Band Samplers

Today I visited the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge where there are many things to marvel at. I don't think I have seen another collection where so many of the artists are household names.  Wow, it's by Monet, look a Rodin sculpture, and another, a Picasso.... Or where so many artefacts are so old yet intact and exquisite.  I also saw these band samplers, a style I've not seen before although I have seen plenty of "traditional" rectangular Victorian examples.  These are English and stitched in silks in the mid 1600s.  Photography was difficult in the low light conditions and with the work protected behind glass but I took a shot of both examples and a close up of a section of each. Enjoy.

Meeting of the Oceans

After a couple of quiet days I have started a new piece of stitchery today.  

We are at BiL for the weekend, which includes Monday as it is a public holiday, and then we are heading south to explore Wellington. 

We have never spent time in Wellington during past visits other than going to Te Papa, the wonderful museum of New Zealand, and having an overnight stop prior to or after crossing between North and South Islands on the Interislander ferry.  As Wellington is the capital city of NZ this seems rather remiss so we are going to stay for a while and enjoy the city and the culture.

Back to the sewing.  

This piece is inspired by the "meeting of the oceans" off Cape Reinga in the far north. 

It will be a turbulent swirl of threads and stitches by the time I have finished.  The piece of embroidery I started at Kahoe is resting!  The next step is to add a tui bird and I am having difficulty getting the outline just right.

International Embroidery Day and a Party

Today has been International Embroidery Day in Sweden, Queenie posted about it here:  http://queeniepatch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/30th-july-international-embroidery-day.html

So, in honour of IED I announce that I have finished my embroidered flower piece from the workshop at Country Roads Quilters and made it up into a table-topper.

 

Also, I am sharing a beautiful haori that my friend, Ros, received from Ichiroya last week.  It is covered in tiny French knots and is absolutely glorious.  Even the tacking is wonderful!

Today has also been Piglet's birthday.  Sam has his birthday in the depths of winter, not a lot of fun for parties in the garden and so today, Sam is exactly six and a half and we had a Teddy Bears' Picnic for Piglet!  A good time was had by all.

Thinking Too Much?

Sometimes my blog post are simple journal entries sharing what I've been doing in my life with my family, my everyday life, my textile life or my globetrotting life. Sometimes they respond to something another blogger has posted. Just once in a while they get all philosophical, this is one of those occasions.

My last post showed photographs of my progress on the embroidery piece I started in a workshop last week. Local Julie, Julie in Japan, Blandina and Queenie all commented on the post which contrasted that embroidery with the stitching on the prayer flags I have been making. Their comments, in praise of one style of stitching or the other set me thinking. I was working on the intricate embroidery this morning, hoping to get this flower finished before it got too warm and muggy to sew and wondering why I wasn't enjoying it, even though it was going well….

My friends and family would describe me, in degrees ranging from affection to exasperation, as “a leader”, “OCD”, “a control freak”, “rigid”, “controlling”, “an organiser”, “bossy”; you get the idea!!

This view of me seems to contrast completely with the projects I am currently enjoying in textiles, the eco-dyeing, the prayer flags, the boro-style pieces, and would rather seem to suit the accurate, precise embroidery project.

But I love the prayer flags and am not enjoying the embroidery.

If the embroidery was going badly I can imagine that I would dismiss it as “not for me”. By declaring it not my thing I would avoid having to admit that I wasn't very good at it, that, heaven forbid, I had “failed”.

If I could conjure precise colours and designs from the eco-dyeing cauldron (oh, how I wish I had a cauldron, but the preserving pan is doing the job) and if I made the prayer flags and boro pieces geometrically accurate then I think they would suit my controlling character trait.

I don't want predictable colours, if I did I could use chemical Procion dyes.

I don't want mini “Round the World” or “9 Patch” design prayer flags and quilts in indigo, all accurate squares and nice, neat seams all meeting at the right place.

I don't want embroidery stitches that look as if they could have been done on a machine (okay, so I'm not THAT good).

So, the conclusion I reached, while doing those tiny chain stitches, is that textiles are probably my safety valve.  I can be led by the fabric and the stitches rather than controlling them, I am surprised by the results from the natural dyes and can't regulate them and my pieces are fluid and relaxed, not rigid. The me who works with textiles is my

alter ego |ˌaltər ˈɛgəʊ, ˌɒlt-, ˈiːg-|

noun ( pl. alter egos )

a person's secondary or alternative personality.

• an intimate and trusted friend.

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: Latin, ‘other self’.

Where Did That Week Go?

I've noticed that more than one blog I follow has a post called something like, "Where did the week go?" so maybe it's not just me.

The weather has been erratic and we've had to make the most of the dry times to be in the garden and the wet times to do things indoors.  When it's been dry it's been hot and humid, not ideal for any work.

I have been stitching, however, and I have been dyeing.  Tuesday was an embroidery workshop at Country Roads Quilters and I was pleased with my progress.  I blogged about the preparation for this workshop here and now I can share some actual stitching.  It was useful to learn a few tips to keep stitches regular and even but it wasn't the sort of stitching I usually do.

This is more like my usual stitching:

I've just completed this prayer flag for my DS, David, who will be 30 next week. (I know, where did those years go?)

A parcel from George Weil arrived so I mordanted a lot of fabric in preparation for when the urge to dye strikes me, or when I find some wonderful potential dye material.  Exactly that happened earlier in the week when DD, Sara, gave me some eucalyptus prunings.  The mordanted cloth wasn't ready so I made silk bundles and steamed them, this is at the beginning, here's hoping…

I've also been on the computer for many hours this week but not reading blogs, nor writing posts, not even on Facebook or reading emails very much.  I'm trying to co-ordinate a "summit" for some of the members of my Global Piecers swap group.  It seems as if six of us, and our other halves, will be able to get together next Summer so, hopefully, there will be more on that later, we're hoping for a fest of sewing, eating, laughing, talking, exploring and shopping!

Whatever you do this weekend, I wish you a good one, and I hope next week goes a little more slowly!

Getting Prepared

Next month we are having an embroidery workshop with Liz Hands at Country Roads Quilters.  We need to prepare the work ready for a day of hand stitching.  

The title of the workshop is "Mini Delft" and the sample piece from Liz is a lovely blue and white mini quilt with four different styles of flower in blue appliquéd and then embroidered on a white background with blue and variegated threads.  Now, I love blue and white but had to make my piece more Japanese-looking!  I pieced three pieces of Japanese fabric and then used almost plain fabrics for the appliqué.  I chose the lotus flower from Liz's pattern, and drew my own maple leaf.  Using Liz's instructions and help from Wendy at Camelot Crafts I faced my fears and used invisible thread!!!

The flowers were attached using Bondaweb and then zigzagged around the edges using the invisible thread.  The embroidery will hide this, and any wobbles!  But what will hide the wobbles in my embroidery?  I can't say I enjoyed machining with the invisible thread but I am happy with the results.

These are the number 12 cotton perle threads I will use for the embroidery in July.  Please come back then and see the results.

Progress on Fuji-san

I've made some progress on stitching into the eco-dyed silk which I created with leaves etc found at the foot of Mount Fuji.  I am keeping the stitches limited, mainly straight and back stitch.

Meanwhile the second type of bargain tulip has come into flower as the first ones are dying down.

Embroidery Challenge for 2012

Deanna at Eclectic Meanderings has alerted me to a stitching challenge that starts in January and looks very exciting. 
It's called Take a Stitch Tuesday and is being organised by Sharon B at Pintangle and what's more, it's free!  I'm going to sign up and try to keep up as I'm getting more interested in embroidery to embellish my work and know there is more to it than cross stitches, French knots and some long straight stitches that gather my work up!  I might not be able to manage every challenge but I'm going to give it a go. 
Why not pop over and have a look for yourself?  All the details are here.  See you at TAST 2012?