Royal School of Needlework on "Sunday Morning"

Last week on CBS on "Sunday Morning" they had a story about Hampton Court Palace and the (click here to see the video) Royal School of Needlework. It is worth taking a few minutes and watch this. Get a cup of tea and enjoy the video.

It made me want to go back to England to take another class. We have the same tutors and the same instruction in San Francisco that we have in England, but it is not the same as being at Hampton Court Palace seeing Henry VIII walking around.

Classes are being offered in May and October in 2011 in San Francisco with the (click here to see the classes being offered) RSN.

The New and Old . . . .

I haven't been very good at updating my blog and won't promise that I will be good in the future. I have been stitching and knitting a lot, just haven't been sharing. . . . .

This is a picture that I made for my Dad for his 80th birthday in 1995. It has memories from his life, it is a great project for a parent, grandparent or a dear friend for a special birthday. Some of the memories included are baseball, pets, places he lived, the freight train he traveled in back in the 1930's. I started by making a list of the things I wanted to remember, then searched books to find the pattern or make one up if I couldn't find what I wanted. I did not plan the placement or chart the entire piece, I just started stitching . . .

I had fun stitching this, but the best part was giving it to my Dad. His birthday was on April 24th, "Happy Birthday Dad" I miss you!

This project is a picture of railroad tracks near Seelow, Germany. My Husband took the picture and I loved it. The white houses in the distance with the trees stood out and I just had to stitch it. It is done on 24 count canvas cloth with DMC and Anchor cotton floss, some overdyed floss and a little metallic, the size is about 3" x 5" and it is framed in a shadow box frame that is 5" x 7." It is for sale at the Chamber of Commerce in the "Treasures in Miniature" show.

This is a garden scene. I was waiting in the eye doctor's office looking at a magazine and saw this picture. Well, first I thought I could remember what it looked like, but then decided I wouldn't by the time I got around to stitching it. So, if you go to the eye doctor and there is a page missing out of the magazine you are reading I have it. This project is also stitched on 24 count canvas with DMC and Anchor floss with some overdyed threads too. The size is about 3" x 5" and framed in a shadow box frame that is 5" x 7". It is also, in the "Treasures in Miniature" show.

Both pictures have a million French knots and Colonial knots, fly stitches, basketweave, alternating cross stitch, chain stitch, stem stitch, satin stitch and a few more stitches.

This is the first time I have entered anything in a show for sale and it will be pretty exciting if one sells, but it is fine if they don't too.

I loved making them and I know someone in my family would like to have one.

Thank for coming back to see what I have been doing . . . . . There will be more someday.

I just completed a stumpwork piece to teach in June and I am getting ready to take another class with the Royal School of Needlework, so stay tuned.

MS Walk - Seattle, WA

It is time for the MS Walk again, April 3rd in Seattle, keep your fingers crossed that there won't be rain. Our daughter and I will be walking the four miles from the University of Washington to Gas Works Park and back again this year.

I would appreciate any donations, nothing is too small, my grandmother said if everyone donated a dollar that would be a lot of money.

If anyone would like to help by donating in my name please click on the link on the top right.

Thank you for your support.

Sewing & Stitchery Expo - Puyallup, WA

Just thought I would share some of the fun we had at the Sewing & Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, Washington last week-end. We started with two cousins and by Saturday night there were eight of us having dinner at Black Angus.

This is a picture of five of us with the hats that we planned to make at 2010 Sewing Expo. We all used the same knitting pattern, I knitting mine, one cousin knitted three and one, it would be best to see the next picture . . . . . we called her the UFO, we have all been there . . . . .

Since she didn't finish her hat we rolled the rest of the yarn into a ball and put her knitting needles into the ball. I was thinking that we need to put a poll on the back - finish or not finish. I don't think she will finish it for next year either, but she will have to buy more knitting needles, everyone loved the UFO.

We all decorated our own hats with things like, flowers, feathers, buttons, ribbons, etc. Our youngest cousin passed away in January, so we added a button in his memory and a shamrock for our Grandmother, her birthday was on March 17th. There will be more added for next year and who knows what else we will do next year.

The hats were a huge hit, many people just smiled as we walked past, but others stopped to ask questions or tell us how much they liked our hats. It was so easy to keep track of each other, all we had to do was ask someone if they had seen a pink hat and they would say yes and tell us which direction the hat went. Even people in cars waved at us.

Anyway we had a great week-end - lots of laughs, eating, talking, shopping and catching up.

If there is anyway you can make a trip to Puyallup next year for Sewing & Stitchery Expo the dates will be March 1, 2, 3 & 4, 2012. Just look for the pink hats!

Hope these pictures made you laugh!

Needlework at the Hermitage

We recently took a cruise in the Baltic, one of the ports was St Petersburg in Russia. We took a tour of the Hermitage and I was pleased to see some needlework on display. I took pictures to share, they are not very good because of the glass but here they are for you to see.

We enjoyed the cruise starting in Holland, stopping in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Denmark and back to Holland. I was disappointed that the Danish Cross Stitch Guild shop is no longer in Copenhagen, but I found a booth at the market in Helsinki selling kits to make mittens and of course had to buy one.

Kitty

This post has nothing to do with embroidery. We are taking care of our daughter's cat and this morning she needed a warm lap to take a nap. She is sitting on my doll and my Mother's doll in my Dad's childhood rocking chair. Isn't this the sweetest Kitty you have ever seen? She doesn't like her picture taken, but she must have been tired and didn't care today.

Gold Work - Diploma Class at the RSN

I just returned home from San Francisco, California where I took my first Diploma Class as the Royal School of Needlework. My tutor was Elizabeth Elvin, you can read about her here http://www.royal-needlework.org.uk/Elizabeth_Elvin.html She is an excellent tutor and we had a wonderful group of ladies. Our class had four students, two taking the gold work Certificate Class and two taking the Diploma Class. The projects were all very different and all were lovely!


I usually post a picture of my finished projects, thought I would do something a little different this time.

This a is picture after a couple days of work, framing up on my slate frame, painting the design on the silk fabric and the beginning of the padding before adding the gold.

Have you ever seen the back of a gold work project? This is a mess, but I think it is interesting to see the mess and appreciate the front. All of the ends of the gold have to be plunged with a large needle, this can take hours.

The basket is padded with carpet felt, craft felt and string and then the gold is couched down on top. The edge of the basket is padded with soft string and satin stitch, cut work on top. The pea pod is kid leather. The pumpkin is Or Nue, Japanese gold couched down with different colors of floss, this took a day and half to complete. The leaf in the middle is stumpwork, silk fabric with a wire around the edge. The corn is beads with plate for the husk.

And finally the finished project all framed. I am very happy with my project. The tutors assessed it before I flew home so I could bring it home with me and not have to have it shipped, I haven't got my score yet!

If you are interested in taking classes at the Royal School of Needlework, check out their website for classes and dates: http://www.royal-needlework.org.uk/