New Year's Resolutions

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!!

And The Winner Is ...

One of the things I love the most about Crewel is that I can put any stitch anywhere I want on my piece.  Even when I am stitching a commercial design, I can pick my colors and my stitches.  Some people prefer to have a chart or a specific map of where everything goes, but not me....   except for that darned butterfly on my Master Craftsman Step #6 piece!   

As I said before, I have never had a single motif give me more trouble.  My original intent was to have a monarch butterfly, orange and black.   Early on, I decided that there was too much detail to fit into the small butterfly I had for all the intricacies of the monarch pattern, but I could use the colors.  So this is what I stitched:

I was a little concerned that it was too bright, and the judges agreed with that.  I tried looking for the same color family but just a bit softer hues, but I didn't have anything (and I have almost every color of Appleton Crewel wool made!)   I looked for totally different colors -- a blue, perhaps?  Nope.  Peacock?  Nope.  Scarlet?  Ick!!  After hours of pulling colors out of my cabinet and laying them on the piece in various light conditions, I finally reverted back to the same colors in the surrounding design, the yellows, pinks and purples.  

With that decision made, Next was a question of what stitch to use.  For some reason, I moved away from the bands of Satin Stitch and tried my old standby Long and Short (right side in the photo below.)   I liked it, but it just looked a little too much like a flower petal and not a butterfly wing!  So I tried the Satin Stitch bands (left side below) which I liked, but I couldn't get the edges as crisp as I wanted, and I was worried that there was not enough contrast between the yellow and the linen.  

That's when I tried adding the outline stitch, both in the Bright Mauve below, and then in the Bright Rose Pink further below.  Neither of those was quite the effect I wanted. 

Out it all came AGAIN.  By now, I was beginning to worry a bit about the linen fabric getting a bit frayed from so many attempts and having to rip them all out, and resorted to my Doodle Cloth!  (I'm not sure why it took me so long, especially since that's the name of my blog.)  I stitched a Satin outside band, with two lines of outline in the Bright Rose Pink, and the center is Satin in Bright Mauve.   It's hard to tell from the photos, but the wing below is on oyster linen (almost white) and the actual piece is on a darker background.  I really liked this combination, as long as it would have enough contrast! 

I can't tell you how many hours this one butterfly has cost me.  The original orange one not withstanding, this new version -- between thinking and pondering and planning and trying and ripping out and trying again -- probably took ten or twelve hours.  I like the results (close-up below, in context further down.)   

Do you?

.  

I have now made all of the requested changes to the piece, washed it, and it's now blocked and drying.  Sometime in mid-September, it will be on it's way for final judging, and hopefully a successful outcome. 

Now, on to the small piece I have designed as a program for my Local EGA Chapter (Bucks County).  I'm really excited about this project, and there are 10 people signed up for it already!  It's a small design (the linen is 9" x 9", the design about 4 1/2 - 5") that incorporates motifs from Jacobean Crewel, with a nice variety of stitches.  I'm going to put a complete kit together, and I'm writing a nice instruction booklet complete with photos of me working each stitch.  Stay tuned, and I'll write more about it in my next post!

Happy 4th of July!! 

The Final Phase of Master Crafstman

I apologize to my legions of followers (all 8 of you -- ha ha!) for not staying active in my blogging!  I don't know how good bloggers do it, and wish I could!   I had every intention of doing step by step updates of this final phase of my Master Craftsman journey, with photos as I went, but I really wanted to finished it in time for the April 1st judging deadline, and that meant head down concentration and no time for anything else in my life for several months.  

It is now finished.  I think.  The problem with original designs is you always want to tweak and add things!  I have added several things in the last week to help balance the colors and the density to white space ratio.  Unless someone points out something glaring, I declare it finished.  There are a few things I am not 100% pleased with (and I won't say what!) so it will be very interesting to see if the judges point any of those out.

Here it is, the whole piece, and some close-ups of each section.  

 

I am pretty happy with it. 

One thing it has taught me is that I enjoy desgning original pieces!  I have loved stitching designs I have obtained over the years, but there are so many other versions of the same design out there.  Doing an original raises it to more of an art, in my mind.  I sometimes wonder if there would be any market for original works of "needleart", like original paintings?  I might have to give it a try!

So now it's on to the washing and blocking phase, then all the paperwork (I need to create a stitch diagram, where I indicate on a copy of the design every stitch along with thread samples and every color used.  That takes forever!) for submission.  It must be in the judges hands by April 1st which is not a problem at this point -- I'm usually doing all of that in the last 3 days and then paying for priority shipping!  Hopefully, I'll be announcing a "Passed" decision soon!

I did take a small bit of time out a month or so ago, and shipped two completed pieces off to the Woodlawn Needlework Exhibit in Alexandria, Virginia.  This is one of the largest exhibits in the country, and is actually a competition.  I have no idea if I have won anything, despite the judging being complete, because the group that does it is apparently not very good about posting results or advertising!  Personally, I think that's deplorable in this day and age -- how hard could it be to scribe the results and post them online?  I plan on driving down to see the exhibit the weekend of March 16/17, and will report back any news. I'm not sure photography is allowed (the exhibit is in a Historical Home) but I'll see what I can do.  Stay tuned!

Here are the two pieces:

An old Elsa Williams Jacobean Design, one in a set of six. 

A Deerfield Early American Design

My next blogging goal is to go back and share the Master Craftsman Certification experience from the beginning!  I'm also designing a small project to be taught at my local EGA Chapter later this year that I'm really looking forward to.  I'll share that as well.

Enjoy!

Step #5 Provisionally Passed

My goodness, I can't believe I have not posted anything since mailing in my pieces for judging back in April. Where has the time gone?  I do apologize, and on this sweltering hot July day, will try to make amends by bringing things up to date while sitting in the air conditioning.

I received my package back from the Master Craftsman judges, to find that my Step #4 (the parrot/peacock that I needed to fix stitch direction on the tail feathers) was passed on re-submission (Yeah!!) so they moved on to judge Step #5.  This was the Elizabethan original design.  I was relatively confident that it would pass, and must say was a bit disappointed to get only a "Provisional" pass.   I sometimes feel like they believe they can't pass people on the first try!

I went through the comments carefully to see what they wanted changed, and was thinking to myself "really??"   Then I got to the end of the comments, and even the judges admitted that the changes were "nit-picky".   I knew they wouldn't take long to fix, and put it aside to begin thinking about my design for the final piece (they send the instructions for the next piece as long as you have a provisional pass.)  I think that's what threw me off course -- I hit design block!  More on that later.  For now, I'll concentrate on Step #5, what they wanted changed, and how it looks now that I've changed it. 

The things they wanted changed were:

• The Coral Knot tendrils at the top that had the knots too far apart
• Some small areas of Satin Stitch that seemed bulky and rough
• The color on the big Tulip (this was a suggestion only, not a requirement)

First, the Coral Knots.  Here is a photo of what they looked like originally.

I have placed arrows to show the knots, and how far apart they are.  I have not read anything in any of my books that says you should only have space between them for one knot, and I liked the look of them spaced out like this, but the judges said I needed to change them to be closer together.  I have done so, and the picture below shows the result.

                           

It's a different look than what I wanted, but okay.

The next issue they pointed out was the uneven Satin Stitch at the mouth of my little bell flowers.  To be honest, I was not totally happy with those myself, and it didn't surprise me that the judges pointed that out.  I have a vision of what those flowers should look like, and could never quite realize that vision, although the new version is closer.  

Here is the before...

And here is the after:

 Finally, they didn't like the satin stitch stem of my purple tulip.  They also suggested that I replace the inside of the tulip petals with yellow to provide better color distribution.  Again, I was careful to balance my color distribution, and didn't think it was really necessary.   Here is the original, and you can see the thick stem and the all purple tulip.  I have arrows pointing to the petals they suggested I change.

I replaced the stem with a line of chain flanked by rows of outline, and it is a much smoother look.  I was trying to replicate the stem of a tulip flower which is thick and round, but I can see how it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the design.   As for the color suggestion, I opted to compromise.  Since their commentary was a "suggestion" it meant I was not required to make the change.  I decided to add some yellow instead of replacing the purple entirely with yellow.  Again, not sure it was necessary, but at this point in the process I've learned (to a certain extent) to just give the judges what they want!  

Luckily, all of these changes took me less than 2 days to accomplish, and the piece is now finished.  All I need to do now is re-wash and block it and send it in for the October 1st judging deadline.  I sure hope I don't wait until the last possible day and end up having to pay extra for Priority Mail like I normally do!  

That will be the only thing I send in for October.   I made a huge amount of progress yesterday and today on my design, and finally have one I am happy with (my next blog post will be about that design.)  It's a  very ambitious project at dimensions of 13" by 27".  I still have a few things to tweak on the design, then get it onto linen (can you believe I have a piece of linen exactly the right size!!??) then select my color scheme, and THEN I can start stitching.   This is a bad time of year for me to concentrate on stitching, because so much of my time is spent training our horses and going to competitions over the summer.  So at this point, I am not even going to put pressure on myself.  I'll be happy to finish it over the winter, and send it in for next April. 

Let me know what YOU think of the changes the judges asked for.  Do you like the results?  Would you have left it the way it was?      

A Place in History?

Today, I am sitting with my foot elevated to relieve swelling and lessen the negative impacts of having a 1200 lb horse stomp on my foot. Given my confinement, I have pushed forward with reading historical accounts of embroiderers and the evolution of crewel design, in preparation for Step #5 of the Master Craftsman program (more about Step #4 later!) I have been studying Crewel Embroidery in England by Joan Edwards, (copyright 1975, William Morrow & Co. Inc. New York) and came to the Epilogue. The author's words closing her book were personally meaningful, as we look at my Mother's needlework and determine its dispersal to various family members, even while I continue to create more pieces myself. I wanted to quote the work here:

"From time to time there come to every embroiderer moments of the purest possible pleasure. The particular piece of work on which she has been engaged is finished. She removes it from the frame and spreads it out between her hands, examining every detail with minute attention. It is as though she is seeing it for the first time. Out of her own skill, initiative, and invention she has created something that pleases her. Briefly she allows herself to savour her sense of satisfaction and fulfilment.

Maybe, she concedes, it is not of quite such surpassing excellence as she had hoped to achieve when she made the design, chose the threads, and decided exactly where to place the first stitch, but on balance as good as or even a little better than her previous work.

Will anybody else, she wonders, realise how much thought and care has gone into it? Will it by some happy chance be miraculously preserved, forgotten but not destroyed, eventually to become a treasured family heirloom, and even perhaps to find its way into a great museum, where scholars will document it and embroiderers study it as an interesting example of 'historical' needlework? Surely, she reflects, it is not asking very much to be remembered as a woman who was clever with her needle.

Even as she plays fondly with her pipe dreams, she knows in her heart that its chances of survival are minimal; that although it is here today, pretty, fresh, and colourful, by tomorrow it will be faded and grubby, the threads worn and the colours faded; and that because the present sets very little store by its immediate past, the next generation is as likely to destroy as to cherish it. Perhaps she will comfort herself with the thought that, like a garden, much of embroidery's charm lies in the fact that it is completely ephemeral.

But to finish one piece of work is only an excuse to begin another, the idea for which she has been turning over in her mind for a long while. She cannot wait to get on with it for she is irresistably fascinated by the art of working intricate stitches and by the variety of decorative effects she can obtain with them; by watching a design develop along the lines and in the colours she has chosen for it; and by the knotty little problems she is constantly being called upon to resolve. Absorbed in bringing into focus all her technical expertise, taste, and ingenuity, and balancing them on the point of her needle, she has neither regret nor hesitation. The past and the future may take care of themselves. Time becomes meaningless. Only the embroidery she is engaged upon at the present moment is important."

I finished Step #4 of the Master Craftsman Crewel program a few weeks ago, and it's now washed, blocked, pinned to the acid-free board, accompanied by the stitch diagram and thread samples and all other submission requirements, and on it's way to the judges. Before I put it in the post, I took a few photos. Unfortunately, the really nice digital camera is not in the house at the moment (the nerve of Duncan to keep his own camera with him!) so I had to use my
Droid Phone, which I must say take
s pretty darned decent photos!

The purpose of this step was the exhibit expertise in techniques of soft shading, predominantly long and short stitch. A minimum of two other stitches also illustrating shading were to be included. We had three designs from which to choose, and I chose the smallest for a few reasons. I felt it would best showcase my technique, and I could absolutely get it finished on time! I did not want to miss the October first deadline and be another 6 months behind! So here is the finished piece!

I was inspired by peacocks, but the peacock has a royal blue breast and did not lend itself to my color scheme choice. Then I found some photos of a kingfishe

r, which had the red-orange breast and the turquise feathers. I decided to make a new bird out of the two, and my kingfisher-peacock was born!

The breast is long and short, done in 5 shades of Appleton Orange-Red. The feathers are Appleton Bright Peacock, and the peacock "eyes" have a bit of Royal Blue, and Kingfisher at the center (loved that the Appleton color names were right in line with my intent!) surrounded by the Orange Red. There are highlights in the feath

ers of the Orange Red (in the Bright Peacock) and Kingfisher (in the shoulder feathers). The face of the bird is done in semi-circules of buttonhole stitch in Peacock, with lighter shades worked in to enhance the shading. (additiona

l stitch #1) The branch is done in gradations of Elephant Gray outline stitch (additional stitch #2).

Here are some close-ups:

Breast shading in Orange Red

Feathers in Bright

Peacock, with highlights of Orange Red and Kingfisher

Head showing top-knot in all colors and showing cheeks of semi-circular buttonhole in Peacock. The beak is long and short in Elephant Gray. The eye is Charcoal with a flick of off white for the glint.

Tail feathers in Bright Peacock, with 'eyes' of Orange Red, Kingfisher, and Royal. The 'eyes' look a bit like an advertisement for natural gas, but I'm happy with them anyway!

So, now the waiting game begins. If I pass this step, they'll mail me #5 (of a total 6) and I can start working on that. I know it will be an adaptation of a Jacobean or Elizabethan period piece, showing research into the period, but I don't know what the design will be. The research shouldn't be a problem as I've done a lot already and have many books to help me.

Wish me luck on #4!!