Remembrance Poppies

I'm beginning somewhere near the end, because the photo shows some up flaws, but still, I think, looks good.

I bought the kit for this project from Inspirations 109. My first problem was the colour of the poppy. I should have picked up from the magazine photo that there was a great deal of orange in the colour of the poppy. When the kit arrived, both the fabric and the thread were decidedly orange.  As the article points out, the red of remembrance poppies represents the blood of the fallen. I couldn't live with orange. Just before I set out to buy replacement thread, I checked my stash and found an excellent red silk that would do the job. It is  Soie Cristale, by Caron, part, I think, of a monthly thread pack that Katherine gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago. It is lovely to work with and the perfect colour.

I was not so worried about the fabric, as it was to be covered with stitching. As a background on which to work red it was OK.  I also wanted to make two poppies. There was enough fabric to do this if I placed the petals carefully.

I read the instructions several times but couldn't find anything telling me how many strands of thread to use. Eventually I experimented and settled for two strands for couching and three for the long and short fill. Eventually I found the instruction, right at the very beginning of the article, in the "Before you begin" section! I should have used 1 strand throughout, but by then I had finished the embroidery. I must be getting old!

The leaves were a somewhat tricky shape to cover, and the small hoop meant holding it in my hand, never good for RSI,  but the fabric was good to work with and it wasn't a lengthy task.

The centre is a bead, covered with thread. I was still working with several strands of silk when I did the first one and getting the needle through was tricky. By the time I did the second one, I had found the 1 strand instruction. This made it easier, but gave problems with coverage. There is also a tiny piece of felt, glued over the top of the bead and stitched down. Even more tricky.

The first one is a bit wonky. The second one is better.

Cutting out and assembling took time and patience, but worked.

As you can tell from these photos, the edges of the petals show white threads. This is because the background fabric has quite a lot of white in it.  The green background thread is dyed all the way through, so doesn't present the same problem.  There was no way of avoiding the white threads in the petals as I cut away the excess fabric against the wires, no matter how closely I cut.    

The pin on the back is mounted on felt, pin stitched to help hold the whole thing in place ( I can't get the colour right on this photo - pink=red!)

I resolved the white thread issue in the end with the help of a Porcelain felt pen, just gently touching up the white threads around the edge of the petals.

This is the improvement from the photo with which I began this post. 

There have been quite a few trials in making these, but I think they are fit for purpose - a lapel pin for wearing on Anzac Day or Remembrance Day. One for me, one as a gift.

Stumpwork Violet RSN

I've been finishing off projects from my UK visit: I want to be ready to go to work on Nicola Jarvis's Dove Cottage sampler when it arrives back from the Wordsworth Museum Exhibition!

In the last week of my trip to England I attended a two day course at the Royal School of Needlework. As you can see, it was Easter!

It was a Stumpwork Violet and Silk Shading class  taught by Helen Jones. I chose it purely on the dates I had available and not for its content. Both Jenny Adin-Christie and Nicola Jarvis however, told me it would be a good class - and they were right.

We were located in the classroom with the square windows - the first time I have been in this room with its view over the courtyard, rather than over the grounds.





















     Wherever you look at Hampton Court it is interesting and visually attractive - even if a bit shabby.

We began couching wires and embroidering leaves using stranded cotton.

Towards the end of the first day we learned the silk shading technique.I got used to the idea that 'silk shading' is being used to describe a thread painting technique in any thread, rather than shading in silk thread.




I did quite a bit of work overnight to finish the leaves of the violet so I could cut it out, plunge and assemble it the next morning. We had a bit of time on this in the morning of the second day.

Most of my fellow students sensibly chose to do the green leaf, rather than the five petals in order to have something to plunge!

I wasn't regretful, as I wanted to be as close to finishing as I could be, to avoid taking home another UFO. I managed to have the violet finished and attached by the end of the day, along with an attached stem in silk-covered purl




and the best part of a leaf. I had started, but not finished, the thread-painted violet.




















Back at the hotel that night I worked to finish the piece. I finished it all, except for the beaded centre of the flower.




There was nothing I had not done before, but I learned a lot of techniques and tips. My stem to the silk flower is misplaced. I adapted to accommodate, but should probably have moved it. It remains as a reminder that
(1) violets are scraggly things and grow at odd angles
(2) I need to double check placement of purl.



Helen was a thorough, pleasant, relaxed and highly professional teacher. I benefitted - in technique, but also in enjoyment and relaxation.





It is interesting to be at the RSN classrooms, which are shabby, rambling and a bit ramshackle. You keep coming across wonderful pieces of embroidery sitting behind a makeshift display of current student work or items of interest.

It is a calm and pleasant environment in which to learn.



Once home, I found some gold pieces with which to fill the centre of the stumpwork violet. I then went searching for something on which to use it. This was not easy to find but I came up with a satin-covered box on Alison Coles' website and ordered one in green. I was very pleased with it and will, I'm sure, order more.


Mounting was pretty easy. The padded lid lifts off. I pinned the violet silk, cut it, gathered and lashed it,
















It fitted quite snuggly, but I used double-sided tape to ensure it didn't dislodge

It caught Veronica's eye - so might end up with some birthday jewellery in it for her.



I'm really pleased with this result. I learned quite a lot in a really relaxed atmosphere with people who share some of my interests and finished up with an elegant, useful object to remind me of it.

What more could I ask for?

Australian Bush finish

This is where I left the Australian Bush project at the end of the class in Summer Week at the Embroiderers' Guild. I had added one gold leaf in Alison's double sided brick stitch.

I decided against adding more leaves worked the same way. It's a great technique, and I can see myself using it again, but I did not want to invest the time at the moment on this project.






I used a bit of the left-over dyed silk to make a couple more gum leaves.










I then visited the very peaceful spot where Jim's ashes are buried under a flowering gum and collected a few of the leaves and a couple of the gum nuts. I came home and painted them with gold glitter paint and attached them to the piece. Jim always liked to be included in my embroidery projects!

I was reluctant to put this behind glass and hang on my wall. I am not keen on hanging much embroidery, especially behind glass. I hit on the idea of hanging it in a hoop.

I had a conversation with the helpful staff at Create in Stitch and purchased a wide-edged Nurge hoop.
On their suggestion I mounted the piece on the inside of the hoop, rather than having the embroidered surface flush with the frame.















I have added a removable hook to my front door and, for the moment, this hangs as a welcome to guests. This isn't a long-term solution, but I'm not sure this is a long-term piece.

For the moment it is welcoming ,a reminder of a very enjoyable class and a bit of a tribute to Australian flora and fauna.

Summer Week At the Guild - Australian Bush

My apologies to anyone who received a notice about this post before it was finished. I have been using a new app to load photos and it defaults to ‘publish’ rather than ‘draft’. This took me a while to work out. I often collect photos well before I add text, and had no idea the photos I was gathering had been posted. I hope I now have the hang of the new app.

This January I did two classes at the Embroiderers’s Guild Summer Week. Both classes were with Alison Cole. I enjoy Alison’s classes and, as she comes from Victoria, chances to learn from her in Adelaide do not come easily. 

The first two-day Class was entitled Australian Bush and was a sculptured project that really stretched my boundaries.

We began by dyeing silk - learning both wet and dry methods. I’ve not done this before but was keen to try. It was a lot of fun. Some of the group were quite experience at this. There was a lot of chatter and sharing. The temperature outside our air conditioned haven reached 41C, so we did not have to wait more than a few minutes for them to dry!

We worked with mulberry bark, padding,  wires and added some goldwork. Alison’s double-sided brick stitch was pretty amazing and required patience. I was determined to master it and worked on it at home late into the night.

I was more familiar with stumpwork wires - and decided to use this technique for some of the gum leaves as well as the moth.













I have not finished assembling this yet - I had another class immediately after this one and I have found it hard to keep up.

I’m not at all sure what I am going to do with the finished piece. It isn’t something I can turn into a utilitarian item! 

Regardless of what I do with it, it was an engaging and fun class. I learned a heap and pushed my boundaries. My next class was also with Alison Cole - Opus Anglicanum. That's the topic of my next post!

B2B Bag progress

In June I set this project aside to finish the Mountmellick work from the March Lady Anne's Needlework Retreat.  In the last couple of weeks I've returned to it and made an effort to finish it. It is the fourth Project in the  Basics to Beyond course of the Embroiderers' Guild of SA                                                                                                                      I had always planned to add a series of round flowers in the centre of this piece - to echo the similar set in the Hussif from Project 3  so I thought the Dorset button I made as part of the Dorset Featherstitch workshop would fit in. Texture is one of the criteria for this Project.

I became a bit concerned with the extent of the fairly dour background fabric. I chose it for durability and blending with the lining fabric (as well as availability in my stash!) but began to see its limitations. I decided it needed quite a bit of sky. I began couching some wiggly wool threads I acquired out of curiosity from Australian Needle Arts then added some needle-felted wool roving. 

Next a patch of flannel flowers, giving me a chance to use some green seed beads from the Stitchy Box Just the Threads shipment my daughter gave me. As soon as I saw those beads I thought 'flannel flower centres'!

The stand of flowers in the centre gave me a chance to use shisha mirrors. I had mislaid the ones I had originally acquired for this purpose so had to order some more online - they are not in ready supply in Adelaide thread shops.   I'm happy with the results - and there are lots of hidden "j"s in this foliage to satisfy the requirement that this design be based around our initial.

 Above the patch of flowers I added a sheep - using some of the stumpwork technique I learned in 2015 at an RSN day-course- a felt base covered in French knots using six strands of cotton, blending two different colours.





No horns on this one - a ewe, not a ram.












I then went all out on the sky - filling as much as I could, using Bokhara, chain and reverse chain and a bit of couching of the wiggly wool. A hank of variegated blue shiburi thread came in useful.

I soon realised that I had a problem with the flowering gum tree. I either had to put in more foliage to provide a solid block-out of the sky, or I had to add sky behind the tree. Had I planned the sky from the beginning, I would have put the sky layer in first. The shiburi thread proved useful for weaving behind the existing stitching.

By now I was set to fill in the whole landscape. It took a while to finish the sky and fill in the land behind the trees. I did it largely without a hoop, so it needed blocking when I finished. I am, nevertheless, very pleased with it.

My lining fabric is a print of Australian wildflowers. It seemed a pity to only use it as lining, so I cut large piece, added a zip and created a pocket on the back.

The construction instructions were quite explicit. For the most part I followed them.  In order to make the lining more visible I reduced the turnover of the outer fabric, bringing the lining closer to the top of the bag. I also added a layer of wadding between the outside and lining.

I didn't manage to catch the lining in the seams of the false placket sides. I decided not to undo and redo them as the lining was holding the internal shape anyway.  The tacking, while it had provided excellent guidance for construction, did prove a bit difficult to remove.

There is a loose lining-covered panel in the base to hold the shape. I used a piece of plastic cut from a document folder. I also tacked it down at the corners to keep it in place.

This is the finished item. It has been a bit of a long haul. I'm pleased to be taking it in for assessment tomorrow - and very pleased to have learned so much about embroidering landscape. I plan to use this bag to carry all my B2B supplies and working project.