Jacobean Crewel Revisited . . .

A while back I ask our daughter-in-law what she would like me to make for her, she pointed to my Jacobean Crewel picture I did in my first certificate course at the Royal School of Needlework.  So, I ask what colors, she said red to orange, purples and greens.  I have to say I wasn't sure, but pulled out my color chart and picked the colors, I was surprised how much I liked them. 

This is my original picture stitched with Appleton wools in blues, greens and yellows on tan linen twill.  In class we were suppose to pick two colors and on accent color.  I really like working fewer colors, not so many choices when stitching, just need to balance and remember a snail doesn't have to be brown.

And this is the new picture with the new colors, stitched with Appleton wool on white linen twill.  I changed some of the stitches.   I framed it with a white mat and a red frame.  Now they just need to find a place to hang it.

It was fun to stitch it again and may have to do another one in different colors.

Experimenting . . .

I have been very busy!  Ten pictures on display at New Visions until the middle of September.  Here are a few of them.  I was experimenting just for fun, hadn't plan to put them in a show or sell them, but when I needed more pictures I framed them . . . .

 Silk thread on silk, Jacobean crewel.

 Meet Henry Hedgehog, silk shading and gold work.

Embroidered leaves in silk thread.

And now keep your fingers crossed that they sell . . .  I will let you know.

New Project

Last week I drew a Jacobean Crewel design and then I got nervous about putting it on the fabric. Yesterday I decided it was time to get going and transfer the design from paper to fabric. I used the prick and pounce method like we used at the Royal School of Needlework and painted the lines on with watercolor. Thanks to Daniel Smith, our local art supply store I could get all the supplies I needed to transfer the design and they even knew what I was talking about. http://www.danielsmith.com/ It worked great!

The next challenge was to find a way to attach my slate frame to my Needlework System 4 floor stand. http://www.threadneedlestreet.com/ With the help of my Eagle Scout we tied the slate frame to scroll frame without the scroll rods. There are holes in the sides of the scroll frame and the sides of the slate frame, so that worked great. I discovered that I would not be able to sit in my favorite chair to stitch because the frame is too wide, but a chair from our dining room fits fine and I can sit under a light that provides good lighting too. Almost like being at the RSN, but much easier to get out of the chair and I have TV too.

Sometimes when I have a couple projects going at the same time and just sit in my chair to work on them I don't want to switch, this way I can have a smaller to work on while I sit in my chair and the larger one on the slate frame. Hopefully, I will make progress on both projects, I will post another update soon.