This is from November 2020….
It’s quite amazing how fast time goes by. My trip to BC was very nice and it was wonderful catching up with my aunt. It was not a visit in the traditional sense as we were not able to stay at her house as we usually would. Instead, we had social distancing dates in her garage sitting around a nice little portable fireplace, but we got to see her every day for an hour or two while we were there. I was able to take some stitching with me and made some progress – I love how embroidery can travel with you!!
My THREE journals (yep it’s definitely three)…
I am a bid mad – I am working on 3 different journals. 1. Trish Burr mini journal 2. Goldwork journal 3. “Getting it out of my system” journal
The most progress has been made on my goldwork journal. This has been the easiest one so far for planning as I am building my journal from samples that I have been stitching for the Goldwork class I am taking with Natalie Dupuis. I currently have 3 pages done (except for the labelling) and am working on more samples which will be included.
I am also taking the A is for Apple project course through EAC. This piece is another Natalie Dupuis design (I love her stuff!) and will also be included in my goldwork journal. There are a couple of more small pieces that I may also include – depending on how good my stitching is. I think I am ready to finish a couple of pages – so that will be the focus of my next video and email!
Natalie has just lovely designs and she’s teaching virtually now as well – definitely worth a look at her website!
https://dupuisnatalie.wixsite.com/mysite
And finally the “Getting it out of my system” journal has one page finished! A small tribute to Harry Potter – this piece was fun – BUT I forgot the most important thing with overdyed threads – DON’T GET THEM WET! I tea stained the fabric after the design was stitched and … of course. the colours ran on the foot prints. It does give the piece a little “extra” so I’m ok with this mistake! I also used a partially rused baking sheet during the dying process which has left some interesting marks on the fabric – and I’m ok with that too!
This journal is going to be just a random selection of embroidery that I have always wanted to try out. I’m planning a Lord of The Rings piece in addition to some blackwork, a mandala and possibly some previously stitched work that currently has no real home (Jimmy the Hamster, and a few random cross stitched pieces). I think I will be working on this journal for a very long time and that it might be fairly large in the end.
On Jimmy…
Jimmy the Hamster is an advanced needlepainting project I did with Tanja Berlin. Tanja is an amazing teacher and her stitching instructions are world class. She is very good at offering constructive critizes on your work.
I’ve uploaded a new video on my journal progress – here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de9krx_8wOk&t=19s
Update from Trish Burr…
Trish Burr – the last part of the page 12 stitch along has been posted.
Trish will be posting more information on the assembly of the journal soon! Stay tuned for more!
New blog post from Amina…
Amina has recently posted on her blog and it’s well worth the read – she’s posted a bunch of pictures of page layouts from some of her viewers. It’s a great idea generator.https://stitchfloral.blogspot.com/2020/10/your-journals-and-winner-announcement.html
I’ve started a Pinterest idea board…
If you are on Pinterest, I’ve started an idea board. Here’s the link if you would like to check it out…
https://pin.it/32xKPm8
Happy stitching everyone!
The Needlesmith 