Flower Embroidery #3

Well the embroidery is finished on all three designs - unless I add a name to each - am considering doing that in stem stitch. Despite my grumbling about the "pinkish" focus I have really enjoyed doing these and, surprisingly, was a little sad to add the last butterfly bead. The shape for this design came from a recent Ispirations but there the resemblance ends.

Adding the name in my own handwriting in stem or chain stitch has become an issue since I recently reread Claire Bloom's The Inspired Needle. I bought this book in 1962 (or so the flyleaf tells me) - and have read it many times over the years. A wonderful story about her life with a needle much of in wartime - if you can pick up a copy do so. Claire Bloom wrote mainly fiction but I also enjoyed her autobiography. She advocates using script, one's own, in embroidery.

Back to the cushions - I dug in my fabric stash and found pale green gaberdine for the cushion cover - a perfect colour, I think. Now I just have to make time for some machine sewing.

In the meantime I have been stitching a number of my TIF challenge embroideries to card - a job I hate, by the way - and will take some photos when the finished pieces are complete. This will be an embroidery Christmas!!! They might all encourage me to go back to weaving!

Also I have begun to sample Hardanger and started a new embroidery with French knots as the main texture stitch!!! Who promised herself to not start anything until she finished the previous piece? Just a collections of WIPs - however I am enjoying the ability to change direction . Also the hardanger is impossible to stitch correctly (and I quickly discovered it is impossible to fudge things in Hardanger!) without a magnifier so there are very definite limits to the length of stitching time.

For some unknown reason beyond my comprehension I have managed to add some text above the picture! Bloggerland is an amazing country!