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This project has been in the 'unfinished project' box for more than 10 years. At that time, I had been asked by a client to prepare a simplified drawing of one of Helen Stevens' beautiful embroidery pieces. My client had already done a fair amount of needlepainting with DMC cotton floss but was now ready to experiment with fine flat silks. I had the full selection of Pipers Silk floss from Chinnery's, U.K., the preferred silk of Helen Stevens, so it was fairly easy to put the project together with similar colours as those shown in the colour plate of her beautiful book: The Timeless Art of Embroidery.
As I often did, I prepared a similar project for myself and while my client worked, I also embroidered in an attempt to anticipate and resolve some of the technical challenges she would likely face.
And then time got away from us both. I don't know if she ever finished her project. I was determined to not let the work that I had already accomplished go to waste. So I picked up from where I had left off, with just the white rose and a leaf stitched, and during the rainy days of mid-July, I set to finish.
I was reminded of the stunning precision the Pipers' silk gives in terms of colour and line. There is no margin of error with this thread, and I had to get into gear and stay with the work for a long time so as not to lose the rhythm of my needle and thread.
I have already picked out a bird study from another of Helen Stevens' books. I am anxious to begin.
We've been travelling for the last couple of weeks, so there was no time to be in the studio.
We were in France. The first couple of days were spent in Normandy, in Bayeux and I finally had the chance to wander through the Museum to view 'La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde', after all these years during which I have frequently studied the pages of David Wilson's magnificent book on the story related in this 1000 year old embroidery.
The last week was spent in Paris, with family, a reunion of sorts with the focus of a posthumous celebration for my father-in-law, whose courageous work during difficult times during the war was recognized and honoured.
We returned to the forest last Wednesday and I quickly organized myself to start work on the iris. It's not that easy and I'm not sure yet about the effect of my work, but I am enjoying the experimentation with various types of silk thread, Pearsalls, Pipers and some chinese silk, Eterna.
This project is also a departure from my usual style given that it is so dense in its design. Usually I work on simple lines and single subjects suspended on the linen. I am having difficulty seeing the final picture in my mind despite the fact that I have done a watercolour study and thought a lot about the technical interpretation. I am however enjoying the freedom of letting the colours and the various silks take me where they seem to want to go. The result will surprise me; hopefully in a good way.
I made refer
ence a few days ago of a project I was beginning and hoped to finish to give as a gift to a close friend who celebrates a significant birthday this month. Here is the drawing, adapted from an engraving by Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840).
What was my process in choosing this subject? I wanted to do something very personal. C. is my closest friend and one who shows deep generosity with 
her time and thoughts. She has always shown great interest and sensitivity to my work and has followed my evolution as I have hers over the 15 years we have known each other.
I have a collection of Redouté's roses in a small book in my library and for many years have thought they would be excellent inspiration for a piece. The Rose is the flower for June. The 'Blush Rose' seemed to capture the density that I wanted to have in the piece. The flowers will be predominantly white with just a hint of pink and I am excited to see the effect of translating the leaves in two colours, of green and blue-green. The latter colour is intended to add a little surprise to the interpretation.
I haven't worked with the Pearsall Silks for a while so I plan to use this lovely twisted silk and play with the possibility of splitting the thread in two and using the finer thread for the smaller forms and details.
Although the original engraving provides me with an idea of perspective, shadow and movement, once I have begun the piece, I tend to work intuitively and follow my heart. Of course, there are no guarantees that what I see in my mind's eye translates on to the fabric, but as with most projects, I make adjustments along the way and I hope at the end of the effort, what appears has some merit.
To carry on with my post earlier today, given that I have lots of time to enjoy my embroidery without the usual constraints of the usual rhythm of a day at home, I have also started a more difficult silk piece. The design is inspired by an early 18th watercolour sample by Anna Maria Garthwaite as a suggestion for a custom order at the silk weaving mills of the Soieries de Lyon. The flower forms of the original painting are exquisite and a great challenge to try to transform the painted stylized forms into surface embroidery on fine linen.
I am working on optic white Belgian linen with Piper's 90 denier silk floss. As you can see from the second photo, the thread is not much thicker than a hair and I like to work with just one thread.
I have chosen a palette of vegetable dye colours, ambers, moss greens, and some indigo blues. I'll add a photo of the colour selection tomorrow.
This project is a pleasing change from the cross stitch I am doing simultaneously. One gives respite from the other.
And I even have a third project underway which I keep in my travel bag which comes on the plane with me.. maybe tomorrow I'll post that project and why I have no excuse to keep my fingers busy wherever I happen to be.
I love to keep busy and particular like to have a way to measure the passage of time. Embroidery provides this measure in a very tangible way and this blog helps also. Thanks for reading, loyal followers.
