http://stitchingwithashimmy.com Shimmying through life with needles and thread... Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:25:27 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Oops! It's Saturday! I completely forgot it was Friday yesterday, even though I knew it was Friday, if that makes any sense.  Probably I'm just babbling. But here it is... my stitching on... Step 4 This week we're going to finish the flower center. We're now into the actual raised embroidery part ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2010/03/06/jacobean-design-in-stumpwork-%e2%80%93-step-4/ [caption id="attachment_890" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The pillow in question"][/caption] As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I have a phobia about REALLY finishing needlework. I'm working on it. But I'm always terrified (and it really is terror) that I'm going to ruin a piece of stitching that I've spent hours and ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2010/03/04/another-finish-candlewick-pillow/ [caption id="attachment_879" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="The flower as it stands now"][/caption] This was a difficult step for me. And it shouldn't have been. The original plan was to stitch the petals in long and short stitch, but for some reason, whether it was an arthritic flareup, or the weather, or the particular ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2010/02/26/jacobean-design-in-stumpwork-step-3/ [caption id="attachment_873" align="alignleft" width="193" caption="The full dragon banner. Has tab hangers at the top."][/caption] FINALLY! My godson/pseudo-nephew turned 13 yesterday. In honor of the event, I made a point of finishing his dragon banner - that he still doesn't know he's got, since he spent the weekend at his father's. After I ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2010/02/22/dragon-banner-finis/ I want to apologize for not getting comments approved more quickly this week. Sinus infections turning into bronchitis stink. Even more so when your husband gets it at the same time -- and his wants to become pneumonia! We're both doing much better, thank you. And now for Step 2! Supply Notes: I ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2010/02/19/jacobean-design-in-stumpwork-step-2/ I've been planning on this for a long time, but haven't managed to stitch on it to continue the series. So. Here's the plan. I'm going to start this today, and post the instructions as a stitch-a-long. You can stitch it with me, or wait for the end when I'll post ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2010/02/12/jacobean-design-in-stumpwork/ Because I am an overly ambitious woman, I decided some years ago (OK, around 20) to attempt to replicate a set of Dragon Robes, despite the fact that even in professional workshops, working with multiple embroiderers, full-time, a full set of robes often took 7 years of work to complete. Did ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2010/01/27/chinese-court-embroidery-pt-3/ Dragon robes fascinate me. Not only from an embroidery standpoint, though they are gorgeous, but also from a symbolic standpoint. Think about it: all that time, effort, and sumptuousness, and: they were never meant to be seen! They were usually worn under a plain robe with the rank badge of the courtier ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2010/01/20/chinese-court-embroidery-part-2-dragon-robes/ I've been fascinated by this for years - specifically the later centuries - 18th century and later. Part of this is probably due to the fact that the University of Oregon Art museum has one of the largest collections in the US, and I got to spend hours and hours there ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2010/01/06/chinese-court-embroidery-part-1/ [caption id="attachment_838" align="alignleft" width="218" caption="Zahra - A New Series Start"][/caption] This has been quite a month for me, as you probably noticed, I didn't post a lot. My day job was getting stressful, and it culminated in a layoff at the beginning of December. The day after that, my 4 year old ... http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/2009/12/31/thinking-about-the-new-year/