Casalguidi & Lavender: Background completed

With the completion of the background, I have more or less completed lesson 1 of this EGA group correspondence course.

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Barbara M. Kershaw says that Casalguidi is a peasant embroidery. Apparently the peasants and villagers of Casalguidi,which is a village in North Central Italy, created this form of embroidery in order to imitate the laces that the rich people used, which they admired very much but just could not afford themselves.

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Fascinating to learn some of the reasons why some new techniques have been created by people. This was also a nice way for the women to increase their family's income.

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There is a very interesting book that I own which talks a little bit more about the history of Casalguidi. The book shows some wonderful pieces that have been done through the years and it also has some beautiful projects in it as well as how to make the different stitches. It is called Casalguidi Style Linen Embroidery by Effie Mitrofanis. You can find this book at many needlepoint stores and also at Amazon.

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Lesson 2 will be about adding a padded raised stem band. That should be interesting learning :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Casalguidi: Starting with the middle background

This is the starting point of my Casalguidi & lavender project, designed by Barbara M. Kershaw. I am working this project on a 32ct linen and had a bit of basting to do before actually starting working the middle section with a modified Four-sided stitch. If you look at the photo in the link provided above you will see a similar section that is surrounding this one. This is what I will be working on next.
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Once the background has been completed, then the fun part will begun. Lots of new things for me to learn here, so will see how it goes :-)
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Pierrette =^..^=

Casalguidi & Lavender: Barbara M. Kershaw, designer

While I need a little more time to finish my first blackwork tree before I can put a photo on my blog, I thought I would show you this Casalguidi project for which I have just received my supplies yesterday. It is called Casalguidi and Lavender and has been designed especially for the Embroiderers' Guild of America by Barbara M. Kershaw.

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This project when finished will measure approximately 6" by 6" and it has been designed by Barbara to be finished as a scented sachet, putting some lavender inside, which is the scent I love the most, just so relaxing.

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I first saw a casalguidi project in the Australian magazine called Inspiration and thought to myself I just need to learn this Italian technique as it is just so beautiful and when this course was offered by my online chapter EGA CyberStitchers I made sure to purchase it so that I could learn the basics. Those courses are just perfect to get us started with a new technique the proper way.

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Will try to finish that blackwork tree today and put a photo of it either later today or tomorrow :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Hardanger: Starting to fill in those little kloster diamonds

I got up way too early this morning and I now feel sluggish and it is only 6:25. This heat (heat index today will be between 100 and 110°F) is turning my life upside down. I just don't do well in that kind of weather. These last few days, I saw myself wake up around 3:30, 4:00 in the morning and been thinking that I might as well get up and get going on some of my projects. That seems to have worked for the previous days, but today I really feel tired and I am afraid that I will be dragging my feet all day long. I don't expect that I will be doing much stitching at all, so will probably be concentrating on getting myself organized instead.

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Yesterday, I went through lots and lots of projects piled up here and there in order to decide which ones I want to do now, which ones I will probably want to do later and those that I am not so sure right now, well you get the idea. Then I thought since I had all of them in my hands, I might as well start that list of projects that I have been wanting to do forever, so started that as it just felt like the logical thing to do. I decided that I was going to write the name of the project, the name of the designer, origin, stitching technique and whether I have completed it or not.

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Since I am feeling like crap today, I am thinking that I should work on my blog and add a few additional labels to make things easier to locate stuff. I also need to check my supplies for those new projects and order whatever I need for them. All these things should keep me pretty busy today. At least I will have the feeling that I am accomplishing things even if I am not stitching.

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Since the last photo taken what seems to me ages ago, I have added a new one of More Options .... in Hardanger, a Dale Sokolow design. Two small Kloster Diamonds have been filled out of 8 leaving 6 more to fill in and then of course the 6 bigger ones. For previous posts on this hardanger project as well as others of the same technique, you may want to follow this link.

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Hoping that most of you will have a nice cool day with a gentle breeze :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Framed

My Gracie has just came back from the framer and here is a picture of her. We made the decision not to put a glass over this time around, so I will be able to play with her whenever I feel like it (big smile).

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I was happy to hear back from the framer, especially today as I am having one of those days where nothing seems to work just right. Bet you all know what I mean. Anyway, Gracie has put a bit of sunshine in my sorry day.

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Been working on my Elizabethan crewel project this morning, the one that will go into a pencil box when finished. Going well so far. I checked the box I purchased with the kit and to my surprise there was no finishing instruction at all, no cardboard included or anything, nothing to attach it in position, so just wrote to Barbara from Tristan Brooks hoping that she can give me a bit of information as to how to go about putting everything together. I have purchased boxes before, not from Olde Colonial Designs though, but there were always finishing instructions with them, so will see what happens with this one. Still have a little bit of stitching to do before getting to that finishing part, so I am hoping to hear back from Barbara soon as I love to finish my projects as soon as they have been stitched.

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Now, back to my stitching :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger: Motifs completed

Again, I have scanned instead of taking a photo as it comes out a bit better. The only drawback is that the photo is split in two sections. It is either that or a not so good photo :-(

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I am so happy that I have completed everything except the fillings. This project is much bigger than Options in Hardanger that I have done just before this one. Since the last photo posted, I have done all the motifs and also the little diamonds inside the bigger ones in preparation for the fillings.

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I have also ordered the bell pull hardware yesterday. I will add a photo when I receive it.

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I think that I will now concentrate on some other projects for a few days as I feel that I need a break from this right now.

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Have also been slowly reading during the evenings Crewel World ... where murder in a small town keeps one smart lady on pins and needles, a book written by Monica Ferris (63 pages read out of 243, not too bad). I love to have something to read and it is the first time that I read a book where the story involves our stitching world, which makes it really enjoyable :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger: Eyelets all done

Upper and bottom sections showing the eyelets. Had to scan in order to get a decent photo and unfortunately the piece is too big to go inside it without having to cut it in two, but at least now you can see it a bit better.

It was funny, my husband came into my stitching room when I was almost done with all the eyelets and he had the nerve to ask me if I was going to do the same in the surrounding border. I gave him "the look" and he understood (ROFL).

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Next phase of this project will be to add the motifs and after that the real fun will start with the fillings.

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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger: Border stitched

After working really hard and long, I have just done the border with blanket stitches.
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Again, I can't seem to be able to get a good photo showing the colors properly. The thread looks really good with the fabric, but whenever I look at any photos that I have taken so far, the colors just do not come up right. Too bad that you can't see the colors up-close and personal :-)
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I am not sure if I am going to do the eyelets next or the motifs. The eyelets will be quite repetitive and there are quite a bit of them. They do need to be done before I can start having fun with the fillings though, so no way that I can get out of it :-(
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I guess I may end up doing a bit of both, just to change the monotony a bit.
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I also need to start looking online for some bell pull hardware. Not sure what I want, metal or wood. Choices, choices ..............
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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger:Inside border

Have done a little more on my hardanger project. What you see is the inside border all around the kloster diamonds. I took my time and counted and recounted to make sure that there would not be any mistakes left once I finished that inside border as it is much easier to undo at this stage. It is just so easy to make mistakes when you work on a project like this. Either you miscount or you simply enter the wrong hole. That happens sometimes when the thread of the fabric is especially thin. At this point, I feel pretty confident that everything is as should be, so will now proceed with the outside border done in blanket stitch.

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I must say that I always enjoy myself a lot when doing hardanger and Dale Sokolow's designs are all quite special. This is my second one of hers and a third one will soon be on its way to me :-)

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Before that, I had taken Marion Scoular's beginner's hardanger course and I am so glad I took that one as it gave me a good basic knowledge of how to do hardanger making it so much easier to do the more advanced projects.

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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger: Kloster Diamonds

A little progress to report here on More Options .......... in Hardanger as I have just finished stitching the kloster diamonds.

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Gay Ann Rogers was saying the other day in her classroom that the thread color(s) look differently depending on which other colors surround them and I was able to verify that quite by chance actually with this project when I used the same exact thread on both pieces of hardanger (see the picture of the little hardanger piece to the right of this post). The main difference in my case is the slight change of color in my fabric. On the little piece to the right I have used an ASH ROSE fabric and in this project I am using a PLUM BLOSSOM fabric and the color of my thread just does not look the same.

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We are learning quite a bit about colors and threads with Gay Ann and it is all free so anyone who is interested in learning can join in using the link above :-) We are even getting information about how to best photograph our work, which has always been a bit of a challenge for me.

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Next phase of my project here will be to work the border with a blanket stitch. I am not following the progression order here as I thought that it would be nice to get this all out of the way before actually doing the fillings inside those diamonds.

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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger

More Options .... in Hardanger, a design by Dale Sokolow, another EGA GCC taken with EGA CyberStitchers.

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Yesterday, I started working on this hardanger project and this is what I have been able to do so far. I am using a Plum Blossom Jobeland #28 fabric with some Watercolours threads by Caron. This project will be finished as a bell pull when completed.

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Some links where you can see other EGA's Cyberstitchers who have already completed it. You can see a picture of the project here when you download the PDF or you can go directly on EGA National website

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There is also a photo on Glenda's blog and another one one Feather Stitching's blog There are probably others on other blogs and I will be happy to add the links here if someone tells me about them :-)

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I have at many occasions tried to work on multiple projects alternating between them but have never been so good at it, but here I am trying again. Will see if this works out for me or if it is completely against my nature.

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My intention this year is to make a dent in my Group correspondence courses from EGA, ANG and EAC, so I will always be working on one while working on other projects so hopefully I can get them all done, probably not this year as it would be way too ambitious but in the years to come.

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I just had a look at my Group Correspondence Classes and the different techniques used and here is a brief list: Stumpwork, Crewel, Beading, Needlepoint, Silk & Metal, Blackwork, Drawn thread, Fillet Work & Pulled Stitches, Casalguidi, Unkrainian Openwork, Florentine, Pulled & Drawn thread and probably others that I have missed. I think that I will have to revise my time frame to finish all those by a couple more years, that is if I stop adding to my pile. Well, better go back to my stitching as I am starting to feel a real sense of urgency :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Free to swim around

Feeling like doing a Happy Dance as I have just finished stitching my first stumpwork project with Gracie. This was a Ganet Burr design written for us at EGA.
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All these EGA GCC can either be taken directly from EGA National or like in my case from EGA CyberStitchers.

Have added a close-up of Gracie herself. I will now have to keep an eye on her if I don't want her to stray away too far. Have not done all this work to loose her now :-(

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Body attached

An updated photo showing Gracie's body attached. There are two layers of padding under (with felt). I tried to take a photo in such a way that we could see the padded body. Not an easy thing to do as I tried different ways and this photo seems to be the best so far.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Fins and body

Have managed to take a photo of the last three sections that I had to stitch for Gracie before assembling her. I had been wondering how it would come out (photo that is) because today it is very dark as we are having again thunderstorms. I am not complaining, mind you, as we had a pretty awful drought last year so all the rain that we are getting is good :-)

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On this photo you are seeing the two fins, one big and one tiny one and the body of Gracie that needed to be stitched separately because I will be adding two layers of padding under before attaching her to the main fabric.

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I need to get my felt and cut two little pieces, one larger than the other, the larger one being on top of the smaller one, then I will make a long bullion to create her mouth and a few beads for her eyes as I want her to be able to see where she is going and perhaps also see her own reflection as she is quite pretty and gracious, which perhaps is where her name is coming from (big smile).

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After that part is complete, I will be attaching the two fins to her body, then will be adding the two leaves, one on each side of her and will finish it up with some bubbles, which will be graciously coming out of her lovely mouth :-)

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So, a lot of finishing work to be done today before I can let her loose in the water.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Wired seaweed leaves completed

I have not been feeling very energetic these past few days so only managed to stitch the two seaweed leaves, the ones with wires. They took forever to complete, seems to me, having to tack the wire first, then do a blanket stitch all around them, and with the larger one on the left had to do some chain stitch for padding and then satin stitch over and for the other one on the right a series of stem stitch.

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Have now to do the two fins, large one and smaller one, with wires too and then will be closer to completion. Will still have to do the body of the fish and then the putting every parts together and out for a Happy Dance :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Sand close-up

Decided to take another photo hoping that this time around we could see the ecru French knots better. We can see the darker ones allright, but the lighter ones are a bit more difficult to see. This photo is not quite what I was hoping for, but I suppose that I will have to be happy with it (big sigh).

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie with sand added

Wow, that was something, adding all those French knots to represent the sand. I have been using two different colors of DMC, one being ecru and the other one a very light tan, both DMC. Looking at this photo we can't see very well the ecru French knots, but they are there.
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Next will be working the wired elements: two seaweed leaves and two fins for Gracie. After that will be Gracie's body, which won't be a wired element, but a padded one.
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Then, putting everything together and Gracie will be able to swim forever :-)
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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Fish section

I am so tired right now, I can't even think straight. I was taking a break earlier on and at the same time was reading the rest of the instructions for this project and was telling my husband that I was not out of the woods yet. You know what he replied to me? He said "You are always in the woods" and I had to laugh at that one because it is so true because as soon as I get out of the woods by finishing a project I immediately get into another one. That man of mine is not a fool (grinning).

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So, on this photo you can see part of Gracie's little body. All the rest is done separately and then attached to the fabric. I have two fins to do and two leaves that will be attached later on. For Gracie's body I need to stitch it and then pad before tacking to the fabric.

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Before that, I have some sand to do using French knots, so I am not out of the woods yet. It takes forever to stitch because the main stitch used is stem stitch and I can tell you that it takes a lot of them to cover a little surface.

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I will be taking the rest of the day off and blieve me it won't be a luxury because I really really need it at this point. Listening to Mozart has helped some to get me going when I was feeling like stopping because my back was hurting.

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Next photo will be with the sand.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Seaweeds done

Another photo showing most of the seaweeds done except of course the two seaweed leaves that will be attached at the end. I just added the ferns done in Edmar Boucle threads. I may decide to add a little more of them after I have completed my little gold fish depending if it needs more or not. Better be conservative at this point as I don't want to overdo it.

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Finally now, I can start working on Gracie herself. Been looking forward to that ever since I started the project.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Seaweeds to her right

I have done a little more on Gracie, this time some elongated seaweed leaves using a Needle Necessities very light variegated green. I still have to do some seaweed ferns using the featherstitch before I can start working on Gracie herself. There will also be another elongated seaweed that will be added at the end of the stitching as I am keeping all the wired elements for the very end. Never done any stumpwork before so I feel quite excited by what is still to come on this project.

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The day is still young so will go back to my stitching and see how much I can manage to do today :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=