Some of you have certainly been clearing and sorting through your stash.
Tracey has finally finished several pieces. She said of her lighthouse cross stitch, “It was a pain to do as I hate the counting and am not very good at it. The closer I got to completing it the more random I became. The dodo and the random flower are crewelwork and the sampler is another cross stitch I started in about 1987. So I’m pleased to say I now have only one final cross stitch to do and then I can tick them off my list forever. I really can’t say I enjoy them, but if they’re in the house I feel I must deal with them (like a wasps’ nest)”.

The birds are from a book called ‘Folk Embroidered Felt Birds’ by Corinne La Pierre. As for the butterfly kit Irene has no idea- she’s had it for years.
Mel has been extremely busy not only taking on Tracey’s idea from last month but challenges through www.textileartists.com which, as Mel said, “ It’s good to have something different that you wouldn’t normally do.” She is putting her work into a book and will bring it to our first meeting, once the crisis is over, for everyone to look at. In the meantime here is what she has done:
The first of her textile artists’ challenges was set by Sue Stone. The task was to complete a sampler using only one stitch. The fabric was divided into 4 and each square was decorated in different ways using the same stitch.
Challenge 2 was set by Cas Holmes. The background fabric was covered in scraps of fabrics and papers. Then a household object was superimposed onto the background. Mel chose a wine glass and used beads to signify the wine.
Challenge 3 set by Emily Tull was to observe your eye, draw it and then stitch it using machine threads and stem and straight stitch.
Challenge 4 set by Richard McVetis was to use 4 different types of couching and different thicknesses of thread.
And finally challenge 5 set by Emily Jo was to find a twig and draw it. Then using organza cut out fabric shapes of the twig and its shadow. Stab stitch and blanket stitch were used to secure the fabric and then lichen was added by French knots. Throughout she used machine embroidery thread to keep the delicacy of the piece.
Mel is now onto her 6th Challenge. Hopefully she will have it finished for next month’s blog.
Zena has finished her ‘Weave a Wood’, which she started at the Sue Bennett day school in January 2019. She stitched the leaves for the trees on dissolvable fabric and individually stitched each one on with a French knot so that she could vary the shading to reflect autumn colours. Extra embroidery and beading have been added to embellish the project, with the background being done by needle felting.
Ann R has managed to finish her box from the box making day school decorating the lid with more drawn thread work. “I really have taken to the creative side of this technique.”
Edwina hasn’t completed any embroidery pieces as yet but she has been very busy machine sewing. “I've made 12 headbands for nurses. These are a headband like a cloth Alice band with large buttons to hook face masks on. It stops their ears getting sore. They have gone to my partner’s niece in Nottinghamshire. I've also made 2 more headbands and 8 washable face masks for my cousin who works as a civilian Custody Officer in the Custody Centre for Cheshire police."
Janet said, ”Hardly embroidery but it is keeping me busy.”
In the meantime keep safe, keep well, keep calm and keep stitching.
AR