June 17, 2020

On the Grid: Calculating & Considerations for Counted Needlework

I’ve recently had some questions about changing fabric sizes for gridded embroidery, especially in relation to petit point on silk gauze.

The questions stem from my Thousand Flowers miniature silk gauze projects, because the kits are available again and several intrepid folk who love the medieval tapestry look and who enjoy a stitching challenge are working the projects as we speak!

I thought I would address the question here, for those who struggle with calculating fabric size for counted work. I also want to point out four important considerations when changing fabric sizes. This way, when questions comes up, I can direct folks here as a resource.

No matter what type of counted work – whether it’s petit point on silk gauze, counted needlepoint, counted cross stitch, or other myriad counted techniques – the concepts we discuss below will apply to them all, to some degree.

For those of you who are experienced in counted work, this will be old hat to you! For those who prefer to work off the grid, no worries – we’ll be off it again soon enough!

A Thousand Flowers miniature petit point silk gauze

Uncategorized

June 15, 2020

Morgan Embroidery Hoop Combo Review

In an ever-curious effort to seek out hand embroidery tools that may improve our hand-embroidery experiences – or that may help you avoid making costly financial mistakes – I’ve been hunting down, purchasing, and testing different embroidery hoop & stand solutions.

A few weeks ago, for example, I reviewed this Nurge embroidery hoop stand.

I have two other hoopish tools to share with you. Today, we’re going to look at the Morgan Lap Stand Combo Hoop.

Some of you may already use it, since there’s a fairly wide fan base of this tool out there. Some of you may have seen it or heard about it and are curious about it. And some of you may have never seen it or heard about it! So this review is for the latter two groups. I’ll show you the tool up close and offer some pros and cons for your consideration.

Uncategorized

June 12, 2020

Jacobean Embroidery – Almost There & Lighting Differences

Good morning! Just so you know, there’s a little news at the end of today’s article.

In the meantime, though – a project update and a chat about lighting differences when taking photos of embroidery.

Have you ever photographed your own stitching projects and wondered what’s the best lighting to use? Well, I have, too. And I can’t give you a definitive answer on that!

I do know that a “daylight” light gives me truer color when I take photos. And the higher the lumens, the better, with my lamp. But when it comes to the camera, I can’t really tell you “use this setting for this kind of light” and so forth. I’m just not that technically inclined when it comes to cameras.

I often go outside to take pictures of my embroidery, because I like to see the difference between the embroidery photographed in natural sunlight compared to embroidery photographed in indoor studio light. There’s a huge difference between taking photos of embroidery in direct sunlight and taking photos of embroidery in artificial light. And when you’re taking photos outside, there’s a huge difference between pictures taken on an overcast day, pictures taken in direct sun on a clear day, and pictures taken in the shade on a sunny day.

All of this is probably obvious, especially if you’ve been wielding a camera for any period of time.

At my last stopping point with my Jacobean styled embroidery project, I took photos in different circumstances. I’ll tell you what circumstances as I show you my progress on the project so far.

Jacobean Embroidery Project in silk threads with different lighting

Uncategorized

June 10, 2020

A Thank You for a Thank You: This Embroidered Quilt

A few weeks ago, I was surprised, astonished, gobsmacked even, a little humbled, very touched, and downright delighted to receive an unexpected gift in the mail. Today, I want to show it to you.

It’s the tale of eleven stitchers who put together their skills to create a quilt. They are all part of my Needle ‘n Thread Community page on Facebook. They corresponded by email, and the coordinator of the project included all their correspondence and their stories as they worked through the quilt in a notebook so that I could know each of the participants just a little bit.

The quilt is meant as a Thank You – I see it as a testament to the whole idea of Community and Kindness which naturally developes through needlework.

Much like this embroidered banner from the Valley Quail EGA chapter, the quilt will hang on my studio wall with pride of place. It will be a lovely source of inspiration and a conversation and instructional piece that I can use with my local students. It’ll be a source of cheer for me – a daily reminder of the kindness and generosity of the needlework community and of these eleven ladies!

Thank You Quilt with embroidered squares

Hand Embroidery Books

June 8, 2020

The Kew Book of Embroidered Flowers – Book Review

Good morning, my friends! And Happy Monday!

Over the next few weeks, off and on, I’m going to be sharing with you some embroidery and needlework books that have been stacking up on my side table for a while. It’s time to hew down the stack!

Today’s book is The Kew Book of Embroidered Flowers by Trish Burr – something I’ve been looking forward to for a long while! I can’t wait to show it to you!