Sinister Craftiness

Last month I attended the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) Annual General Meeting.  This year the AGM was held in Portland, Oregon and focused on Northanger Abbey.  All the details of mayhem, mystery, and muslin can be found on the family blog, so here’s just a quick summary for the craft room.

I was a member of a panel discussion Friday morning and it’s hard to say who had more fun, we panel members or the audience. We hired an actor to play Henry Tilney, the hero of Northanger Abbey, and his performance was one of the highlights of the AGM.  Some of the ladies were very disappointed to learn that he would not be attending the Saturday night ball, as they were hoping to dance with him!

I attended several breakout sessions and Team Gimlet toured the beautiful and serene Portland Japanese Garden.  It rained that afternoon, so the garden was not crowded.

Saturday night wrapped up the meeting on a high note with the banquet and Bal Masque.  There were beautiful and creative Regency-era fashions and costumes to admire everywhere.

During a lunch break some of us managed a quick side trip to the nearby Portland fiber arts district:  the knitters visited Knit Purl while I checked out The Playful Needle next door, met Noodles the shop dog, and stocked up on Threadgatherer Silk N’Colours.

I did get a little stitching done on the train trip to Portland!  Here’s a peek at the small Hardanger centerpiece I’m stitching on Dublin linen (25 count) with Caron Watercolours:

I finished the surface stitches today, so now it’s on to the pulled stitches and then the cutwork begins.

Hardanger doily from Burda Hardanger E395
Confederate Grey Quaker cloth (28 count)
Stitched with Trebizond and Soie Perlée

This is the “lacy edge” doily I was working on last week, and it turned out pretty well for a first try at lacy edges.  I had this scrap of Quaker cloth in my stash, and found it was a great fabric for Hardanger.  The cotton blend makes it a little fuller than pure linen, but it still holds the pulled and drawn shapes nicely.  I love the look and feel of long filament twisted silk; it adds a luxurious shine to the design, making small Hardanger projects like this one extra special.  For more information about twisted silk threads and how to use them, read Mary Corbet’s Needle ‘n Thread article, one of my favorite resources for learning about all things embroidery.

I call the cutting stage “Zombie Hardanger” because during that part of the process the piece looks like undead embroidery:  nasty big gaps and loose threads hanging out every which way.  When there’s a lot of cutting to do, it can seem like no amount of weaving, wrapping, or fillings will make it look better, and that’s when panic suggests a shotgun and a shovel might be the best solution to the mess.  But don’t give up; the needleweaving and other fillings really do tame the monster into something as docile as a doily. And hopefully the zombie reference will make up for my lack of Halloween stitching this year.

Silk Rosebud scissors keeper by C.A. Wells
Soft white Northern Cross linen (35 count)
Stitched with Soie Cristale

I spent most of September working on a few different Hardanger projects:  the doily I made last year; a small table runner from an issue of Burda Hardanger, and another small Burda Hardanger doily.  The doilies are still in progress, so there’s nothing to show off yet.  Unfortunately I wasn’t too fond of the table runner pattern to begin with (but it looked like it would go quickly, so I chose it anyway) and then I didn’t like the variegated thread I chose; it’s much too bright for me.  I hoped the runner would grow on me as it progressed, but no.  I don’t think it’s nice enough to give away as a gift either, so I’ve put it aside for now.

Another Hardanger gift is in the queue; I love the design and hopefully the variegated thread I’ve chosen for it will work well with the pattern.  The skein is on order from my LNS and I’m eager to get started once it shows up.  Meanwhile, I needed a break from the dozens of eyelets on the pink doily and weaving the lacy edge on the other doily (which may be another disaster, or not … will find out soon), and this dainty little three-sided scissor fob was a perfect fit:  stitched and finished in one day.

Heirloom Wedding Sampler
by Victoria Sampler
Platinum Cashel linen (28 ct)
Stitched with:
DMC perle cotton
Trebizond
Soie d’Alger
Silk Mori
silk ribbon
Kreinik #4 braid

Hooray, it’s done!  Now it needs to be framed.  I love Victoria Sampler band samplers; between learning new stitches and the overall sampler design, they keep me interested all the way through and the end result is always so pretty, making all the hard work worthwhile.  This design reminds me of an antique wedding gown, all lace and pearls.  Click on the picture on the left to see the larger (1 MB) version.

I think my next Victoria Sampler project will be the Heirloom Nativity and maybe its companion piece, the Carol Singers … but I’m not starting those any time soon.

I have, however, started the Châtelaine Designs Peacock Garden Mandala — better late than never!  Part One is almost complete; I’ll post photos when it’s done.  So far, the colors are gorgeous, rich greens and blues.  A big change from working with all white.  And I’m working on the JOB box lid and base.  But for now, here’s a last look at the Hardanger section of the sampler.

Just bought a yard of antique (about 100 years old!) hand-loomed Ukrainian linen.  It’s around 28-30 count and fairly drapey.

What to do with this treasure?  I’m thinking Hardanger.  Probably a table runner, but depending on which design looks best, maybe a centerpiece.

Now to browse through my pattern collection for a design that will do this lovely old fabric justice …

I’m back!  Our family spent most of July driving through the Southwest:  we visited Arches and the Four Corners Monument in Utah, then Mesa Verde in Colorado, and spent a week at the Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico.  After Philmont we were in Santa Fe and Albuquerque for the weekend, then drove on the remnants of historic Route 66 to see the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest national parks, and north to the Grand Canyon.  Bryce Canyon in Utah finished up our sightseeing; we took a couple of days to rest up with the grandparents in northern Utah before the return trip home.  Phew!  GimletBlog has all the trip details, and there’s a photo gallery full of red rocks and sagebrush, too.

Early on in the journey, our hotel in Moab, Utah just happened to be across the street from a quilt shop, It’s Sew Moab.  How convenient!  It’s not a large store, about the size of The Quilting Loft in my hometown, but a nice selection of fabrics and notions, and a front-and-center display of Southwest-themed fabrics.  My memory is failing me, but I’m pretty sure I saw a room in the back with at least one longarm quilting machine.  I bought their signature quilt pattern as a souvenir and another small Moab-related kit which included a sampling of those Southwest prints.  If you’re staying in Moab for all the outdoor adventures southeast Utah has to offer, It’s Sew Moab is an easy shop to visit as you’re shopping for souvenirs or choosing a place to eat.

After Moab, we drove south en route to the Four Corners Monument, and made a rest stop in Blanding, Utah.  The Blanding visitors’ center is home to the community museum, which showcases several beautiful quilting and needlework projects.  It was an unexpected treat and an opportunity to pause and learn about a small town we were originally just “passing through”.

Last weekend was a good one for stitching, but it’s been difficult to find time this week to blog about it. I started a small doily (or coaster?) from Burda Hardanger E344:

As you can see, it’s small and simple, and features one of my favorite motifs, the edelweiss.  I’m stitching it with #5 and #8 white perle cotton on 25 count Lugana.   I chose this pattern because I wanted to learn how to make a lacy edge border.  I haven’t started the border yet; I’m still reading through the instructions.

Meanwhile the JOB is coming along great!  All eight panel borders are stitched (correctly this time) and panel #1 is well underway.  The lower part of the panel is complete except for beadwork, and the upper area is about half done.  I’ll post pictures when the first panel is complete or at the end of March, whichever comes first.

(With apologies to James Whitcomb Riley and Au Ver à Soie)

After finishing the Hardanger centerpieces for Christmas gifts, I vowed that the next Hardanger piece I stitched would be (1) small, and (2) for me.  One out of two isn’t bad.

Early January  I had an idea to give a doily as a gift.  Surely a doily would be quicker and easier than a full size centerpiece, right? (Answer:  Not if I can figure out a way to complicate it.)  The interlocking diagonal box design was similar to the Vesterheim centerpiece, and the Maltese crosses were on my must-learn list of basic Hardanger stitches.  I’ve been wanting to learn how to stitch the beautiful edelweiss motifs found in the center of each block as well.

The pattern for this doily can be found in the 1997 Hardanger special issue of Diana Craft Journal.  The chart suggests stitching it on Bellana (20 count) fabric, but I wanted a smaller doily so I used 32 count Belfast linen instead.  The 32 count version measures about 9″ (22.5 cm) square or 11″ (27.5 cm) if measured on the diagonal.

After settling on a piece of Cameo Rose linen, I decided the doily would be especially pretty if it were stitched with silk rather than the usual perle cotton. (Complication #1.)  I used Trebizond long filament silk to stitch the kloster blocks and blanket stitches, and Soie Gobelins (another long filament silk made by Au Ver à Soie) for the eyelets and open work.  It seems like long filament silk finds every tiny dry or rough spot on the fingers and snags, but the final results are fabulous:  the stitches have a gorgeous sheen that can’t be duplicated by other fibers.  The fine Soie Gobelins is especially suited to this doily’s open work, because the stitches on 32 count linen are so small.  (Complication #2.)

Here is a set of photos showing the doily in progress.  I always like to watch a piece of Hardanger take shape; each step is so simple but as each is added, the project comes together and becomes a work of art.  The doily was completed in one month’s time; the kloster blocks and Maltese crosses took the longest to stitch at about a week each.  Each edelweiss was about 20-30 minutes of stitching time (which some might label Complication #3), but since there were only eight, I was able to complete all of them over two days.

This doily was a lot of fun to stitch (snags aside, I love working with silk) and I think it turned out beautifully.  My not-so-local local needlework shop owner, who guided me through all the different silk options,  couldn’t believe it was meant as a gift; when I brought it in to show off she said, “You’ll make another one for yourself, won’t you?”  Absolutely … isn’t that what I promised last time?

(The three dozen red roses in the photos are courtesy of The Gimlet, who knows a good Valentine’s Day tradition when he sees it.)

Last summer I decided to embroider several Hardanger table centerpieces as Christmas gifts.   Originally I planned to make four gifts, but by the beginning of December it was clear that there was no way I’d be able to complete more than three.  Each centerpiece took about two months to embroider, and while I managed to complete the much larger third project in two months as well, life would have been much easier if I had budgeted 3-4 months for it instead.

My grandmother received the first project:  a 20″ (approx. 51cm) square centerpiece based on a 1905 design from the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum.  I stitched it on white Hardanger fabric (22 count) with variegated blue perle cotton from DMC.  The openwork took a lot longer than I thought it would; overall the centerpiece is much more “lacy” than I expected it would be.  (See what it looked like before I did any cutting, weaving, or picots.)  I was also learning each stitch along the way, so I believe if I made this centerpiece again it wouldn’t take as long to embroider the basic surface stitches.

The second centerpiece, Mindy, was given to my aunt.  A little smaller than the Vesterheim centerpiece (18″ or 45cm), I used light blue Hardanger fabric and white DMC perle cotton with dark blue perle cotton accents.  This centerpiece was the easiest and quickest of all the projects to stitch.  One aspect of Hardanger embroidery I enjoy is watching the progression of a project:  each set of simple stitches adds to the overall beauty and complexity of the design.  Here’s a look at Mindy in progress.

Third (and last), my mother chose the pattern “Oldemors Kaffeduk” (Great-grandmother’s coffee cloth) from Lillil Thuve’s book Hardanger Design (Orion Forlag, 2000).  The original design is white embroidery on white fabric, but I decided to use Caron Watercolours Rose Quartz for the surface stitches, and cream Hardanger fabric was a better match with those colors.  Further, I added a personal touch:  my mother’s dining room has a view of her bird feeders, to which chickadees are one of the most frequent visitors.  A Cross Stitcher’s Oriental Odyssey (by Joan Elliott) includes charts for a delightful pair of chickadees which fit perfectly in each corner of the tablecloth.

While the tablecloth design was simple, the size of the project (81cm  or 32″) meant there was a lot more work to do than on the previous centerpieces.  The additional cross-stitched motifs also took extra time to complete — a little under one week per chickadee.  The tablecloth was successfully completed in two months, but the pace was much more intense and many other tasks around the house were neglected to meet the Christmas deadline.

I’m pleased with how the chickadee tablecloth turned out.  The cream fabric and delicate blend of pink, cream, taupe and green in the Watercolours skein give the piece an antique look.  I used ecru perle cotton rather than Caron’s Wildflowers Rose Quartz to weave the bars so the openwork would stand out; I noticed that the variegated thread in the Vesterheim centerpiece makes it difficult to see the dove’s eyes and picots.

Even though the goal of homemade gifts ended up becoming very stressful at the end — and I was very happy to be finished! — I’m glad I made the effort.  It’s been a great learning experience and is a fun hobby (relaxing, too, when there’s no deadline to meet).  The only problem now is that I gave away all my Hardanger pieces and have none for my own table.  I still have all the materials to make the Anna table runner, so I may keep it or give it as a gift this year.  I’ll also take some time choosing another pattern for myself, and enjoy the slower pace as well as the eventual results.

IT’S DONE!

Due to the snow and slush, our family holiday party was postponed until Sunday, so even though the final Hardanger project wasn’t completed in time for Christmas Day, it’s ready to be shown off at the party.  Plenty of posts to write and photos to sort through over the next several days:  check back for our Santa visit, a quiet Christmas at home, bragging complete descriptions of all three Hardanger Christmas gifts, and snow, snow, and more snow.