Sampler Silkwork Finished!

Sampler Silkwork Finished!

Sampler Silkwork Finished!

At last I have finished the silkwork on the sampler for the Tudor and Stuart Goldwork Masterclass. I don’t have much patience with counted work – I just keep doing it occasionally, as a salutary discipline! – so I am really very pleased with myself. After all, I began stitching it – according to my post on the subject – in June last year!

I’m pleased that I persevered. It’s fascinating to see the Queen Stitches create an entirely different fabric, with a totally different surface and reflectance to the surface of the fabric itself, and the other stitches (Rice Stitch, Roman Stitch and the Bargello section) all reveal different aspects of the silk thread and provided different challenges in working them.

In fact, in the end I have enjoyed the silkwork on the sampler rather more than I expected to. It has taken me much longer than some of the other members of the course, but I’ve been working on the Piano Shawl and the Dreams of Amarna at the same time, so I think I have a good excuse!

Now I need to work out how I am going to keep track of which goldwork stitches to do where. I’ve been printing out the instructions as I go along (thank heavens!) but I now have a large folder full of the historical essays Tricia has written for each month, and another one full of the stitches. It isn’t difficult to have a single chart by my workstand as I stitch, but I think I may need to create an annotated chart for the goldwork. So far, many of the stitches have been familiar enough for me to do some of them with only the name and placement to guide me, but in other cases I know I will need to have the folder open at the instructions as well.  One of these days we will have to find a house with a studio for me to work in!

 

9 Comments

  1. karen says:

    I love counted work, it is so therapeutic and your sampler is beautiful.

  2. Lady Fi says:

    How lovely! Must have taken a long time to sew with silk…

  3. So, how many projects do you have on the go at once? Just curious…

    Well done for finishing a project that wasn’t thrilling you where lesser folk would have given up and added it to the UFO pile.=)

  4. coral-seas says:

    Well done! It looks splendid already but once all of those gold stitches are added it is going to look something else. Hmmm, dare I say, I haven’t even begun this one yet!

    It was going to follow the Floral Glove but I have 2 other projects that have bubbled to the top of my to do list.

    A house with a studio, how nice would that be. I won’t even have to more, I could just push out the 2 step sons :LOL: (ssshhhh! don’t tell anyone I said that)

  5. Elmsley Rose says:

    Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations! Beautiful!
    Don’t forget to stick it up on our group (you know, the group)

  6. A studio would be ace! But I think on balance, if I have to choose how to use the space I have, then I prefer having a guest room 🙂

    PS thanks for the tip about tango shows, I’ll look out for those next time I’m in London

  7. Janice says:

    So many new stitches to add to your repertoire! The finished result is beautiful.

  8. Insist on that studio, best thing I ever did was to insist on my own creative space. And the sampler, just beautiful.

  9. Alex says:

    What a great end result – didn’t realise you had so many notes to go with it though!