Week 12 Project 8 Happy Birthday,Steven!

Steven wanted a mouse he can carry around. They use laptops a lot at school, and he works better with a real mouse. So I bought him a mouse and special thin mouse pad. (Whether there are technical problems is his worry, not mine.) My worry was how this mouse is going to survive in his pack. So I made him a mouse pouch. The pouch is quilted and the pad also acts to protect the mouse, so I think it should be safe. There is also a small pocket for Steven's Data stick, which also tends to get lost or damaged at regular intervals.

I've taken pictures, and should get them up soon. The camera and my computer don't talk to each other, so I need Jerry's help - it talks to Jerry's computer.

I'm not totally happy with the job I did of the sewing - I usually figured out how I should have done things about two or three seams further on, and I didn't frog it to make the improvements. I still think he'll like it. He was very funny when I asked him to help pick out fabrics for a mystery project. He didn't like picking fabrics without knowing how they would be used. And then I insisted on including a mouse print (the animal) I had, which also confused him. Tonight all will become clear, I hope. I'll need to make strudel, too.

Plenty of time, though. This weekend is the Seussical, and he won't be home before 8. He's the mayor of Whoville. And if you are wondering why the mouse pouch only got made this morning - it has to do with my being told on Saturday that he still hadn't brought in his black shorts for his costume. His black shorts? What black shorts? Steven! I managed to get a pattern and black cotton gaberdine before stores closed on Saturday, and he now has a very nice pair of black shorts. One of my next projects is to make him a second pair of shorts. I also bought navy gaberdine, but this pair I intend to spiffy up with a different fabric for the pockets and coloured top stitching. Watch this space!

BTW the sampler is making great progress.

Hidden stitchery

One of the fun things for me is discovering needlework treasures where you don't expect them. Here in Vienna, if you go to the Schatzkammer, you know you'll get to see your fill of the Golden Fleece vestments. If you go to the KHM you can admire the way major painters interpreted the needlework that their sitters where wearing. The MAK has wonderful textiles on display. ... Yes, but when you go into the coal mine under the Technical Museum, you don't expect to have the long stretch of dark and claustrophobia rewarded by seeing a lovely sampler dedicated to St. Barbara. (Yes, It's lovely. No, I don't intend to ever visit it again.)

One of the other things I do is theology. Last night I attended a lecture at the Theological Courses of the Archdiocese of Vienna. (This is a wonderful organization that exists to train lay people. I learn Hebrew there, and enjoy the lecture series when my health allows.) The first question when arriving at the Kurhaus next to St. Steven's is where they have put the lecture. If lots of people are expected they use the big room right at the entrance. If fewer people are there, usually we are upstairs. This year the lift is being replaced, so that means climbing three flights of stairs, and like most old buildings in Vienna, the rooms all have high ceilings. It's a long climb. Last night we were in a smaller room, but on the ground floor. Missing the climb was enough reason to be pleased. But I'd been in that room before, and had nearly forgotten that an old antependium is hung in the corridor that leads to the room. Aaah!

Unfortunately there is no label, and I have not been able to find a date on the stitching. I would guess that it is about 100 years old. I would very much like to know more about it. I would also love a chance to get at it with needle and silk for long enough to stabilize some of the couching that is falling off. The rest of it is in very good condition. Also it is wonderful to be able to get really close without glass between me and the stitching.

The stitching is spectacular. The background is cream-coloured linen (? or cotton, but ecclesiastical things tend to use linen.) Some of the appliques are probably silk. The threads may be partly silk, but many are probably cotton. The parts I could study closely (the bottom fourth) used some goldwork techniques, but I don't remember seeing metallic threads.) Although the drawing is good, and the way the draperies are indicated is amazing, I am not impressed by the design of the whole. However, these things can look very different from a distance, and an antependium (altar frontal) can't be judged as close up as you are in a hallway.

The major figures are appliqued (after being embroidered?) There are also thickly stitched medallions that I would also assume were applied after stitching. Other stitching is done directly onto the background.

Most of the stitching is chain stitch, which changes to split stitch where a thinner line is needed. There is also a lot of couching, especially around the edges of appliques. Some areas have laid fillings. I think it must have been framed up before stitching and never removed from the frame. That's a favorite way of working these things, and I wouldn't dare move something with such long unsecured laid stitches off frame.

There are two towers stitched straight onto the background in very fine grey lines - they look like pencil drawings. They are too high for me to really examine the stitches, but they are tiny - under 2mm - and exquisitly accurate. If this is double running it is a lot neater than I can do it. (Never mind the stitch size which also boggles my mind.) However, backstitch would make the 'holes' more visible. And not split stitch either. I would like to get in there with a camera and take a picture just of one of the towers and try to copy it. But I'm not going to let my stitching be compared to whoever did this! I would use whipped backstitch with one strand to try and get the feel of pencil drawing.

Questions I would like to be able to answer:

• Was all the stitching done for this frontal, or where pieces taken off of previous pieces?
  
• Were the towers done by a different stitcher from the rest of the work? How many stitchers in all?
  
• Were the individual drawings done by different artist(s) than the total design?
  

You will have guessed by now that I don't get a feeling that it all fits together very well. My imagination has a needlewoman being handed a framed up frontal, a stack of bits and pieces from a stash and asked to create a frontal out of them. All the pieces are wonderful and I enoy visiting it.

Week 10 Project 7 Bookmark 2

My black and red sampler has taken on a life of its own, and I had nearly forgotten that the whole point was supposed to be to have a place to try out the original colour schemes of historical patterns that I was modernizing.

I had to buy more of the red thread I am using, and saw narrow linen band in the shop, so I stopped work on the sampler long enough to make a bookmark from one of the patterns I am planning on using there soon. Even on the sampler I am planning to switch the colours - I am trying to keep to twice as much black as red. Since I am doing the alphabets in red, the other bands need to be mostly black. For the bookmark I have not only chosen very different colours, but also changed the way they are distributed.


This pattern is taken from 'Stickmusterschatz' by Irmgard Gierls (Part 2, p. 69). She says that it is taken from clothing on a painting by one of the old German Masters. The first thread is an overdyed floss by Needle Necessities (196). I had some problem deciding which thread to use for the contrast. I settled on Anchor 897. I'm quite happy with the result. I'll try to remember to show you the 'same' band from the sampler once I have stitched it. Originally the large diamonds, their decorations and the baselines near them are red. The centres there, the small diamonds and the swirls off them are black.

I have now designed my own Greek alphabet for the sampler. I found a nice Russian one online, and have given up on the idea of Hindi - There are just way too many letters. Anyway, It's coming along quite nicely. Actually it's getting a bit too big for my scanner already. Below the narrow band that you can barely see part of I have also started the next alphabet: that is a wide band in Assisi work with nice borders either side of the alphabet in negative.

WIPs

The two quilts are the biggest open projects . Steven's quilt is fun: Each block is different, and each block we have designed together so that the quilt will reflect his taste (over a period of time), as well as mine. The quilt will be 6 x 4 30 cm. blocks, except that the central 4 blocks are one big chess board. (In flannel so the flannel pieces will stay put.) The left hand column will spell STEVEN. The other blocks are a big medley of things. There is a Harry Potter block quilted in 'glow in the dark' thread that makes the moon really shine. An appliqued tiger with machine-embroidered jungle around it. A fish tank where the biggest fish has eaten a cat. A Paper-pieced puffin. A crazy square that uses all sorts of bits that Steven liked but somehow didn't inspire full blocks... The S is a lovely snake. We started with a copyart picture, Jerry changed the image to come closer to a real S shape, then I appliqued and embroidered it. One of the Es is a Pakman out of a bubble material that Steven liked. It's really high time I finished the quilt. Luckily I'm quilting each block as I go along, and also sewing some of the blocks together. When the final block is made I'll be able to bind it and be done.

The 3D quilt is mostly to have a quilt, and for the fun of sewing with others once a month. I do like the pattern, though, and have made one big change to the quilt as planned for the class - It has sashing that matches the block background. Except mine won't. Karen and I found a marvelous match in Essex Junction that will enhance the quilt, and my blocks will 'pop' visually as they wouldn't otherwise.

Then there are several samplers going. Right now I'm actively working on a sampler of 30 cm wide linen band trying out some of the bands in Linn's reprint books. These will be alternated with various alphabets. The first one is Latin alphabet in back stitch. I intend alternating the latin alphabet with others that are meaningful to me. That means Hebrew and Greek, of course. Also Russian. I ought to also try to do the Hindi alphabet I (supposedly) learned as a child. After that I could use a cursive Hebrew alphabet and braille, if I am still working on the sampler. The piece of band is 1 meter long, so the final length is more up to how long I feel like working on it. I'm sticking to red and black on this one.

IThe Hebrew sampler is near the top of the heap.

I am also working on a kit of the rose window of the National Cathedral in Washington DC. Dad gave it to me for my birthday, and it is proving to be quite a challenge. First I tried replacing the 16 count Aida with 32 count linen. Forget it. I can't see that well, and there is just too much thread counting becuase the bits of colour are so scattered. I think what I'm using now is 25 count. Much better. I bought new black for the background rather than risk running out and having the new not match, but decided to use the coloured threads. A risk, I know, but it's going to be fine. This kit had plenty of thread in it, even for a significantly larger embroidery. I do wish, however, that the pattern had overlap between the pages. I finally had to glue the sheets together, and the size is very difficult to deal with.

There is also most of a crocheted sweater lying around for me to work on. One of these ribbony yarns.

I'm also supposed to be working on Christmas stockings for Melissa and Cailan.

Is that ALL my WIPs? No, but it's the ones that I think have a chance of being worked on in the next few months. I'll try to report in once a month.

Week 8 Project 6 Steven's quilt

Actually not Steven's quilt yet, just another block for it. Nor does it really count yet, as I have to dig out the box of materials and quilt the block before it counts. The digging is what will take time.

I'm working on a 3D quilt with classes at my local quilt shop, and decided it was time to try and use the patterns I was learning in a different size. Steven and I went through my stash and decided to base this square on the chilli pepper cloth. The grey and orange were chosen to coordinate with that, and we decided to use the same background material as for the quilt.

I will quilt only a few lines in the flat bits. That means in the four corners, in the background triangles of the point squares, and the grey corners of the central square.

BTW the blocks for Steven's quilt are 30 cm (about 12 inches.)

Thoughts on Quentel and Art Nouveau

I gave myself a treat last night, and looked through another of the books I got from Linn Skinner: This time her reprint of Hiersemann's reprint (1882) of Quentel (1527 - 1529).

Of course I am already working on another bookmark. (I'd better find a source of band I like here fast! I only picked up 4 of these when I was in the US. Mostly because the store I found them at had a lousy selection.)

The pattern I picked out was only one of several that I would not have hesitated at dating to the late 19th century. Very 'Art nouveau.' Of course I was aware that that period was also full of reworkings of historical patterns. How could I not be, living here in Vienna and seeing the Ringstrasse buildings so constantly. And I knew that William Morris had referred back to old traditions in his writings. But it did stop me in my tracks when in the middle of so many traditional blackwork patterns beloved of the sampler crowd there were designs that shouted Art nouveau at me. Even a border of facing birds that is very reminiscent of Morris's 'Strawberry thief'. I had never seen before how the old designs had been brought out and refurbished. Just a reminder that for all the refurbishing we do, good design is good design is good design; What is new is not in the basics, but how we interpret them for our own time and needs.

Speaking of Art nouveau: If you are ever in Bern (Switzerland), try to get a look at the ceiling of the Old Catholic cathedral there. The panels are painted with lovely Art nouveau floral designs. I had to laugh, though. After admiring a group of lilies, I moved on to the next panel. It took me ages to figure out what flower was being depicted: Edelweiss. But instead of being the little retiring squat plants they have to be to survive the Alpine heights, they were as tall and as full of the same foliage as the neighbouring lilies. Very fun!

Week 7 Project 5 Bookmark

This week I've been playing with a pattern out of one of Linn Skinner's reprints. This is taken from 'Pattern Leaves from Lessing & Lipperheide' p. 20. First a look at how the original would have been worked in two colours, and then the way I have worked it. I redistributed the colours and used four:


I started with DMC 4050. Then two colours chosen to match: 3849 and 3012. The fourth colour is one strand each of 4050 and 3849. This close-up shows that better. I'm also really pleased to have started filling up my little box of gifts again. it had gotten very empty, but soon I hope to have a few choices available the next time I want to take a little something along to a friend.