Cape Embroiderers' Guild Mini Market and Embroidery Exhibition

Cape Embroiderers' Guild Leaf Banner in progress

---------------

THE CAPE EMBROIDERERS’ GUILD

will hold a

MINI MARKET & EXHIBITION OF EMBROIDERY

14^th JULY 2018

St. Thomas’s Church Hall, Rondebosch, 

Cape Town

10h.00 – 16h.00

Entry R20 – Refreshments available

Enquiries ph. 021 761 5052

---------------

Click on the link below to visit the CEG Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/capeembroiderersguild

Beginner Embroidery Classes

The internet has a vast depth of resources and they are becoming easier and easier to find. Google 'beginner embroidery' and you are bound to come up with a long list of possible places to begin browsing.

Credit: Swoodonsays

Occasionally someone researches and collects good links and shares their list. Today I came across a list of beginner embroidery classes put together by Stephanie over on Swoodsonsays. There are a number of beginner embroidery courses there that look very interesting, and that I would like to try. Click here to take a look.

Weekend

I love the evening light on the trees in the park at the end of garden, especially on Fridays at the end of the week.

Someone very kindly mowed the grass over there while we were out yesterday. Someone from the Council arrives every couple of weeks with a tractor and whips around in half an hour.  The way he swings the mower about in merry fashion I'd say that tractor driver loves his job.

Where was I yesterday? At the Embroidery Guild Exhibition in the City. We changed our minds at the last minute and thought we'd go by car instead of by train. Now I know why everyone says take the bus or the train. The one-ways, the river and the intersections with no right turn make navigating very tricky. But, we made it to the exhibition in the old Masonic Hall in Fortitude Valley. On the way we learned a lot about Brisbane too.

The 189 embroideries on display were exquisite. They were inspiring. Everything from canvas work and counted thread work, to needle painting, stump work and Japanese embroidery was there. Everything meticulously embroidered and carefully displayed. No photographs were allowed so unfortunately I have no embroidery to show you.

Looking around the hall I recognized designs by many of the popular embroidery designers and many from Inspirations magazine. I was impressed by the number of substantial works designed by the embroiderers themselves. I so enjoyed seeing such different work.

One thing that did strike me was the fabric. Many of the pieces of pulled work, drawn thread, Schwalm and Punto Antico were embroidered on a close weave linen, a 38 count Italian Graziano. The linen itself looked beautiful and the close weave really showed up the openwork to great effect. Much of this was work was done with 12 and 8 Pearl threads and quite a few pieces were stitched with colour.

Upstairs was a display of work from the guild's archives. It included quite a bit of clothing. Among the items I was thrilled to see 3 Ayrshire christening robes. That was a treat. It's the first time I've seen this form of whitework up close.

I have a few things to do now before the grandchildren arrive. They are coming for a sleepover tonight.

Till next time, happy stitching.

Lynlubell Sale - Digital Embroidery Patterns

Etsy turns 13 next week. The annual Etsy birthday sale runs from 18 to 22 June. It's the first time I've taken the plunge for my shop Lynlubell to take part.

I'm discounting all digital embroidery patterns by 10% for purchases over $10 USD. It's all set up to go on Monday 18th June and I hope it will run smoothly. In the meantime, click here to visit my shop Lynlubell on Etsy and browse through the patterns.

These are the 5 most popular patterns:

5. Australian Cross Stitch Embroidery, Egg Cosy and Table Mat Pattern

4. Blue Eyelet Pincushion Pattern, in canvas work or needlepoint

3. Rosebud Bookmark & Scissor Fob, canvas work pattern

2. This is the most popular canvas work or needlepoint pattern - the Flower and Cushion Stitch pincushion pattern.

1. Australian Cross Stitch Pincushion embroidery Patterns, the most popular of all the patterns.

Just to let my customers know that payments are now easier for you to make. Since moving to Australia I am able to offer payment through the Etsy payment system and that includes all major credit cards. Previously, being based in South Africa, I was able to accept payment only through PayPal and I know that was not convenient for everyone. Now you can choose to pay by credit card or still use PayPal if you so prefer.

Do visit my shop. If you have any questions you can contact me via my shop Lynlubell on Etsy. Or email me directly at the address lynette dot warner at gmail dot com.

Till next time, enjoy the weekend and happy stitching.

.....

Added later: Thank you to everyone who visited and supported my Etsy shop during the annual Etsy sale!

.....

Embroiderers' Guild Exhibition in Brisbane

I haven't seen much of Brisbane city yet. We live some way out. It seems like a trip to Fortitude Valley is on the cards for me.

After all, the 50th Anniversary Exhibition of the Embroiderers' Guild, Queensland is just too good to miss. Isn't it?  Click this link for more information.

Now to make arrangements to get there.

Till next time, happy stitching.

Florentine

I wanted a little piece of stitching to keep my fingers busy when I have a few spare minutes. Florentine, or Bargello, is just the thing.

It's easy to work.  It uses straight stitches, usually over 4 threads and steps up or down by two canvas threads according to the pattern you choose. It's easy to count on a 14 count canvas and it's rewarding too because it works up quickly.

Some of the special appeal of Florentine is the use of colours graded from light to dark within a colour family. To help decide on a colour I looked up the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2018. I don't know what I expected but I was surprised to find that the chosen colour is ultraviolet, a colour of 'exploration' and 'possibilities'. Interesting. See more about the concepts behind the choice of ultraviolet here.

Then I matched up some DMC threads that had been passed on to me some time ago to the colour displayed on my PC screen. Usually I would use wool on a 14 count canvas, especially for straight stitches like those used for Florentine embroidery, but my supplies are low. It's a good opportunity to see how the stranded cotton works.

Till next time happy stitching!

The Excellent Chinese Embroidery Exhibition

If you are going to be in Bangkok between now and 16 May,  The Excellent Chinese Embroidery Exhibition looks like it's well worth a visit. Both ancient and modern embroideries are on show and there are opportunities to learn about Chinese embroidery techniques.

Part of an embroidery, 112 centimetres wide and 483cm long, depicting urban lifestyles along a section of the lower Yangtze River a century ago. (Photo by Mongkol Bangprapa)  (Source Bangkok Post)

Click on this link to read the article in the Bangkok Post and find out more about the exhibition. I would love to visit it.

Thai Cross Stitch Panels

Going through my linen cupboard before we moved, I found these two embroidered panels tucked into a back corner waiting for inspiration. 

At the time I bought them, I thought they looked charming and I couldn't walk out of Srisuwan, a wonderful fabric shop in Bangkok, without them. 

With no one nearby to interpret, it was impossible find out the origin of the embroideries. I had just been North to Chang Mai and visited some of the Hill Tribes where I saw some impressively large cross stitch pieces. I would guess they could quite possibly have been stitched there.

The cross stitch must have been done by someone with good eyesight. I can't imagine counting and working those tiny cross stitches on a black background. (The fabric is a 14 count Aida-like material.) Black does however make the colours pop and I find the overall effect rather appealing. I especially like the way the limited palette has been used on the elephants.

I wonder if the panels were designed to decorate the bottom of skirt?

Till next time, happy stitching!

Setting up home

We have moved into our new house and are settling in happily. Last week my elder daughter visited and it was the first time in 5 years that both my daughters and their families were all together with us. Happiness is! And the four grandchildren played together like old best friends.

The grandchildren that live around the corner loved unpacking our boxes. Here they are sliding my sewing boxes into the shelving units left for us in my sewing room. Open shelves are not ideal but they are serving the purpose for the moment.

There is still a way to go before we have the house the way we want it: boxes of photo albums and pictures that don't yet have a place, an extra shelf to make for the grocery cupboard, the new washing line to be cemented in and so on.

A worthwhile tip if you are moving to a country where the electric plugs for your appliances are going to change? Work out beforehand just how many new plugs you will need and have them ready when you move in. You will be surprised just how many you will need. Weeks later we still have lamps, hairdryer, sewing machine and a few other things that we have to shuffle around when we want to use them. In the meantime a multiplug extension cord with an Australian plug that goes into the wall but that fits our existing appliances is working hard.

Today I was able to buy a new foot control for my sewing machine. The plastic on the old one disintegrated during the move. And I have just had notice that the new Fiskars scissors I bought online are waiting for me at the post office. 3 pairs of Fiskars that I have had for many years and used daily disappeared in the move! Very very annoying! (See the note below.) Anyway, I hope to be set up and sewing again soon.

Till next time, happy stitching!

------

P.S. Many months later the happy news is that I found all my Fiskars scissors carefully slipped in between layers of fabric deep in a fabric box.

Wild turkeys

 Spot the wild turkeys at the edge of my daughter's garden? It's lovely to see them roaming around nearby. It seems they are protected and quite common around Brisbane.

We're making progress with our move - new bank accounts, medical cards, phone numbers (though mine doesn't seem to be working yet?), house insurance and the keys to our new home.

Our container has unfortunately been delayed and until we have that we can't move into our house. The ship arrived in Brisbane yesterday and the container has been unloaded. The last step is to go through customs and the quarantine inspection. That will be about another 10 days. It will be nice to have my sewing things again.