May 17, 2011
Cluny Countdown – the Blues Begin
By Thursday of this week, I’ll show you the finish on the miniature stitching project that I’ve been working on … Continue reading Cluny Countdown – the Blues Begin
May 16, 2011
Inspirations & Organization
Several months ago, I was offered one of those deals I couldn’t pass up. A fellow needleworker had purchased in bulk a massive quantity of magazines from some source, because she wanted to acquire certain issues of a different magazine (hm… is that confusing?) Anyway, she had to buy this whole quantity of magazines, in order to get the magazines she was actually after.
Once she sorted through her acquisition of hundreds of back issues of various magazines (some 200+), she grouped together the leftovers, which included all of Inspirations issues 1-25, plus numerous back issues of Piecework and other needlework related magazines. And I bought them!
May 14, 2011
Hungarian Embroidery Pattern #5: Makes a Great Pair.
Here’s another Hungarian embroidery pattern for you! You can pair this one up with the Floral Square embroidery pattern I posted earlier. It’s not an exact “match” but I like the same style on the borders and the similar dots on the patterns. I could see both of them being used to make matching embroidered linens for end tables, or a matching setting of pillows, or something like that. With the blues and the touch of purple in some of the dots, you can see that Lilly’s choice of colors for this design is a little different from the colors in the Floral Square design, but of course, as with any embroidery design like this, you can work the colors out according to your own preferences.
May 13, 2011
Embroidery Fluff & How to Make It Fluffy
Are you familiar with turkey work? Turkey work, also known as ghiordes knot, is an embroidery technique that can be used to created a fluffy piled clump (for lack of a better word!) anywhere you want one on your embroidery. The technique is used a lot in stumpwork, but it can also be used in other needlework techniques. Turkey work makes great squirrel tails! Like this one, stitched by my sister:
May 12, 2011
Cluny Countdown – Closer!
Last night before hitting the sack, I snapped a couple photos of the miniature stitching project I’m working on (and that I just spoke about two days ago…) I promise I won’t be updating you every single day between now and next Wednesday (when I intend to have this embroidery project finished), but the fact is, I wasn’t actually convinced that I’d finish by next Wednesday, until I took these photos last night. There’s not that much left to go – and I’m pretty excited to see the end so close at hand!
May 11, 2011
How to Judge a Book by Its Cover
Did you go through life being told not to judge books by their covers? This expression, of course, has a metaphorical meaning in the human relations field: it’s not the outside that matters – it’s what’s inside that counts. And I’m all for that! This lesson is reinforced daily when teaching youth, that’s for sure.
But when it comes to needlework books, I often judge them by their covers. Tsk, tsk! And I’ve been seduced by book covers before, only to regret my choice when I’ve found the content a bit lacking.
Here are a few upcoming books in the needlework field, and though they aren’t published yet, I’ve pre-ordered them. I base my decision to pre-order needlework books on a few factors that I’ll discuss below, and there are two reasons why I pre-order books, rather than waiting to order when they’ve already hit the stores: 1. they get here faster – usually before their release, which gives me a head-start on reading them so I can review them for you; 2. Pre-orders are always guaranteed the lowest price: if the price goes lower before the book is shipped, you get the lower price, but if it goes higher, you don’t pay more than the pre-order price. This point has served me well in the past, so I figure it’s a no-risk situation.
May 10, 2011
Call Me Naive
A couple weeks ago when I posted my last miniature stitching update, I naively asserted that I wanted to have this Cluny tapestry piece finished that week. Oh boy. I always under-estimate the amount the time it takes to put stitches in, no matter how furiously fast I try to get along on a piece.
Still, little by little, I’m getting a lot – a LOT – closer to the finish! All the major elements are in, and now it’s just a matter of stitching a bit more foliage and some background.
