Christmas 2023

The Christmas tree is up with help from my grandchildren and my daughter. All the decorations have been unpacked and hung in place, and my Christmas angel is on the top. 

This sweet angel was embroidered on felt as recommended by Tricia Elvin-Jensen who had stitched a similar one. It's rewarding to stitch on felt because the stitches show up so clearly. I was pleased with how the angel's ringlets turned out. It was my first attempt at such l-o-o-o-n-g bullion stitches.

This will be my last post before Christmas. There's just a few days to go and there are still Christmas presents to think of, wrapping to do, and some baking I want to finish before Christmas Eve. 

I hope you have a peaceful and joyful holiday season and wish you a very Merry Christmas. 

'Till next time, take care and if you have a few spare moments, happy stitching too!

Hardanger Sample

There's a pretty Hardanger stitch that I've been meaning to try out.  I had prepared the block ages ago and cut and removed the threads ready for the filling. During the dark damp weather over the last week I tried the stitch. I like the slight curvy arms of the big cross in the centre.

There are two separate bars for each arm of the centre cross. A bar is woven over one and under one fabric thread. You can see the individual threads in the unworked corner in the photo below. 

In the beginning working on those single threads felt flimsy. But once the weaving was done it seemed reasonably sturdy, bearing in mind that any form of cutwork does make the embroidery more fragile.

The smaller crosses in the corners of the block are a variation of Dove's eye stitch. Each of the four blanket stitches that usually form Dove's eye, has one an extra wrap. The result is a more distinctive upright cross. I need more practice to get that tension right.

By comparison the lace fillings on my old sample below are the traditional Dove's eye stitch, that is more commonly found on Hardanger embroidery. You can recognize it by the open diamond shape in the centre of the cross.

I like the way the big cross turned out. It's a pretty stitch for a pincushion.

Till next time, happy stitching!