A Solution in Search of a Problem

I've worked in the technology field for several years and we are always trying not to have a solution in search of a problem. You're supposed to have a problem to solve first! Then you look for an appropriate solution and not the other way around.

I am currently faced with the embroidery equivalent of a solution in search of a problem. I have a beautiful set of Heathway crewel wool and I need a problem, I mean a project, on which to use it.

Wild Child: Mostly Tamed

I have finished the embroidered part of Wild Child. It's taken longer than I thought, but due to other restrictions on my time I haven't had a lot of opportunities to stitch over the last year.

In the last episode, there were just a few outlines and a bit of green filling left. The majority of the remaining work was the black beaded filling throughout the entire piece, lots and lots of filling!

Sweet Violas in Thread Painting

As I'm nearing completion of the embroidered part of Wild Child, I'm contemplating what to work on next. I have two other large pieces to finish (Summer of Love Challenge and Antique Society Silk Violets), but I need to do some relaxing stitching for a bit. I think I'm going to find a small thread painting project in order to give my brain a rest.

One of my favourite sources for easy, but gratifying shaded embroidery projects is Trish Burr's book Needle Painting Embroidery: Fresh Ideas for Beginners. While it's a wonderful book for beginners, there's enough detail to interest more advanced needlepainters.

Several years ago, I embroidered Wild Pansy.

Loop de Loop de Loop

The procrastinating is over and the loops (aka, Curly) on Wild Child have been tackled.

The plan was to use surface embroidery to enhance Curly with the look of coloured pencil. My goal was to have the shaded loops appear as if they had been printed on the fabric, and only by looking closely would you know that they were stitched.

To begin, I selected a lot of potential colours!

Little Man in Opus Anglicanum

For many reasons, I've had Medieval embroidery on the brain lately. Several years ago, I had the  good fortune to be invited to a symposium put on by a Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) group. They taught four embroidery classes over two days, and it was an incredibly valuable experience.

One of the classes was Opus Anglicanum (translation: English Work) which I don't think I'd even heard of at the time! We worked a traditional Medieval character in silk and gold threads.