I have started design work on two exciting new projects.

The first is a green frontal for the English-speaking United Methodist Church in Vienna using an African material brought by one of the members. After consultation with the committee we have decided that the special material will be used in a quarter rosette on the right side of the altar, with a banner saying Halleluia! Stretching to the other side. It is proving to be somewhat of a challenge to get the right threads, but I have the other materials assembled, and hope to start trial stitching of the letters this week.

On our recent trip to England we were entranced by the flight of a spectacular Emperor dragonfly in the parking lot of the Thursley Nature Reserve. That and the hedgerows along the towpaths are the inspiration to finally try stumpwork. I plan a three panel piece 'Autumn dragonflies'. Each panel will be 90 x 40cm. I plan to buy canvas stretchers and silk soon. The lefthand panel will show brambles and hawthorn with Ruddy Darters both on the path and in the air. The righthand panel will feature the male Emperor patrolling among cattails with a female laying eggs at the surface of the water. The middle panel will include dried seedheads and a small white butterfly, but otherwise I haven't a full picture of it yet. Obviously there is a lot of preparation before serious stitching can begin, but at the latest I hope to have a trial panel together for experimenting by early October.

MarthaJeanne Sampler

Not new, but people keep asking about it, so here is the whole MarthaJeanne sampler.

Course sucessfully finished

The computer continues to be sick - it is that rather than lack of stiching or my own health that has kept me from posting.

I have just finished teaching a course. I was asked to develop a class to teach more stitches to those who already do cross stitch. The course was held at a small craft shop North East of Vienna. We made a Biscornu using 11 different stitches. We also looked at several pieces that I have stitched over the years and books from my collection to see how different stitches can be used. I found that even more than the new stiches, the ladies appreciated tips that I had picked up from my (mostly on-line) friends over the years.

Now I should translate the course handouts into English, so I have them in both English and German. For me it was a challenge to teach in German, and to teach adults (formally). I found it very tiring, but satisfying. Now I'm supposed to design a small Christmas mat in Hardanger that the group can do in November.

Needlework group started

The other exciting news is that we have started a needlework group at the AWA in Vienna. Now each Friday morning there are three or four of us working away on knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, or what have you. I really enjoy having stiching friends!

This is a Thea Dueck design that I finished in December. I did make a few changes; Colour scheme, of course. The open work areas were always the same (as on the lower E) just switched back and forth between the hemstitching and the hardanger. I chose to use a variety of stitches. The hardest one was the filling for the uppermost heart. The book made a big point of the importance of keeping the tension even, and recommended not using it for an area greater than 3 x 3 holes. I quite understand that advice, but I think the result was worth the extra effort.

Computer problems

I have great hopes that the computer problems I have been struggling with for the past several months are almost behind me, and I can soon start blogging regularly again.

Sampler finished and framed

I have been working on a sampler for a relative, and it is not only finished, but also framed.

Of course, in theory, I knew all about mounting needlework. In theory, however, the thread neither knots itself up, nor breaks, and the pin you are using to centre the piece stays in place. Certainly the back of the frame lets itself be locked into position. That last was, of course, my fault for using two layers of batting behind the sampler. But I think the final result looks really good. Luckily I had planned to leave the glass out anyway. It would never have fit!

To the sampler: This is a pattern I saved from a magazine some time ago. While I liked the basic concept, I did not want to stitch lots of hearts with partial stitches, so I substituted beads and buttons. I also thought the various stitches were too boring, so I chose my own. I more or less used the original colour scheme, but added in the multi-coloured thread, and sometimes changed the distribution of colours as I stitched.

As a final touch, I added in a tiny bit of the Klosterarbeit I have been doing, as I had a heart.

I hope the recipient enjoys it.