Pulled Out an Ongoing Project..

I couldn't do anymore hand embroidery on my course project until the next assignment so looked around for a project which has been crying out for some hand embroidery.

I started my own style Teesha Moore fabric pillows a while back and add to them when I have a spare hour or so.  I am hoping to eventually make a bag out of them (well, eventually).  I wanted them to have a sort of medieval theme and created the ones below on calico using stencils and thickened procion dyes and some have rubbings with Markal Paintstiks.  I have used machine embroidery on a couple and now I have some with hand embroidery.  Here are a sample:

Immersing Myself in Hand Embroidery

About half an hour away from where I live is The Sunbury Embroidery Gallery.  I have known about it for a while but never visited it so I thought now was the time to go to get inspiration.  The gallery is set in a beautiful walled garden and there is a cafe which serves lunch and teas.

 

The gallery is free to view and has massive embroidered panels along one wall as well as the insignia of local organisations and companies.  Here are some samples:

Some of the detail was really quite delightful:

I took some lovely pictures of the garden which included cherab statues - I see the potential for a collage here.  You'll have to wait and see.

Thank Goodness for the Open Golf...

I now know why I probably haven't done much hand embroidery up 'til now.  It takes so LONG.  I feel like I have spent hours and hours on my course piece with little to show for it.  I have enjoyed it though - very therapeutic.

When my dear hubby phoned up to ask me what I did all afternoon yesterday, I said 'I watched the British Open Golf while I did some embroidery' and he said 'Oh, fine'.  If I had said 'I watched soap operas all afternoon while I did some embroidery' would I be unfair if I thought he might have said 'haven't you got something better to do'!

So, the piece we are required to do has a very abstract element and I have to say abstract is not really my thing so I can't say I like it but let's see how it looks by the end of the course.  The main thing is that I am getting some practise in and learning new stitches.

Just started an Online Beginners Embroidery Class

My online beginners embroidery class with Susan Sorrel started last week.  I finished painting the fabric yesterday and had such fun using bubble wrap that I ended up covering my test fabric with it as well!  I can see why so many fabric artists and journal makers use it - so addictive!

So here is the section of fabric I have chosen to do my embroidery on:

I went shopping this morning to get the the embroidery threads I wanted and the right size hoop.  I'm very lucky because I have a little quilt shop called Needle and Thread just 10 minutes away from where I live.

I am sure that my threads would all get tangled up so I decided to get organised from day one.  I put my threads on little cards with the details written on them and put them all in a little box.  Wonder if I'll keep it this way but I do like it.

I have the gadgets long before I need them

Do you buy craft stuff in an enthusiastic/inspired moment and never get round to using it?

I don't think there are many crafts out there that I couldn't start tomorrow what with everything I have in my cupboards!

Anyhow, I love hand embroidery but have done very little in the past and probably shy away from it because it not something I know alot about.  I know it would make a huge difference to my work and I am so inspired by other people who do it.  I bought Janet Edmond's book recently - From Print to Stitch and realised how you can spice up an ordinary piece of dyed fabric with a little bit of stitch witchery.

So I was walking in one of my favourite towns today, Guildford, and popped into the local needlework shop.  There was a fantastic embroidery stand there - a real beauty and it took all my willpower to walk out of the shop without it under my arm.  It wasn't cheap but it was the best!  But come on, Ann, you haven't even started embroidery yet!

Sigh.  It did mean that when I got home I was inspired to see if there were any online courses coming up and lo and behold there is...hmmm maybe I'll buy that stand after all.

I also found a brilliant website for learning stitches.  Check out Mary Corbet's site.