Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,
Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy..."
Shakespeare, Sonnet 33
Do you ever take your stitching on the road (rambling)? On gorgeous spring or summer days I like to stitch in the sun - maybe pack an afternoon tea and blanket & head for the park, or somewhere more remote. I find I don't need nearly as much magnification to do fine needlework in the sunshine - a good thing since you can easily start a fire with a magnifying lens!
Here you see the Tudor Rose pattern done in speckling technique in shades of blue.
The outline & hash marks were done in DMC Coton a border in color 799.
For the shading (speckling) I used 1 strand of DMC Mouline in colors 799 & 800. I'd say 99% of the shading was done in 799, then I went back & filled in some of the darker areas with 800 just to give the shadow a bit more depth.
I decided to stitch the stamens in bullion stitch to give it a little more texture. I'm very pleased with the effect.
I had some difficulty finding the ribbon to trim my pinwheel. This was because I didn't know the correct name for it! I wanted to use the same ribbon Erica Uten used for the pinwheel featured on the cover of Tokens of Love. After several sessions of searching for it online, I emailed Jacqueline Holdsworth (of Needleprint ) for assistance. As always, Jacqueline got back to me almost immediately, and with her information I was able to locate it. The ribbon is called petersham ribbon & is available from Squirlgirl on etsy. I really like the refined look this ribbon gives to Erica's pinwheel. I chose white rather than try to match my blue thread. If you want the ribbon to match your embroidery thread, choose your ribbon before your threads because color selection is limited.
Now it's back to etsy to find wool to fill the pinwheel...
The effect on this rose is exquisite. WOW.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteIt looks charming - very delicate and airy!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm in the process of designing a sweet bag to go with it and I'm torn between 2 different "looks". Both are speckling, however one is a much more modern type design. I hope to have it done soon to share with everyone.
DeleteUn trabajo muy fino y delicado, precioso!!!
ReplyDeleteMuchos gracias!
DeleteJust beautiful.......! It reminds me of that lovely china mug that you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteAn afternoon in the park stitching sounds absolutely lovely.
You noticed how much it looks like the mug - good eye.
DeleteThe sweet bag I'm designing may also be heavily influenced by my new blue & white mugs. As I mentioned to Rachel, above, I'm torn between 2 influences - one are the Crispen Van De Pass engravings, and the other are the mugs. Although the flowers on the mugs are pure Elizabethan in their details, the way the flowers are placed is modern - at least on the mug that's influencing my design. I like that you can take Elizabethan motifs and, just by varying placement or layout, create a design with a more modern feel.
P.S. - Don't forget to email your address to me - check your email if you don't know what I'm talking about : )
Delete