This Trish Burr CD features seven embroidery projects focusing on long and short stitch shading. Each of the projects includes a printable design (that you trace onto your fabric), complete materials list, and step-by-step instructions for completing each project – and I’m giving away one CD to a lucky winner!
This give-away is identical to the one before Christmas, which featured the same CD (Karole King won that one). Now’s your chance to try again to win the same CD!
The CD features beautiful projects like the ones above. Even if you’ve never tried long and short stitch shading, you’ll be able to conquer the various projects, which are presented in sequence for beginners to more advanced embroiderers.
The drawing is for the project CD only. Trish also offers a long and short stitch shading DVD that takes you through the rudiments of long and short stitch shading, in the comfort of your living room. You can find the DVD through Trish’s website, or through various retail stores online. If you are in the US, you’ll find the DVD (and some of Trish’s kits) available at Nordic Needle. In the UK, you can find Trish’s products through Mace & Nairn, and in Australia, through Lyn’s Fine Needlework or Allthreads Embroidery. (Just search “Trish Burr” at any of the above.)
Give-Away Rules
To be eligible for the give-away, please note the following points:
1. Comments must be left on the website, on this article. Comments left elsewhere or via e-mail will not be included in the drawing. (Wow, I sound like a meany teacher or something. It takes too much time to move comments and e-mails and to gather them from other areas – please understand!)
2. Comments must include a name. Even if you post anonymously, please make sure you sign your comment with a name that I can use to announce the winner.
3. If you win, you’ll need to make contact with me. I’ll leave instructions for that in the winner announcement.
4. Answer the following questions in your comment:
What embroidery technique (that you’ve not done before) piques your interest – you’d like to try it, but haven’t done so yet? What interests you about it? And what has prohibited you from trying it up to now?
Ha. That’s three questions. See – you have to Work for this one!
5. Leave your comment before 5:00 am CST, Saturday, January 16th. I’ll announce the winner on Saturday.
Best of luck!
Hello Mary,
My answers are
1.stump work which i didn't tried
2.Its 3D effect interests me much
3.Not seen any stumpwork in real and more over I couldn't find any books here in India and also I couldn't find any online tutorials(Iwill be happy if someone help me in finding the online tutorials)
Regards
Lakshmi sadala
There are a lot of embroidery techniques that I haven't tried but threadpainting really piques my interest, especially the shading that can be achieved. What keeps me from trying? Insecurity! I'm sure it's easier than it looks but I'm also just as sure that I won't be able to get it "right"! But I'd love to have Trish Burr's CD to help me take the plunge and give it a try!
Judy in OKC
Dear Mary, I would like to send a comment on the Trish Burr article and the give-away CD. I hope my English is good enough for you to understand what I'm writing.I'm living in the Netherlands. I've learned many embroidery techniques. My mother was doing lots of techniques too but she specialised in this kind of Needlepainting. She died and she couldn't tell me anymore how to make the beautiful things. I have seen so many beautiful embroideries in Needlepainting and wanted to learn it more and more. I like the painterly look of Needlepainting (the name is telling how it looks:as if a painter has used his very fine brush). I like the colours merging as in the bird on your website. The reason I've never done it is that there is no one who can teach me. I have to teach myself.So I've tried but then I don't know if what I'm doing is right.I'm just doing something. It doesn't have the looks of the embroideries in the magazines. So it is kind of fear of failing. Silly but it's just like that.
This is the answer to your 3 questions to be eligible for the give-away CD.
I subscribed to your newsletter which I receive nearly every day. I enjoy the tips and hints in it and I'm looking at your website and the short instruction films very often. Keep writing it, it is of great help.
Best wishes
Cis v.d. Bosch
the Netherlands
An embroidery technique I would like to try is blackwork. Is this technically embroidery? Not sure. I like the effect and it appeals to me because it seems like it would be fairly easy but the effect if wonderful. I haven't tried it yet because I have been trying other embroidery techniques. I just finished my first long/short stitch project, a small butterfly that will be on the cover of a needle book that I am making for a friend.
Your blog is so inspiring to me, it has helped me through a lot of difficult stitches. Thanks for your time and effort you put in to it.
Rebecca C. in PA
Blackwork – Not so much the technique of blackwork itself, but the use of blackwork as a method of really showing texture or shading. I've seen some contemporary needlework doing this..and it's just amazing. I haven't done it up until now, because there are just too many UFOs that I have to finish first!
Sheryl R.
I really like to try just about everything. Hmmm a new one I believe the technique of Brazilian Embroidery would be the one. What interests me about it is just the look of it. I really doubt I will get to it anytime soon because there are to many projects and so little time!
Annie in VA.
Lets' try then! I would like to try what we call 'Point de Beauvais'. The way the space may be filled with this technique, with shades of color, interests me. I did not try yet because I do not have the correct tools, and I like to see before doing myself.
Wow Mary…that question made me have to go through a long wish list in my mind.
I think the technique I'd like to tackle is stump work.
I have seen some amazing pieces that just pop out at you and would love to be able to add that technique to the more flat styles of embroidery to design something unique and totally my own.
I've been doing embroidery since I was three years old, more than 50 years ago (Yikes – saying it like that sounds really really old!)
But I have never done this kind of dimnensional technique. To tell the truth, I only found out about it four years ago while browsing the web!
So, why haven't I attempted it before?
Well, I am self-taught in every stye of fiber craft that I do….but am totally intimidated by this one!
(I did get a cross stitch lesson at the age of three in public school in Amsterdam) I have a book on stump work, but it is VERY limited and not very helpful.
My first goal is to make a butterfly as part of a meadow/wild flowers piece….
Will it ever happen? Will I have some very lonely flowers standing in a field by themselves?
I need to sit down and put in some honest effort and see what I can do….
PLEASE wish me luck! đ
Hugs, Marlon
The little blue bird compels me to try and win him! I am somewhat of a beginner at embroidery. I wish I would have started when I was 2 instead of 28. I have learned most of my embroidery techniques from your site and your video library of stitches. I live in a rural area and there are no embroidery classes around. The needle painting interests me very much. I like it because the completed project looks like an actual picture. A picture that can be touched… a picture that is known intimately because each thread had to be placed… and I imagine sometimes picked out and replaced ;o). Lack of knowledge has prohibited me from tackling projects such as these. I've seen machine embroidered works and monograms, etc. and nothing compares to handwork. Thank you so much for keeping the art of hand embroidery alive.
Gosh, what don't I want to try? There are lots of techniques I "have," but there are several I "don't have yet" (that's a phrase my husband has gotten used to, I first used it the first time I saw bobbin lace).
I think next on my list is Reticella. I love the lacy look of pieces and there's a handkerchief in the V&A; that I'm inspired by. (Most of my work has an historic bent). Having done some of the Plymoth jacket and thus honed my buttonhole technique, I feel I might be about up to Reticella. I think my buttonhole technique has held me back before this — and that all-encompassing problem, time.
As for the Trish Burr CD — oh that little bird just sings to me đ
Kandy in PA
Hi Mary–Thanks for the giveaway!
The technique I haven't tried yet that is now catching my eye is or nue. I'm intrigued by the use of couching stitches to create a design–in my previous work, couching has simply been to tack down a thread. Why haven't I tried it yet? Because I have too many other interests, and this one just recently bubbled up to the top!
Carol Sylvester
Mine would be Or Nue. I
It looks so rich, and decadent, and I want to try out the Fine Mulberry silks, so it would be the perfect project. I even have a spool of imitation Jap Gold!
What puts me off is that it looks exceedingly time consuming, and I'm not quite sure about how to space the stitches to produce the alterations in shading. That and I have a complete Regency wardrobe for two people (day and Evening) to make by the end of Feb.
A reticule in bullion stitch (another technique I havn't tried) may, however, be in my future!
I must admit that the articles you have done on the long and short shading have explained a lot to me.
I have always loved the way it looks, you get such wonderful shading. It has always been something that looks so hard to do and being new to anything other than redwork, I always assumed that it was way to hard to do. I still don't know if I could tackle anything like that, but I love to watch your site. I do have thoughts in my brain that if I watch your site long enough, I might be able to try some of the things you do. LOL
Thanks so much for your wonderful site….keep showing us how to stitch for a very long time, Mary.
One of your biggest fans, Dianna Burton
I've been going through some of my needlework books and I've had a go at many, many techniques. What I need to do next is more designing (which isn't a technique). I'd like to try Casalguidi. I like the texture and dimension. Time and other pending projects and a great design that appeals to me have been keeping me from it. The other thing I keep thinking I want to do is a plain sewing sampler–I just find them appealing. I'd need to design and lay it out…it all comes back to designing. (I really want to do my own thing more but it's easier to pick up an already planned design and do it–it's a lot of work to design something!) I love watching your process.
I would love to do Stumpwork. I like the fact that it is dimensional and would add so much to my crazy quilts. I have not tried it because I don't know where to find info or a class. (also because I have enough other hobbies going on at present LOL)
I always enjoy your posts, thanks. Karen K
Needle painting, and so many others but needle painting.
I love the beauty of the "art" of the project, the elegance of it.
I had never given it a try for several reasons but the biggest is that it looks so complicated and with no one around to show me how it just looked far beyond my experience level. But have to say the more I read your newsletters the more confident that I'm becoming. Trish Burr is a wonderful designer and I would love to have her DVD to teach me what to do next.
Sincerely, Debby Parker
I love reading your blog and have used your videos countless times. I hopeyou are around for a long long time as there are so many techniques I would like to try. Right now Crewl work is at the top of my list. I love your rooster and was entranced by the number os stitches you tried to make his tail. I couldn't beleive you did all that work just to tear it out and try another stitch. LOL
I love the textures that the style can put together, but have never giving myself permission to just sit down and play with the colours and the threads. Now that I'm retired I think it is about time.
Ricky in Winnipeg
Hello Mary !
Oh I wish I could be a lucky girl đ
I would like to try mountmellick embroidery, because of the varieties of stitches. It looks very nice to stitch.
I have never tried yet because of a lack of time, and also because the fabric seems to be very expensive. I think I will try it this year, with a cotton fabric.
1- Needle painting is the technique I want most to learn this year. I'm waiting for some books but this CD would be a great addition!!!
2- I LOVE botanical and animal arts and this technique make them so real, so vivid!!! Much better than cross-stitch (that I usually do). In particular, the blue bird on the CD is sooooooo well done!!!! I would love to be able to stitch it!!!!
3- I think I was a little afraid. But now, I'm ready to try it!!!
Thank you for your generous offer!!!
Catherine from Quebec
Actually, long and short stitch embroidery has always been something I have wanted to try. It interests me because it looks so much like a beautiful painting when it is done correctly. My lack of artistic ability has kept me from attempting it. Hopefully, between your wonderful lessons, and this CD (if I am lucky enough to win),I will be able to overcome my hesitancy to try this type of stitching.
Thank you for the chance to win!
Shirley C. from Maryland
Hi, Mary! I've seen a candlewicking kit in a catalog that I think it's beautiful! I've never heard of that before, and the picture really caught my eyes. So this is a technique that I've never tried and would like to try. The kit photo was what made me interested in the technique, and the only reason I haven't gone for it till now is the price – not for the kit, but for delivery.
And by the way, I still don't consider I've already tried thread painting, since I (shame on me) haven't finished your lessons yet. And long and short stitches are just GORGEOUS, and that's why I'd like to try that technique, too.
Thanks for another give away! đ
I've got a lot of techniques on the Big List of Things to Do… it's hard to pick just one! I've been fascinated for some time with Or Nue, and I love the look of black work (especially Holbein stitch reversible blackwork) but I think the thing that I'll pick is white work. I love a lot of the varieties of white work. I find the texture fascinating, and the fact that it's so often used in items that are washed and worn on a regular basis – I appreciate its utility. There are a few things that have kept me from it – I find the lack of contrast a little daunting when I'm stitching, and I have difficulty visualizing how to keep the threads from raveling when cutting out sections, and it just seems so tedious. But I love the effect, and I really do mean to give it at least a try some time.
When I look at the all the beautiful pictures of embroidery in my books, I think to myself that I would love to be brave enough to try doing gold work. Gold work is so tactile and so very beautiful. I would like to be brave enough to try incorporating some gold work into a design â just enough to add elegance. But the thread is so expensive and, if I make a mess of it, I've waste so much of my budget!
There are many more things I wish I could learn â limited by the amount of time I have to stitch (working REALLY gets in the way sometimes!). Ribbon and stump work to name two more!
Thank you for teaching us all so much! especially those of us who are far away!
Kathy in Berlin
Hi Mary! I'll say it again, I love Trish Burr's designs. So of course I HAVE to enter.
I am really interested in stumpwork. The 3D aspect intrigues me. I own several books about stumpwork (Jane Nicholas' mostly), but have been trying to complete what I've started before getting into stumpwork. I am working on the beginnings of a BIG project that will include stumpwork in the final design and execution (no, not a firing squad :)). I plan on beginning to practice some of the techniques by the end of April. I find that if I practice stitches/techniques before beginning a project, then I have a better success rate.
Thanks and thanks to Trish lso.
Mary,
I have resolved to learn silk ribbon embroidery this year. (I also want to learn stumpwork, drawn fabric/thread work, etc) I am interested in silk ribbon embroidery (as well as the other techniques) because of the texture. I love embroidery techniques that add dimension to the fabric palette. I think I have not tried silk ribbon embroidery yet because I'm a little intimidated, hence the resolution!
Thanks, Nita Carroll
What a lovely giveaway!!
I want to try crewel work. I have been fasinated by wool lending so much depth to the finished pieces. I love the textured effect but I have never tried it till now as the wool for embroidery is not available here in India. I feel cotton floss is a poor substitute for crewel wool.
I would love to try stumpwork. It is amazing how a piece of work can come to life by using different stitches.
Why havenât I tried it? I always feel that I need someone to guide me through the basic stitches to get started but Iâm sure If I just sat down and gave it a go I would eventually conquer it.
My main problem is lack of free time as I teach English as a foreign language.
One of these days I will try it.
Gillian
Hi!
My name is Beatriz
Well, here my answers:
What embroidery technique (that you've not done before) piques your interest – you'd like to try it, but haven't done so yet?: Embroidery
What interests you about it?
It looks soo natural, the combination of the colors and how they combine perfectly to look so beautiful
And what has prohibited you from trying it up to now?
Because I dont know how to combine the colors, where to begin, where to end, how to overlap them, etc. Maybe I am a bit afraid, but I really would like to try.
Thanks for letting me participate.
Kisses,
Beatriz
Good Morning Mary,
As I browse throught several blogs on needlework I am always drawn to the beauty of Jacobean work. On a recent trip to Italy I saw so many gorgeous pieces and each one gave me a yen to stitch. However there are several types of stitching involved that I have never attempted- silk painting, goldwork, etc. The only thing holding me back is me. I need to explore the different types of stitching and then compile them into a bigger project. Keep up the great work Mary – you are a terrific inspiration!
Thanks
Kaysee
Hi Mary!
Love your posts! I have always enjoyed embroidery and, for some reason, I haven't been very experimental. I tend to use a pallet of about 5 stitches–always 2 or more threads. I am fascinated with thread painting and the quality of work and shadding using 1 tread. This is what I want to try next and the CD would be a powerful training tool! Thanks for all the special tips you share!
Hi Mary!
Stumpwork both intrigues and intimidates me. The 3D aspect of it is fascinating. Any suggestions for a small enough project that an embroidering klutz can tackle would be most welcome!
Chris
I've always wanted to do hardanger but have never has someone to show me. Haven't had the courage to try on my own, but hopefully, I can get there soon
1. I'd like to try Swedish Naversom.
2. The pictures I've seen are very neat and uniform. I love doing drawn thread work and this variation is intriguing, very lace looking.
3. I did not know of this ethnic needlework until recently and finally purchased the instuctions by Phyllis Maurer. I haven't had a chance to try it yet.
Dear Mary,
I would love to fine turn thread painting, long and short stitch. I do a lot of embroidery work with stumpwork, embroidery, and the needle arts. It is such beautiful work. I have seen these pictures in books and at Trade Shows and they are so beautiful. I need to have the instructions for that fine work.
Thank you for offering this as a gift.
Debra Puma
Hi Mary, WOW 37 comments already 0~0
1. What embroidery technique (that you've not done before) piques your interest – you'd like to try it, but haven't done so yet?
Thread painting actually
2. What interests you about it?
The shading esp on the birds
And what has prohibited you from trying it up to now?
Lack of confidence and wary of my embroidery abilities
Hi Mary,
I think that the next technique that I try will be crewel, I have the A-Z of crewel which should be of some help. Why have I not done this before is because I have never liked working with wool, but after looking at your work, especially the rooster, you have inspired me to try using it once more. As for the CD I would just love to do that little bird. BTW I just love reading your news every day and really look forward to receiving it.
Joan from Richmond B.C. Canada
Some day I would like to try making a box with stumpwork or silk shading on it.
After I learn how to make a box, I would be able to make gifts for friends and family with their favorite things on it.
Time has prohibited me from learning.
Thank you for your wonderful blog, I read it often.
Denise
I love reading your blog. It's always so interesting.
I would love to have the threadpainting CD to use as a refresher (I took a course with Tanja Berlin several years ago and the project is still incomplete).
I would like to learn Casalguidi because it looks challenging and also looks very intricate.
I have not attempted to learn it to date because I don't seem to have enough spare time to devote to something new. I do a lot of embroidery techniques already and am now attempting to include them in crazy quilting.
Grovenore
Lacombe, AB Canada
I would have to say that I most want to try either stumpwork or goldwork. Stumpwork intrigues me for the dimensionality (is that a word?) of it and goldwork simply because it's metallic and it sparkles! I haven't tried either yet because, to be honest, they both scare me to death. Goldwork is also pretty expensive for the raw materials and I'm too afraid to mess them up! Yeah, I know – get a backbone!
Cheers Mary
from MA (Mary Anne)
hi mary
1. i would like to try/learn the
art of japanese hand embroidery
2. because the style is very
simple and the look calming
when i look at a piece of
work….the background color
and material are very pretty
3. i have not tried it bec.there
is no teacher where i
live….small town
kiran seth
I am most interested in shading (I need this CD!!). I always liked the realistic art forms. I am a terrible artist, so anything I come up with on my own looks like a stick figure! I think I have avoided trying shading because I am afraid to fail. There is nothing worse than having something intended to look realistic, looking abstract! I really enjoy your website and the wealth of information you provide. Theresa Smith
Thread painting. I love the shading but it generally uses long/short stitch which is something I can't get my head and fingers to agree about. I've tried hard but nobody has been able to teach me how to taper the stitches as yet. đ
I especially like lifelike effect the threads give the work.
Lack of confidence.
Maureen- Australia
Hi Mary,
An embroidery technique I would like to try & haven't is Brazilian embroidery. I'm enchanted by the 3-d effects. The reason I haven't is that no one teaches it & the threads are intimidating (very "loosey-goosey" rayon).
Sheila Keeling
I would like to try Schwalm embroidery. I love the look of whitework, and love the textural look of the heavy embroidery with the lightness of the pulled thread work.I have had difficulty until recently finding instructions about materials and techniques. Sandi Hersh
Actually, this is the technique I'd love to try but never have. I didn't realize it had a formal name until I started reading your blog/newsletter. I don't know where to begin with it, & haven't taken the time to get a book. This kit would be the perfect beginning step for me.
Lee Ann Grief
Good questions, Mary. Hardanger has always interested me. Altering the fabric and making holes is different than 'regular' embroidery. Just like there's a lot of things I haven't tried yet, there's just not enough hours in the day!
This is tough as there is so many I have not tried Hardanger has got my interest lately. Because it the technique I would like to have a go at. What is prohibiting me? Just me and myself. lack of confidence. not sure if I could pull it off.
My answers are:
1. Stumpwork
2. I love the depth of the needlework and its richness.
3. I received the book "Stumpwork Medieval Flora" for Christmas. I am slowly reading my way through the book. Once I have read it and reviewed the techniques, equipment and stitch glossary in Part 3 I plan on gathering the necessary supplies to begin my adventure in Stumpwork. Wish me luck.
Hi Mary,
Like last time you posted it in your blog, I think Trish Burr's little bird is magnificent.
I would realy, really love to learn Casalguidi. Just yesterday I printed one of Sharon B's tutorials on Casalguidi and maybe I'll try it this time. I love the way it stands out and the three-dimensional character making the embroidery almost looking life like. Why I haven't had a go? I am afraid I can't do it, it's so very intricate and involves three or four different operations before the result can be seen.
Anyway, I look at what you do … and dream!
My grandmotherâs sister, Clara McDermott, was an Irish seamstress at the beginning of the 20th century. One day while cleaning my grandmotherâs attic I discovered an old wicker suitcase tucked behind some boxes. I pulled it out and opened it. What I found was a treasure of my Aunt Claraâs needlework. It was full of all kinds of nightgowns, gloves, shawls and laces. The one article that caught my attention was a small sample of Carrickmacross lace.
Carrickmacross Lace is a delicate and enchanting Irish craft dating back to 1820. It evolved from some of the appliqué lace acquired by Mrs. Grey Porter, from Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, on her honeymoon in Italy in 1816. It is internationally acclaimed for its beauty and the skill employed in its execution.
I have always been fascinated by the look of it. The issue that prohibits me from trying it is the technique of how it is made. First the design is hand sewn with very fine stitches onto a piece of fine net. This step is called appliqué. The needlework is done using fine organdie cotton thread and the design is accented with elegant edging. Inside the design are intricate patterns with an amazing variety of stitches.
Colleen Lim
Hi Mary – the answer to the first is easy: I have never tried Hardanger. It interests me because it is beautiful and I love the lacy look it gives to pieces. Why haven't I done it before? I am afraid to cut my work! Silly, I know that's the whole point, but somehow I have not been brave enough to cut something. I am going to try it one of these days, though!
Kathy in Kenai
Hello Mary !
I follow each articles of your site since Elena33 talk about …a long time ago !;o)
and then , today, I will leave my first comment, for this article.
I would like to learn the schwalm embroidery technique (since a very long time too).
My interest for it ? to make little holes (Jours in french) without using my cisors too much !;o)
what prohibited one from trying it up to now ? time and also books(that I haven't), I prefer learning with step to step (with beautiful and precise -zooms-pictures) than reading words that sometimes I can't understand well…
I thank you a lot for your site, really well and very funny sometimes !;o)
I love embroideries, the un-boring ones !
thanks ! I hope my english is understandable !;o)
kind regards from FĂ©e
Hi Mary,
First I wish to congratulate you on the crewel rooster progress. Its turning out beautiful. Now the give away answer I love most of the hand embroidery forms like brazilian emb,ribbon embroidery,stumpwork,crewel work,long and short stitch etc. I have tried brazilian of them all and will venture into long and short stitch shading next but I would love to try crewel embroidery because it is so very pretty…..this technique uses awesome colours, they are so lively and pretty. The materials needed for these emb techniques are not available in india đ so couldn't try my hands on them.
Thanks,
kirti
Stumpwork would be what I want to learn to do, because of the 3 dimensional effects you can achieve. The reason I haven't tried it yet is just haven't had the time. Thelma Bradshaw
I love how this blog has such an international following and that there are so many stitchers out there keeping all kinds of embroidery alive! Thank you Mary for providing a forum for all of us to be connected and learn about so many interesting techniques. I have learned so much by reading other comments and researching the techiques that I have never heard of before. It is so fascinating.
To answer your question – I would LOVE to learn stumpwork. I love the 3D aspect, the colors and in many designs, the use of flora and fauna (especially the dragonflies and spider webs). I am intimidated by the techiques and would love a tutorial as I am like so many who have commented here, a visual learner.
Thanks again for everything Mary. It is a true joy to read your blog everyday.
Hi Mary,
I am really wanting to learn the detached stitches used in early 1600's Elizabethan embroidery – the detached buttonhole, trellis and other stitches. I love the embroidered jackets and other items this stitching embellished. Too many other projects and too little time has kept me from it so far, but this is the year I do it! Thanks for all the cool stitching and news on your blog!!
So many comments already! I love Trish Burr's work, and as I'm working on a 18th century coat and waistcoat with her designs needlepainted on it, I wouldn't mind having some extra so I'm going to join in too
A type of embroidery I would like to try is tambour work. I love how it looks so much like a chain stitch-one of my favorite stitches, but the continues line makes for very characteristic patterns that I like, I'm also intrigued by how fast professional tambour embroiders of the past were able to work this stitch. Most of all though, I'm intrested in the equipment and the technique, it's so different from 'usual' embroidery, almost like a combination of crochet and embroidery! Lastly, I embroider to decorate my clothing and costumes, and tambour sounds like a great way to decorate hems of skirts, faster than needlepainting and it looks fun and not so heavy. Also, I'm working on a 19th century Frysian costume with a friend and I want a tamboured shawl as they had there in that time đ
What has stopped me so far is that I haven't found the right equipment yet! I live in the Netherlands and I haven't found a tambour needle and frame yet, I can order the needle from a US shop but the frame is more difficult, I emailed shops that have it but never received back about if they'd ship it to Europe. But! I found someone-only 2 hours away from where I live-who runs a course on tambour work, which I plan to follow so I can ask him where to get equipment and learn from someone who's already capable of this technique đ
Have a nice day!
~Eveline
Hello Mary, First I must thank you for all your videos and your posts. I have learned so much and each day I learn more. Thank you.
I would love to learn needlepainting and more stumpwork. I love birds and flowers, nature all of it. Please enter my name in your wondrful drawing. Sharon
Hi Mary!
I am hanging on the edge of my seat as the rooster progresses. It is really wonderful to have a blow by blow photo documentary of your experimentation. I am sure that all your efforts in this direction will save the rest of us quite a bit of time.
Regarding the giveaway. Like many others above, I aspire to perfect needle painting, and you have already guided my baby steps in that direction with your excellent long and short stitch tutorial.
Since I have already tried that, I cannot list it as the next thing I want to learn. Just about to embark on my first Newbury small crewel kit, it is the woven stitches that fascinate me the most and I am really looking forward to trying them. I wasn't really aware of the existence of this type of ornamentation until I learned to form Cluny leaves in tatting a year or so ago; and I have only just come back to embroidery after a very long hiatus – so that is why I have not yet tried it. The shaping and texture imparted by woven stitches is really effective.
Suzanne Muir
I want to try stumpwork because I think it looks so beautiful–I like the three dimensional look about it and how it looks like real flowers and insects, etc. I am afraid to try it because I think it might be too hard. I know that I just need to try.
Thanks for the opportunity to win the CD.
Valerie Lortz
I have absolutely been intrigued by Stumpwork after seeing this extraordinary embroidery technique for the first time at the Woodlawn Plantation Needlework Show a couple years ago! I love the dimensional aspect of Stumpwork as it appears almost like a puzzle that I need to figure out how it's done. I have been intimidated by it up until now. DebbieMac
I have not tried tambour work but all of the haute couture embroidery that has been done by the ateliers in France for centuries has me very smitten with its results. Some of the most beautiful embroidery in the entire world was made to ornament clothing…
What has prohibited me from learning the technique is that I haven't found a good teacher or book or resource yet…I have a few books but they're in French…
I would like to learn how to do stumpwork or Brazilian embroidery. I have a friend that does beautiful work in both, but I just haven't had a chance to get into it yet. I have too many unfinished Hardanger and redwork projects to justify starting a new technique and the investment in all of the new threads I would need–not that I wouldn't enjoy the process!
Karen in Breezy Point
I would have to say that stumpwork is the technique that I find most interesting. I like the 3 dimensional effect and variety of ways it can be done. I think that I'm held back by not having specific directions at my fingertips (buy another book, he says).
Hello Mary! Elizabeth from Taiwan here!=)
It's hard for me to say which type of stitchery I'd like to take up that I haven't yet done as I've tried my hand at so many – stumpwork, goldwork, ribbon work etc as well as multiple counted and surface stitches etc. What's left now??
Well, I haven't done any blackwork, for a wonder, so I suppose that would be it. Blackwork, to me, is incredibly classy looking, be it in traditional designs or the more modern pictorial pieces – even the coloured versions, and I esp fancy the double sided idea and the ones with metallic touches. I love sparkle. I have some lovely kits and designs on hand to get to one day soon.
Why haven't I done it yet? I suppose because the majority of my work is for a reason: A gift for someone, a piece of coursework or something like that, so I haven't really got to this one as I haven't thought of using it as a gift yet and I was so far behind with my C&G; work by the time we got to the blackwork week, that it didn't happen.
I love Trish Burr's work and, in the serious absence of supplies and eye candy out here in the Far East (everyone's into knitting, quilting and beadcrafts in Taiwan, embroidery is rare, even cross stitch!) I'm ready for a treat, so please add my name to the drawer.
Many thanks and thanks also for the mention you made of my blog last June when I displayed 3 fancy pieces. My site hits never soared so high as they did on the 3 days or so that folk were following your link! I hope to inspire you to admiration again one day!
All the very best for this year and always, Elizabeth=)
I have just started doing some hand embroidery in crazy quilting. I haven't done any hand embroidery for many years but I just love it. Most of my thread painting is done by machine because of wrist problems but I am finding I can do a little bit of hand work if I don't overdo it…yeah, right. I love the delicacy of Trish's work and would like to try some thread painting by hand. I'm sure I'll need lots of practice. Most of my hand embroidery was done when I was very young so I don't know a whole lot of techniques and stitches – but I'm working on it.
Marilyn
G'day there Mary,
Ribbon embroidery has been my main 'want to do' interest for some time.
It hasn't always appealed to me as had only seen project pictures and I just wasn't into what seemed 'pretty' decorations on pretty things.
Now, it's all changed. I won a heap (truely, a heap) of Cascade ribbons in a 25 words or less embroidery magazine competition. (Quite some time ago i'm ashamed to say)
I've let those beautiful ribbons glide through my fingers, twisted and gently formed them into imagined ideas and now I MUST learn their secrets, the techniques, so I can manipulate and them to satisfy my own creative interpretations on fabric.
I want to combine ribbon with …well…whatever I can conjure up.
Ribbon roses stand aside!
I haven't tried ribbon embroidery yet because the left side of my brain keeps bullying the creative side. I tend to try and work things out in my mind first and if it doesn't gel, well that's as far as I get.
So the ribbons just keep slipping through my fingers. I've threatened to pile them all behind a matt board and frame them as is!
Mary, I don't expect to win this competition. There are so many lovely enteries. I just wanted to add my thoughts to the boiling pot.
Also, I,m not up with time zones so this may not even be in the time limit.
Cheers, Kath from Oz
Stump work really interests me – you can do so much with it. I really love the 3-d it produces.
I haven't attempted it due to a combination of fear and a lack of equipment (wire etc). Neither are very good excuses and I have bought a kit to give me a start, just need the time/guts to get started!
When I was small, my grandmother did a great deal of embroidery. I vaguely remember her progression from simple cross stitch to more involved projects. By the time I was a teen, she was working with shaded embroidery and fancy 3 dimensional Brazilian style stitches. Getting a new kit was always a treat for her and I would sit next to her and watch her stitch for long periods of time. It was like magic.
I recently started playing with some crazy quilting techniques – thank to Sharon B's pin tangle blog! I'm finding that I really enjoy using embroidery as an embellishment tool. I haven't done cross stitch since I was a child and have never tried a shaded embroidery project, but I am developing a growing interest in these other handwork techniques.
My busy schedule keeps me from doing much experimental handwork but I am finding that Sunday afternoons are a becoming a good time for such meditative endeavors – it takes me back to my roots and reminds me of those comfortable afternoons with my gramma.
I think that answers all of your questions, in a round about way!
Virginia B. in far far Upstate NY.
Once more wonderful give-away. Thank you very much đ
And about the future plans. At the moment I am knitting and I guess, that I'll make some projects (it's winter here, about -10 – -15 C). But when I'll come back to stitching, I'd like to try jacobean embroidery. I like the result, created using so many different stitches (and I like your rooster very much). I have bought a kit from Berlin, I like it very much, it is very clear. But I am afraid. How to make such small stitches with the wool. Of course, it is possible and one day I'll try, but I am afraid (it sounds so silly)
I would really love to learn thread apinting. I love the look of it and it is something I've thought about for some time. I did crewel in my younger (much younger) days and would like to get back to that too. Your rooster project has me inspired. I have a set of Jacobean designs thay came with a book on colonial needlework I've wanted to do for years. This just may be the impetus I need.
Thanks for all you do for all of us. As a retired teacher myself (chemistry) I don't know how you manage all that grading and still have a life. My hat goes off to you.
Martha McSweeney
mammym@flash.net
Hi Mary
I really want to learn needle painting.This work looks realistic and i love the colours and shades of this work.I haven't tried it because it takes so much time and i am still learning the basics of long and short stitch through your videos and i would love to do trish burr's project
Zenia
hola mary ; siempre veo tu hermoso trabajo,por lo que yo veo ,buscas lo mejor para nosotras,supieras miro tu pagina y vuelvo a verla, ojala algun dia se pueda traducir, seria genial
es como no saber leer'''
de todas formas muchas gracias, no nos dejes
un abrazo
lidia