Spring 2024: Google ended its email subscription service in 2021. I believe I've found a replacement, but haven't had time to test it. I have been stitching a little bit here and there and have some posts ready for when the email subscription is active again. Fingers crossed, I'll have time to rouse this blog out of its dormancy sometime this year.

27 October 2017

The Sampler is Finished

The crewel sampler is finished...at last! The final motif was a rose in the lower left hand corner.

Crewel Sampler (by Elsa Williams): Rose detail

The centre of the rose--the green buttonhole stitching--is not symmetrical. It is drawn that way. In fact, the entire piece has the feeling of being hand drawn. If I had thought about it I probably would have adjusted the centre a bit to make it more symmetrical, but it's fine as it is. I kind of like the fact that the design is a bit informal.

20 October 2017

A Starter Bird

When it comes to thread painting it seems to me that most designs/kits are floral-oriented. I would venture a guess that the second most common theme is birds.

I have stitched a handful of birds over the years and I definitely have more planned for the future. I find that birds can be a bit more tricky to stitch than flowers, but once you embroider a few birds they become easier. I wouldn't, however, start with a bird as my first thread painting project, a simple flower is probably a better choice.

Robin on Blossom Branch (by Tanja Berlin): Detail of thread painted head

The first bird I stitched was Robin on Blossom Branch which is a kit of an American robin designed by Tanja Berlin. I had thought about starting with a bluebird by Trish Burr, but didn't think I was quite ready. I wanted a simpler bird.

13 October 2017

Good Things Come in Threes

At last! I've made decent progress on the crewel sampler. I finished the last of the three large central motifs.

Crewel Sampler (by Elsa Williams): Completed large left motif

06 October 2017

Slow Progress

I am slowly plugging away at the vintage Elsa Williams crewel sampler, emphasis on slow! I finished the largest of the motifs, the one in the centre.