The Treat!Jane and I are having a private biscornu swap and this gorgeous little piece of crossstitching arrived for me the other day. It is so tiny and perfect. Scary really, as I know mine won't be perfect. The other thing that disturbs me is that Jane has managed to get this to me from Britain and I am still only on the first side of hers. I am enjoying the stitching but it is, as ever, a slow process - hopefully I will manage to get it done soon. I am not adding any photos until it reaches her, nor photos of the crossstitch one for my swap with Gina. She also finished before me but mine is ready to go in the post tomorrow.
My Grub and Maggots!I really wanted to do the Stitch Explorer for this month - Casalguidi stitch. The small sampler piece is not finished either but well on the way. This was an opportunity to do another drawn thread square. I have done this assisted by Effie Mitrofanis' Casalguidi Style Linen Embroidery. It is a wonderful book absolutely brimful of inspiring ideas.
My first attempt was shown to the resident critic for approval - the comment was "What fun! A great grub and maggots!" Definitely not my intention! I guess the colours chosen helped with the impression. I have since added some bullion knots and hopefully I have altered it.
This was so much fun - I thought I might have real problems with the Casalaguidi stitch but I used #5 perle cotton for the padding and # 8 perle cotton for the satin and stem stitch. Perle thread is used throughout. I have used Casalguidi stitch, overcast stem, buttonhole stitch, buttonhole bars, single and double, bullion stitch, whipped threads in the drawn thread area to give a zigzag effect and, of course, the mandatory foursided stitch. I have still some way to go but I am delighted that I have got this far before the 15th May. Does it come through that I am still in love with drawn and pulled thread work?
