Ukrainian Embroidery

Every Monday morning I get an email from Nordic Needle and there is usually a story about one of their customers.  In May of this year the featured stitcher hailed from Astoria, Queens, and talked about the classes she takes at the Ukrainian Museum in NYC.  I was very intrigued - my father grew up right down the block from the museum.  Although he attended the Polish Church with his father, his mother and sisters attended the Ukrainian Church.  But they all spoke Ukrainian at home.

I actually got started in counted cross stitch while in college because I had found a piece of cross stitch that my grandmother had done and I tried to replicate the pattern.  So I signed up for the embroidery class that started last Saturday.

It is an interesting class, running from 1:00 to 3:30.  There are about 15 women in the class but it is more of a gathering than a formal class.  There were about eight beginners at the class and the teacher sat with us one-on-one.  We are working on a band sampler.  The more advanced students are working on a number of different projects using other techniques, including cutwork.

We beginners are using DMC floss (four strands) on 25-count Lugana.  I have to admit I am having a very hard time with it.  Not because it's difficult to learn - the first class was all running stitches (essentially darning patterns).  But we are working "in hand" without a hoop or frame, the threads are not separated and then recombined, and we are not using a laying tool.  This is not how I'm used to stitching!

I will have to look closely at the teacher's sample to see what the threads look like because I can't decide whether I should just shrug and accept that the stitching is not going to look like I'm used to seeing; determine that the final product when done expertly looks like something that I should strive to achieve; or secretly work a second piece at home on a frame with a laying tool (or maybe just #8 pearl cotton). 

In the meantime, here is my progress from the first class.  We are using DMC 310 (black) and 321 (red) which are traditional colors in Ukrainian embroidery.

Progress after Class #1

The first band (at the top) is a simple over/under three threads and the second band is over/under two threads. The third band is a "vee" with the red thread woven through it on the surface.

Teacher's Sampler

I'm not really sure how many bands we complete during this eight-week session.  I think it depends on how fast one stitches.  Many of my fellow beginners are not needleworkers so we all had a different number of bands completed by the end of the class.  My homework was to complete the fifth band although we didn't start it in class.  The teacher told me to go ahead and take a picture of the band so that I could figure it out at home. While I had the camera out I took pictures of the rest of the teacher's sampler.  This is obviously the area we started working.

And here are some of the other areas.  While the traditional red and black are my favorite colors, I am itching to work some of those colorful areas!

      

Today was our second class so I stitched some more bands.  These were, I think, a little easier to maintain tension as they are satin stitch.

Class 2 Progress

Class 2 Close-up of Stitching

I am working on ecru fabric although it looks more white in these two photos.  I have to figure out the best place to photograph my stitching.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Arabella Reborn

I have become addicted to StitchPlay Designs classes through Shining Needle Society.  Michael Boren and Carole Lake have great designs - lots of geometrics, which just call to me.  And they always include lots of colorways so there is something for every mood.

Their current class is Arabella Reborn.  It was so much fun to stitch that I finished it ahead of time! The piece uses lots of Caron Collection threads and I stitched it in the Kelp colorway.

Arabella Reborn - Kelp Colorway
Designed  by StitchPlay Designs
 5½” x 5 ½” on 18-count canvas

Today is such a gloomy day here in New Jersey.  It's in the mid-50s and raining.  I don't know exactly what happened to Spring; it feels more like October than the end of May.  I think I'll go stitch something.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Or Nue Star Lily Finished

Posting three times in as many days - that's certainly a record for me.

I finished Or Nué Star Lily last night.  I really like the way it turned out.  We used the "economy" style of laying the thread - coming up in the hole directly below the one that the thread went into.  My tension is not that even and the #16 braid was a little stiff to work with for this method, at least for me. So, I think I may try to either lay the metallic using a satin stitch so that it wraps around the back or lay it all on the top and couch at the end.  Sounds like a trip to the needlework store for some canvas!

Or Nué Star Lily
Designed by Brenda E. Kocher Designs
2" x 2" on 18-count black canvas

Until next time, happy stitching!

Or Nué Class

Yesterday I took an Or Nué class by Brenda Kocher.  The ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter hosted the event.  The day was somewhat gloomy - a perfect day for stitching.  We were all so excited to start on Brenda's Or Nué Star Lily design.

Or Nué means "nuance of gold" or "shaded gold".  In this technique, gold or silver threads are laid across the canvas and then held down with silk threads couched over the metallic.  The silk threads are couched in a pattern that forms a design.  At the ends, the metallic threads can either be "sunk" into the canvas, which is what we did in class, or turned on the surface.  There are some excellent references on the Internet, including Jane Zimmerman's Traditional Technique of Or Nué.  There is a magnificent collection of Or Nué embroideries in the Altar Room (Sala dell'Altare) in the Cathedral Museum (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo) in Florence.  They were designed by Pollaiolo in the 15th Century and took 23 years to complete.  We were able to visit there two years ago and the embroideries are breathtaking!  Unfortunately, my attempts to photograph the embroideries were not successful.

Our efforts yesterday were very basic and gave us a first taste of the technique.  Brenda is a terrific teacher and the class was very enjoyable.  It was so much fun watching the design emerge as we couched the Kreinik #16 braid that we were using as the metallic.  Of course, we were all so absorbed in stitching that we had to be reminded to take a break every so often.

By the end of the class, I finished about half of the design of Or Nué Star Lily.  You can see that I have a number of needles going at once to avoid dragging threads across the back of the work.

Or Nué Star Lily
Progress as of May 18, 2013

And here is the what the design will look like when finished.

Or Nué Star Lily
Brenda E. Kocher Designs
Completed Piece

Since it's raining here today, I think I'll work on finishing this piece.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Stash Building

I should just change the name of my blog to I Don't Know Where the Time Goes.  I was thoroughly aghast at how long it has been since I've posted.  Oh, well, much like my diets, tomorrow is another day (channeling Scarlett O'Hara).

I have been quite busy with some stitching - and I hope to get the finishes posted soon.  Right now I'm in a hotel room in King of Prussia, PA, trying to blog on my iPad; a new experience for me.  I already miss my laptop because I don't type as fast on the virtual keyboard.  And I tend to edit a lot when I write.

So what has all that to do with stash building?  The reason I am here is that tomorrow I will be taking a class on Or Nue, which uses silk couching threads over laid gold thread to create the design.  Brenda Kocher is teaching at the ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter.  I decided to come down a day early so that I wouldn't have to get up ridiculously early tomorrow to drive the 2 hours or so before class.  I want to be really awake since, in my usual contrary fashion, I chose the black canvas on which to stitch rather than the white.

Still wondering about the stash building?  There is a needlepoint shop nearby- Fireside Stitchery - that I was able to visit this afternoon.  I almost didn't make it before they closed because of traffic, the two-hour ride turned into three, but I got there with about 30 minutes to spare.  They have a fabulous selection of threads and beads and canvases.  I restrained myself (something to do with recently looking at all of the canvases, charts and projects already waiting to be stitched) and only purchased a few things.  But they are goodies!

With any luck I'll blog about the class tomorrow, but it may wait until I get home so that I can use the laptop and be able to format everything.

Happy New Year

So 2012 is quickly coming to an end, and we will soon be celebrating the start of 2013.  I am once again ignoring the urge to make a long list of resolutions and trying to concentrate on smaller goals. 

One of my stitching goals is to progress on a few class projects that have been languishing, most of them from 2011.  I decided that the first project I will work on is Lord of Fire from Leigh Designs. 

I bought this canvas in 2010 at Bedecked and Beadazzled while in Baltimore for a long weekend. Ruth Schmuff, the fabulous owner of the shop, told me that Brenda Hart was working on a stitch guide for the canvas.  I called regularly to find out when the stitch guide would be available and was absolutely thrilled when Ruth told me that Brenda would be at the shop to teach the canvas.  I immediately booked a space in the class.

Brenda's class was just wonderful, and her stitch guide is amazing.  We worked on small areas of the canvas in the one-day class, including the dragon.  I started stitching on this piece again this past Christmas Eve and finished the large red circle as well as some more of the dragon.  Brenda uses lots of beads, which is not my best skill, so the stitching is somewhat slower than usual.  But the beads add lots of glitz!  Here is my progress to date.

 



 You can see that not much has been completed.  But I think once I start working on it in earnest, progress will be made.  The red is Soie d'Alger silk in long stitches and the blue in the middle of the top circle is Sundance beads with Kreinik #8 braid surrounding it. 

 



The dragon's head is Soie d'Alger with Bijoux stitched over it.  The body is Four-Way Continental in Kreinik #4 braid; a Sundance triangular bead is attached inside the diamond shape.   The toes and strands coming out of the dragon's head will be French knots in the same silk.  We had done some of the French knots in class but I took them out this week as I wasn't too pleased with how I had stitched them.  Hopefully I can do a better job here at home.

  



I am looking forward to stitching on this piece.  I really love Asian-inspired designs, and have several in my stash. 

 

I wish everyone a Happy New Year - may 2013 be filled with joy and happiness for each of you.

 

Graphic from gograph.com

Until next time, happy stitching!

 

Happy Holidays and a Big Reveal

I hope that everyone is enjoying the holiday season.  I can't believe that 2012 is quickly coming to an end! 

We had a wonderful Christmas Day with our small family.  We are now down to just five of us - the DH, the DD, my sister and my father.  Although we are few in number, we still enjoyed the day as a family.

Since the house renovation is continuing (we have entered our third year of construction), I still can't decorate as extensively as I'd like.  But the DH and DD did a fabulous job with the artifical tree and the DD went crazy with entwining ribbon over everything! 

Christmas Tree - 2012

I am hoping that next year I will finally be able to find all my decorations and really dress the house up in style.
 
The Big Reveal

I have been working on Achoo by Dimensions for my sister for her Christmas gift.  I am happy to say that she loved it.  

The kit came with 14-ct white Aida.  I don't particularly like working on Aida if I can help it, and I really didn't care for the white.  I thought it was too stark.  I kept looking for the perfect linen for this kit.  I was able to purchase some Picture This Plus 36-ct Edinburgh linen in Fresco while I was at The Stitching Post outside Baltimore.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I think the shades in the fabric really enhance the picture.  My framer (The Framed Image) did a great job with the piece and even photographed it beautifully so that I could post it on this blog.



Achoo
Design by Dimensions
Stitched on 36-ct Fresco Edinburgh Linen

For the coming year, rather than start a new project, I am going to revisit some spectacular canvas projects that were class pieces I have not completed.  I haven't decided just yet which one I will be working on first, so stay tuned ... I have the next week off so that I can mull over the canvases that are sitting around.

Until next time, happy stitching!