As I sit on this bitter cold dreary January day, I find myself pondering many things. Unemployment has provided me the opportunity to catch up on things, not the least of which are my Embroidery projects. One of those projects -- though not strictly Embroidery -- is this blog. I have so many things I meant to share last year, and now I can!
The first thing to share is an announcement -- I have successfully completed the Embroiderer's Guild of America Master Craftsman Program in Crewel!! I am an official Master Craftsman. I'm often asked "what does that get you?" and other than sore fingers from five years of stitching six different projects, I can honestly say PRIDE. Pride in accomplishing a long and difficult goal, pride in knowing that my embroidery is judged to be excellent by people who are trained to know, and pride in knowing that I learned well from my Mother. I only wish she could have loved long enough to know that I made it.
My final piece sits on the blocking board (for the third time -- ugh!!)
Later this week I'll lace it onto Acid Free Foam Board in preparation for framing, and then go select a frame for it. Steps 4 and 5 also await framing, but this piece is going to Woodlawn this year to see how it fares in that competition, so it needs something worthy. Once framed, I'll post a final photo.
While waiting for my final notification on the Master Craftsman Program, I tried my hand at a slightly different technique -- Needle Painting. This technique is done using a single strand of DMC floss on muslin fabric (VERY different than what I'm used to!) in mostly long and sort soft shading. The result is intricate life-like detail of animals, birds, and flowers, such as my little bluebird below:
Luckily, this design is only about 3.5 inches across! I needed stronger glasses to work this, but I really enjoyed doing it, and plan on doing another next month as part of an online class with the deisgner, Tanja Berlin (http://www.berlinembroidery.com/onlineclasses.htm) It's a Red Fox and I think it will be fun, especially as I have at least one friend who is doing the class as well, so we can share our progress!
Anyone else want to join us???
My plans for posts coming soon are ...
Instructions for washing and blocking your crewel work (this for my EGA Chapter friends!)
Recaps of the first several steps of the Master Craftsman Program
An overview of the Jacobean Program I designed for my chapter
Progress reports on my new projects (Red Fox Needlepainting, Goldwork, and of course, more crewel!)
If there is something you would like me to write about, or a question you may have, please let me know! And if you have any friends who would be interested in this blog, feel free to share and pass it along!
Happy New Year!!
