About

Mary Corbet

writer and founder

 

I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Stem Stitch Filling in Silk – and Decision Making!

 

Amazon Books

Making decisions about the next step in a needlework project is sometimes tough, and if you aren’t careful, that whole decision-making process can bog you down and bring your productivity to a halt. I decided to face a decision about the stitching on the Medallion Project pretty much the way I face decisions in life: if you spend too much time in deciding, you lose a lot of time when you could be doing. It seems that once I make a decision, I’m always happier, so why prolong the anxiety created by that middle ground of uneasy deliberation?

Today, I’ll show you my hang-up on the Medallion Project, tell you about my decision-making process on this particular part of the project, and then … well, hopefully, I won’t disappoint you with the decision I ultimately made!

Church Embroidery in Silk and Gold - Marian Design
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The Bluebird of Happiness – in Silk & Gold Embroidery

 

The bluebird has long been a symbol of cheerfulness, happiness, prosperity. It’s such a chipper, lovely little bird, and my favorite harbinger of spring. Here in Kansas, I’ve had bluebirds hopping around my birdbath and feeder since January! I just love the little flitty things!

The other day, a pal popped in for a visit, carrying with her a piece of art she had appropriated from her sister’s wall. Much to my delight, it featured the bluebird – in silk and gold embroidery, Chinese style. The piece was purchased at an antique shop, and it was uniquely framed – encased in glass on both sides, so that the embroidered piece floated in the middle of the frame, and any wall behind it showed through. The frame job made it somewhat difficult to photograph, but I did my best, because I wanted to send the Bluebird of Happiness your way!

Chinese Silk and Gold Embroidery - Bluebird
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Medallion Update: Gold Edge Finished … and fretting

 

When last we visited the Medallion Project, I hadn’t quite finished the goldwork edge around the long and short stitched monogram. After a little break for a short bout of travel, the first embroidery-related thing I did on my return was finish up the gold outlining. It is finished, and I’ve even moved ahead a bit.

Actually, I moved ahead quite a bit… but I am picking it all out today! But more on that (disaster) later!

Goldwork and Silk Church Embroidery - Marian Design
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Coronation Cord Revisited

 

Several weeks ago, I highlighted a beautiful vintage whitework tablecloth, embellished with coronation cord. Since then, I’ve done a little exploring. Besides finding out that Lacis regular offers some coronation cord on their website (I purchased some of theirs to see what it looks like), I found that there’s one book in print still that focuses on coronation cord (called Coronation Cord Remembered, also available through Lacis), and several booklets out of print that highlight the use of coronation cord especially in crochet and tatting, with some mentions of its uses in embroidery.

I haven’t explored the whole coronation cord question as much as I’d like to – some day, I will! In the meantime, though, I thought I should show you the stuff available from Lacis. I have to admit, it isn’t quite what I expected. If it’s something you’d like to play around with on whitework, you might want to see it, too, so that you can decide if it’s what you’re looking for.

Coronation Cord for embroidery, crochet, and tatting
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Bead Embroidered Sculptures!

 

Bead embroidery is one of is one of those types of needlework that you just want to look at and touch. I don’t do a lot with beads myself, but I love, love, love to see what others do with them! The color, the sparkle, the texture – what’s not to like about beads?

I think I was a crow in another life… I hone in on sparklies!

Today, it’s a pleasure to share with you Velia’s bead embroidered sculptures. Velia is a reader here on Needle ‘n Thread, and when I spoke of curved beading needles last week, she wrote to tell me that she uses them all the time, but it took her a while to get used to them. She attached a photo of what she does with curved beading needles. And, of course, I wanted to see More! So she graciously allowed me to share her work with you.

I wanted to share it, because we all need a splash of color in our day!

Bead Embroidery Sculpture
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