Some Whitework in the Works
Stitching bloggers all over seem to be owning up to the number of works in progress they have. I guess I’m looking at joining the bandwagon. I’m not quite ready to put up a full list, but I would like to share a couple of whitework projects I started over the past year but haven’t yet blogged about.
The first is an EGA group correspondence course by Jane-Ellen Balzuweit called Dresden Garden. 
Yes, that’s a plain old American quarter there for scale. The full size of the project is only about 4 inches wide by 3 inches tall. This piece is a study of Dresden lace which is a combination of surface embroidery, pulled thread, and shadow work (as seen in the white swirls). It’s stitched on Legacy shadow work linen, which is approximately 48 count. I’m guessing that’s what led to this remaining unfinished. The rest of the stitching is counted and primarily pulled. That requires a bit too much concentration for me right now!
The second piece of whitework is also an EGA group correspondence course in another German embroidery technique, Schwalm embroidery in this case. It is Barbara Kershaw’s Liesel, and as you can see, I’ve barely begun. I’m a bit discouraged about the wobbliness of my initial lines of coral knots, but I really would like to get this moving a bit, since I’ve always wanted to learn the basics of Schwalm embroidery.
This project is a bit bigger than the other, maybe about 8 inches by 12 inches. It’s on a slightly uneven-weave linen (32ct by 36ct, maybe?) that I had in my stash, so it was pretty easy on the budget!
As you can see, I haven’t completely abandoned my interest in a wide variety of needlework techniques. It’s still always fun to learn something new. What new (to you) techniques have you been exploring lately?
7 comments:
I was a pilot stitcher on the top project. You are making great progress. This piece was so small I washed the windows so I would get extra light in my livingroom. It is very small and the fabric is difficult to work with.
You might find a magnifier would help, but what ever you do, don't get one of the ones that hangs around the neck. My grandmama bought one, and neither she, nor my mother nor me has ever managed to set a stitch without knocking it out of the way so we can see properly1
oooh, this is exciting. I love seeing different versions of embroidery. If you do work on either of these projects, will you tell us a little about what you're doing and show us some close ups as I know nothing about these two techniques but find needlework fascinating.
Thanks for the excellent post. I just bookmarked your site and look forward to returning from occasionally to see more.
Interesting article. Were did you got all the information from? Anyway thank you for this great post!
Thanks for joining us in your exploration of the world of needlework.
Thanks for joining us in your exploration of the world of needlework.
Post a Comment