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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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Jacobean Embroidery – Almost There & Lighting Differences

 

Amazon Books

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
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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
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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!

The Kew Book of Embroidered Flowers
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Gertrude is Back, Better than Ever!

 

Many moons ago, while I was beefing up my tambour embroidery skills, I stitched this bird as a practice piece with the tambour hook.

You can find the bird design here.

I officially called the bird Little Bird of Paradise – but in my head, she has always reminded me of Gertrude McFuzz – the silly, vain bird concocted by Dr. Seuss – so that’s what I affectionately call her.

In Anna’s version of the Jacobean design that we are stitching congruently, Gertrude is the star of the show, replacing the main element on my version. So, perched on top of the typical Jacobean nonsensical and stylized tree, you will find the Little Bird of Paradise mentioned above.

I don’t know exactly why Anna’s embroidery is progressing so much faster than mine. Either she’s spending more time at it (somewhat likely?) or I’m just a slow stitcher (likelier!). She has a certain stick-to-itiveness for any given task, whereas I’m more of a Distraction Magnet. Give me any opportunity to be distracted, and I’m off!

Both of us have had our frustrating moments, picking out parts and re-stitching them.

Jacobean Design with Bird for Hand Embroidery
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Rippit, Rippit… I’m Back from a Hopping Weekend!

 

Well, howdy there!

I took a long weekend off from writing so that I could accomplish a few goals in the studio, have a little R & R break before the summer push, and get in some organizing on my publishing calendar. I needed to do some Thinking Work.

Did I accomplish everything I planned to accomplish? … uh. No. But I made some headway. I think the Rest & Relaxation got in the way. And that made it a great weekend!

I hope you had a great weekend, too!

I managed a bit of progress on my Jacobean design. See:

Jacobean silk embroidery design
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