the designer come up with that? Once she knows  the HOW, her curiosity is satisfied and she moves on.
I work from the other direction. I have an idea, it becomes a design, and then I think about WHAT. My Whats are; what size of ground, what stitches, what threads, what textures, what am I trying to achieve with this piece? And I keep asking WHAT right up to the last stitch. What if I'd used a different thread or a different stitch?

Being a HOW and a WHAT, we collect threads of all kinds, sometimes because we like the colour, sometimes the texture and sometimes just because it's unusual.
Jane-Beth has an encyclopaedic knowledge of what is in our stash so when this WHAT is looking for something to create a particular effect and isn't quite sure what he's looking for, I go to my HOW and describe it. If we have it, she knows.
I doubt if this WHAT could do what he does without his HOW.

Which is how this piece came about.
Having completed Ribbons, I decided that I would like to do another piece of Rozashi. I mentioned this to Jane-Beth. She rummaged around in the stash and came out with 'Crane'.

This is another Margaret Kinsey piece and uses the same vertical stitch combinations as 'Ribbons'. As soon as Jane-Beth showed it to me I knew she was not going to get the chance to stitch it. Besides, she had already done a HOW on Rozashi.
Crane is 6" square and took 35 hours to stitch.

Seasonal Outing

It's that time of year. This week we attended the Edinburgh Castle Family Annual Carol Service, held in The Great Hall of the Castle. Impressive or what? The lower walls are covered in carved panels and the wooden ceiling is covered in painted designs.

Image copyright of Historic Environment Scotland

So how is that related to embroidery, and how do you get an invitation?
In my case as 'Partner'. The embroidery connection is that Jane-Beth is one of the team who do the conservation work required on the Regimental Colours laid up in the Scottish National War Memorial,  which is in the Castle.

Image copyright SNWM

This is one of the most quiet and peaceful places I know, even when filled with tourists. If you've never been, I recommend that you add it to your lists of 'places to visit in Edinburgh'. Word of warning! Avoid the day of the Annual Rededication Service. The sound of a military band within the walls is deafening.

Ursine Insinuation

As intimated in my post back in January, Mr G Bear continues his attempt to achieve world domination through Teddy bears. The latest group of 29 recruits have been fully trained in 'Looking Cute', 'Snuggling', 'Comforting', and, apparently, standing on each others shoulders.

Once again I had the fun of sewing them up, stuffing them and giving them faces. Each face is slightly different. That's not intentional on my part, but being bears they demand a certain amount of individuality.

It probably takes a couple of hours to sew up the seams, fill and face each bear. We discussed it and came to the conclusion that each bear took about seven hours from start to finish. But it's fun doing them.

And as for this group;

They are off today to Africa, to Little Libraries via Craft Tea who meet at Leo's Beanery on a Wednesday afternoon. Our bears go where they are needed. Or perhaps their destination is decided on by the mysterious Mr G Bear and they are a 'Ninja Cuddling' squad, a furry Fifth Column in his quest for World Domination by Teddy-Bear.

And that's what I've been doing this week.

Creme de la creme

I don't usually repeat a design but this is an exception.

Crème de la Crème is a reworking of "Fawny of Eight", which appears earlier in this blog. I chose to take the unusual step of reworking an older piece because the Embroiderer's Guild, of which I was a member at the time, was holding a Regional Day in Edinburgh in 2008 and wanted entries for their exhibition of members' work. The theme was Crème de la Crème.

I was asked by one of the organisers if I had anything to submit. There are not many men in the Embroiderer's Guild so they were keen to have something in their exhibition. So I said "We'll see," and had a brief think.

I concluded that in the time available I probably didn't have time to work up something totally new, but I had enjoyed working on Fawny of Eight and was sure I could do it much better second time around.

My memory (not infallible) tells me that this must have been done on 18 count canvas as my notes say I used 4 strands of DMC Ecru. I tried white, but it was too was too stark and cold. The Ecru was just a touch warmer in feeling.
The stitches used are; starting at the top left; Basketweave, Woven Stitch, Twill Variation, Upright Gobelin, Scotch Stitch, Dinaken Stitch, Hungarian Variation (Diagonal) and Upright Brick. The outer border is Satin Stitch.
Because I already had the design, it only took me 30 hours to stitch this, and it was completed in time for the Regional Day.

Earthnight, 27th November 2000

I made this for a competition in Scotland in 2008. The theme was Night and the sub-class was an embroidered cushion, The title comes from the inspiration, a NASA photograph of the Earth at night, dated 27th November 2000.

                                         

                                                   

I was fascinated by the strings and clusters of light and the areas with few or no lights and as it fitted, in my mind, with the theme I decided to create a cushion with a wrap-round map of the earth at night. I did not want the bright areas to be 'in your face', nor did I want a contrast in the colours of the land-masses. During daylight hours the earth is a series of bands of colour, but they don't show up in the same way at night. After some consideration, head scratching and fiddling with options, I decided to keep it simple.

The ground is grey linen, the continents are outlined in running stitch and the infill is cross-stitch. The only exception is the Antarctic which shows as lighter that the other continents. I worked that in a zig-zag running stitch. All the stitching is done with the same (DMC) black stranded cotton.
I then added white beads, packed or spread to reflect the values of the bright areas in the NASA photograph. I secured the beads by sinking them between the arms of the cross stitches AND strangling them. I was determined that they would stand proud and not wiggle!

The finished cushion is about 15" tall and 8" across. If it was a picture it would be about 25 inches wide. It took 109 hours to complete.

And the competition?
I'll admit I was disappointed. It wasn't that the piece did not get placed, I don't think this was some of my best work. What disappointed me was that in the show guide, the hundreds of beads I had so carefully sewn on were described as 'pins stuck in'.
That's what comes of not having Artist's Statements. We may hate having to write them, but at least its our chance to describe our work and how we did it, in our own words. 'Pins Indeed!'

B is also for Baltimore

Baltimore, Maryland, was the venue for the 2007 American Needlepoint Guild Seminar. How could we not go? History and embroidery, lots to see and lots to stitch.

It was August and it was hot, but we were not deterred. We braved the heat to walk around and look at old buildings and monuments, and we learned that Peabody is pronounced Pibidi (with short vowels). We also discovered an amazing piece of sculpture, The Katyn Memorial. It is a memorial to the Poles who were murdered in the Katyn Forest in 1940. I was overwhelmed by it, artistically and emotionally. My picture doesn't do it justice so I have included a link to the website.

We did not get to Fort McHenry, but we did climb Federal Hill. We even adventured beyond Baltimore to Annapolis. The Chapel at the United States Naval Academy has some beautiful embroidery, and the town is a delightful concoction of Late Stuart, Queen Anne and Early Georgian buildings.

The Chapel at Annapolis was interesting for both the embroidery and the architecture, and of course down beneath it is the grave of that well known and respected founding father of the US Navy/Pirate, John Paul Jones. (Delete as appropriate, I suppose it depends whose side you're on.)

Aside from the Seminar and the sightseeing, three things stand out in my memories of this visit. First, the lightning. We had a number of stupendous lightning storms. Second was being able to sit outside ion the warmth and listen to a "The Wailers" concert. I remember when it was "Bob Marley and...". The third is that at the banquet we sang "The Star Spangled Banner". It surprised some at our table that we knew the words (well some of the words).

What about the embroidery?

Having tried and enjoyed Traditional Japanese Embroidery, I had the opportunity to take a class in Rozashi with Margaret Kinsey. Rozashi is the style of embroidery worked by the Ladies of the Imperial Court and other high ranking households. It is worked in hand, with pre-twisted threads - no need for stropping and laying and no need for my trusty tekobari. The ground material is Ro, so a fairly easily countable ground, and all vertical stitches.

The design is called "Ribbons" and utilizes traditional Japanese designs. This was a relaxed and informative two day class during which we learned the basic stitches of Rozashi and where they might be used.
"Ribbons" is 6" square and took 68 hours to stitch.

B For Bear

I stitched this in 2007 for the American Needlepoint Guild Charity Auction 2008. I don't like to hurry and it still had to go to the finishers to get made up into a 'something'. Since I didn't know how it would be finished - pillow, stand-up, applique, I decided to stitch only a few rows of background, but I included additional background thread in the package when returned it.

I don't know who the designer was, the only indication on the canvas were the letters AT. Whoever it was, thank you for the fun, I really enjoyed working this Bear. He was such a fine fellow I decided he needed a ribbon (which was well secured at the back so that it could not be pulled out) to match his Mouse friend's. 

The Bear took 38 hours to stich. I can't remember the size - it was a long time ago and I didn't make a note of that.

Dying Flames

I stitched this piece shortly after completing "Earth, Fire and Water". It was done specifically to enter the Handcrafts Competition at the Royal Highland Show in 2007. The class schedule, as I recall, was for "a piece of completed but unframed canvas work" on the theme of Fire .

The fan was based on the design I used in "Earth, Fire and Water", with the addition of the fan stick. I wanted a wide range of reds and purples to represent the darkness within a dying coal fire so I chose three Needle Necessities overdyes for the flames and a dark blue for the background of the fan. To make the fan stand out I stitched the background  with a lighter blue-grey overdye. The flames are worked in vertical straight stitches, staggered to reflect the flickering of flames. The background is bargello in three tiers, all worked in the same overdyed floss. I liked the colour changes and the way it pushed the fan forward.

Dying Flames was stitched on a blue 18 count canvas and measures 11.75" x 8.5". It took 113 hours to stitch.
And it took First Place, which was a pleasant surprise.

Allegro

This summer, as reported in my entry of 27th August, we attended the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar in Houston, Texas. One of the classes I attended while we were there was "Allegro". This was designed and taught by Debbie Rowley of DebBee's Designs.

I had various reasons for choosing this class. We met Debbie in Edinburgh in early 2019. We had an enjoyable lunch at the National Museum of Scotland and talked for ages about embroidery. After meeting her I thought it would be fun to go on one of her classes. When the class schedule appeared on the ANG website I liked the look of Allegro, I think it was the shapes and colours that attracted me. The piece uses a number of Jean Hilton stitches. I had never tried Hilton stitches, so that was a third good reason for selecting the class.

I finished Allegro this week. It measures 8" square on 18 count canvas and it took me 62 hours to stitch.

Did I enjoy the class?
Immensely. Debbie is a great teacher. I loved that she used videos to demonstrate the stitches, projecting them large on the screen, working them at an angle where her fingers never obscured the stitch she was demonstrating.

Did I like the Jean Hilton stitches?
I think I am going to have a love-hate relationship with them. I really like the way the curves are created by using quite long straight stitches, but I had major issues with counting and thread length. Once I had worked out that if you keep the shape in your mind the first stitch is the only one you need to count. After that the others follow it round in sequence and the Jessica Stitches become less terrifying.
I think my main difficulty was with the thread lengths. I tend to use the 'finger-tip to elbow' measure when preparing threads for stitching, Hilton stitches need longer lengths. I suffered from knots, fraying (mainly because I had to keep unpicking) and loops.

Did I enjoy stitching Allegro?
Yes and no. Overall, I loved it, but it was a struggle. I thought the 'Double Fab Doubled' in the centre was difficult until I started on the Parallelogram Jessica Stitches (the dark green ones). It's not that the method is any different from the smaller Jessica, but to do each one with a single thread requires a length of over 100 inches. I just couldn't handle that, but after numerous knots, curses and restarts I found the best way was to use half that length and do each one in two parts. It was still a very long thread compared to my usual, but definitely easier to control. (Though no doubt I looked silly with my arms stretched out to keep the thread taut and stop it knotting, twisting or unravelling.) The Parallelogram Jessicas alone took nearly 14 hours.

Will I use Hilton Stitches in my own designs?
You never know! I may have found them frustrating at times, but Debbie has made Hilton Stitches interesting and less daunting by creating and teaching this beautiful design.

Fire and Brimstone

"You've never made anything for your father," said Mother.
(Father is a retired Church of Scotland Minister and Military Chaplain. What do you make for an 'Auld Kirk Meeneester'?)
"What do you think he'd like?" I enquired.
"A cushion?" suggested Mama.
So I made him this cushion cover. It is 14" square and took me 36 hours.

It is based on a famous painting by Sir David Wilkie, sometimes labelled as John Knox preaching at Mary Queen of Scots, but actually he's preaching to The Lords of The Congregation. It shows him, as we say, "geeing it laldy". John Knox is an important figure in the history of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland and had a reputation as a 'Fire and Brimstone' preacher.

I created the 'ground in one inch squares using English Piecing.
The purple represents the dark recesses of hell where, in his view, the unenlightened would be condemned for all eternity, the gold-yellow represents the enlightened, 'ie' those who agreed with Knox and would therefore be raised up to paradise on the last day of judgement. The diagonal band of red and yellow represents the Knoxian words of wisdom and the threat of damnation thundering from the pulpit and bringing enlightenment (or fear) to those who listen The colour scheme reflects the general trend of lighting in the Wilkie painting.
I then embroidered the outlines of some of the figures from the painting, starting with John Knox at the top right and representations of the congregation at the bottom left. The female figure in the purple area might be seen as a reference to Knox's "Monstrous Regimen of Women"

He loved it!
Mother loved it. "Typical minister", she commented, "Up in the pulpit six feet above contradiction."

Flame Fan; Earth, Fire & Water

Flame Fan began as a rough doodle shortly after we visited an exhibition of Royal fans at The Queens Gallery, Edinburgh, in March 2006. The original sketch was of a single fan, with curving flames. I liked it, but knew it needed more thought.

Thought does not always go in the direction we expect. What I thought I was thinking about were the elements of the design, shape, colour, texture, size and so on. What I actually found myself thinking about were the basic elements of fire, water and earth.

I don't recall why, but something I had seen or read made a connection in my memory and  I found myself thinking that 'out of the darkness came chaos, out of chaos came order'. I don't know if that's a quote or if I made it up, but that got the design moving.

The centre of the design is a triangle of black felt (darkness). The threads that cross the felt disappear into the three triangles where they become random (chaotic). The random nature fades towards the colours chosen for the 'flames' and the flames appear in an ordered manner out of the chaos as Earth, Fire and Water, the three ancient 'elements'. All three fans follow the same design apart from the colours.

I used Needle Necessities Floss Overdyed in six different shades for the flames and the triangles, and couched the outline of the fans in metallic threads from the family stash. The flames within the fans are stitched in a bargello pattern. The insides of the fans are filled with a running stitch using a fine machine embroidery gold metallic, but the rest of the canvas has been left unstitched.

Flame Fan is stitched on 18 count canvas and the framed piece is 20" square. It took me 102 hours to design and stitch. I exhibited this piece at the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar, 2007 in Baltimore. No prizes, but a positive and helpful critique from the judges.

Venerable Friends

In this blog I have been writing (mostly) about my work in order of completion. Some pieces take longer than others. I started Venerable Friends in January 2005, but it doesn't appear here until September 2006.
Why did it take so long? It just does sometimes.

Copyright Japanese Embroidery Center, Atlanta

Venerable Friends was my Phase III in Traditional Japanese Embroidery. It took time, discipline, sweat and tears, but thankfully no blood was spilt. By the time I was finished it had been re-titled Venomous Friends.
As with each Phase Piece, there are new techniques. In Venerable Friends I learned how to stitch Shippo, and equally important, how to make them all exactly the same size. If they're not, it doesn't look right. Shippo are the circles and ellipses at the top centre.
The purpose of Phase III is to teach the student about 'superimposed work', so it also includes 'Woven Stitch', on the scroll, padding under the cherry blossoms and some of the chrysanthemum petals, and a Higaki pattern in gold over brown at the bottom of the open book.

Why Venerable Friends?
The design consists of four books and a scroll. Books and scrolls contain knowledge, knowledge should be respected. It is your friend and will stay with you all your life. Respect for age and knowledge (wisdom) is embedded in Japanese culture. Thus, books and scrolls containing knowledge should be treated with respect (veneration).

Venerable Friends measures 12" by 10" not including the mount and frame. Although it took me over a year and a half to complete, it actually took 100 hours of stitching.

Petite Nosegay

Drawing back from my recent adventures, we rush back in time to 2006.

At the Nashville Seminar of ANG in 2005 I took a class with the late Sandy Rogers. The class was interesting, educational and informative but I had a definite love-hate relationship with the embroidery.

The design was pretty and I particularly wanted to learn more about silk shading, and I wanted to take a class with Sandy. So what was the problem?
Mental Block!
I 'm stuck with this idea that Needlepoint goes through the holes in the canvas, linen or whatever, and that you don't pierce the canvas unless it's to secure your thread. In this class we used chenille needles and seemed to be piercing the canvas with almost every stitch. I just couldn't get my head round it!

As you can see in the large flower, I really didn't get the hang of silk shading on canvas. Silk or heavy linen yes, but not canvas. I blame me, not the teacher or the design.
I soldiered on and finished it even though it took well into 2006, but it has never reached the stage of being framed. Perhaps one day I'll revisit it, until then it can stay in the drawer, flat, and wrapped in acid-free tissue paper.

Pineapple Welcome

So why is a pineapple welcome?
As I wrote in my Artist's Statement for the 2019 Seminar Exhibit;

In 2018 I took Sandi Cormaci-Boles "Passionate Pineapple" class at Seminar. I enjoyed the class immensely and by the time I had finished the "Petite Pineapple" practice piece and the "Passionate Pineapple" I was so enthused by eyelets that I wanted to design my own version.

Pineapples are a traditional sign of welcome dating back to time immemorial (or at least the 17th Century). I wanted to do something with Sandi's Petite Pineapple and it was only a short step to the idea of WELCOME, but replacing the O with a pineapple. I also wanted to use colour. By lucky chance, Welcome has the same number of letters as the rainbow has colours; Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow and Red. Initially I considered working the letters in eyelets, but while working on the designs it struck me that creating a block of eyelets with the letters unstitched in the centre of each block would give a much more interesting effect and a more striking finish.
I liked that, but decided that the single word lacked visual balance and needed something at the ends, so I added two more pineapples and border.

The ground is 28 count linen. The letters are all worked in eyelets over 4 threads using DMC #8 Perle. The pineapples at either end were worked with a variegated Anchor #8 Perle which reminded me of the piles of well ripened pineapples I occasionally saw at the side of the road in my childhood. The border is a variation on Smyrna Cross, with the X worked over 4 threads and the + over 2 threads. AND all the materials used in this piece came from my Stash!
I am indebted to Sandi for allowing me to incorporate her "Petite Pineapple" into my design and encouraging me to create "Pineapple Welcome".

Framed, Pineapple Welcome is 24" x 14" and took 85 hours to complete. I laced it onto the back-board and it was mounted and framed by Renaissance Framing of Edinburgh.

And a ribbon! Second place. I was surprised and immensely pleased. As one lady said of it, "It deserves a prize for bravery if nothing else! A whole piece in eyelets!" Then she looked at me as though she considered that I might be slightly nuts.
I was asked why pineapples were a sign of hospitality. I have to admit that I have no idea, I think it was the exotic nature of the plant, suggesting wealth and comfort; and the earliest I have heard of it being used as a sign of welcome and hospitality is in the UK and the American Colonies in the mid 17th Century.

Where have I been?

It's nearly a month since my last entry, so I kind of hope you've missed me.

So where have I been? Texas. To be exact, Houston, where we were attending the American Needlepoint Guild 2019 Seminar. Houston was cool but hot. I think it cracked 100f every day. We arrived a few days early as I had to hand in my entries for the exhibit, so we had time to make some visits. We did so slowly. It was too hot to do anything quickly, or to stay outside for very long, so we decided we would brave Houston's public transport system. We anticipated a struggle and discovered that it was anything but! It was easy to use, with flat rate fares, clean vehicles, polite and helpful staff and clear direction boards. And in Downtown there were the free Orange and Green buses.

We took the free bus to the tram and the tram to the Fine Art Museum, and we took the free bus to the bus to a needlepoint shop, Chaparral. Everything connected within a block. There was a short hot walk to Chaparral, but it was worth it. Floss Overload! They were lovely people, maybe a bit surprised to have a Scottish couple appear in their midst, but they couldn't have been more helpful. Yes, I fell in love with THE WALL OF KREINIK and just had to indulge.

The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park was a fascinating step back in time We visited three houses including The Old Place. built in 1823, and an example of the homes of the earliest settlers from the north. Not all the houses were open due to on-going work, but we were given a tour of the San Felipe Cottage, built 1868 and an example of the style of building and furniture brought in by the German immigrants. The third house was recent (I suppose that depends on the age of your building) being from 1903 and is furnished with all the latest gadgets of the period. All but one of the ten buildings were relocated to the park to protect them. If you like pretty parks (clean and green with lots of water features) and old stuff, and you're in Houston, take a look.

Another day, another Museum. The Houston Museum of Fine Arts is massive. We knew we would never have time to see it all so we had to be selective. Pre-Columbian, South American, East Asian, then there was American (US) art and we were out of breath. We chose to look at those areas we don't see as much of in Scotland. Of course we had to stare for an age at the Tiffany window, and you can't go to an 'old stuff' repository without stopping to look at the Mummies.

Discovery Green, across the street from our hotel, was indeed a discovery. I can recommend the ice cream at The Lake House.

But we were there for Seminar. I'm not sure I can find words to explain 'Seminar'. Three hundred avid Needlepointers from all over the North American continent and usually a sprinkling from other continents, all talking embroidery, design, colour theory, all sharing tips and tricks. There are classes with the best teachers and there is an exhibition 'The Exhibit', where we show off our work. I entered two pieces, The Chapter (see Pages, The Chapter for the full story) and Pineapple Welcome.

The Chapter was awarded a Third Place in the Original Design Non-Professional category.

Pineapple Welcome was awarded Second Place in the Adaptation Non-Professional category.

There were classes to go to of course, so there was some stitching. I took 'Allegro', a three day class with Debbie Rowley (Debbee's Designs), and 'Arrival of Spring', a two day class with Gail Stafford. No doubt you'll hear more about the Pineapple and the two classes in future entries.

Egyptian Flower

Nashville, Tennessee, 2005. We will reach a current date at some point.

This piece is called Egyptian Flower and was designed by Toni McKelley, who taught is as a class which I attended at the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar in Nashville.

I chose this class for a number of reasons. Obviously I liked the design, but there were stitching techniques I wanted to learn and threads I had heard of but never used. It has a number of interesting design elements, many which would have worked on their own, but when brought together they make a brilliant overall design. (I happen to know that this is coveted by at least one of my brothers. I may let him have it.) I love the interplay of the solid colours behind the variegated central cross and the vibrancy of the outer cross. (On second thoughts maybe I'll just keep it on my wall a bit longer.)

I decided that I would not stitch any background to Egyptian Flower. Instead, I placed a reflective glossy white sheet of heavy paper behind it to reflect the grid of the canvas. The final framed size is 20" square and it took me 72 hours to stitch.

The dark line near the bottom of the flower is NOT part of the design. It's just my poor photography skills.

Nashville. What can I say? The hotel was humungous, the rooms were larger than our apartment and the covered gardens were stunningly colourful. There were shoportunities and a chance to do some sightseeing.

We did not go the The Grand Ol Opry, nor did we go on a wheel-boat ride. We did go to The Hermitage where I spent a pleasant half hour with one of the docents discussing the military merits not of Andrew Jackson, but of Marshall Ney. What's the link? Both were cavalry men, and General Jackson kept a portrait of Marshall Ney on his wall. I also learned a bit about Andrew Jackson too!
Our other big tour was to Franklin. We visited Carnton, the house that stars in "The Widow of the South" and spent a quiet time of reflection in the cool quiet of the cemetery. After that it was a walk across parts of the battlefield to the town where we got lost in a quilting emporium for at least an hour. It might have been longer, but we had to catch our ride back to Nashville.

Flying Geese

Based on the quilting block of the same name, I designed and stitched Flying Geese in 2005 for entry in the Royal Highland Show 2006.

The class description in the schedule was "Sampler - Birds", and from within the convolutions of my brain came this. "Sampler"; Websters Dictionary defines a sampler as "a practical example of needlework patterns". Tick. "Birds", well Geese are birds. Tick

The background is a Beaty Stitch variation, the triangles are Jacquard, Hungarian, Byzantine and Oriental stitch. The right hand side is the reverse of the left. Apart from being (I thought) an interesting and attractive design, it is also an example of how to get a different effect by reversing a stitch, and an exercise in compensation (and we all love working out those compensating stitches).
Flying Geese was worked in Soie d'Alger on 18 count canvas. It measures 5" by 5" and took fifty hours to design and stitch.

I thought I had pretty much hit the schedule description with this. The judges didn't agree. It came last. The winner was a colourful and beautifully worked cross-stitch picture of hens and a rooster.

Despite my disappointment, I got a great deal of enjoyment out of designing and stitching Flying Geese and my mother, who was an avid quilter, enjoyed having it on her wall and showing it off to her friends.

Christmas Lights

I stitched this in October - November 2005. It was not for Christmas, but for the American Needlepoint Guild charity auction 2006, a good six months away at that point.

One thing I try to be 'well ahead on' is DEADLINES. Mostly they're self imposed, sometimes it's for an exhibition or a gift, but I always like to be finished well ahead of time. I hate to be in the position where there is a deadline looming and the stitching isn't finished, there's still the finishing or framing, the artist's statement to write or other paperwork to be completed. Not that I'm compulsive about it, but if I can I like to have the completed piece in my hands a good month ahead of the deadline. (Sad or what?)

This hit the deadline with time to spare. It's actually about 3" x 2" and stitched using metallic and rayon threads to give it a gloss. The background is worked in a very fine machine embroidery thread and is much less open in reality than the image suggests. (I make no claim to any photographic skill.)When held with a light shining on it the bulbs reflected the light and looked as though they were on.

I don't know how this was finally finished, how much it was sold for, or what happened to it, and I don't really need to know. The important thing, for me, was to "give something back", even if it is only time and a few threads.

Kites

I made this small wall hanging in 2005, and it's only as I write this that I remember why I made it.

It was to be entered in the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh in 2006. The Highland Show is a big annual event and the Handicraft section always has an overall theme, with sub-themes for different crafts. The theme for 2006 was, I seem to remember, "Air" and the sub-theme for Patchwork and Quilting was "Kites".

The background is completed in 1" squares, the kites were appliqued on.

Did I win a prize? Not a chance! When I saw the other entries I knew I just had not achieved a high enough standard. I had spent 120 hours on this, and looking at it compared to the other entries I could see that it would have been much better if I had spent another 20 hours on the quilting.
What I did learn was that Patchwork and Quilting is more likely to mean 'patchwork and QUILTING' than 'PATCHWORK and Quilting'.
With 20/20 hindsight, I'm not sure that my colour and fabric choices were the best either.

"Roses," said St. Elizabeth

St. Elizabeth's Apron, which is the title of this hanging, was the 2005 Patchworks McMillan Challenge. The challenge title was "Roses" and the fabric was a rose print.

I dithered over a number of ideas, then, while reading a Hornblower novel I came across a reference to St Elizabeth's roses. That was the trigger. I knew the story (vaguely), but I went to the inter-web to check it out.

One story about her relates that St. Elizabeth (1207-1231), Queen of Hungary, was a Christian given to good works. She would take food to the hungry, clothes to the poor and medicines to the sick. The King, not necessarily having the same values, and watching her drain his coffers, put his foot down. He threatened that if he ever caught her doing so again he would have her beheaded.
The story goes on to say that she continued to do so and one day, when her apron was filled with bread for the starving, they met in the street. "What's in your apron?" he demanded. "Roses," she lied. "Let me see!" Feeling the cold edge of the axe on her neck, Elizabeth opened her apron and the bread had changed to roses.

I based the colour scheme on a depiction of St. Elizabeth. It shows her in a red dress, with a blue over-mantle and a white apron. I chose a red 'mille-fleure' cotton for the dress to extend the rose theme and to indicate that as a lady of high rank she would have had access to exotic fabrics. I retained a solid blue for her mantle, blue being the colour that indicated purity and is associated with pious Christian maidens. The apron is formed from a large piece of white fabric. This was draped as though round the waist and being used to carry bread, then pinned and tucked into shape.
The rose fabric was ironed onto a backing to stop the roses fraying when they were cut out. Each rose or small bunch of roses was cut from the fabric and appliqued to the apron in a cascade, as though the apron had been opened and the roses were falling out.

The roses probably took about one third of the 97 hours I spent on this piece, which measures 24" on each side. I finished it off by hand embroidering the title, which I don't normally do, and making a bias binding from the remainder of the rose material.

There is a post-script to this story. A lady who worked for me was retiring to spend more time in her garden. She, like Elizabeth, was having a second chance. (Nothing to do with an irate axe wielding husband, she was in recovery from cancer.) I knew she had seen and liked the hanging, and as she grew roses it seemed an appropriate leaving present.

White Blossoms

October 2004. Sometimes when I look at a piece I have stitched I can't believe it was so long ago.

I started White Blossoms (small design) on a class as Hawkwood. The design is by Shuji Tamura of the Japanese Embroidery Center and it was taught by Tamura-San, Kazume-San and Chikako-San, an apprentice from the centre in Japan.

Class included morning talks in which we were told about the historic, spiritual and artistic background to Nui-do.

Design Copyright, Japanese Embroidery Centre

I don't always remember to put sizes on these pictures - I really should - but for reference, the large white outer circle with all the flowers inside it is only 4½ inches across.

I loved working on this even though I managed to break a sinking needle. It's a beautiful design, but if you don't like stitching Japanese Knots (similar to French Knots), don't even think about it. Not only is the smaller chrysanthemum stitched almost completely in them, they appear in the larger flower circle and some are even hidden under 'blister' work. Without exaggeration I can say that there are hundreds of them.

It too me 90 hours between October 2004 and January 2005 to stitch White Blossoms.

Inspiring Leith to Stitch

I don't know whose idea it was, but I'm going to blame Hannah.

A few weeks ago we started a stitching group at Leith Library (Thursdays 2.00pm to 4.00pm). We also do a 'Stitch and Chat' on a Monday morning (10:30am to 12:30pm) in the Bethany Shop in Duke Street,
(Sorry, I had to get the advert in there.)

The idea behind it was to stitch in a public place and encourage people of all skill levels, and none, to stop by. We advertised it as a free 'Self help' group, inviting anyone who stitches, or who wants to learn, to come along. There are two experienced crafters (that would be Sarah and me) in attendance, to provide advice or to help novices get started with embroidery, crochet and knitting.
It's been a slow start, but we now have a movable group of half a dozen ladies (and me), though they don't all come every week. I've still not managed to rope in any other men, but I'm working on it.

The group, Sarah is the lady in the blue headband, Hannah is taking the picture.

Anyway, as I said, I blame Hannah for this project.
"It would be really good if there was something people could try out at the Leith Gala," she suggested. At least I'm sure it was her. "I'm sure Jonathan can design something," Sarah dropped me in it.
I didn't dare to refuse.

Our groups are run under the heading of Inspiring Leith, and Leith inspired me (Sorry, bad pun) with this design.

I suppose it was the 'spire' part that struck a chord. Leith has many churches, and many church towers, but I can only think of one that has a proper spire. So it had to be there.
The design also had to be accessible and simple. The ground rules were straightforward. I would take it, along with a selection of yarns and flosses, to Leith Gala, and we would invite people to chose a colour and a letter and try needlepoint embroidery. The very brave also had the option of choosing different stitches.
The choosers did not have to consider what other colours had been used, they just had to choose their favourite. They would then start the letter and I would finish it later. I made another rule, which was that no matter how bad the stitching was, I was not going to rip it out.
When the colours have been chosen and the letters started, it's my job to come up with a background that brings it all together. No pressure then!

Hannah hiding from the rain.

 It rained. Of course it rained, but Leithers are made of stern stuff, or perhaps they just wanted to come in out of the rain. By the end of the day we'd had a bit of interest in the Monday and Thursday events, and a few victims (oops, volunteers).

They're an adventurous lot in Leith. So far we've had Basketweave, Cross-Stitch, Satin Stitch, Upright Cross and a simple Fan Stitch. (Maybe I should have kept the stitch dictionary hidden?)

I have agreed to bring "Inspiring Leith" to the groups and find new victims, so I'll post progress reports.

US and us

Which, however you look at it, is bad grammar.

Remember what I said in my last post about commissions with no brief? Well you can't really refuse when it's your mother who asks. "Something small in quilting or embroidery," she said, "With some Scottish connection or emblem. For a friend in 'The Valley'."
She didn't have to say which one, I knew very well she meant The Shenandoah Valley.

I started with emblems. The Saltire was obvious, but it could have been a thistle or a unicorn, or maybe one of our dozens of castles. We had recently been on the west side of the big cold wet stuff and it occurred to me that apart from a common language the only thing that divided us was the sea and the sky. The land forms are surprisingly similar, coastal plains leading quickly into hills and mountains, but they look different because the colours are different.
One thing we did notice while in the USA was that the flag flies everywhere. I wanted to grab that feeling of national pride. We Scots can understand that.
Bang, crash, wallop. The Saltire won.

What I finally came up with was a picture in four quarters. To the top, because that was where it fitted best - otherwise there would only have been some red and white stripes - the flag of the USA, to the bottom, the blue of the Saltire. I felt that appropriate because it could also signify the Atlantic. To the right, the darker colours of the Scottish landscape, to the left, the softer, lighter shades of the US.
In my minds eye, the Scottish landscape on the west coast is more like a colour-block, while the east coast of the USA is more varied and shaded, so when I stitched the left hand side I used variegated threads, but used solid colour threads on the right. I decided that I would stitch the Saltire quarter in a variegated thread too, to show the turmoil of the ocean.
And the white of the Saltire goes from corner to corner, because whichever corner of the USA you go to a Scot will always find a warm welcome.

And what about the title? "US and us" is a depiction of the strong links between Scotland and the USA. It's also a play on language. In parts of Scotland the plural of you (singular) becomes youse, and the title could be read "Youse and us".

It took me 76 hours spread over about 8 months to design and stitch "US and us" and it was the first piece I submitted to the ANG Exhibit (Nashville).

Glenda

Glenda, a teacher. was about to retire and her colleagues wanted to create a special present for her. How they decided on a sampler I don't know, but my SiL volunteered that she knew someone who designed samplers.

When I was asked if I would design a "sampler" for Glenda I immediately thought of the Wizard of Oz - well you would, wouldn't you?

I was quickly disabused of that notion.

Questions were asked. What do you want on it? What size? Answer, "Don't know." That's a good start, I thought. "What does she like? What are her hobbies and interests?"

Elucidation. Hill walking, cats, the theatre, books, music, her garden and her church."

"You want me to include all of that?"

"Yes. And places she's lived. Can you do that?"

Well it was a brief of sorts. I discovered that the story started in Boreham Wood and ended in Rutherglen, which gave me a framework for the idea of a road zig-zagging up Britain, with motifs to either side.
Was I expected to stitch this? "No, so the instructions have to be clear enough for people who don't have much or any experience." It seemed that her colleagues were all going to do part of it.

Into design mode, I decided that the whole thing had to be done in cross-stitch and running stitch. I trawled my library for appropriate motifs (thank you Jo Verso) which I could amend to fit and decided that the border should be boot-soles to remind Glenda that she might be retiring, but that they journey goes on. I had to provide the master diagram, in colour, but I also provided stitch diagrams for the cross-stitch and running stitch on the assumption of a total lack of knowledge of the stitchers. It's incredible how much detail you have to go into. I take my hat off to all you professional designers and teachers. 

They sent me this picture of the finished sampler, and yes, the road is yellow brick.

The Bear On The Chair

This was a request from one of my Sister-in-laws. 

Would I make a cot quilt for H? With a bear on it like your big quilt? With lots of bright colours?

Why not?

You can't have a bear floating in mid-air, and most bears that I know are fond of a comfortable chair, so there had to be a chair for the bear and he became The Bear On The Chair.

As it was for a baby, I kept it simple and washable!!! The materials were all cotton and the wadding machine washable so that it could be put through the machine. We (still) have a wide selection of quilting fabrics so I had a search and selected two fabrics with bears on for the body of the bear and another larger pierce for the border. Since it was for H, I created the background as a series of interlocked H's in bright blue, yellow and red, the Mother's favourite colours. The quilt was all hand stitched using English Piecing, in 1" squares and hand quilted 'in the ditch'.

For those who don't recognise the term, "English Piecing" is where you tack each piece of material onto paper, in this case 1" squares, then join all the pieces of the quilt top by hand before removing the papers. I love English Piecing because it gives sharp edges and accurate corners.

Looking back, I'm not sure I actually enjoyed making this quilt, but I was determined that it would be properly done. I spent 140 hours designing and stitching this and whether I liked the finished product or not, H's mother liked it. She even sent me a picture of H on the quilt - a picture I am not going to share - no man wants his 'Cute Baby Snaps' to go public.

Batique Out Of Hell

OK, I have to admit that while I was working on this I kept thinking about Meatloaf. (The rock musician, not the foodstuff.)

We have reached March 2004 and this is another "Patchworks Challenge" for Macmillan Cancer Support. The set fabrics were pieces of Batik prints.

Sometimes the brain makes odd little connections that lead to a design. In this case it sort of went; Batik is a method of screen printing from the far east. I once watched it being done in a factory in Malaysia and it's a fascinating process. Each colour is added separately by silk screen printing, then hung out to dry, so when you visit the factory there are yards and yards of cloth at different stages of completion hanging over rails.
From Batik my musings brought me to another eastern icon, the bat, a symbol of good luck. Of course I didn't stop there. I've always had a soft spot for bad Vampire movies, particularly those from Hammer Films where they would often use stock footage of bats leaving their cave at night and flying off into the moonlight (no doubt to visit Count Dracula).
These all came together in my mind and I ended up with the idea of stylised bats coming out of a dark cave in the bottom left, and climbing into the light of a full moon. (It's always a full moon in the best, or is it worst, Vampire movies).

Each bat is created from four uneven quadrilaterals. I had to draw and cut my own templates for those. The fabric was basted onto papers cut from the templates and joined in sets of four, two wings and two parts of the body. The central 'bat' motifs were worked using the challenge fabrics, I added the dark brown fabric from my stash, cutting it into random sized blocks and curving it to be the top of the cave entrance while the mottled green became the bushes hiding the mouth of the cave. It was all put together with wadding and backing and quilted along the outline of each bat . The binding came from my stash.

I had been getting asked the 'how long did it take?' question in recent times and had always had to admit that I didn't know, so with Batique Out Of Hell I decided to keep a note. It took 130 hours between March and May 2004. I now keep a note of how long any piece takes, and the materials used.

Bunny Christmas Stocking

Why would you have a Bunny on a Christmas Stocking?
I'm not sure either, but Jane-Beth picked this canvas up at the Silent Auction at the ANG Seminar in Lexington. I think she put in a bid because no one else had and she felt sorry for the Bunny.

Was she ever going to stitch this?
Probably not, so I did.

The Bunny is a painted canvas on 14 count. It came with no stitch guide, and no indication of the designer. If you recognise the designer please feel free to leave a comment so that I can give them the credit.

I had to make my own decisions about stitches and threads. First off, I didn't want to lose the fine shading on the canvas, so it called for lots of different threads. Looking back, I think I used nearly twenty different threads and braids. Because I didn't want to lose detail I used tent stitch on the carrots and the Bunny, except on his tie, weskit and hat band.
I used Fluffy Stuff and Appletons Crewel for the ears face and paws. The rest of the stocking was worked in Appletons and Silk'n'Ivory which I had purchased in Lexington for the good reason that I liked the feel of it and thought I'd like to try it. It's mere co-incidence that it worked with the stocking. There is also Kreinik gold braid and a bit of DMC perle.
For the egg in the Bunny's paw, I wanted just a slight sheen, so I used 2 strands of Appletons, lightly twisted with two strands of Décor.

The name band is tent stitch and satin stitch, the long stitches are held down by a grid of Kreinik gold braid, couched at the intersections with a blue Kreinik braid to match the letters.
The name is not is some strange Pictish script, it's the name of a Bear (Grumpy) who, being a bear, does not feel restricted to common conventions on the direction of letters or spelling.  His stocking, so of course I had to do it the way he signs his name.

Star of A'Tuin

Not really anything to do with Discworld.

The culprits are the same group of RPG players as The Chapter, but much earlier. We're talking December 2003.

They called themselves House A'Tuin as a tribute to Terry Pratchett, and their emblem was a central circle superimposed on two four pointed stars. They were not the most pleasant group of adventurers, not that they would have called themselves pirates, but...…

The background is a piece of cotton Halloween fabric. I chose this because the party was led by Drow. Those who read fantasy books will know what that means, but put simply, Drow are evil elves, sometimes called Dark Elves, who worship a Spider Goddess. When I saw the fabric I couldn't resist it! To give the cotton enough body to take the weight of the gold I backed it with a piece of calico before basting on the outline of the stars.
The stars are worked in couched Japanese gold with the couching in different colours to highlight the stars and circle.

It took nearly 4 months to design and stitch this.

Bluegrass Fantasy

Lexington, Kentucky, is in the heart of Bluegrass Country, so it seemed only reasonable that while at the ANG Seminar I should take a class called Bluegrass Fantasy.

Bluegrass Fantasy was designed and taught by Peg Dunayer. I was attracted by the title, but the way threads and ribbons had been combined to create the design also fascinated me. My fingers itched to try these new stitches and materials.

I see Seminar as a place to try new things and learn new skills. It's not just the classes, but when you get a large group of embroiderers in one place they will talk about embroidery, exchange tips and provide advice.

It wasn't all stitching, there was some eating, and there was the 'Tourist' bit. We went on a Coach trip to a Bourbon distillery - how could we not? The Bourbon did, of course, have to be tasted. I'm going to be controversial here, but I have to say that Bourbon is not a patch on a decent Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
We also made a visit to the home of Mary Todd Lincoln, which was only a short walk from our hotel. I think the volunteers running the house were a bit surprised to have a visit from two Scottish people who actually knew about Mary Lincoln.
And of course we just had to visit M's Canvas House. AND I became a Bag Lady. Yet again I was overwhelmed by the variety of threads, flosses, and, well just everything!

We had two weeks of fun, fun, fun, then, as the saying goes, we had to come home "Tae auld clathes an parritch."

Shoo Fly and Shadow

Another quilt? You might think so from the title, but this was the second class I attended at the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar in Lexington.

Shoo Fly and Shadow was designed and taught by Mary Lou Stransky, based on the quilt pattern of the same name.

I chose this class because I like quilt patterns and because it used lots of different stitches. Apart from Basketweave, there's Milanese, Nobuko, Diagonal Scotch and Upright and Horizontal Gobelin. Not only was it an exercise in learning new stitches, it was also a lesson on compensation.

I don't know how many hours I spent on this but I do remember that I didn't want to put it down once I had started. I'm sure I'm not the only person who can sit down for 'ten minutes at the frame' and discover that an hour has gone by.

The 4th Wise Man

In September 2003, having been to an American Needlepoint Guild Seminar two years earlier in Washington DC, we went back again. Work, distance and cost kind of got in the way of going in 2002.
Seminar 2003 was held in Lexington, Kentucky and I knew it was going to be an interesting adventure. To start with, after a long flight, then a short flight, we arrived in Lexington late in the evening. We were waiting for the shuttle to our hotel. (OK, I was standing outside, in my kilt, having a sly cigarette - Jane-Beth, being much more sensible than I, was in the air conditioned terminal building.) A gentleman, presumably local, came along. He was in blue-jeans, cowboy boots, cowboy hat, all but the six-guns and holsters. As he came past he stopped, looked at me and declared "You ain't from around here, are you boy?" then he walked on. I managed not to break up with laughter until he was out of sight. Really, it wasn't what I was expecting, but it got the visit off to a jolly start.

The 4th Wise Man was the first class I took at Lexington. It was taught over two days by Dorothy Lesher and it took me from September to December to finish it.

If you don't know the story, basically, Atraban (that's him) is on his way to join the three Magi but he gets side-tracked because he spends some of the treasure he was taking to Bethlehem on helping others. There are various versions of the story, but they all have him spending all his treasure on other people and never getting to Bethlehem. The embroidery shows Atraban with his last piece of treasure, a pearl, in his hand.

It was the technique. not the story, that attracted me to this class. The background is not stitched, but drawn in with watercolour pencils. I hadn't even thought of doing such a thing, never mind tried it, so I had to have a go.
There were also tassels (never made one before this) and twisted cords (same), so apart from some new stitches there were three new techniques. I didn't know whether I would ever use these techniques again but I'm glad I have them in my armoury (if I can remember how to do it!).

This was the first time Jane-Beth and I had been in the same class. We hardly spoke the whole time, and we were sitting where we couldn't see each other's work, but we both managed to make the same mistake with the starting point of the brick pattern. Spooky!

Festivals

There's nothing like the Edinburgh Festival season; Jazz Festival, Film Festival, Fringe and of course The Edinburgh International Festival. During the Festival period, allegedly, real Edinburgh people go abroad for two months and rent out their houses to festival goers at exorbitant rates. Since I don't know anyone who does that, I'm prepare to believe that it's a vile calumny on the good citizens of our beautiful city. That said, I do tend to avoid 'going up the town' during The Festival.

Which brings me on to March 2003 and "Festivals"

This was another Patchworks Macmillan Challenge. I had seen the fabrics a week before the start of the challenge and they had not spoken to me, but when they became available the colours made me think about the view from my kitchen window, looking south towards Calton Hill, Arthur's Seat and over the New Town to the castle. Apart from the bright orange, the colours were mostly dark and subdued. It struck me that they could be cut and layered to look like the rooftops seen through the summer darkness and then various outlines of buildings and windows could be stitched on top of the fabric.
There is a massive fireworks display every year to accompany a classical concert, so I put in the orange from the pack as a narrow line to show the glow of low level fireworks, with circles of brighter fabric for the cascades from higher flying rockets. There are usually searchlights so I added the two bands of light coming from Calton Hill (on the left) and the castle (right) to make a St Andrews Cross. The pack included the blue star fabric at the top - I did not stitch all the little stars myself! As a wise person once told me, "Life's too short for stuffing mushrooms."

Festivals came out a bit 'rough and ready', I could have done a better job of the silhouettes and the hand embroidery, but I enjoyed making it, and that, after all is the important point. We should enjoy  our embroidery, even those bits that didn't go too well.

I Finished The Chapter

For those who have been following the creation of "The Chapter" as documented in the Page of that name, it is finished and framed. It took me 120 hours to stitch this and now that it's framed I think it was worth the counting, the miscounting, the ripping and re-stitching.

Next I'll do something completely different.

Just For Fun

In 2002 I was asked if I would be prepared to act as the 'Class Angel' for ANG Cyber Classes. The class I was appointed to was called "Just For Fun" and was taught by Caela Conn Tyler.
The Class Angel looks after the 'paperwork' and is not required to take part in the class, but the techniques and threads looked interesting, so I signed up for it.

The techniques included beading, ribbon weaving and a wheen of stitches I had not yet tried. The kit also included threads I had never worked with including rayon and ribbons. One important lesson I learned was how to use a damp sponge to take the kinks out of Rayon threads.
The course started in April 2003 and I completed this in June 2003. It was, as the title suggests, lots of fun, and it also gave me the opportunity to see how much organisation goes into preparing a class.
Much respect to all teachers!