White Clover

I love clover and I wanted to do a white clover after I finished my Red Clover piece.  This clover is tiny.  The frame opening is only about 3.5" tall!  

I used similar techniques as the Red Clover, mixing Valdani variegated embroidery flosses in long and short and bullion knots with stretched gilt purls.  The ground fabric is even weave linen.  I wanted to keep the techniques fairly simple on this piece since it was so small.  Mounting this piece was quite fiddly with it being such a small oval.  Overall I'm pretty happy with it.  The variegation did not fall quite as nicely on the leaves as on the Red Clover but I did not let myself plan which area of the variegation to use.  I did a couple of the leaves multiple (multiple) times so I guess I kind of cheated that way a little bit.  Also, I used a plain stem stitch on the stems on this piece instead of the stretched pearl purl on the Red Clover piece. 
On to the next weed!  

Haystacks of Giverny: Satin Stitched Color Map

After completing my Haystacks of Giverny piece, I thought it would be interesting to make a "Color Map" of all the different color combinations that I utilized in the piece.  I thought it would be interesting to show the different color combinations in equal 1/2" satin stitched squares.  This way all the variables would be somewhat controlled to allow for the color combinations to be the main focus.  I also stitched the squares of color in the order that I used the color combination on the final piece.  The first color used is the top left square and the last color stitched is the bottom right. 

All but two of the color combinations that are the plain satin stitch use 3 strands of the variegated Valdani embroidery floss.  The two that do not are a single strand of the variegated Valdani floss and were the colors used for the seed stitching in the background of the image.  For the combinations using stretched gilt purl, I stitched a 3-stranded split stitch around the edge of the square and then worked the stretched cutwork like a satin stitch with the 2 strands of Valdani plus the stretch gilt purl.  

A few important things to keep in mind when viewing this.  I purposely used the 3 strands in the same needle and purposely allowed the strands to twist as they wanted to as I worked the square.  For the squares with stretched purl, I did not use pieces of cut purl that were uniformly stretched and I allowed the pieces of cut purl to nestle together as they wished.  Now, why would I do this you may be wondering.  I also wanted to use this Color Map as an experiment to capture the quick brush strokes of the Impressionists and Post Impressionists painters that I have been studying.  They were known for their en plein air painting and speed with which they applied the paint to the canvas--not because they were being sloppy but because they wanted to capture the fleeting movement and experience of light in nature and natural settings. 

Satin stitch is the smoothest stitch you can use as it is supposed to lay nice and flat to the surface of the fabric.  This meant that in order to capture the gestural quality of the brush strokes I had to depend on the color and thread mixing not on the texture or pattern of the stitch.  

 

I really enjoyed stitching this Color Map and it has given me lots more ideas for future stitching.  I think was I was most excited about though was to see the range I could get utilizing only 10-11 different threads. It was also very interesting to me to see the squares with the stretched purl.  Now, just to figure out more time to stitch!

Haystacks of Giverny

We all hear about Monet and his haystacks--unfortunately to the point that we overlook them.  I'll be honest, I overlooked them in books.  Why is it that if an artist uses a repetitive subject matter that we do this?  There is so much to learn (I am learning) from looking at the iterations, the subtle changes from this version to the next version!  Here's just a selection of some of his Haystacks. 

I had never seen a Monet haystack until we went to the Musée d'Orsay.  I was completely overwhelmed with their Impressionists exhibition and the sheer size and amount of amazing pieces on display, and yet the one piece that caught my breath, that made me really pause and wonder was Monet's "Meules, fin de l'été" (Haystacks, Late Summer).  The colors, the mixtures, it GLOWED!!!!  It was the first of many Monet Haystacks I saw that trip and I cannot get enough of looking at them since we returned.

 

 

When we were at Monet's House and Gardens in Giverny, I took a ton of photos and plan on turning these photos into a new series of work integrating the color mixing principles that I am experimenting with and learning into these compositions.  This is my first finished piece.  It utilizes my photograph digitally printed on Kona cotton from Spoonflower layered with the same image digitally printed at home on silk organza with mixtures of Valdani 6-strand embroidery floss, DMC metallic floss and stretched gilt smooth purl.  

I purposely utilized a very limited number of stitch types to really challenge myself on the color mixing aspect of this piece.  Stitch types included are:  seed stitch, detached chain, bullion knot, french knot and herringbone. 

For the haystack, I have layered flat herringbone stitch in just cotton stranded Valdani, then layers of Valdani + DMC metallic floss and finally a top layer of stretched smooth purl.  Part of me wants to put some more cut purl on there but I think I need to live with the piece for a little bit first.  

For the dahilias, I had originally planned to silk shade them.  I had thought that it would be interesting to have just a bit of more realistic stitching in the composition to contrast with the more pixelated quality of the other stitches.  However as I worked the composition, I thought it would actually feel weird and not match.  I landed on using bullion knots with French knots to capture the energy of the petals in the dahilias and also to build up the texture more as the bullion knots and French knots sit higher on the piece than the detached chain stitches. 

 

  There are over 40 different color combinations from 10 different variegated Valdani threads used in this composition, referencing not only my photographs but also the color mixing that Monet used in his Haystacks.  I worked from the shadows up for the most part, though as with any project, there are always exceptions!  There is zero white and black in this piece, and the only time I have used pure color (a single color by itself) is when I have used 1 strand of floss for the seeding.  It is also interesting to note that I have bumped up the saturation of the the floss colors in the highlights and shadows. 

 Finally, I purposely did not use a hoop to allow for the fabrics to twist and bunch in areas and allow the different layers of the digitally printed images to shift.  I'm excited to start the next one!

Queen Anne's Lace

I finished another weed over the weekend.  This time a Queen Anne's Lace motif.  I used a mix of Or Nué couched smooth passing (couched closer for shadows), stretched pearl purl, stretched s-ing, chipping and french knots.  All the metals were the old throwaway "weeds" so some are tarnished more than others and I stretched some more than others to experiment with creating depth that way.  On the stem, I stretched the pearl purl so that the green would show less where the highlights would be.  The thread I used is the olive green variegated Valdani sewing thread.  I may go back in and add more silver chipping or I may just redo it with more traditional goldwork techniques and only gold and silver, we'll see!

The Lake House: A Lesson in Practicing What I Preach

Ah, I say those words while also laughing at myself.  Here I have been researching the Impressionists, Post-Impressionists and Early Modern painters' use of color in their work and I neglect to put that information into practice into my own!  It also though just proves how vitally important making and the actual act of stitching is to my research and artistic development.  You can know all the theory in the world but if you do not put it into practice of what value or credibility is it!

As you can see, I have been stitching lots of "leaves" in the form of seeding and detached chain stitches.  I began by restricting myself to 1 strand of Valdani quilting and sewing thread.  The variegation in the thread colors gave a nice and subtle effect.  Then it started to feel a bit flat to me.  So I thought I would start to add multiple strands into my needle (something I am constantly telling my students to do!) and mixing colors.  I thought I would start by mixing different variegated greens (some moving green to green and some moving green to brown or green to pinky/peach) and variegated browns and blacks.  I made the cardinal mistake of which I constantly tell my students NOT to do.  I told myself "I don't want the complement to be too strong".  Now, I always tell them to avoid starting a project with "I don't want ...." because inevitably it goes that exact direction.  Well, I proved myself right!

The triple strands did add some depth but the desaturated colors and my tentative use of complements resulted in a different flatness-- a heavy flatness.  I pinned it up and "lived with it" for a couple days and then told myself to just "get on with it" and try something.  Worst case- I get to take out stitches and let's be honest, I have loads of experience taking stitches out!  

So, I picked out some different variegated Valdani threads.  "Muddy Pots" which moves from salmon pink to kind of a dusty mauve and "Melancholic Purple" which moves from a Victorian lavender to a dusty violet.  I started mixing these with my greens and browns in the needle.  The effect was still too subtle so I tried them alone.  Still too subtle.

That is actually a salmon pink mixed in there.  It does not look salmon, does it!

So, I did what I should have done probably about a dozen colors prior.  I looked back at my research and I remembered this one color that, between us, I utterly abhor that pops up in Monet and Renoir's paintings.  It is this particular rusty, brick red that they both use in a lot of their paintings that I saw in France and I am sorry but it is kind of an ugly color.  I still want to go back to see if this was a "phase" they both went through.  Regardless, I thought, maybe I should try it.  Maybe they did not actually "like" the color either but found it useful in their compositions.  

I have to admit I got annoyed with myself so I tried a brink red.  I know this looks Jessica Rabbit lipstitck red--it is not! But it was good that I went to an extreme and then was able to pull back.

I found that if I mixed the reds and the purples in the needle that it actually gave me more of the color that I wanted instead of polka dots of red and purple. 

Because I work by myself a lot at home, I found myself in need of some opinions, so I packed up my piece and some threads and asked my colleagues Susan and Kathleen what they thought.  They agreed.  I needed to be much more aggressive in my use of complements and maybe introduce some seeding (up until this point I was only using detached chain) and the texture from not using a hoop was quite interesting.  

For the last few days, I have been working in a number of different colors and threads.  I picked out some variegated reds and more vibrant purples and have been incorporating them both alone as seeding and tiny, tiny detached chains and mixed with the greens and browns.  I was afraid that it would start to look too "fall" but I actually think it is starting to go towards a more exciting place.  I have also been incorporating detached chains using an olive green Gilt Sylke Twist which seems to bridge the greens with the reds and purples in a really interesting way due to the gold metal in it- which only heightens my hypothesis that gold could be a universal complement in compositions.  

Now, to add even more leaves!

The Lake House: An Update

I have been slowly adding in stitches on my Lake House piece.  I have started to add in some stretched metals in the water and the tree.  This piece is a bit of an experiment trying out some of the ideas I have from looking at all the paintings in my other research.  As I have been wondering if I could use my metals in a similar way as I have been seeing the painters use complementary colors to create depth and visual energy to the composition. 

 I started by adding some long stitches in with different shades of water (blues, browns, and some peach in there).  I'm using the Valdani threads that I love so much so there is a nice variegation to all the colors.  I'm using a mix of their embroidery floss and their hand quilting thread.  

After I had a bit of the color added in, I started adding some stretch purls.  I'm using stretched smooth silver purl for the strong highlights and gold for the rest.  I love just looking at the lake and all the amazing colors and reflections.  Water is so incredible to study- the texture, the detail, the color, and how it can change in an instant.  I am also varying the amount that I am stretching the purls to allow different amounts of the threads to show.

 After adding in some water detailing, I felt that the top portion needed more stitching.  I started by adding in some bullion knots on the left tree to add some texture and then I felt it needed more so I added in some stretched purls.  This time I'm using overstretched smooth gold for the highlights and stretched rough black purl for the rest.  Again, varying the amount of stretch to change the amount that the thread shows through the purls. 

Most recently, I've added in a lot of leaves--tons of leaves!  I had been using only 1 strand of the Valdani quilting thread and now I have started adding multiple strands together to get a wider variety of color variation and up to 3 strands to add more dimension and texture.  

It needs more leaves and more texture, but I'm pretty exciting in the direction it's going.  I am choosing not to use a frame for this piece as I want the printed layers to shift and I want to work in the tension variations to give the piece more depth and that since of blurred memory.  It's exciting to see it bubbling a bit more as I stitch more into it.  

I think there needs to be more stitching on the water but I'm giving myself some time to reflect on that portion right now as I think it could quickly cross the line to that ever dreaded "over-worked".  For now, back to adding more leaves--lots and lots and lots of leaves!

Red Clover

Last summer when I was working on my "Weeds" embroideries, we had a large clump of red clover down near our boat ramp.  I found tons of 4 leaf clovers from it and refused to let my husband spray, cut down or otherwise get rid of the clover patch.  It may be odd, but I think clover is a particularly pretty weed and it brings back memories of childhood Spring and Summer afternoons spent making clover crowns and jewelry.  

I got really excited about this patch of clover.  I pressed the leaves and sketched the plants.  Took photographs galore.  It actually became my evening event a few times a week to walk down and see how the clover had changed or if more had bloomed.  

With this piece, I wanted to continue my Weeds embroideries using the scrap gold thread bits but I also wanted to experiment with doing long and short stitch using a Valdani sewing and quilting thread that was variegated.  I LOVE their colors and in studying the clover it was interesting how stripey and veiny the leaves actually are. I thought maybe using this mercerized sewing/quilting thread it would give it that not-quite-smooth texture of the clover leaves and by using the variegated color it would be interesting to see how long and short would use with less control over the color change.  The small leaflets off the stems are padded with a layer of felt under the long and short.

The actual bloom is created by using a mixture of bullion knots (using a different variegated color of the Valdani sewing and quilting thread) and stretched smooth purl.  I padded underneath it with 1 layer of carpet padding and 1 layer of felt.   I wanted the bloom to be pretty dimensional.  The bullion knots and cut purl are worked the same as you would long and short layering the rows in to create even more texture.  Finally, the stem is overstretched tarnished pearl purl couched with the same Valdani thread as the leaves. 

The Lake House: A Personal Project

I actually started this piece back in the Spring as an anniversary present for my husband.  Then, however, finals came quicker than expected and I got distracted.  It still has some work to go on it- more stitching of course!  I'm not going to stitch the whole thing solid, so the trick will be in deciding when there is "enough" stitching.  

The image is of my husbands' grandparents' lake house.  It is truly one of our favorite places in this world.  Until recently, there was no wifi, cable or cell phone service there.  We all just hung out, cooked, ate, sat by the fire, played in the water, hiked, read books, worked on puzzles, you get the picture-- pure bliss!  The lake backs up to the Appalachian Trail and has some beautiful hiking spots.  We have many, many wonderful family and personal memories at the Lake House.  It was where I first met his whole family all at once.  My favorite memory was when he proposed to me on the dock at sunrise.  

I wanted this piece to feel like a memory.  I was also inspired by the work of my colleague, Susan Brandeis, and how she utilizes layers, printing, and stitching in her work.  I printed (digitally) a photograph I had taken of the Lake House on both cotton sateen and silk organza.  I layered them with 1 layer of 1/8" cotton batting and a backing of cotton muslin.  I added the batting because I did not want the stitching to be flat and I thought the loft that the batting would give to the stitching would be nice. 

The threads I am using are the Valdani cotton sewing and quilting spools.  I love the colors and the soft transitions from color to color on the variegated spools.  The stitches I am using are just basic straight stitches and chain stitches so far.  I'm going to add in some metals into the water but I want that to be my last step.  More leaves on the trees first! 

Gregg Floral

The Gregg Museum at North Carolina State University has so many wonderful examples of textiles in their collection.  I recently had the opportunity to study a group of men’s waistcoats from the mid-late 18^th century.  This design (for a workshop proposal) blends elements from a linen waistcoat embroidered with chain stitch floral designs and an embroidered waistcoat pocket flap.   My goal was to interpret the designs seen in the historic examples with a blend of traditional and experimental goldwork techniques. 

 I loved how the buds were stitched on this pocket flap with spangles and smooth purl. 

 I loved all the chain stitching on this waistcoat.  All of the embroidery is just chainstitch plus a couple french knots.  The mix and placement of the different colors was really nice and created a lot of detail to the miniature floral designs. 

 

Below is my final design.  I interpreted the chainstitch from the waistcoat using colored metal purl.  It was a lot of fun doing such a large chain stitch and created a lot of height without padding!  I have done satin stitch behind the chainstitched metal using a Valdani thread.  The flower center is french knots of stretched purl and Valdani thread.  For the buds, I took the idea of the spangles and purls and I layered colored and stretched purls to create more height.  The leaves are a combination of chainstitch and chipping and the stems are s-ing.  

Just before Christmas, I ordered my first Valdani threads and I have to say... I quite like these threads!!! My colleague, Susan Brandeis, loves them!  The colors are absolutely beautiful.  They are so much richer than the DMC's I am used to using and the variegated colors are really nice.  Here I'm stitching with the Quilting and Sewing Cotton thread.  Susan kept telling me that she loves the way it sits on the fabric and she is totally right!  It is mercerized so it has a very soft sheen to it and it does sit on top of the fabric in a way that embroidery floss does not.  That being said, I'm still forming my opinion of it with certain stitches like long and short where the threads need to blend together a bit more.  More experimenting is on the way with the Valdani threads!