Pine Needling

Last weekend I was away from home stitching with friends in Chincoteague, Virginia.

It was a wonderful, relaxing few days away where we stitched all day and never had to worry about our next meal because the local seafood is so good.  

Located toward the Southern end of the Chesapeake Bay, Chincoteague is the entryway for Assateague Island National Park so the outdoors is full of inspiration...

And egrets, herons, ibis, kingfishers and other birds pepper the landscape...

Whenever this group of talented women gets together, there is lots of sharing...

And this year, Canby Robertson offered to teach us how to make pine needle baskets...

I wrote about Canby teaching at EGA National Seminar last post here.

After cleaning and prepping the pine needles that Canby had collected on our behalf, we used a size 20 chenille needle, C-lon cord, and a piece of drinking straw to craft our baskets...

Adding pine needles through the straw and stitching the coils into place...

 

Everyone chose their own color cord...

And the baskets were as unique as their makers...

The result after about two days was this nifty pile of prettiness...

I was thrilled to learn this new and practical technique using pine needles that I can collect in my woods...

Though mine was the smallest, I have big dreams of making more pine needle baskets...

While we were laboring over our wee woven works, Canby had finished an entire cracker basket...

Which she promptly turned around and gave to her friend Rosemary.



Gifts were given all around and teaching a new skill is the greatest gift of all.   Thanks Canby.

If you're interested in pine needle basket making, Canby recommended this book by Judy Mallow.

And if you're interested in visiting Chincoteague, VA, I can't recommend the Hampton Inn highly enough.  It's rated #1 in the country and they live up to their reputation!

And the oysters and scallops served here, and here, and here are out of this world.  I know because I ate at all three...ahem...multiple times.

See you next time.

Coming Soon!

The Embroiderers' Guild National Seminar is coming to the East Coast November 2-6, 2016!

Check out this enchanting ort box designed and taught by friend and mentor Canby Robertson...



This is just one of three of Canby's classes being taught at Seminar next Fall.

Inspired by a set of 17th Century Blackwork sleeves in the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, her class will explore the last phase of English Blackwork, a period when blackwork evolved into a surface embroidery technique that tried to replicate the linear quality and shading of early printed illustrations.

Measuring a petite 3.5" tall, this compact folding six-sided box is packed with technique and exquisite detail...

Designed and stitched by Canby Robertson.  All rights reserved.

And the stitches!

Designed and stitched by Canby Robertson.  All rights reserved.

Based on 17th century stitches, Canby's stitch and thread choices are masterful.

Stitches such as blanket, herringbone, trellis, coral knot, reverse chain, double reverse chain, and double reverse chain bring the flora and fauna of this diminutive design to life.  So much to learn!

Like this use of seed stitch with super fine Sufine thread...

Designed and stitched by Canby Robertson.  All rights reserved.

An expert reproduction of shading in early print illustrations.

Plus, it's not only beautiful, it's useful.

Designed and stitched by Canby Robertson.  All rights reserved.

The hexagon collapsible box is made from six plastic hotel key cards so it folds flat to pack away in your work box.

I just love everything about this box!

Designed and stitched by Canby Robertson.  All rights reserved.

Lucky for me, I will be a pilot stitcher for this box in March but you can have a chance at taking this workshop from Canby at National Seminar 2016.

Canby is one of the most signifcant and influential embroidery teachers I've ever had.  Her classes are rich in content, history, design theory, and materials knowledge.  Where many teachers provide only core instruction on how to replicate their designs, Canby's classes explore the thought process behind the design; reveal the what, why and how of stitch, thread and color choices; and provide a framework for critique and improvement.  The skills I've learned from her have been foundational and highly transferable to my own design process, expanding my skill set and staying with me long after the workshop is over.

If you can take a class from her at National next year, you should.

In addition to the ort box, Canby will also be teaching a one-day lettering class which I highly recommend and have enthused over before in this blog post here when I took the class in 2009.  Folks tease me when I say Canby's lettering course changed my life, but it did.  I've used the techniques learned in that class over and over again...




I've signed up to take Canby's third class, Diminutive Rose: A Study in Soft Shading, where I hope to learn more about shading, texture and color theory.

If you're not familiar with EGA, it is a national organization comprised of many local chapters.  You can go here to search for a chapter that might be in your area.

Much of my instruction and embroidery learning has occurred through the programs and workshops of my local group, the Constellation Chapter, which is in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Though I've been very involved locally, I have never attended a national seminar so I'm looking forward to my first conference next Fall.  Alexandria is not very far from where I live in Maryland.

The other teacher I'm hoping to learn from is Katherine Diuguid, professor at NC State University.  Trained at the Royal School of Needlework, I've been following Katherine's blog since I met her at the Winterthur Needlework conference in 2014.  My absolute favorite piece of Kat's is her goldwork Beehive and I've been lusting after it since she posted her progress on her blog last Fall.  When I saw it being offered as a class at National, I was over the moon!  Fingers crossed that I get in.

Early registration is now open from Nov 1-Nov 30, 2015 for members.  Hope to see some of you there!

The Diligent Needle Conference at Winterthur Museum

Coming off of a high after two-days at the Winterthur Needlework Conference, The Diligent Needle:  Instrument of Profit, Pleasure and Ornament...

Pic courtesy of Winterthur website

This is the second time I've attended the conference, the first was three years ago in 2011 which I blogged about here.

This conference, by far, is the best needlework event I have ever attended.  The speakers and attendees come from many different fields of needlework application and study and the conference content is diverse and deep.



The event spans two days with each day beginning with four morning lectures provided by historians, curators, and experts in the field of textiles and embroidery.  This year some of my favorites topics included embroidered maps and globes, 17th century embroidered caskets and the people who made them, needlework samplers of older women, and a biographical mystery of gownmaker and embroiderer, Rebecca Dickinson.

After the lectures, there is an opportunity for two afternoon workshops/intensives which range from project-type classes to behind-the-scenes opportunities to view needlework tools and embroideries at Winterthur to exploring the rare and antique embroidery books at the extensive Winterthur library (my personal favorite).

And if that's not enough to make you need oxygen, there was an embroidery exhibit titled The Diligent Needle and the Costumes of Downton Abbey Exhibit coinciding with the conference.

And here's a sneak peek of an 18th century whitework sampler, one of my personal faves from the Diligent Needle exhibit (more details to come)...



*Swoon*

AND...it's not over.  The bookstore stocks up on needlework books, kits and threads for the duration of the conference so there's is still more inspiration to knock you off your feet.

The environment and grounds of Winterthur are absolutely lovely in the Fall and the food and hospitality of the lunches and wine reception are top notch.

Pic courtesy of Winterthur website

So if you missed the conference this year, here's the good news.  The Diligent Needle exhibit runs through July 5, 2015 and the Costumes of Downton Abby runs through January 4, 2015 (you do need tickets for the Downton exhibit so plan ahead).

The other good news?  Instead of having the needlework conference once every three years, they have decided to hold the conference every other year.  That means I'll see you all there in Fall 2016!

More details and pics to come in future posts but I've got to get stitching...

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.