Some Earlier Stitcheries

Since I have just joined Yahoo's hand embroidery list I thought it was time to share some of my stitcheries on my blog as I would like to post at least one of these in an album in that list.


This is the FIRST quilt I ever made and I copied it from "Woman's Day Book of American Needlework" written by Rose Wilder Lane and published in 1963. For those of you who have followed the tv series "Little House on the Prairie" Rose Wilder is the daughter of Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder. This book of needlework is a comprehensive history from Colonial times to the 1960's and is one of my favorites. The top picture shows the center of the quilt. There are several techniques involved here with the very center being an appliqued sunflower. Each petal of the sunflower is quilted then the center is grid quilted with Herringbone Stitch over the quilting. For two rows - they can't be rows as they're are going around the center (tee hee) oval quilting that is over-lapped, one round of feather quilting, another round of oval quilting that is not over-lapped, with the remainder of the quilting done in the traditional diagonal grid. AFTER all the quilting was done I did Herringbone Stitch embroidery over all the circular quilting. I did enter this in one of our local quilt guild shows (a SHOW not a competition). It is currently residing on my bed.


Here is a piece I'm particularly pleased with. It is a true embroidery piece entitled "Two Sisters". The background fabric is silk (the first time I'd used silk in this way or any way for that matter). The stitching is all done in DMC floss using anywhere from one strand to eight strands and using basic stitches: Outline, Stem, Running, Satin, Buttonhole. Split Chain and French Knots. It was completed in 1998 and for now hangs on my bedroom wall.


This piece is Jacobean in design and was meant to be done in needlepoint. Marching to a different drum I chose to use Danish Flower Thread on Floba fabric which has a self inner border. I backed this with a deep hunter green satin and am using wood bell pull hardware. I did this piece in 1999 and it hangs on my bedroom door.