Some tidying up and an exchange.

I have done very little work in the last couple of weeks thanks to a slight problem of a broken jaw. Although why a broken jaw should affect my stitching fingers quite eludes me - nonetheless I have only managed to finish Jane's biscornu, tidy up my drawn thread samples and finish my castalguidi piece. When I write this out it sounds impressive but the actual stitching time was not all that long.

I was not at all happy with the big gaps in the corners of the drawn thread samples and decided to sort them out.


For this one I used wrapped threads to fill the corners - this was chosen because the threads in the drawn will be removed.)
When it came to this sample I enjoyed the wrapped wheels but decided that on such a small (4 inches square) piece of work more than alternate wheels would be overpowering. Because I feel design is still quite a weakness I try to work at it for everything I do. Again I tried to tie the corners in with the needleweaving I had done in the edge.

This did not work so well - perhaps filling all four corners with buttonholed bars, single and double, might have been better than only three.

This is the lovely biscornu that I received in the stitchin fingers crossstitch exchange from Gina. Interestingly each of the biscornu I have received on exchange has been smaller than the size I normally stitch. I do like these tiny ones. The one I sent Gina in exchange I will put in a later post - enough pictures for now.

A Treat as well as a Great Grub and Maggots!

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?