Mouse Tales
Vol 7 - Issue 3 July
2008
President's Message
Since the last newsletter, I attended the Tennessee Valley Region's
Share-A-Stitch Seminar in Memphis. I was so pleased to be able to meet
so many people from our chapter and be able to share information about
our chapter with the other attendees. It was a very pleasant experience,
even after my comic pratfall after Merchandise Night. Hey, what is a bruise
or two between friends?
Speaking of Share-A-Stitch, no chapter volunteered to host SAS 30 in
2010, so the region has agreed to sponsor the event and spread the jobs
out among different chapters. Several plural members of our chapter already
volunteered, albeit on behalf of their primary chapters. That said, I
will be doing Favors on behalf of our chapter, so I might call upon you
all for help as time draws near. They just announced that Majestic Mountains
Chapter will find the location. As soon as I have more details, I will
be sure to pass them along to you.
I am looking forward to the Golden Gala in Louisville, which marks 50th
Anniversary of the EGA National Seminar. I know that over a dozen of our
members will be there, so we have another chance to put faces with names.
We are planning to register at least two tables at the closing banquet,
so make sure you check out the Chat4 or meeting yahoo group for a post
from Cindy Smith. Since the Opening Banquet is seated by region, we are
also going to try to sit together in the TVR section! I sincerely hope
to meet some of you there and look forward to reacquainting myself with
those of you who I have already met!
Rissa Peace Root
President, Cyberstitchers
Back to Contents
Chapter News
In the CS Newsletter:
For our new members, we have built in links to websites mentioned, and
to emailing people you may need to contract. If you see a link mentioned
and the letters are blue, click on that link and you will be taken there.
You will note that I don't put folks' actual emails in the newsletter.
If you click on their name in blue, you will be able to email them. If
you have a problem, let me know!
I also encourage members to share - if you found a great needlework book,
took a great class with a great teacher, have some neat stitching tips
to share - let me know so I can include it in the newsletter. Also, if
there are some interesting needlework related events in your area, let
me know so that I may add them onto the calendar. With the size of our
membership, and the area we cover, chances are if there is something happening
near you, some of our chapter may be interested in attending.
Sue Sherburne
Newsletter Editor
Dues:
National announced a dues increase of $3.00 starting January 1, 2008.
Happily, the chapter has a little money that members have donated "for
the good of the chapter". The Board has decided to these fund to
benefit everyone, and will absorb the increase for the first year and
not raise dues until 2009.
Chapter Pins:
Cyberstitchers is lucky to have our own Chapter Pin! You can see a picture
of what this pin looks like in the files section of this yahoo group.
Just go to the file section and look for "cyberstitchers pin".
They really are a fun to wear especially when you are attending the National
and Regional EGA Seminars. I just returned from the Great Lakes Regional
Seminar (GLR) and I found myself looking for others who might be wearing
one. True, the GLR is a different region than what Cyberstitchers is a
member of, but you never know.......
These pins are $7.00 and that includes the postage regardless of where
we are mailing.
If you are interested, you can pay via paypal at www.paypal.com
or www.paypal.ca for our Canadian
members. The payee is cyberstitchers@excite.com. Just be sure to identify
"Chapter Pin" somewhere in the payment information. You can
also send a check to me, payable to Cyberstitchers, just email me for
my mailing address. Regardless, of how you purchase one, please email
me (click on my name below) and give me YOUR mailing address and that
you are wanting to purchase a chapter pin. As soon as I see payment, I
will get your pin out to you.
Your Chapter Pin volunteer,
Kathie Morrison
Special Interest Groups:
Check out our SIGs - Special Interest Groups. Different stitchers have
gotten together for specific interests and stitch-a-longs: Beading, stitching
a Christmas ornament each month, Victoria Sampler/Lavendar & Lace
designs, Brag Book, "Heart of My Heart" pattern stitch-a-long,
Inspirations Magazine projects, the Dragonboat class, and of course, a
UFO (Unfinished Fiber Object) group for members to encourage each other
to finish GCC and EGA class pieces. Go to SIGs
on our website to see what is going on.
50th Anniversary Stitching Challenges:
From Carol Dam:
EGA invites all members to participate in our 50th Anniversary Stitching
Challenges! A few choices are still open:
Challenge #1: Stitch a 50th anniversary piece of your own design.
Use the number 50, EGA blue and gold, 50 symbols, 50 threads or whatever
you would like to creatively celebrate our anniversary through stitches.
Send it in as a special gift/fund-raising/auction item for seminar week.
For the last few years we have had a wonderful selection of needle art
on display and for sale at seminar through both live and silent auctions.
Challenge #2: Participate in National Stitch in Public Day, Wednesday,
September 3, 2008. This date was chosen so that as many seminar participants
as possible could stitch and demonstrate in the downtown Louisville area.
Chapters and MALs can get the stitch vibe going along side seminar participants
by doing the same in your local area. Stitch on your lunch break at the
office or at school, stitch in libraries or book stores, stitch in you
local parks or other downtown public areas. Elise Lampton, Ruth Whalen,
and Mary Julia Kuhn will chair the event and work with staff members Laura
Olah and Brad Cape to combine challenges 2 and 3. The committee will share
ideas for your participation.
Challenge #4: EGA challenges you to share us your unique ideas
for celebrating our Golden Anniversary! Send them to presega@egausa.org
. I look forward to hearing from you!
Back to Contents
The education committee, composed of Anne Long, Ellen Hartman, and Rissa
Peace Root presents the following report....
Hi all,
Here are your BEE5 classes for 2008:
Finishing with Flair - 7 votes
Moonlight Sonata - 24 votes (2 sections will be offered)
Morning Glories - 19 votes
My Favorite Bracelet - 7 votes
Oksana's Sampler - 7 votes
Summer Dream - 22 votes (2 sections will be offered)
Swiss Sampler - 6 votes
Teapot Cosy - 9 votes
White Queen - 8 votes
The BEE5 schedule is as follows:
2nd quarter classes (register during April-June):
Moonlight Sonata, section 1
Morning Glories
Summer Dream, section 1
Teapot Cosy
3rd quarter classes (register during July-September):
My Favorite Bracelet
Oksana's Sampler
Swiss Sampler
White Queen
4th quarter classes (register during October-December):
Finishing with Flair
Moonlight Sonata, section 2
Summer Dream, section 2
For our new members, the "BEE benefit" is an education program
that CyberStitchers has been pleased to offer for 5 years! The chapter
voted at the beginning of the year and selected 11 GCCs for the BEE benefit.
The benefit part is that the chapter picks up your course fee and postage
for this class! Each member is allowed to select 1 BEE class. You can
join a BEE class as a non-BEE student, but you are responsible for a share
of the course fee and the postage - this is $19.50 for US students, $23
for students outside the US.
Now for a caveat.....if you request a BEE class, let's say at the beginning
of the year, but that class doesn't register until October, you must be
a member of CyberStitchers in October when I send out payment info. So
if you let your membership lapse in September, I remove your name from
the class roster. If you renew late, I can add you back IF there are still
spots in the class. The BEE classes have been extremely popular and many
have waiting lists so failing to renew on time could result in losing
a coveted spot in a popular GCC. Once names are removed from a class list
due to failure to renew membership in CyberStitchers, I offer up the spot
to the next person on the list. It's only fair; I don't know if a person
has forgotten to renew, or is leaving the chapter. I don't hold spots
in classes on the off chance that someone is renewing late. Also, if you
do renew late, I will add you to the bottom of the waiting list for the
class. :-( So I guess I'm saying, don't forget to renew your membership!
For those of you who voted for a class that did not get selected for the
BEE5, please contact me offlist with the class you would like to take
instead (from the classes listed above). Poll results are still available
in this yahoogroup, so if you're not sure what you voted for, you can
check the polls or email me offlist.
If you voted for a class that is split into 2 sections, please let me
know if you have a preference as to which section you are
in. Otherwise, I will just assign people to a section. :-)
BTW, 155 people voted for classes this year.
Don't forget to check and see which classes are being offered online
by EGA National. There are 2 classes offered every 2 months, and this
is another option for taking GCCs. The July - August offerings (July 1
- August 31 is the registration period) from National are Dainty Trifles
and Finishing with Flair. The September - October offerings
are Fantasy Remembered and To The Acorn. The
November - December offerings are Beaded Nutcrackers and
White Queen. Also, through Needlearts you can
register for Rose Splendor now through August 31,
Crewel Confidence from Sept. 1 through October 21, and Luck
of the Irish from December 1 through February 28, 2009.
Respectfully submitted,
Anne Long
Education chair, CyberStitchers
education@cyberstitchers.org
Petite Project:
The latest piece in our Petite Projects file is Croation Cutwork (AKA
Slinge) by our own Bette Kelley!!! You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CSPetiteProjects/files/
. This piece is gorgeous - check it out!
BAM:
BAM is Bead-a-Month and grew out of a SAM, Stitch-a-Month, program we
purchased for several years. Our own Rissa picked up with BAM when SAM
ran out of new files. The current SAM/BAM stitch is the Lazy Stitch. All
diagrams are maintained in the CS-Stitch-A-Month yahoogroup. Look in the
Files section in the Folder labeled "Files for BAM". If you
are not a member of the CS-Stitch-A-Month group but would like to be,
send an email to:
CS-Stitch-a-Month-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Stitch-a-long:
We have a few stitch-a-long groups going now such as the ornament group
and a bead group. Please let me know if there is an interest in a group
stitchalong, a small meeting stitchalong, or any other similar ideas you
might have. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email
me.
Dragonboats Class:
The Dragonboats class is still up and running on yahoogroups. People
still continue to join - especially some of our new members. If you are
interested in making one of these cute little ornaments, the class is
free for all members. Go to yahoogroups.com and sign up for CSDragonboats,
or email Sue
for an invitation.
Please address Education Committee questions to:
Anne L
Education Chair
Back to Contents
Ornaments for Breast Cancer
Saturday night, November 22, 6 ~ 8 p.m. is the 11th Annual Silent Auction
for Breast Cancer Research at the Attic Needlework shop in Mesa, Arizona.
This is only a few months away, so it is time to get stitching. Karen,
our membership chair has graciously volunteered again to collect them
and bring them to the Attic. Karen wishes to have them in hand by November
15 in order to give her time to get them to the Attic and allow them to
be photographed. Email Karen
for her snail mail.
Star Pillows
There are still troops deploying around world so if you are interested in stitching a pillow, please use the
cross stitch pattern provided by the chapter in our files. You will be stitching a
small design on a 6x6 inch square of 14ct. white Aida and then mail it
to our Chapter Project Coordinator. The stitched squares will then be
assembled into small pillows with similarly-themed backing fabrics. A
pillow is given to a soldier before shipping out to kiss the pillow and
give it to his or her child as a keepsake that will hopefully comfort
the child during the separation from their parent.
The pattern may be found here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberstitchers_ega/files/KISSING%20PILLOWS%20pattern/
as a PDF document (or, go into the Files section in this group, and
click on the folder Kissing Pillows Pattern); if you need technical assistance,
please contact Lynn
via e-mail. This is a simple and quick stitch.
Meg is our Project Coordinator for the Kissing Pillows Chapter Project.
She is the chapter member you will mail your stitched design to, and she
will be sure that the squares are assembled into mini-pillows and sent
on to their final distribution point. Contact Meg
via email for her mailing address. We hope that many chapter members
will find this project to their liking and that Meg will receive many
stitched squares!
Just a few items to bring to your attention:
(1) You will notice a copyright on the chart of the designer Geraldine
Trappey, an active member of EGA's Yellow Rose Chapter in Houston, Texas.
Please note that we have acquired Geraldine's permission to use her charted
design for a specific purpose. If another EGA chapter or other group would
like to also participate in this project, we ask that they first contact
Geraldine Trappey to acquire permission; send an e-mail to
me for Geraldine's contact information.
(2) This project is to benefit children whose parents cannot be with them.
It is designed to give comfort and solace to children who have no choice
in their parent's employment. It neither supports nor decries the current
situational operations of the armed forces, but rather supports the people
most impacted by those operations.
Yes there is a Canadian version of this project for Canadian service
folks. Lynne D., one of our Canadian members is coordinating this in her
f2f chapter in Ontario. Contact Lynne
D. by email to get the pattern and information for the Canadian version
of this project.
Bookmarks For Literacy
Judi continues to accept handmade bookmarks for the chapter's Bookmarks
for Literacy project. The requirements are as follows:
- make a bookmark (or more than one, if you wish), in any technique.
- send an e-mail to Judi
to ask for her shipping address.
- send your bookmark to Judi.
- Judi will send/deliver the members' bookmarks to a literacy organization
on behalf of the chapter.
Outreach for One
Our "Outreach for One" folder is still there to provide members
with other ideas for outreach. Go to our cyberstitchers_ega Yahoo! group.
Click on "Links", then on "Outreach for One" folder.
Maintenance of this list now rests with the chapter members. We encourage
members to post other links to charities you know of that need assistance,
or you can send the information to our Outreach Chair, Lynn,
and the committee will see that it gets posted.
The committee always welcomes any ideas for chapter projects (either
from the membership or the committee). As usual, it's a bit difficult
to find something a chapter like ours can do. Any ideas will be gratefully
accepted, and will be fully investigated by the committee. Please share
your ideas with our Outreach Chair, Lynn.
Back to Contents
How do you create a centerpiece for an exhibit on personal adornment
in the 17th century? The folks at the Plimoth Plantation's Colonial Wardrobe
& Textiles Department decided to recreate a 17th century embroidered
jacket. No biggie -until you remember that in the 17th century EVERYTHING
had to be done by hand - embroidery, stitching together, weaving the lining,
lace made by hand to attach, and even spangles - no running to your local
needlework shop for paillettes. With all the chatter on the CyberStitcher's
chat list lately about the Gilt Sylke Twist thread being used, I thought
everyone would like to see where all the interest began.
After researching jackets of the period, it was decided to find a surviving
jacket to imitate for a pattern. Included in the search was the Victoria
and Albert Museum in London, England. Ultimately their Margaret Laton
jacket was selected to provide the pattern for the garment itself, as
well as the pattern for the silver and silver-gilt spangled bobbin lace.
Jacket #1359-1900 (no name associated) of V&A provided the embroidery
pattern; the pattern at this point is copyrighted by V&A. The work
would be done entirely by hand using 17th century techniques, with some
modern materials selected that were similar to what was available at the
time. This did not mean buying lace at the local fabric shop; it meant
using modern threads to make the lace by hand. It was estimated that 3,000-3,500
hours of labor would be involved; by June they have logged 1200+ hours.
3,000 hrs. of volunteer labor - free; one 17th century jacket - priceless.
The charge is being led by Jill Hall, the Manager of Plimoth Plantation's
Colonial Wardrobe & Textiles Department. Her 'day job' is to research,
produce and maintain the colonial clothing and textiles for the museum's
1620s role-playing programs. She started a blog called The
Embroiderer's Story on the Plimoth website back in May of 2007; the
blog keeps readers involved in the creation of the jacket. You can spend
a few hours reading about all the efforts of a fabulous group of folks
who have gotten involved in this amazing project. Tricia Wilson Nguyen
lent her expertise early on and continues to be instrumental late in the
process acting as the lead consultant. Jill tells me it is hard to overestimate
Tricia's contribution to the success of the project. Many other many talented
folks at Plimoth contributed to make this project a reality, such as Wendy
and Robbin. You will be fascinated by the efforts of Mark to recreate
the spangles on the jacket. You have to read the blog to see what it took
for him to recreate these bits of sparkle; his efforts are incredible.
Justin is setting out to hand weave a blue silk lining. Team Lace: Carol
H who led this effort, Holly van Sciver of Van Sciver Bobbin Lace for
consulting for development of the lace sample kit, and especially making
the final pricking for both the kit lace and the Laton lace (the one we'll
use on the jacket), Shirley E - working on a final version of the pricking,
Robbin D, Catherine K - beta testing the instructions and pricking, and
Tamara D, Devon T, Susan L - who are working to identify the period appropriate
techniques, and especially create working diagrams. There are so many
others up at Plimoth who have put their effort into this project, those
who helped create stitch guides, tested the directions, etc. and, out
of ignorance, I just don't know all the names. Please accept my apologies
to all the dedicated folks I have not mentioned.
So how do you get involved? Tricia Wilson Nguyen created a sample kit
that stitchers can work on and send back for evaluation to have a chance
to stitch on the jacket. It was realized that with so many hours of time
required, it would be special to invite stitchers from around the world
to come for stitching weekends to stitch on the jacket. This is an opportunity
that you can still take advantage of! Kits are available and come with
50 count Kingston linen and Soie Perlee silk thread. There is a small
doodle cloth that you create with the different stitches you are shown.
This is then returned to Plimoth for an evaluation of stitching tension
and neatness. Plimoth will then work to create a schedule allowing stitchers
with similar tension to stitch in the same areas of the jacket. The kit
also lets you create a small design, complete with simple paillettes,
for you to keep. The chance to stitch a small piece of something that
will be a treasure for years to come is rare indeed. If you are interested
in this opportunity, Jill told me, "We absolutely still need embroiderers.
We have work sessions scheduled for 8 - 11 August; 22 - 25 August; 12
- 15 September; and 26 - 29 September." These are all Friday - Monday
weekends. Lace weekends are still being planned. For the embroidery kit
please email
Kathy Roncarati or call her at 508-746-1622, ext. 8114. The kits are
$40 plus $5 for shipping. This actually includes a $20 tax-deductible
donation that directly supports this project. Note, there are also kits
for lace making if you are a lace maker. Tricia is also preparing new
kits with the new gold thread and special needle.
Jill told me that a lot of embroiderers have been afraid to participate
because they are afraid that their work "won't measure up".
She wishes to encourage everyone to participate. Plimoth has not turned
anyone away based on a poor sample piece. The samples are really to see
who does better at which stitches. Plimoth wants the finished jacket to
look as if many people worked on it; research has suggested that the original
jackets were made in large workshops by professional embroiderers. The
samples are not about judging as much as seeing which stitch is your best
stitch. Jill told me that she herself had never tried these stitches before
a year ago and only started working on the jacket in January. Jill says
to tell everyone, "Don't be afraid. Come."
Now, of course, you want to see pictures. Well, of course as you make
your way through Jill's blog there are oodles of pictures. However, for
one spot to see a nice overview, I asked Jen Thies if I might share her
photos with you. Jen, along with her friend Laura, went to stitch on the
jacket several times, and Jill put up a special group of photos on Flickr.
The link to Jen's photos is http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenthies/sets/72157600455293915/
and Jen shows you all manner of views of the work and the work area
in Plimoth. If you cannot make it to Plimoth, live vicariously through
these pictures.
One final enticement - Jill is planning a big Symposium surrounding the
jacket up at Plimoth in Fall 2009. Follow her blog for information as
plans solidify. I don't know if I will have an opportunity to get up to
Massachusetts to stitch on the jacket, but I certainly plan to go and
see this incredible garment when it is done.
Back to Contents
This is the second of a series of 4 small, simple projects based on
the 4 seasons, to run in the newsletter throughout the year. I apologize
for getting behind, so now we have some catching up to do; we need to
finish looking at Summer and move on to Autumn. The designs are influenced
by Japanese embroidery, but go off on my own wanderings - I know my limits
when it comes to Japanese embroidery. I am stitching my designs on 24
ct. congress cloth, but you may choose to use a different ground. Some
of the more adventerous of you may treat this as a crewel or surface embroidery,
and stitch it on linen and play with different stitches. I will list the
fibers and stitches I have used, but you can certainly experiment with
the design. You may choose to substitute different fibers; embroidery
floss is an easy substitute for folks who don't have access to many different
fibers.
I explained in the April newsletter that Natsu no Take means Summer
Bamboo. I also promised a photo of bamboo that I took in Japan. Remember
that I said that bamboo looks like feathers on the hillside? On You Tube
you can find a few videos of bamboo, including one called 'Bamboo forest'
that show the breeze blowing through a bamboo forest. Search You Tube
and you will see the green feathers. Here are a couple of my photos. Notice
how slender and vertically straight bamboo tends to grows.
The materials list for Summer is:
10" x 12" piece of Ecru Congress Cloth
Rainbow Gallery's Maderin Floss (bamboo fiber thread - of course)
M839 Lite Cedar
M840 Dark Cedar
M886 Dark Camel
M912 Lite Camel
Soie d'Alger Noir (black)
A scrap of Needlepoint Silk #446, a red in the persimmon range, to stitch
your initials
The design area is approximately 5 x 7 inches; the 10 x 12 piece of Congress
Cloth gives you room to frame it with a mat. You will need to print out
this design.
Be sure that it comes out about 5x7(5 x 6.75). I am going to put the
actual file in the cyberstitchers.org files to be sure the original design
size is available to you. Of course, you may choose to make yours larger
or smaller depending on your choice of fabric and fibers. Trace the design
onto your canvas. I used a fine line Sharpie pen, but a pencil, #4 hardness,
works fine. Take a bit of care in your tracing, and try to keep the sides
of the stalks straight vertically. Again, look at the photos. You will
see in the photo of my stitching that I could have done a much better
job of keeping the sides straight.
The first thing is to stitch your kanji character using 2 strands of
the black Soie d'Alger.
You will use the stem stitch. If you are unfamiliar with any of the
stitches I use, a great source for stitch guides comes from our own Rissa
on her website, Pretty Impressive Stuff, which is a fun site to surf around
anyway. Rissa's awesome stitching dictionary can be found at:
http://prettyimpressivestuff.com/stitches/index.htm
This is a great resource if you need to look up a stitch!!! For your kanji,
be careful when starting and ending your thread so that your ends are
hidden in the character. Try to keep the flow of your stitching going
in the same direction in the different strokes of the character. I started
with away knot, and wove in both ends carefully.
For the bark of the bamboo, take 2 strands of the Lite Camel Mandarin
floss. I created my own little pattern stitch here. Each stitch crosses
6 threads of canvas. Stitches alternate up 3 threads to stagger the stitches.
Notice that the 2nd row starts by jumping up to the top of the next stitch.
You can then work back across as in Row 1.
A group of stitches will look like this:
Some compensating will be required. I staggered the top and bottom of
my trunks. I also started and stopped at the joints of the trunks (where
they divide into separate segments of the trunk). Always remember the
basic pattern of 6 threads, and count to compensate around joints, and
also around leaves - where should the stitch land if it continues underneath
the leaf area? Once you have finished the bark, take the Dark Camel and
use the stem stitch to outline each trunk and mark the joints (the horizontal
lines breaking each trunk into segments. In the sketch below you can see
some compensating stitches. Remember to cut in around the leaves.
Now for the leaves. If you count 1 to 5 from left to right, you will
notice that on Trunks 1, 3, and 5 the leaves are stitched in the lighter
green , Lite Cedar. The leaves on Trunk 2 and 4 are stitched with the
darker Dark Cedar, and some leaves disappear behind Trunks 1, 3, and 5.
Trunk 2 and 4 are meant to appear to sit a bit behind Trunks 1, 3, and
5. The leaves are a simple Slanted Gobelin. Keep the stitches parallel
to the long direction of the leaves.
After you have finished your bamboo, don't forget to add your 'name stamp'.
Backstitch your initials inside a little box using the red Needlepoint
Inc. silk. You can absolutely substitute for this thread; I used it because
I had it left over from another project. However, you should stitch it
in red to imitate the red ink often used by people with their name stamp.
My initials may look funny to you - I actually did my name, Susan, with
Japanese hiragana characters that I got off a name stamp I had made when
visiting Japan. You can simple put your initials here, top to bottom.
Ok, this is the JULY newsletter, so it is time to get back on track,
and where we belong; it is time to go on to Autumn.
Back to Contents
Autumn, is the 3rd in our series. Much as leaf peeping in autumn is
a big deal in our country, in particular in New England, it is also a
big time for sightseeing in Japan. Where people flocked to see the cherry
blossoms in the spirng, they now go to see the brightly coloroed leaves,
in particular maple leaves. Aki (pronounced ah-kee) is the Japanese word
for autumn. Indeed just as the leaves look like they are on fire, the
kanji symbol for autumn, has the kanji character for fire (the second
part of the figure).
Momiji (moh-mee-jee) means maples leaves. If you are going leaf peeping,
in Japan you say you are going 'momijigari' (moh-mee-jee-gah-ree). Unfortunately,
I was not in Japan in the fall season to take photos, but you can enjoy
Googling 'japan autumn' and seeing some of the pictures that come up,
especially those of Kyoto and the Arashiyama district of Kyoto.
The design reflects the style of maple leaf in Japanese embroidery. Real
japanese maple leaves have a bit of a long point on the end and the individual
sections are a bit narrower. For the background, I was inspired by a picture
I found while paging through pictures of Japan in the fall online. There
was a shop in Kyoto that sold "furoshiki', which are clothes that
are used to wrap things up in, for example to carry your lunch or to wrap
something as a gift. They are very prevelent in Japan, and I have received
a number of beautiful ones as gifts. In the shop in the photo there was
a picture of a number of furoshiki on a rack. This grouping had maple
leaves on the clothes, and the gold lines I have attempted to imitate
on their background.
As above, you will need to copy this design onto your canvas with a Sharpie
or hard pencil.
The materials I used were a bit pricy. You can easily substitute another
fiber in the basic colors of the leaves. My materials list is:
10 x 12 inch piece of Light Carmel Congress Cloth
Crescent Colors Belle Soie silk:
Fawn (dark brown)
Sister Scarlet (dark red)
3 Alarm Fire (bright red)
Lasagna (orange)
Buttercup (bright gold)
Kreinik Japan Thread #5 Gold or #7 (personal comfort with the thread thickness)
Soie d'Alger Noir (black), an #935 Very Dark Coral (a red)
A scrap Needlepoint Silk #446, a red in the persimmon range, for your
initials ( you could use the VD Coral)
Again, start by using the stem stitch to stitch the kanji character.
The leaves are all stitching in the same manner. You will do one leaf
in each color of the Belle Soie, starting with the darkest color, Fawn,
at the upper left corner, and moving through Sister Scarlet, 3 Alarm Fire,
Lasagna, and ending at the lower right leaf with Buttercup. In true Japanese
embroidery, the stitcher would stitch theses leaves using a slanted gobelin
which travels at an angle to the center vein of each leaf section. To
detail the vein, the stitcher leaves one thread unstitched - that unstitched
area forms the vein. This is not practical on canvas, so the other approach
is to go back to the stitch we used in the Spring piece, the closed fly
stitch. Using 2 strands of your Belle Soie, make a straight stitch from
one of the points of the leaf, down to about where the vein line is. Now
do a fly stitch so that the two sides of the stitch touch up again the
straight stitch. The tiedown for the fly stitch will be tiny. Continue
placing fly stitchs, one just outside the last one. What happens is this:
the V's of the fly stitches sit inside each other, and the couching stitch
creates a stitched line for the vein. Fill in that segment of the leaf
placing the ends of the fly stitches on the green lines for the edge of
the leaf. Fill in each of the 7 segments on each leaf with the closed
fly. You may need to place a few compensating stitches at the bottom of
each segment to fill in. Be sure that the veins all meet in the center
of the leaf, even if you have to compensate with a few backstitches. The
last step for the leaf is to stem stitch the stem of the leaf.
The swirl lines are done by couching the Japan thread down using one
strand of the Soie d'Alger Very Dark Coral. I filled in the swirls as
you can see in the photo. The extra highlight lines to the right side
are just one straight line couched. You will be couching the thread in
PAIRS - two strands held together. Start be sinking one end of your threads
at the start of your line. If you can run the ends under a leaf, do so.
Otherwise to secure the end underneath, you will have to tack it back
along the direction you are laying your thread on top. Couch as you lay
the thread along the line you wish it to sit. You will make tiny tacking
stitches.You will want to keep your couching stitches evenly spaced along
the line. Note that you need more tacks in the curves, so take that into
account in your spacing. When you reach the end of your line, cut your
thread leaving a tail...leave a good inch. You will need to thread the
gold to pull it to the back of the work secure it. Again, if you can run
it under a leaf, do so. Otherwise, you must again tack it on the back
with the red, back along the couched line. Complete one pair of threads
before beginning to couch another pair next to it. When you couch the
next row, you will be staggering your tacking stitches in between those
on the previous row.
I did take one short cut. In the spaces in between the leaf segments,
I did try to stitch a bit - rather wrap the thread around the few threads
of canvas, then do the couching on top so that area looked like the rest
but without all the starting and stopping.
I will confess this can be tedious, and you may get a bit frustrated
working with this fiber. If you get a kink in the thread on top where
your stitches are visible, the kink will be visible. It also wears quickly,
especially where it hits the eye of the needle - that is why you couch
this thread and do not stitch with it. If you are into Japanese Embroidery,
use some of your handmade needles with the round eyes - this helps with
wearing. Also, Japanese embroiderers wrap the thread around a spool called
a koma to keep it from kinking and unroll it as they lay it along the
line. Do not be afraid to try the #7 Japan thread which is a little thicker
in diameter, and perhaps easier to manage. If you find Japan thread too
frustrating to work with, you may use Kreinik's Japan Gold braid instead,
but you still should couch it for the appearance.
To finish, again you can backstitch your intiails with one strand the
Needlepoint Silk #446 or other red thread.
I hope you are enjoying this series of Japanese seasons. If you have
any questions, or something isn't clear in my directions, PLEASE, email
me. Our last installment of the series, Winter, will be in our October
newsletter.
Sue Sherburne
Back to Contents
CyberStitchers Meetings:
August 14-19, 2008:
Board meeting of CyberStitchers from 9PM (ET) Thursday, August 14 through
9PM (ET) Tuesday, August 19.
September 11-16, 2008:
General meeting of CyberStitchers from 9PM (ET) Thursday, September 11
through 9PM (ET) Tuesday, September 16.
October 9-14, 2008:
Board meeting of CyberStitchers from 9PM (ET) Thursday, October 9 through
9PM (ET) Tuesday, October 14.
November 13-18, 2008:
General meeting of CyberStitchers from 9PM (ET) Thursday, November 13
through 9PM (ET) Tuesday, November 18.
Regional and National:
August 25 - November 26, 2008 19th National Exhibit
EGA Headquarters, Louisville, KY
August 28-30, 2008 International Embroidery Conference
The Brown Hotel, Louisville, KY
August 30, 2008 19th National Exhibit - Opening Receptions
EGA Headquarters, Louisville, KY
August 31- September 5, 2008 Golden Gala 50th Anniversary Celebration
National Seminar hosted by EGA National Board, Hyatt Regency Louisville,
KY. Contact: Armida Taylor
or 208-890-2694
September 5-12, 2008 ANG National Seminar
Hyatt Grand Champion Resort and Spa, Indian Wells, CA
September 24 - 28, 2008 Art of the Needle 2008
Skyllkill Chapter Needlework Show, Mount Gulian Historic Site, Beacon,
NY. Contact Sue,
your newsletter editor :), for info and directions.
October 2-4, 2008 Oktoberfest Needlework Show
Sponsored by Coulee Country EGA. Needlework display by local members
and the public. People's choice ribbons awarded in each category.
La Crosse Public Library, La Crosse, WI 54614. Contact Carol
Stekel or 608-486-2174.
October 2-5, 2008 39th Annual Stitchery Showcase
Hosted by the Stan Hywet Needlework Guild at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens,
714 N Portage Path, Akron, OH. Mail entries accepted. Contact Betty
Jo Scurei, Chairman, or Kathy
Olex, Co-Chair.
October 17-18, 2008 Fall Festival of Stitches
Youngstown Area EGA Chapter, Youngstown, OH. Contact Todd
Murdock.
October 25, 2008 Jim Wurth teaching 'Cosmopolitan'.
Inland Empire Chapter, EGA, will hold the event as a chapter fundraiser
at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, CA, just east of LA "Cosmopolitan"
is a design created for Inland Empire, and is a rather different take
on Jim's designs with an art nouveaux look to it. It's small...designed
to fit one of the beautiful little boxes, or to inset into a tote or pillow.
A complete kit includes canvas, all threads (lots of Kreinik), and instructions
(no stretcher bars). Ghost stitchers (stitchers who can't be there in
person, but receive instructions) are invited. If you come in person,
you will have morning refreshments and lunch. Everyone receives a door
prize. Price is for $85. For more info and a picture of the project plus
a flyer, email Pat
Correz. Deadline for reservations is early Oct.
November 13-16, 2008 Stumpwork with Marsha Papay Gamola
A 2008 Extended Study Program at the Embroidery Museum and Resource Center,
Louisville, KY. Contact Laura
Olah or call 502-589-6956.
January 11-19, 2009 Callaway School of Needlearts Exhibit
38th annual exhibit open to the public, no admission charge. Sponsored
by Georgia Chapter EGA & Callaway Gardens at the Callaway Gardens
Conference Center, Pine Mountain, GA. Contact Eileen
Kee , phone 478-731-0465, or go to
www.callawaygardens.com/needlearts
April 13 - 16, 2009 Fiber Forum Retreat
Duncan Retreat Center, Delray Beach, FL Contact John
Waddell.
April 19-23, 2009 ESP Santa Fe Textile Arts
Inn on the Alameda, 303 E Alameda St, Santa Fe, NM 87501, (505) 984-2121.
www.innonthealameda.com.
Contact Marie
Campbell, ESP Chairman or call 717-860-3640.
April 22-26, 2009
Heartland Region Seminar 2009, Springtime in the Valley.
Sponsored by Cedar Valley Chapter EGA, Cedar Rapids, IA.
Contact Solveig Walstrom or call 319-393-898.
April 24-26, 2009 Metropolitan Region Seminar
Hamilton Park Hotel and Convention Center in Florham Park, NJ. Contact
Gloria Lennon ,
Chair.
April 26-30, 2009 Great Lakes Region Seminar
Hosted by Monguagon chapter. Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Dearborn, MI. Contact
Wendy Moore, Chairman, or call 734-379-3271.
May 3-7, 2009 Sun Region Seminar/Cruise
Sponsored by Indian River Chapter Seminar/Cruise
will be held aboard the Carnival Sensation as she sails from Pt. Canaveral, FL to the Bahamas
with an overnight stop in Nassau. Rates will be available June '08. Passports will be required. Contact
Barbara Gill, or go to the Sun Region Website.
May 29-31, 2009 Stitchin' on the Ridge 2009
Carolinas Region Seminar, Ridgecrest Conference Center, Ridgecrest, NC.
Contact Michelle Burroughs or call 828-808-0524
June 3-7, 2009 UFO: Universe Of Finishing Opportunities
South Central Region Seminar, promotes finishing "UFO's;" held
at the Hilton in Arlington, TX. Classes in finishing techniques will be
offered. "Revisited" classes will also be offered with well
known teachers to receive help with UFO's from their previous classes.
First day registration is June 10-17, 2008. Contact
Lynette Eason, or call 817-483-6651.
June 18 - 21, 2009 Share-a-Stitch XIX
Tennessee Valley Region Seminar, sponsored by the Cheekwood Chapter,
Music City Sheraton, Nashville, TN.
June 25-27, 2009 Les Bois Adventure
Rocky Mountain Region Seminar, hosted by the Western Idaho Chapter in
Boise. Contact Myrna Cruz, or call
208-343-2896.
June 25-28, 2009 Pampered Stitchers
Hosted by Pacific South-Western Region, a stress-free, relaxing three-day
weekend, giving the attendee time to stitch, relax and/or shop! Six two-hour
classes will be offered, with projects small enough to complete during
the class, or shortly thereafter. Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, 60 E. Fifth
St., Tempe, AZ. Contact
Lynda Hilton or go to http://psrega.org
.
October 4-9, 2009 Mid-Eastern Region National Seminar
Hosted by Mid-Eastern Region, Pittsburgh, PA.
Other Events of Interest:
August 29- September 1, 2008 Thimble Collectors International 16th
Biennial Convention
At the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel in Downtown Philadelphia. Great programs,
including a huge Sales Mall, a Beginner's Seminar, an auction and the
"Thimble Road Show" where you ask the experts. TCI activities
encompass all needlework tools. For more information, visit www.thimblecollectors.com
or send an email to info@thimblecollectors.com
October 2-4, 2008 Stitching Jubilee
Stoney Creek Colletion presents classes and exhibitions at the Valley
Forge Convention Center, King of Prussia, PA. Check their website at www.stitchingjubilee.com.
Check the EGA website for other
interesting event listings.
If anyone knows of other events that should be included here. Please
let me know. We cover a wide-spread geographic area, and with summer vacation,
people will also be traveling, and may want to check out other things
that I have missed. Sue
- your friendly cyber neighborhood newsletter editor. Please put CS in
the subject line.
Back to Contents
|
