Ammonite

In 2014 I took a fossil to the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar in Chicago.
I also took Jane-Beth.

Chicago is big and tall, and The Magnificent Mile is a bit breath-taking. That might have been something to do with having to walk with my neck twisted up to look at the architecture. The city is filled with new glass monoliths, but the older 'skyscrapers' in the centre are a glory of early 20th Century architecture. They're not just buildings, they are works of art. I particularly liked the reliefs on the walls, so I'm putting in pictures of a few of my favourites.

To appreciate Chicago, you really need to accept the crick in the neck.

Of course the main reason for going to Seminar was to stitch, to learn and to exhibit my latest piece of needlepoint.
In 2014 I exhibited "Ammonite"

"Ammonite" started life as a spiral doodle. It was a boring meeting. The spiral was joined by some curved lines and it reminded me of an ammonite. I love the shape of the ammonite, the regularity of the shape and the blending of colours where different chemicals have seeped into the shell and fossilised it.
When I got home I decided to up-scale it into a design roughly based on this fossil:

At an early stage I decided that although Ammonites have a regular mathematical progression in the expanding size of their compartments, my maths was never going to be up to the challenge, so I decided to go for effect rather than accuracy. My intention was to capture the spirit of the ammonite and produce a piece of work that was instantly recognisable as the fossil, not an exact copy of any specific fossil.

Ammonite measures 6" by 6" and took 100 hours to design and stitch. It is worked in basketweave on 18 count pewter canvas. The outline and the dividing lines between the chambers are done in Kreinik braids. The infill of the chambers is Soie d'Alger. I used six different colours on the infill of the chambers. To achieve the look of the chemicals seeping into the fossil I blended my threads. As the colours fade into each other I started with four strands of one colour, then three of that and one of the next, then two and two, then one of the first and three of the second.
The background, the 'mother stone' also uses thread blending to define the variety of shades and colours found in any piece of stone.

I was quite pleased with this, and so must the judges have been as they awarded it 2nd in Class. It's always nice to get the recognition.

Ammonite was later published as a chart, with instructions and stitch guide, in Needlepointers, September 2015, Volume XLIII, Number 5

Inspiring Leith, The Final Stitch

Early last year we started a self-help craft group, Leith Friendly Crafters, at Leith Library under the auspices of Inspiring Leith. The group was advertised as being for all skill levels and none. The idea was that local people who wanted to learn to knit, crochet, quilt or embroider could come along and someone in the group would teach them the basics.

In June last year my friend Hannah suggested that it would be a good idea if there was something people could try at Leith Festival, and could I design something?
Well, yes.
That was the start of "Inspiring Leith".

This is Hannah, at Leith Festival, hiding from the rain. The framed canvas has the basic design drawn on it, waiting for anyone to show an interest. It poured wet all day, but Leithers are hardy folk. Rain, snow, hail, thunder, they will still go to the Festival.

I started this with no real colour plan or stitch guide, only a book of stitches and a box of different colours and types of thread - wools, perle, variegated and self coloured. The point was to encourage and enthuse, and I felt that giving them the choice people would feel more part of the project.

To further encourage them, I made a note of the given names of everyone who chose a colour, stitch and letter and promised that they would all get a mention when the hanging was completed.

After the festival, our group continued to meet in Leith Library and I continued to invite passers-by to have a shot, choose a colour and stitch a little.

As you can see, it brought out some interesting colour combinations, and surprisingly little white and green, the colours of Hibernian, the local football (soccer) team. Once the letters and the tower were completed I had to decide how it was to be finished.

As it was to be a hanging, and frequently moved, I didn't want it to be too heavy and bulky, so I decided that a skip stitch in a neutral shade was the best option. Luckily, I had in hand a good deal of a fawn Appletons Crewel wool which, on testing, took nothing away from the lettering or the tower.

I finished it with a colourful bias binding.

I was impressed by some of the stitch choices, and though I thought some of them might not be that appropriate to the letter, I went with them, showing them how to do the stitch and giving advice where it was needed. Here are some close-ups of the chosen stitches.

I had promised that everyone who worked on this would have their name recorded, so I wrote them on a large sheet of paper, pinned and tacked it to a piece of calico and stitched through it using back-stitch, then I attached it to the back and put on the binding and hanging loops.

So there you are, Angela, Louisa, Georgia, Gordon, Anna-Maria, Christine, Hannah, Muhammed, James, Eva, Eshal, Alice and Sanya. When you see Inspiring Leith hanging, you can point to it and say "I did some of that," and if anyone doubts you, your name is on the back.

Next week I shall be handing this to Hannah, and I believe that its first outing will be at the Inspiring Leith stall at the old police box at Shrubhill (Leith Walk) on Saturday 27th June (11.00 am to 2.00 pm).

I didn't count how many hours this took as it was a community project, but it was great fun and I met some lovely people. It was, incidentally, a great way to use up part of my 'Stash'.
So why not boogie down to your local library and see if they have any craft groups, and if they don't, start one.
I certainly intend to be back at Leith Library when Lockdown is lifted and Jane-Beth lets me out again.

Daffodils

As "The Doctor" might say, it's a timey-wimey thing.
Somewhere in the Covid Lockdown I have lost a season. There I was, tending my Dad's garden through the winter, watching the first snowdrops and daffodils poking their green stems above the ground, and suddenly we're fewer than three weeks away from the longest day.
So I missed the mass of daffodils, golden or otherwise, that seem to erupt from every part of his garden.

Not that I've been idle during Lockdown, there's a whole big bit of stitching to be completed by 2021, and I'm working on 'Inspiring Leith'. I want to finish it in the next two weeks.

Maybe it was my mother's love of daffodils that inspired me to take "Daffodil Hill" by Lois Kershner at the 2013 ANG Seminar in Philadelphia.

As I'm sure I've stated previously in this blog, I don't do 'realistic' designs, by which I mean I don't design landscapes or figures. Maybe I'm afraid to try, or maybe its because when I get an idea and start to scribble, the outcome tends to be a little towards the abstract. Of course that might be down to my inability to draw a straight line with a ruler.
But I do like to have a go at other designers' landscapes.

"Daffodil Hill" was the first of two 'landscape' classes I took at this Seminar. Apparently, Daffodil Hill is a real place, with field after field of different types of daffodil. I'm sure Mr. Wordsworth would have been highly impressed.
What lessons did I take away from this class? Lois showed us how to show depth of field with shades and stitches and I learned how to make different sizes of French Knots to enhance the three dimensional effect. Honestly, I'm beginning to enjoy French Knots. Perhaps I need to see a therapist!

Daffodil Hill measures 7" by 5" and is on 24 count canvas and took 49 hours to stitch.