The Acorn complete
Firstly I need to tell you all that I’m sorry I haven’t written this week: a terrible flu has been making the rounds at school and I fell victim. I’m all better now and hopefully immune to the flu until next year! Last week I showed you the Ghirodes knot sections of the design. The [...]
Velvet stitch, turkey work, Ghiordes knot…
No matter by what name you know this stitch, it’s certainly fun to work! Velvet stitch is a stitch that creates pile like in a rug. I suppose if you stitched velvet stitch all over a huge piece of fabric you would end up with a rug but it would take a long time and [...]
It’s the little things…
I wonder how many of you would notice these tiny stitches if I didn’t point them out. Often, when we look at piece of art, we see the whole first and then focus in on the “flashy” parts of the piece. In the case of this piece, it would be the acorn and the trellis [...]
Acorn in the sun – but only for a minute!
The trellis section of the Acorn project is finished and it looks just wonderful. The colors and the stitches Nicola has chosen are stunning. Both my husband, Steve, and I looked at the piece as a whole when I was finished with the trellis area and both of us remarked that the geometric style of [...]
Trellis and triangle
When stitching a trellis the most important thing to me is to make sure it’s symmetrical. If the trellis is made of squares, then they should be as much the same size as possible and the lines running in both directions should be parallel. When I first started to stitch the trellis on the Acorn [...]
Blanket stitch and seeding
Oh my gosh I am so excited! It’s almost finished…Once all the stem stitch was done on the branches, the next step was the blanket/buttonhole stitch all around the edge of the lower leaves. In the very clear instructions, Nicola suggested to stitch a line of running stitch with sewing thread about 1/2 inch inside [...]
Stem stitch branches
Stitching something that’s symmetrical is always difficult. To get the same shape or design to be exactly the same on each side is near to impossible (for me!). The Acorn design isn’t mathematically symmetrical – after all, it’s the work of May Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement which was, in part, a reaction [...]
Acorn progress…slowly but surely
With the deadline in the not too far distant future, I have been stitching regularly on the Acorn crewelwork piece. It’s interesting to work to a deadline – although we were all given enough time to finish, so there’s been no sense of pressure. The current bits I’m working on are the two veins in [...]
Acorn shading improved
As you ALL know, I was less than thrilled with my long and short shading on the leaves of the Acorn piece by Nicola Jarvis a few weeks ago. Although the stitching was smooth and even, after I saw Tracy A. Franklin’s shading, I felt that the change from the lighter green to the medium [...]
Acorn satin stitching
I’ve gotten a bit done since last I shared my own progress on the acorn piece with you. The small green leaf at the lower edge of the design, the small dark green leaves inside it, the satin stitch at the bottom of the lower leaf and all of the dark green background stitching at [...]
An Acorn – two stitchers
If you haven’t been reading Tracy A. Franklin’s blog lately, it is definitely worth your while to take a look. What you will see is just beautiful and, for me, humbling. Nicola Jarvis, who is having a show at the William Morris Gallery in early July 2013, has asked both Tracy and me to stitch [...]
Acorn – bottom leaf
I’ve finished the bottom leaf of the Acorn project so all the areas that are worked in Bayeux stitch are now finished. Do you remember when I was asking about how to work the stitch? Just before I began? I had some doubts about my ability to work straight lines both on the long vertical [...]
Acorn – next step
The long and short shading of the leaves at the top of the Acorn are now complete. Looking at the photo below I’m pleased with the balance and symmetry of the two sides. When stitching the second leaf I divided it up into sections with guiding stitch lines as I had for the first one. [...]
Acorn: couching stitches and berries
Once all the vertical laid stitches were in place, the next step was to put in the horizontal stitches and the little vertical couching stitches. While this won’t look exactly like Bayeux stitch, it is a variation of Bayeux stitch. There are loads of laid and couched stitches that embroiderers have used over the centuries, [...]
Acorn: first stitches
The first stitches were quite exciting! As the long, smooth laid stitches running vertically across the first dark green leaf filled the area, I again recalled why I love crewel work – it’s the wool. I just love stitching with wool. Part 1 in the instructions are for filling the leaf with laid work or [...]
Acorn threads arrived!
Everything has arrived for the Acorn crewelwork piece designed by Nicola Jarvis. This is a piece that will be in her one woman show at the William Morris Gallery in London from Saturday June 15, 2013 until Sunday September 22, 2013. The twill has the pattern already transferred onto it which is just great! I [...]
Bayeux Stitch
Before I begin to stitch the gorgeous design by Nicola Jarvis, I need to do some practice stitching. Yesterday I set up a little piece of linen twill on my Needle Needs Millennium Frame and drew a quarter circle and a small round circle. These are roughly the shapes I’ll be stitching on the Acorn [...]
Nicola Jarvis, William Morris and me!
Earlier this week I got an email from Nicola Jarvis, my RSN teacher and friend, with a beautiful color stitch drawing and a written list of stitch instructions attached. About 5 months ago she honored me by asking if I would please stitch a crewel work piece for her upcoming show at the William Morris [...]
