Progress from December and early January

There's been a bit of gap with recording my progress.  Most of my homeworks have been trying to do more trailing and practising the weaving on the drawn thread work for hillocks.  Although I like the texture this creates I am not convinced it will be right for this piece of work.  So I am revising my thoughts on this.

In the mean time I have finished the calices on the top motifs:  

The padding is Perle No5, this was worked on one half for the shape then covered with satin stitch in No.16 Coton à Broder.  The satin stitch was worked on a steep diagonal from the centre line to the tip, carefully keeping the diagonals in keeping with the curved shape.  Then work the opposite side of the shape in a similar way.   I worked the calix that appears to be behind the others first.   

I'm pleased I have finished these as they have taken a long time for me to get going on them.

The left hand stem has also been completed.  Working the raised chain band.  Split stitch the outline as usual.  Using Perle No. 5 for the bars, work from the lower end, where the horizontal bars are 4 threads apart, slightly adjusted to a diagonal around the curve, at the top of the stem, bars are three threads apart.  Begin raised chain band from the top and work downwards.  Stitched with Perle No.8.  Two long lines stitched full length of the stem, pushed to the outer edges of the shape.  A third line introduced part way down the stem (from the top) to fill the centre of the stem.  A fourth, then fifth line introduced on either side of the centre line to fill the stem.  The split stitch then covered with trailing.

Now I have finished the stems I can think about the hillocks.  Having rejected the weaving I have planned for something more conventional.  There will be some kind of trellis work, Burden stitch and knots for the three hillocks based on Crewel work designs and stitches.  

The right-hand hillock was inspired by an image of a fish in one of Tracy’s books (I forgot to note which book it was!!).  I like the double thread diagonal trellising with vertical crosses securing the threads.  I plan to work the trellis in No. 20 Coton à Broder (8 threads apart), with the crosses worked with diamant. I'm still practising the burden stitch for the left hand hillock to work out the spacings.  I also need to practise the French and Bulion knots for the middle hillock.

I of course got side-tracked with the collection of books on Tracy’s shelves and made an instant purchase of “Crewel Work in England” by Joan Edwards (1975).  Not only does this have a good section on the history of English embroidery in addition to crewel work it also has some very good ideas for stitching different motifs (and very good line drawings) from the Jacobean period and more modern ideas.