Drawn Thread Forests with Catherine Jordan

For the past two days I've had the pleasure of learning from this warm and talented woman, Catherine Jordan.

I've been admiring Catherine's work for years as she tends to exhibit her work at the Woodlawn Needlework show each March.  

Her work is wonderfully three-dimensional and she uses a combination of drawn thread, fabric painting, needleweaving and embroidery to make contemporary forests, boxes, journals and more.

I just love how her trees not only recede back into the composition but come forward as well, reaching over the picture frame.

Our project yesterday was this 4"x6" contemporary drawn thread forest...

Though it appears as if this forest is deeper than one piece of fabric, it's not.  Isn't that cool?

The first part of class was learning to withdraw threads and re-weave them to create an opening in the linen...

That took me most of the first day...a bit time-consuming but well worth it.

Next, we each painted the fabric, giving added dimension to our forest setting.

I love a process class like this where individual choices makes each piece unique. 

Folks were choosing shades of autumn, spring and summer and pieces started coming to life...

We learned many tips for shading and creating skylines during different seasons and times of day.

Once the stage was set, the fun continued as we learned methods for weaving our trunks and embroidering the foliage...

Lots of decisions needed to be made about tree placement, foreground and background...

As well as clipping out threads to make space for the trees to breathe...

After two days of work, some of our forests were well underway...

And some of us only had the beginnings of an idea...

I decided on a dark and creepy forest and spent yesterday painting my linen and working on a creepy tree.  Just one.

I have visions of something like this..

Though I'd really like to keep working on it, I've got to push it aside to work on a few other things for Mrs. Rose and my Japanese embroidery.

Most of the time when I attend a workshop at my Guild, I feel badly because many of the courses are not available to you in your areas.

Here's the good news.  Catherine is teaching this class, Contemporary Forest Necklaces, at the Shining Needle Society online and registration is open now!

If you are not yet a member of the Shining Needle Society Yahoo group, you can go here to find all the details.  There are MANY opportunities for you to take classes there, just request to sign up and you will receive updates on class offerings.  Catherine's forest class begins November 1, 2014 but registration closes today so get a move on!

Catherine Jordan will also be teaching at EGA National Seminar in Phoenix in a few weeks.  If you can't find her there, spend some time perusing her website to see her work and her class schedule.  She sells kits for many of her designs (including instructions) as well as supplies.

Oh, and check out her maps (kits here, workshops here)!  They are amazing! And there's an online class for that too if you're interested in making one for your area (details here).  

I would love to do the Chesapeake Bay so a group of us from our EGA Chapter hopes to research one and stitch it together with Catherine's assistance.  She told us about a group in Cape Cod that is creating one for a class she'll be teaching there next Summer which gave us the idea.  Thank you Catherine!!

Here's hoping you get to learn from her one day.  She is wonderfully open with her expertise and her workshops are chock full of information that will open up whole new areas of possibilities in your needlework...

Literally.

Dressed to Chill

Ummmm....hi.....

Sorry, I'm just a little uncomfortable with the extreme close-up of my face.

Except for models, I'm not sure I know many women who are comfortable being photographed up close...



There.  That's better.  Now I can get a good look at you.

Susan wanted you to see my in all my finery. Check out my mink-trimmed hat and that special dress clip she added to the brim...

And my favorite part of my new look?

Well...probably the crystal pom-pom on the end of my hat...

Though I do like the ruffles on my scarf too.

I've never had a makeover before and it was quite a thrill.  Well...except for the nose job.

It hurt quite a bit when Susan attached my nose with that big, barbed needle.

Hey...beauty has its price.

Today it's snowing in Maryland so I'm looking forward to the snowman party that is sure-to-be in my future.   For the first time ever, I'm properly dressed.

Let it snow!

Through the Window of Mrs. Rose's Room

Holy Smokes!  I had no intention of not being here the last two weeks.  The transition from end-of-school to Summer chewed up my days in new and exciting ways and left little time to sit down and work through the next steps with Mrs. Rose.

So I did what any respectable needlewoman would have done under time constraints...

I got out some cross stitch and took it with me to stitch when I could.

Both cross stitch and knitting are easy to pick up and put down.  I actually had to dust this one off since it was bought in 2001!

As for Mrs. Rose, I finally turned my attention back to her today.  The next step in that project is to introduce climbing roses that grow over the walls, creating a rose bower that provides shelter and warmth.

It is the gifts that Mrs. Rose gives that transforms her environment from a depressing institution into a home.

I drew from a number of pics online to help me decide how best to create this bower of roses.  I like how this rose climbs up the walls...

And how these roses grow to frame a doorway...

Or drape down over a wall.



While I was pondering my next steps, I happened to get another bi-weekly newsletter from Robert Genn.  I've mentioned him before and can't say enough how helpful I find his tips.

This time his letter was on "Cropping"-- you can read the full letter here.

The upshot is that there are tricks to deciding what is placed in the "window" of the painter's canvas...what is cropped and what is not.

The advice was quite timely and useful since I'm currently deciding how to draw and shape the bower.  I hadn't considered that I'd been creating "windows" into my work, but it is true of many of us who are working within the confines of a quilt block.  Check them out...

• Do not have curved areas or lines tangential with the edges.

• Do not have a lot of small items dribbling along edges.

• Do not have spikey or angular items pointing too directly at corners.

• Do not have an even or symmetrical division of elements lying against the frame edges.

• Do have a design near the frame edge that has both positive and negative areas.

• Do vary the thickness of lines and patches that lie against, come up to, or approach those edges.

• Do have mystery, understatement, softening, incompleteness and wabi-sabi as part of your edge consciousness.

After digesting these guidelines, I found myself looking to some famous rose bowers within paintings to see how other artists treated the cropping of a rose bower.

In the painting below, the Madonna is placed centrally in the painting yet the roses on either side are asymmetrical.  I also note the larger roses in the left foreground adding more interest...

Madonna in the Rose Garden by Martin Schongauer ca. 1473

And the bower in the picture below surrounding Sleeping Beauty has been cropped quite severely at the edges...

The Rose Bower by Edward Burnes-Jones ca. 1885-1890

Note that the vines do vary in size and are not tangential to the edges.  The poem at the bottom of the frame was written by William Morris, a contemporary of Burnes-Jones.  Did you read it?  It's quite lovely and mentions love, treasure and a gift.

And Morris himself has provided a climbing rose design to inspire...

"Trellis" wallpaper by William Morris c. 1859

This last painting shows lots of flowers encapsulating another sleeping beauty, giving the impression that we really are looking through a window framed by roses.

Rose Bower by Hans Zatzka c. 1859

With all this to study and consider, I'm off to sketch a design for the climbing roses and to hunt down the right fibers for stitching the climbing vines.

It's great to be working on roses right now since they are blooming everywhere.

Speaking of gardens, the bluebirds have come back this year and I have three baby bluebirds in my bluebird box.  They were just starting to hatch when I took this pic... 

I'll take an update picture in the next few days.

Happy June and Happy Roses everyone!

Breeding Needlebooks

The needlebooks are mutliplying.

Thanks to my crazy quilting friends, I have a new and improved pattern and instructions for the needlebook E-course and the pattern that I will be offering this Wednesday in honor of Hari-Kuyo, the Japanese Festival of Broken Needles.

In case you missed it, here's the post that explains Hari-Kuyo in more detail.

Though most of our group, reproduced my needlebook original...

There were two friends who wanted to use their own fabrics.

This project is PERFECT for customizing your own cover and inside...to make it your own.

I plan to have kits available for those who want my needlebook version but there will also be a supply list available for those who choose to use their own supplies.

Or, like some friends did this past Saturday, you can create a personal modification of my design.

I want the design to be flexible so that you're happy with whatever you create.

Irene was doing a more muted version with eggplant, mustard and hunter green colors...she didn't like the stark white of the labels so she covered them with an organza ribbon...

Beautiful.

Because of her, today I'm tea-dying a set of labels to see how well they take the "dye".

By the end of the day, everyone was finished and ready to start filling their books with needles...

And believe it or not, Mary actually broke a needle on Saturday! (Good luck, don't you think?)

Thankfully, she had the perfect place to put it.

I am so very grateful to my friends. Thanks to them, I have great feedback and changes to make so that the pattern and supplies are even better by the time they make it to you.

So I'm very busy making kits, taking step-by-step pictures, packaging needle labels, and finalizing the pattern details in preparation for the "Go Live" on Wednesday.

Thanks for those who expressed an interest in the E-course. I'll be announcing the details on Wednesday for a start date of February 23. I can't wait!

Happy Monday everyone! I've got to get back to work...

Hari-kuyo, My Book of Needles and Next Week

I've been using my Book of Needles for almost a full year now.

In that time, this book has been my constant companion, my reliable friend, my #1 can't-do-without sewing tool, my nécessaire...

I'm rarely without it. And it's held up beautifully.

I love the different pages for the different types of needles...they keep me organized so I can quickly find the right needle for the right job. And I love love love that it feels like a real "book" with lots of fun details hidden inside.

I made it last year in honor of Hari-Kuyo or the Festival of Broken Needles which occurs every year on February 8 in Japan. You can see the original post here.

Each February 8, the sewers and kimono makers of Japan will go to a shrine, taking with them their broken needles and pins that have served them in the prior year. (Hari means "needle" and kuyo means "memorial service".) The needles/pins are placed into tofu or konnyaku. The act of placing them in soft tofu serves to soothe the needles after their many hours of sewing.

The women bring their needles to their final resting place, thank the needles for their service, and pray that the needles' power and energy will stay with them and help to improve their sewing skills in the coming year.

The Japanese believe that all things have a spiritual essence and they have a great respect for the objects used in their daily life. It is important to respect the objects' service and not be overly wasteful by thoughtlessly tossing them away. In addition to sewing needles, I've heard of rituals for disposing of calligraphy brushes, broken combs and other tools used by craftsmen.

Last year when I made my Book of Needles, I created an intermediary rest stop for the needles that I break throughout the year in the back of my book. You can see that I've gathered quite a few...

waiting to be properly laid to rest on Hari-Kuyo matsuri, next Wednesday, February 8.

There's a lot more to the tradition which is better explained in this beautiful self-published pamphlet. It's worth a read.

Open publication - Free publishing - More japan

In preparation for next week's Hari-Kuyo, I've been working hard behind-the-scenes designing and sourcing materials in order to offer an e-course, pattern and supplies for making your own Book of Needles.

I have a group of friends who are participating in a pilot class and so far I am thrilled with the books they are making and the feedback they are giving me. It's very exciting to see it all come to life.

They'll finish them on Saturday so I'll share more after that.

But this is just a teaser...stay tuned until next week when all will be revealed.

And have a very Happy Monday.

Royal Threads

I absolutely love this photograph taken by the talented Tim Walker of Helena Bonham Carter in the March 2011 Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair!

The Diet Coke, the chippy nail polish, the crooked crown, the shabby sash...

This amazing actress is playing yet another queen after her great performance as the Red Queen in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. She is playing Queen Elizabeth to George VI in the movie, The King's Speech, which I am SO excited to see this weekend...

Seems like there is so much talk of royalty these days with the impending marriage of William and Kate. I have to admit I get swept up by it all and thought that this modern wedding sampler designed by Jacqui Pearson of Granny Knits, to be published in the upcoming March issue of UK mag Cross Stitcher, was kind of fun...

I don't plan to stitch it but it's cute and a far cry from the more formal samplers I've seen in the past...like these two that were stitched for Charles and Diane courtesy of Linens and Royals blog....

Beth Russell also created this needlepoint design to honor Will and Kate's big day:

And Mr. X Stitch and Subversive Stitcher created this design for cross stitch...

If you have any pictures of vintage royal wedding samplers, I'd love to see them.

I remember seeing some very old ones of Victoria and Albert and even Queen Elizabeth I but couldn't find them in time for this post.

The weather is warming and the birdsong has returned. Who needs Punxsutawney Phil...just walk outside!

My Book of Needles

I finished my little book of needles today.

I designed it to be an actual book with a binding and felt signatures...

There are five signatures with 10 distinct pages for all the types of needles I use, plus a page for pins...and the page I showed you yesterday for my broken needles...

And there's even a little pocket inside the front cover because I always need a lot of pockets...

I love that blue material too with the spools of thread.

I did mess up one thing. Originally, I had my pages in alphabetical order, and somehow, when I finally got them sewn down...I had messed up the order.

No matter how hard I try to be methodical and organized, I still end up with my own crazy filing system...

I have no intention of ripping them out and fixing them so "out-of-order" I will remain.

I really enjoyed making this little book. From the flower on its cover...

To the little ties that hold it together...

It was a joy to stitch. And it's a joy to hold.

Rest well tonight, my needles, for tomorrow we work.