I'm making progress on that beautiful adaptation of a William Morris design which I wrote about several weeks ago. I marvel at the brilliant choice of colours to render the piece alive with lots of movement. I am already thinking on how I could adapt this design to a different technique, using silk threads and the needlepainting. It is exciting work, simultaneously challenging and restful. I start my day with this piece and devote the last hour of the evening to it also.

One of my daughter's closest friends has had his first baby, a little boy. Today, after returning from the memorial for an old friend who died a week ago, I didn't have energy to do much more than organize the final details of a sampler for this new baby, i.e. the name and the date...it was a restful and regenerative exercise. I said goodbye to one dear person and hello to another.

I started working a couple of days ago on an interpretation by Beth Russell of the Orange Frieze by William Morris. The colours really drew me into the project and since William Morris also is the artist of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England (a period in the decorative arts movement that I am particularly interested in) at the turn of the 20th century, it was normal that I would want to work this.

The original design was by John Henry Dearle (1860 -1932) for a firescreen. Beth Russell, British, a contemporary designer of needlepoint, through her brilliant adaptations, provided a cartoon for a bell pull. She intended the project to be executed in wools on a 12 point canvas. I am not partial to working with wool so I have taken the same cartoon and have translated the design on a 28 count antique white linen with DMC floss, using just one strand. The colour selections are beautiful and I am drawn excitedly to work this all through the day. I do not tire of the design, this much due to the selection of colours, a testimony to the taste and talent of Beth Russell.

I have been having difficulty getting into serious projects, but when this happens, I fall on my tried and true ideas and this one has been on my list of 'things to embroider' for a long long while.

It is part of a magnificent collection of historical 'cartoons' dating back to 1932. It is called 'Frise Africaine'.

It is restful to do a monochromatic cross stitch; no need to think of colour, just the need to follow a pattern already calculated and put all my attention into the precision of the technique and the effect of the thread on the linen. I worked this project on a 32 count linen with a dark grey (DMC 3799) thread of cotton floss. The final piece measures no more than 12 cms x 4 cms.

It creates refreshing point of non-colour on my studio wall - a little like ink letters on a fresh page of white paper. Hopefully this therapy, this restful period, will generate the energy I seem to be in need of to return to my more complicated project 'Arabesque'.

Stay tuned and patient!

Arabesque - in progress

I have been lax about this project. Life sometimes, if not often, gets in the way of some projects. Since this one is quite difficult, I need to be completely focussed. Understandably, the focus has been elsewhere, i.e. Christmas plans, projects, gifts, etc.

But, as promised, I am posting the little progress I have made since committing it to linen. Not that inspiring yet, but I am optimistic that once other colours start to appear on the fabric, the interest level will increase and the final 'feeling' will begin to make its appearance.

So be patient... my plan is to try to do a little over the holidays..... stay tuned.

'Believe' - Christmas Box

This cross stitch project was just the beginning of my idea to start the studio of L'Art de l'Aiguille. As often is the case, we embroiderers start a project with great zeal and enthusiasm and then life takes over and it is left in the UFO basket. Such was the case with this embroidery, but one quiet Christmas, it seemed appropriate to finish it completely.. here is the final piece and for the last decade has found its place under our Christmas tree.

So once again, I wish you happy holidays and enough quiet moments to go back into your basket of unfinished objects and make a stab at finishing at least one of them.

Each year I prepare the photography for our Christmas card wishes. Usually I try to capture a moment when the garden is under a thick blanket of snow, the first serious snowfall of the year. This year, I wanted to do something different and began embroidering some Christmas themed banners with ancient lettering.

I plan to deck a natural, snow clad pine tree in the garden with this message and hopefully create an embroidered seasonal wish to send to our friends.

The pattern for these letters come from the Sajou albums of the 19th century. I have cross stitched them on natural linen, over 2 threads, with 2 threads of DMC floss #309.

Happy Christmas to all my readers.