Just to convince you that I do still pick up a needle and thread now and then and do some stitching, I thought I'd give you an update on the Schwalm embroidery project I'm working on. The project comes from Basic Principles of Schwalm Embroidery by Luzine Happel, and although it seems as if I began the project a hundred years ago, I haven't gotten very far on it! So, to make up for the lack of noteworthy progress in stitching, I think I'll throw in a give-away!
First, the Schwalm whitework project! I've managed to get through the first two steps on one side of the square in the middle of the teacloth.
Woe is me! I know that looks just awful - a wrinkled mess! I don't want to iron it until I've finished the stitching and washed it because the transfer marks might set.
So far, I've outlined in coral stitch and I've done all the buttonhole scallops and wheels.
Not very impressive. *sigh*
I worked this mostly in hand (without a hoop). I think this lends to the general wrinkled appearance of the linen!
When working the buttonhole scallops, at first I progressed without a hoop, and it went ok, but I found it wasn't so easy to manipulate that much fabric while trying to work the scallops. I ended up wadding the linen up in one hand while stitching with the other.
Eventually, though, I decided to hoop the project up for the rest of the scallops and wheels. Stitching the scallops with a hoop seemed much easier!
I enjoyed stitching this part of the project. If I had all four sides of the square done, it would've been nice to keep going and going on buttonhole scallops and circles. It's a fun stitch! But my design has faded too much on the other three sides of the square, so I can't really do anything on those parts until I re-transfer the design.
So that's my progress right now on this project.
Now, for a give-away!
Thanks to Joey, who sent me an extra copy of Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework, I am offering this book to an interested reader who wants to try (or improve upon) techniques of Schwalm embroidery. Schwalm is a beautiful form of whitework, and the stitches learned in the technique can be widely applied to other embroidery styles.
If you're interested in owning your own copy of this superb book, leave a comment below (on this post, on the website) letting me know you're interested in the book. Please make sure you sign your name to the comment, even if you use the "Anonymous" feature.
The give-away deadline is Monday, October 12, 2009, at 5:30 am CST.
If all goes as planned tomorrow, I'm going to spend Friday evening making some serious progress on this piece! I want to get to the point of drawing out the threads for the center fillings - wish me luck!
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