I’ve been working on the split stitch outline of the flower. It’ll all be covered with long-and-short stitching soon, but I console myself with the knowledge that it really makes the edge look nicer. I also added a little bit of stitching to the bird and stem.
This cross-stitched face veil is for a bride from a Bedouin tribe in Jordan (red is the color of brides!). The shiny coins are for reflecting the evil eye away. You can see Dr. Shirazi modeling it in this article on veils. Here are some closer views of the cross-stitching and coins.
This is one of a special series of posts based on the embroidery collection of Dr. Faegheh Shirazi, from The University of Texas at Austin. Her research is on “textiles, dress, gender identity discourse, and material culture in the Middle East; the meanings of veiling; rituals and rites of passage as they relate to material culture.” Over the years she has collected a number of examples of embroidery from around the world, and has very kindly allowed me to photograph them for my blog.
Y’all, I wrote this several months ago and totally forgot about it! Oops! So I will publish it now. I think perhaps now that I have more energy I can finish a few of these projects off instead of perpetually starting new ones!
Well, I got this kit for Christmas over a year ago. So it’s about time I worked on it! It’s Learning Kit #9: Japanese Violets, from JDR Brazilian Elegance.
I love the variegated color for the stems and leaves, and the rayon really shines. The flowers will be bright red and purple, which will make this super bright. The stems give an almost 3D effect. Here’s a side view so you can see.
Y’all, I am back! I had my mutant parathyroid glands removed last week, and I already feel a hundred million times better! Hurray for not being sick! Wow, what a difference! Remember, y’all, high calcium is BAD but you can fix it and be better than ever in under a week if you have a good experienced surgeon.
ANYWAY, where was I? I was working on this gorgeous beautiful hardanger pattern! I finished it, and it is just lovely.
The white is a silk perle thread. I used a larger size thread than the pattern suggested, which creates some interesting dimensional effects. As I mentioned before, the variegated floss is from The Gentle Art and the embroidery pattern is from The Victoria Sampler. They have a brand new Summer Box pattern, which is awfully pretty as well.
So glad to be back, y’all!
Y’all, there is a going-out-of-business sale (so sad!) at a needlework shop near me (Ginger’s NeedleArts), and I picked up some wonderful things on sale. I was inspired by some gorgeous variegated floss from The Gentle Art, and decided to use them for the Spring Box Finishing #7 design from The Victoria Sampler. I know hardanger is usually done in perle cotton but I truly loved this floss so whatever! The flowers are worked in Cherry Bark (1120), Currant (0312), and Tomato (7058) and the leaves in Tiger Lily (0115). The blue is Deep Sea 0930. I haven’t decided if I will actually turn this into a box top.
I also bought new scissors, which are incredibly sharp and small and really helping me with the cutting. They’re Premax scissors, and they really work well.
I’m still on a hardanger kick, as you can tell. Partly I’ve been a little sick lately (one of my parathyroid glands is running amok) so I don’t have the energy to do some of the free style embroidery. Don’t worry, it’s easily fixable! I caught it early, so I will be completely fine by mid-July. But, if you are tired all the time don’t just assume it’s stress – go to the doctor! This is most common among older women, and is severely under-diagnosed because people assume they are stressed, or getting older, or working too hard, and don’t get it checked out. It can give you osteoporosis in four years flat if you don’t do anything. Anyway, if you’re an adult and a blood test says your calcium is over 10 mg/dl you should go read about parathyroids.
I’ve been working on two more! Sometimes it’s really nice to have a small project that finishes quickly (These are from the Nordic Needle Hardanger Card Club). I love the colors. I need to pick borders for them. I am working through the series of posts on hems from Caro Rose Creations (so helpful!):
- Pulled work lacy hem
- Mitred corners (I’m not really following this one closely)
- Embroidered frame effect
- Embroidered flat hem
- Hemstitching with threads hidden
- Drawn thread border
What do y’all think about borders for these?
Y’all, I finished another card! I usually avoid pastels, but this one is really pretty. It’s ThreadworX, the Teeka color. It’s the “February” card because it’s originally part of a twelve-month embroidery kit club from Nordic Needle.
Here is a work-in-progress shot:
I worked a border for this one in hem-stitching. I’m improving, but one of the corners had a little accident. I managed to stabilize it so it won’t unravel, but I might need to put a bead or a pin on top to cover it up.
If you take a look at the back, I think I could improve my technique for starting/ending threads for the hemstitching. Plus I need to get out the scissors and clip a few threads. But overall I am getting faster and faster!
I decided to celebrate Saturday with embroidery. Isn’t this a cute bird butt? I’m using the colors and threads that came with the Water’s Edge kit, but I am using 1 strand instead of 3 and working it with needle-painting. Trish Burr’s book Colour Confidence in Embroidery has been enormously helpful. I still haven’t had the time to work any of the bird projects in it, but all the photos and detailed stitch directions are definitely helping me with this project.
You know what? I am not even going to wait until Monday to post this, because I love my little bird THAT MUCH.
I’ve been stitching away daily. I only take small breaks for embroidery but they add up!
OK folks, it’s back to work now. See you later!
I am still slowly working on Anita’s chikankari class. Most of the remaining stitches are surface work, not shadow work. I’m really loving the design! It’s so gorgeous. Here are some photos of the details I’ve added since last update.
I’m still working away at my dissertation, y’all, and I’m getting there. I have a ton of plans for this blog as soon as I’m done! We will have so much fun!
embroidery for ducks 