Stitching Update - May 2011

I have completed three stitching pieces over the past month or so.  The first was the my variation of Florentine Signets which I had already started.  This is based on a design from Bargello Magic, by Pauline Fischer and Anabel Lasker.  This is a wonderful treasure trove of a book for anyone interested in Bargello needlepoint.   The framework pattern was stitched in different shades of green - medium yellow green, ultra dark pistachio and bright chartreuse.  For this I used two strands of DMC cotton threads.  The centres of each signet was filled with silk threads in blue and purple.  I used three threads as I find stitching with silk quite difficult.  It doesn’t seem to lie as smoothly as cotton thread.  I then cut out a rectangle from the middle which I’ve filled with a torn piece from a some paintwork by my grandson Jamie.   

Following my course in mounting and framing I decided to finish this piece off myself.  I already had a cast off mounting frame in blue.  I only had to trim this to the right size.  The frame is a second-hand frame from IKEA, which I picked up very cheaply in Germany I think.  To make the frame a bit more attractive I added some liming wax to the wood.  This has been the most time consuming piece of work I have so far undertaken - about 48 hours in all.

Next up was another Bargello piece, but this time in wool.  I am trying to use up my stash of Anchor tapestry wool as in future I want to try out Persian wool.  This is supposed to be better for needlework.  Anyway I don’t like to waste anything, so I’m trying to use up the threads I have left.  I discovered that this stash included lots of yellows and oranges.  Hence the predominant colours of the piece as you can see below.

The background is a simple Hungarian stitch repeated in orange and yellow.  The central diamond is a pattern known as Ripples in white, green and brown.  Not sure how to finish this piece off.  So it is just lying about at the moment.  Still got some more Anchor threads to use up.  I will probably just use them for a sampler piece.

My most recent work was the lavender cube above.  I love making these little cubes and filling them with lavender, mixed in with the hollow fibre.  The designs as usual come from Louison’s blog on Biscornus.  These were from Series No 9 positif which has six patterns each for a 30 pt square.  I use all six to make a cube.  The fabric is a very pale green 18pt Aida and the threads various shades of green in DMC cotton.