Today, because it’s Monday and it’s always good to start the week on an Up Note, I’m going to give away an embroidery book!
Initially, I was going to give away two embroidery books today. But I have all kinds of Monday Morning Excuses why I changed my mind. The dominating reason, though, is that the books are completely unrelated (except in their use of needle and thread), and it occurred to me that, while you might really want one of them, you might not want the other. And what if you won the one you didn’t want??! Oh gosh! That would be the pits!!!
So I decided to do them separately. Today’s give-away:
Yes, yes! You have the opportunity to win a free copy of the Royal School of Needlework’s new Essential Stitch Guide on Whitework embroidery. If you don’t know what this book is all about, you may wish to read my review of it, where you’ll find a detailed description of the book and lots of photos and lots of reasons why I like it!
The way it works is this:
1. Leave a comment on this article on the website (not via e-mail or on any other article on the website) by Saturday, August 18, at 5:00 am Central Time (that’s for Kansas, USA). On Saturday, I will announce the winner. The give-away has ended! Thanks for participating!
2. In your comment, answer the following:
What’s your all-time favorite embroidery technique and why do you like it?
(For example: Are you completely besotted with crewel work because you like fuzzy wool? Are you a counted thread person exclusively, because you like working from a chart? Are you a goldwork junkie, because you’re addicted to metal threads? Do you prefer whitework, because you like the pristine purity of white-on-white embroidery? Are you a general all-around surface embroidery nut, because you like playing with all kinds of threads, colors, textures, stitches, fabrics….? ‘Fess up! What’s your needlework passion?! If you’re just starting out and you haven’t quite developed a needlework passion yet, just tell us what you like doing most with your needle and thread.)
3. Please (pretty please, with sugar on top) leave a recognizable name, either in the “name” line on the comment form, or within the text of your comment. Instead of just signing “Pat,” for example, you might put Pat in Punxsutawney. Get it?
4. Keep an eye out next Saturday to see if you’ve won, so you can contact me with your mailing address. I’ll order the book and have it shipped directly to you as soon as I hear from and confirm the winner.
See, isn’t it simple?! So, sign up below if you’re hankering to get your hands on this new book from the Royal School of Needlework! Do, do! You’ll love the book! You’ll learn a lot from it! You want it! You know you do! Enter my give-away! Please! I’m begging you…
Enjoy your Monday! (For those of you ending your Monday already, I hope it was a good one!)
White on white is my most favorite type of embroidery. When I learned to do hemstitching as a little girl, I thought that was the most wonderful thing to ever learn. It looked so delicate and neat and, though without much adornment, could make the plainest piece of cloth look lovely.
Thank you for the opportunity to win this book, Mary.
I enjoy most forms of embroidery, especially to add to my costuming and sewing. It just takes it up an extra level, even if you don’t spend a lot of time on it!
I have to say, even though it’s been harder for me to figure out, I love whitework — especially the stitches that warp the weave and create such lacy patterns. If I could finally get the hang of that type of whitework, more than any other type of embroidery, I think I would be one happy gal!
Being relatively new to the surface embroidery scene, I have to say that I have fallen in love with ecclesiastical embroidery (being clergy is sort of the family business). I love that fact that you can create beautiful objects that will be used! Up until know its been small things (linen towels and altar clothes) but I would love to acquire this whitework book so I might learn more and expand the types of projects that I can do. I just love that pure white on white for altar linens. Thanks!
I love counted thread embroidery of all types. The precision is what does it for me – I like to be able to count exactly where I am at all times!
My favourite technique is encrusted crazy quilting because I can use so many different stitches and elements.
Ultimamente tenho bordado com fio contados, gosto muito, mas também gosto de bordado livre e adoro aprender outros tipos de bordado. Adoraria ganhar esse livro!!Beijos
Hi Mary,
I like all things needlework. I primarily do surface embroidery and needlepoint. I enjoy challenging myself with learning new techniques.
Belle Gallay
I absolutely LOVE all kinds of needlework and this is one that I have tried and was not happy with my result. This would help me learn this beautiful embroidery.
No need to enter me, I guess, as I loved your review so much I have already ordered the book! I am truly besotted with whitework. I have done just about every from of embroidery there is, but I simply ADORE pulled and drawn work. I bought Gay Eaton’s Ukrainian Whitework, and I am embarking on several of those patterns.
I thoroughly enjoy your e-letters and wait for them impatiently. You do SUCH a stellar job! I bought your booklet on herringbone and love it, and I was thrilled to be able to put my money where my mouth is and support your efforts!
Thanks for all you do!
Anya
My favorite technique is surface embroidery, specifically the outline stitch. I like to draw my own pictures of things that are meaningful to me, such as a memento of a trip, transfer them to a towel, and embroider them in outline stitch. I include wording which is also done in outline stitch.
I’ve always wanted to try whitework so this book would be the perfect instructor.
Love your website, visit it almost every day. Judith
Love this idea! I’ve recently seen some wonderful paintings turned into outline-stitch profiles that were fantastic. I need to try this.
I would love to win this book. I like to cross stitch but would like to learn other forms of embroidery. Thanks Mary for your site and for the opprtunity to win this book.
To use your phrase, I am a whitework junky because I love the finished texture and the shadow play of white on white. To be honest, I would have to add blue on blue or mauve on mauve. I know you know what I mean!
Though I enjoy adventures in other techniques, my favorite remains the simple embroidery I learned as a child. Pretty colors applied to items that will be used and loved, I can’t think of a better use of my time.
Your articles are inspiring. My needlework preference is cross stitch because most nights, I want something mindless to do. I am not much of an artist with drawing/painting so it allows me to paint 🙂
For me, just “standard” embroidery is my favorite thing. At least of late, and it is largely due to the fact that I have fallen in love, seriously! In love with the stem stitch. And that is due to your blog Mary, so thank you! For years I hated to even try because mine was just not pleasing. Then everything just clicked after checking out your tutorials, and I shortened my stitch length and concentrated on keeping them uniform…and now, can’t stop stitching! Thanks so much for all you do!
Kathy
Hi Mary,
How exciting! Another yummy book! I have RSN’s Blackwork book and it’s terrific. I’ve started using some of the shading techniques in my surface work. It’s a whole different ball game.
My favourite sort of embroidery to do is surface work. I like the freedom to explore and combine different techniques and threads. I can imagine that learning about whitework will add a whole new dimension to my creativity.
Cheers,
Jen
Thanks for the opportunity to win this book! I mostly do counted cross stitch but I really love it when the chart includes other stitches like herringbone, rice, satin, etc. My mom just passed down some of my grandmother and great-aunt’s stitching (tea towels, doilies, tatting, hankies) so I may try more techniques soon.
What a wonderful book to have in my library. I am new at a lot of the different types of work and would love the new addition as a reference.
I also enjoy your newsletter with the demonstrations on them. Keep up the good work.
Forgot to add that I mostly do Counted cross stitch – but also enjoy black work,and some canvas work. I have taken some classes with white work and fine french hand stitching. I love keeping my hands working at all times.
I’m not sure I have a single favorite kind of embroidery. I’ve lately gotten very into temari, but want to continue in goldwork, and have at least eight counted work projects going on. I guess that makes me an eclectic stitcher! On the other hand, I’m really not very fond of things like chicken scratch and other “Bulky” techniques. Call my favorite embroidery technique intricacy!
You asked for favorite techniques. Mine is pulled thread embroidery. I find the emergence of the lace-y patterns just fascinating. It always takes a few rows of stitching to see the full effect and then there is that ‘WOW’ moment. Selecting stitches with just the right density to create shading is another aspect that I find absorbing. And the rhythm is stress relieving and makes time fly. The best stitching escape I’ve ever found.
I love to embroidery and you have the most beautiful designs and techniques to making a beautiful picture. I love the tutorials as you explain the different techniques very well!
i’m not really stuck on one kind of embroidery or one kind of thread. i love the variety and like trying and experimenting with it all.
Oh, Mary, what a great way to start the week! I’m one of those all around surface embroidery nuts. Just can’t help myself! Would L O V E to have the whitework book for my library.
Hi Mary! What a great way to start a Monday morning! I am a counted chart kind of a girl, with some surface embroidery thrown in! I am a beginner at Hardanger and Whitework, and would love to learn more. Thanks for the chance to win such a great book!
p.s. I have both RSN’s Blackwork and Crewelwork books and love them!
Favourite embroidery? Simple to say – whitework. Otherwise I would not register for the give-away. Why? For possibility to be creative. For such enormous possibilities in stitches, shapes, details. For such rich texture and such breath taking result. For cleaness. I’ve tried many technics, but this one I coming back and back. I love schwalm, I love traditional Lithuanian whitework, I love hedebo, portugal whitework – all of them are just fantastic!
Good morning, Mary,
Gold and silk shading are my favorite but whitework has always intrigued me although I have yet to try it.
Thank you for your generosity,
Maria VF
I admire white work the most of any stitching,
but don’t actually do too much. So this book
would give me the necessary instruction to get
started doing more.
Dear Mary,
I have read your review earlier in your posts and this book made me drool! It looks fabulous and how wonderful it would be to be able to add it to my library. I love whitework, Casalguidi, counted thread, just about everything. However, top on my list is stumpwork. It intrigues me with the dimensionality of it all. Detached pieces, padding, a touch of gold and I am in love! The historic pieces leave me breathless! Thank you for this fine offering.
Peg F. from NJ
I love the French Knot. I learned this stitch at my Great grandmothers knee. It made me an embroiderer for life!
I confess I like it all. White work, black work, crewel, Goldwork, Brazilian, stump work. I even like thread painting thoughnI complain the whole time I’m working on it that it’s tedius. I have all the other RSN books and would love to add this to the collection. If I don’t win, I’ll just order it from the School. My husband would prefer I win.
Melody
Thanks for the great blog.
I’ve just started doing crewel work, and I’m so in love with it! It all started with a project that turned out to be beyond me, so I decided to learn all I can. The fact that I’m actually able to do the stitches, especially the french knot and the bullion knot tickles me to death! Thank you, thank you, thank you for Needle ‘n Thread, it’s wonderful!
Since finding your site I am intrigued to step outside the lines! Lol. My only experience with embroidery has been with stamped designs, and I love it. The white work is new to me, only heard of red work. The only time I use red is for Christmas…so the white work excited me. Hope I win the giveaway to expand my skills. Thank you for taking the time and energy to share your knowledge of embroidery with us. You are an inspiration. Your emails are the first one I look for and open first…you have replaced my FB curiosity! Keep up the wonderful work.
I like counted work esp. Hardanger. I like the precisionof the count and the order of the techniques.
However, i do collect linens with whitework on them. I like the texture acheived with various stitches and threads and the intricities of the pulled thread areas.
Thank you, you are so generous. I like this book. I think that it is a good reference for Whitework. I am member of a guild of around 100 members and we done lot of Whitework. I am the librarian of the guild and I would like to add it to your library. This year, we do not have money to buy new books.
Happy stitching,
Nicole
I love all sorts of needlework. I started learning embroidery with my grandmother when I was 7 years old. I love counted cross stitch as this is the form of needlework I found easy while I was in the middle of my career. Now, I am retired I am learning surface work and really enjoy working with all different threads. Recently, I have introduced to white work and love the ‘look’ of it. This book certainly would be beneficial to me to advance in whitework. I would love it! Thanks, Judy,in Charleston, South Carolina.
I love all types of embroidery from basic stem stitch to machine embroidery. My most favourite type of embroidery though is Stumpwork. I love the fact that you can ‘build’ a design and make it your own, fromw the tiny wings of a bee to the fabulous shapes of leaves and petals. I have two stumpwork designs that I have done. One is a fuscia with a hovering hummingbird and the other one is of a harvest mouse sitting amongst brambles and blackberries. It’s from a photograph I once saw in a mgaazine. Thread painting is also a real love. I have a TP of a robin in full flight again from a photograph.
I wish the days were longer to do everything I love.
I would love this book. Whitework has always fascinated me.
I love almost all kinds of embroidery. Right now I am doing whitework, silk and goldwork and small monogram.
I like them for the different qualities. The pristine purity of working with white linen on white linen.
The amazing colours of silk blended perfectly in needlepainting with an accent of gold to make it pop.
The monogram is a favor for a friend, fun but not something I love.
Tania
I love all kinds of needlework, but find the rhythm of cross stitch truly meditative. Second fav would be blackwork because of the history represented and the incredible beauty of what is deceptively simple. Third, surface embroidery because it’s like painting with thread.
Necessity of age is leading me to needlepoint as I can see the wholes so much better!
It is time to start stitching! After raising numerous children–we are now empty-nesters! It is time to get back to doing those things that my creative nature enjoys! I LOVE the white on white embroidery and I love anything ecclesiastical.
I love your site and your life’s work! Thank you!
Patty from Abbey House
I really love stitching of all types. I especially love samplers. Working on linen it just amazes me to see the beautiful things that are wrought with needle and thread. My favorite thread to work with is silk. I also love to do white work. It is so beautiful to see the shapes and forms that come from white on white.
Hi Mary
I’m so excited about this book! My love for whitework is fast growing into an obsession. I am awed by the sheer variety of techniques possible with white fabric and thread; I am mesmerised by the sculptural quality of the different textures created and the interplay between positive and negative space. There’s the pleasure also of working with with beautiful fabrics and threads. I think seeing the pattern gradually emerge on a plain piece of linen appeals to the same part of my brain that enjoys sudoku or solving a puzzle. I don’t think there’s a cure … so I think the answer is to go with it.
Thanks for the chance to win this book, Mary. Take care and have a great day.
Kathryn
I would love this book! I love all kinds of embroidery although drawn thread work is a current favorite.
Rebecca from Plano
it’s amazing! This book was opened exactly on the stitch that I was going to present which is the typical Lefkada (Greek Island) embroidery stitch. It shows once more how small is the world. By the way I am very interested on this book. Please add me to the drawing. Thank you.
My fav type of Needkework is drawn thread and whitework. I have done several by the Drawn Thread and live when the samplers I do have cutwork in them. Thanks for this chance to own one if these wonderful books.
What a question! What don’t I like and what haven’t I tried…nothing
Probably hardanger with cross stitch. I like the lacy effect of the end product. My Mom used to do whitework and cutwork, before she was married “69” years ago. I’ve always wanted to learn, but by the time I wanted to learn Mom couldn’t help. So I’m turning to you and your givaway. Hope I win!
Whitework with drawn thread or pulled thread is my passion. I have always thought less is better. Working without color, or very subtle color, is the embroidery that is less used and sought to learn of all the other embroidery technigues. It is an elegant display of needle technique, rather than all about color. One sees the stitches, rather than the color. It’s focus is design and presentation. It applauds a job well done by the stitcher.
Wow! This is amazing. Where do I begin?
First I have to admit I am totally new to this handwork. I haven’t done enough to know which one I like the most. Wait I do know. It’s the whitework that always catches my eye.
I have collected antique table runners and items that all have whitework. I even buy ready-made clothing that have the look of whitework on them. I am just so amazed at the beauty of these works of art. My goal is to be able to create works like this on my own.
The only lessons on handwork I had was during a Home Economics class at school. We made a gym bag and I embroidered my name on it. I don’t know of too many schools left that have these Home Economics classes in them now. What a shame.
I have purchased every one of the Country Bumpkin’s Inspiration magazine and their A to Z books. I’ve also purchased several of their kits. All with the intention of doing them of course.
These books are my nighttime reading while in bed. Then during my dreams I am an artist. Now if only I could be that during the waking hours.
I see the pictures in the magazine or book of how the stitches are supposed to look but somehow mine don’t always look the same when done. Not all the images are as detailed as I have found on Mary Corbet’s website.
My latest adventure is with a piece of linen 38 count which has pulled threads – Yikes!. I’m planning on making this wedding ring pillow from Country Bumpkin’s Inspiration Issue #74.
I am so pleased to have found Mary’s website which has helped me so much. I didn’t even know how to count how many threads I had in a piece of linen until Mary answered that for me.
I’m using a smaller scrap piece of linen to practice on.
I’ve also joined a Stitchery Guild in my area this year. Can’t wait for the group to start meeting.
I have the RSN Whitework Stitch Guide on my wish list to purchase. I would just love to win this book. Then I would have more money to buy other RSN books. Just from the images of the pages Mary has shown from the contents of this book makes it a MUST HAVE for my collection.
I’ll keep practicing so that someday I can become an artist of whitework.
Eva McCormack
Queen of Whitework – someday
I enjoy all types of embroidery but my favorite of all times is ribbon embroidery. It has a sense of elegance and stands out to the human eye. My teacher, who recently passed on taught me some beautiful works.
I am a counted thread person, with Hardanger being my favorite. I’d say pulled- and drawn-thread are close runners-up. So maybe my favorite is somethng which combines all of them! This book would fit the bill on all counts!
I like surface embroidery with lots of different stitches, and I like cross stitch. Although I’ve been stitching for around 40 years, you inspired me to design my first piece last winter. It was a “heritage piece” for a wedding and turned out very well. Thank you for your dedication, wonderful instructions, and attention to detail!
My first love is Stumpwork- I just love the realism that can be achieved and I am always looking around me at things with an eye to “how could I do that in stumpwork?”
But a close second is pulled thread whitework. I have been making pulled thread technique guest towels for my powder room racks out of all the different pulled thread Group Correspondence Course offerings thru the EGA. I just love the transformation of plain linen to lace! Each new stitch is a surprise once you get the rhythm going. It is addicting.
This book is on my birthday list!
I like counted thread work because I find it relaxing and like the way it look. Really, I like any type of embroidery that I’ve tried and suspect I’ll like the ones I haven’t tried once I get around to them.
My favorite technique for needlework includes openwork, but I enjoy any kind of openwork: hardanger, cutwork, drawn thread, etc. I love that lacy effect that pulling or cutting the threads gives to the final piece. Lots of these methods are traditionally done white on white, so this book should be very helpful.
eathompson790
Ooh goodie I have been waiting ALL weekend for this!!!
I’m only in my 20’s and so starting off on my needlework journey! I love cross stitching, because thats what I started off on, but now am planning my First Ever Whitework Project! (Gasp!) I cant wait to begin, and have ordered my first ever evenweave fabric (instead of aida!!) So I would LOVE to be in with a chance of winning your giveaway, because it would be perfect to help me gain confidence with this beautiful technique!
Many thanks, and have a Lovely Day!
It has to be samplers; antique are best but I enjoy modern ones also. Why? Because most women didn’t have the chance to express themselves thru writing, industry etc… but they could pick up needle and thread and leave a (lasting) record of themselves. A snapshot in time of their personalities and what was important. Not only could it be useful but it is art. So Mike had his ceiling; Mary had her needle and thread. Both created things of beauty. And Mike was a mature man but Mary was a young thing.
I think I’m more of general all-around surface embroidery. I use to just do straight floss emboridery when I was younger. Later on in life I was introduced to yarn and started crewel work, it gave more of a dementional look to it. I am starting to branch out and learn new kinds of needlework thats related to emboridery.
icia
I love crewel embroidery. I love the variety of colors available to the style and and the variety of stitches that create so many beautiful textures. On top of that, wool is forgiving whether working on traditional linen or on wool fabric. If your tension isn’t perfect, add a bit of steam from the iron and the wool relaxes making your stitches perfect.
Thanks for this give away!
Holding a hoop and needle has always been my favorite past time. Now that I’m retired, I’m learning there is more to this than x stitch and outline stitch. I’ve enjoyed learning new stitches from your videos Mary, and every time you review a book, I realize how much more there is to learn. My favorite (of recent) is felted wool and applique. Thanks for the give-a-way offer.
Annette
o my goodness. Gorgeous. Please, you have no idea how very much I love this work. …:::sighs:::…
Thank you so much for the opportunity, Mary … here’s hoping ♥ !
I am a counted cross stitch person because I find it utterly fascinating to watch the picture immerge from a blank piece of material. I never tire of creating that. Thanks for the give away.
Hi Mary,
I love any kind of counted thread work from charts, including needlepoint and samplers..I find it an excellent way to learn new stitches. I have never tried Whitework but it looks very interesting!
Jan B. in Florida
I absolutely love love love whitework. I’ve tried Mountmellick and admit I’m a novice. I’ve done one piece but who knows if I’ve done everything correctly. I’m a junkie for instructional books as they don’t seem to offer classes in our area. And if I can’t make something in whitework I buy it, old or new. Nothing counted as my vision isn’t that great anymore. But I love white on white!
While I have fallen in love with Redwork, reading your review and seeing the illustrations in the book, makes me want to put everything else (quilting, redwork,dimensional embroidery) aside and get started. Thanks for your informative and often, funny, remarks in your review of this book.
Hi Mary,
I love your blog, you give such great information!
There are few types of embroidery I DON’T like, but right now my favorite is stump work. I love the three-dimensional aspect and, since I am no pen-and-paper artist, the beauty created by thread painting.
Helen Lively
I love jacobean embroidery the most. I think it’s the variety within the pattern that appeals to me!
Thanks for your blog and giveaways!
Please,would you enter me in your giveaway.I like all the technics of embroidery & your videos are very helpfull! thanksalot.Béa
I have several old pieces of white work made by my grandmother and aunt, both accomplished needleworkers. I have always wanted to attemt it, but due to a busy work schedule and other projects, I have never tried it.
I like counted cross stitch, as I teach a Fiber Arts class in an urban school district and it is a great way to introduce them to hand stitching. I also teach them basic embroidery stitching, which some of them enjoy, while others find it difficult.
I am looking forward to this new school year, as I have a group of students who are taking my Fiber Arts class who seem to be interested in learning the art of sewing and needlework. I have been thinking of some new projects for them, but usually gear the curriculum to their strengths and interests.
Hi Mary – great way to start the week, I love all kinds of embordery, my favourites are counted thread, particularily Hardanger – happy stitching everyone!!
My all-time favorite is hardanger. Love working the white on white in most cases, been have ventured out and trying to add some color. Next up is learning Schwalm work through an EGA course. I have been reading about this book for a while now and would love the opportunity to win one. Thanks.
Cynthia
HI Mary, Thank you again for the opportunity to win an awesome item from you! The needlework I do the most is counted cross stitch, but I also enjoy Hardanger, Pulled Thread, Drawn Thread and Whitework. I would like to learn goldwork and thread painting soon also.
The reason I like Whitwork is the simplicity of style, (not that all the stitches are simple, many have a very complex style to them), the texture of the thread/stitches. I have one piece I have begun, and it is amazing to me how the color of the thread looks different depending on the stitch pattern and direction the threads are moving, even though it’s all the same thread color!
Thanks again and I hope I win!!
Cindy J.
I have mostly done counted cross stitch, blackwork, and canvas work. I like the precision of counted techniques that allows me to make my stitches exactly uniform. I love all types of embroidery that I have tried though and white work fascinates me. I would love to win this book. Alessandra in CT.
I love counted cross stitch and embroidery such as redwork. But I love seeing all those beautiful stitches you create and want to do it all! I have seen whitework and have always wanted to try it, it is just a matter of time. Course this book would encourage me to do now instead of later.
I’m just learning and absolutely loving doing ‘needlepainting’ I have nearly finished the sampler from your site and found it a fantastic help. Also just bought the book ‘home sweet home’ after readeing your review – I think I will love doing the mbroidery and hope I can manage the construction part. Never done whitework but I think it looks so sophisticated and clean and would love to learn that too. First time I realise I am thankful for having to retire early because of disability – at least now I have time for all this needlework!
My fav is all around surface embroidery because you’re always doing something different-no time to get bored with all x’s, etc. That’s why I love love love your website, I’m learning all kinds of stitches I never did before. I want to embroider some designs/monograms on handkerchiefs this winter so I would love this book. I also want to venture into “open-work” because I think it looks so lacy and it looks as though book takes you there. Thank you again for sharing your knowledge and talent with all of us.
I just realized that in my enthusiasm to leave a comment I missed some info you requested.
My all time favorite embroidery technique is called Karsaniki, it’s a Greek stitch and sample you can see in below link.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FnAB2GApkUs/TsOHVaw-yXI/AAAAAAAAIpo/hhnmprMY0_0/s1600/PA270021%25281%2529.JPG
It’s the most delicate I have seen and I can handle that is, and silk thread is used for that on cotton cloth.
My “recognizable” name is Mary Givetsi
Thanks again
My favorite needlework technique is cross stitch. I guess it is because I love order, and I love counting. The blocks are all ‘in order’, and you can create lovely artwork/pictures out of the blocks and colored thread! And, of course, when you do counted cross stitch, you have to count!
Thanks for the chance to win this free book! I have been thinking I would like to do whitework.
Army Wife Angela
I LOVE white work and have been doing my best using computer searches to advance my skills! Since I was a little girl, when my Mom taught me the basics, I have been an all around surface embroidery nut! I discovered whitework by accident and love the buttonhole and satin stitches used in cutwork. The white on white is like taking a mental holiday! No thinking about color patterns, and a beautiful product as a result! I would love a new book, and just keep getting better and better at this…it is so enjoyable!
Mary –
I love your website and look forward to the daily email.
Thank you for your instruction, your humor, and your give-aways!
I am entering to win this beautiful book
Just because
I need
all the help
I can get!
Christie in Appleton
I usually do counted cross stitch from a chart. I prefer the chart to stamped.
However, I have been wanting to learn other needlework methods and this book would be extremely helpful.
Thank you for the chance to win.
What kind of a needlework person am I….. I guess I’m an all sort of needlework person. I like crewel, cross stitch, hardanger, whitework, stumpwork, you name it I like it. I like the materials, the possibilities and the fact that I can do this and ponder the greater questions in life. Sometimes I do whitework because it is simple in colour, easy to the eye. Sometimes I go wild with crewel in bright colours.
I would really like to add this book to my collection, because I really like Lizzy. She is a very good teacher, though how she can embroider with these beautiful long nails is a total mystery to me.
I would love to say that white on white is my favorite type of embroidery but to be honest I’ve never done it.
I learned the normal embroidery stitches (and some intricate) ones from books and the internet. It all started with my love of crazy quilts. I do love color & texture and I love to see what can be done with those.
Thanks for the chance to win a copy of this book.
*stand* My name is Ren and I’m an Opus Anglicanum Junkie.
Seriously, I love the style and I’m not even “religious”! I love to see the way the colors shine and shimmer with the gold and stitches. It always amazes me how three simple stitchs can create such an amazing bit of art. My favorite part of it is how the gold takes on a completely different look when you use a different color of thread to hold it down.
I do enjoying new embroidery stitches, but always tend to come back of OA’s satin, split and couch.
I love to do all kinds of embroidery work but definitely counted is my favourite. Using new stitches and learning them is really fun in my opinion.
Thanks for the wonderful information and giveaway opportunity.
My favorite embroidery is surface embroidery as I find it very relaxing and I love playing with the colors of thread and using new stitches in my project. Thank you, Mary for your newsletter and videos that have helped me learning new stitches. I have wanted to do whitework embroidery and would love to have a book that encourages me to get started. Judie in Hesperia
My favourite form of embroidery does not involve counting (well, at least not too much!). I like to experiment and combine techniques. Fibers and threads in alll forms appeal to me and call out for sampling. I enjoy periods of calm and quiet – and like to do whitework, or even a little Hardanger, in the traditional manner. And then I am on to mixed media art works and wild surface stitches.
My all-time fav is sampler reproductions. Not only do I like the finished piece but the process of getting finished is fun. It’s nice to sort of “commune” with my fellow women of times past and work on something they also worked on.
I don’t know that I’m completely besotted with any one type of needlework. I love it all! What I’m working on at any one time is my favorite. I do mostly counted work because that’s what is in my stash. I think I’m newly in love with pulled thread work as it is interesting and magical to see what happens to the fabric. Thank you for yet another book give-away.
I love needlepoint! I like to play with stitches and threads and even try different techniques o canvas.
This spring and summer I have been doing a bunch of reading on diferent techniques: ie goldwork, stumpwork, and color. And even though most of these suggest linen or very fine embroidery fabric I want to try some on 18 count needplepoint canvas or congress cloth.
Would love to win this book! Have been keeping my eye out for it here in the states…And also the silk shading book from the Royal School. How can you go wrong with a book fom the Royal School?
Thanks for this wonderful offer! sudukc
Dear Mary
I taught myself needlework some 10 years ago when I happened to see my sister in law’s bullion roses from the Inspirations magazine. I was hooked; ordered the next copies and practised and practised. I love all sorts of needlework, but my all time favourite is stump-work. I’ve tried a small piece of counted whitework, but it wasn’t very successful as I had no books on the subject to help me. I would love a copy of the RSN’s whitework book so that I can learn from the experts.
Your videos on different stitches has helped me a lot too, as I find it easter being shown how to do a stitch than following diagrams.
best wishes
Brenda Clark
I’m a surface free style embroidery nut, I love following curves with stem stitches; once I get going it’s very meditative!
Thank you for the chance at winning this book.. I enjoy learning new techniques and love that this book has a spiral binding. 😀
♥
sew jen sews in tn.
What a gorgeous looking book! I am almost exclusively a “counting” person but I can see things in this book that I would love to incorporate into some of my current projects. Please add my name to the list of possible winners! Ellen H in VA…
I’m a Brazilian embroidery nut. I love the feel of the wonderfully colorful rayon threads and the beautiful, dimesional results of the stitches. Learning to do whitework would be a wonderful opportunity, not to mention trying the techniques with my Brazilian embroidery rayons.
Mary C. in Vancouver, WA
I too love white work and this book would be a treasured possession to me and i know i would get many many hours of pleasure from it.
I don’t know what my favorite kind of stitching is, I just like holding a needle and getting into the groove of a project. I think free hand embroidery designs would probably be on top though because the creating can be so free-flowing and relaxing.
I have tried most every kind of embroidery and like them all to varying degrees. I always come back to counted thread though.
While I like the pristine quality of all-white on white, I also love colour, so I guess I’m a general all-around surface embroidery nut. I like raised embroidery,too, and adding tatting to it sometimes. I would really love to win this book, Mary, so thanks for the chance.
I only really have experience with cross stitch and hardanger but there are so many more things I look forward to trying. Whitework has been at the top of my list because it looks so elegant!
Hi, Mary –
Love, love, love your giveaways – you are awesome! I recently took a one-day whitework class and fell in love with the pristine-ness of it and so reading your review of the RSN Whitework book REALLY captured my attention. I would love to win a copy and learn and practice and play more with white-on-white!
As for my favorite type? That’s a hard one. I haven’t dabled much in surface embroidery…I like lots of counted techniques, including counted canvaswork, Hardanger, pulled thread, cross-stitch. Perhaps for today I will declare blackwork my favorite. Ask me a different day and there might be a difference response! But, always anxious to try something new – you just never know when you are going to fall in love.
Many thanks for your give-away opportunities!!!
arlene in NJ
I would love to win this book. I’ve tried Schwalm embroidery twice and liked it, but I’d love to branch out and try other types of whitework.
My needlework passion – all things counted, not just cross stitch, but all of the disicplines that require counting. I’ve tried crewel, but unless I use non-wool thread my fingers break out in a rash, and I’m not real good at staying in the lines. I’ve tried just about all stitching varieties, but keep coming back to counting.
I have mainly done counted cross-stitch over the years, though a little surface embroidery when I was younger. I love to work on 28 and 32 ct aida because of the fine detail it gives to a piece. Since I work at a museum with a lovely clothing collection, I have recently fallen in love with early 19th century whitework and would love to give it a try. I am just not sure how to start. Thanks for the opportunity to win this book!
I have done all kinds of needlework over the years. I prefer counted over surface because I like the exactness of it. I have been in EGA and ANG and have done classes in everything from temari to beadwork to canvas and linen.
Currently I have too many UFOs to count and am working on Gay Ann Roger’s Elizabeth.
I am new to needlework. I love learning the stitches, and I am fascinated by the colors and texture’s of the threads available. It’s magical
My favorite is still crewel work, because I love the way the thread looks, and I’m a big fan of the Jacobean style.
Hi Mary,
Any form of embroidery will do for me! Since I seriousely returned to embroidery about three years ago, I will give any form of embroidery a go. At the moment it is beetle wing embroidery and white work mostly. I’ve just seen the most amazing 18th century cuffs this weekend. They were embroidered on very (and I mean VERY) fine linen. They were exhibited at the Bisdom Van Vliet museum in Haastrecht, the Netherlands. The museum is housed in the former home of the last Bisdom Van Vliet decendant. Everything was left as it was when she died in 1923. All the curtains (with beautiful tassles), floor coverings, table cloths, bed textiles etc. There is even a room full of gowns! I will definetely return to sketch some of the patterns on the curtains and on those spectaculair very fine white work cuffs!
Thank you very much for all the lovely information on your website!
Have a nice day, Jessica
Crewel embroidery is part of my “time travel” hobby. My husband and I do demonstrations at original historic sites related to colonial New France and the western Great Lakes fur trade of the 18 and early 19th centuries. A friend of ours does natural dying of wool yarns/threads used in French Canadian finger weaving (which she also demonstrates), and she started throwing in wool suitable for crewel work for me. I create reproductions of embroidered pockets, petticoats, stomachers and other small items. Now I’m edging into whitework, since it was a popular alternative to lace in our time period. It’s also the only common use of cotton embroidery thread I can document for our area of focus; otherwise it’s crewel and silk. (Ah, such hardship, working with hand-dyed wool and luscious silk! A color-junkie’s dream.)
My favorite at the moment is creating samplers. I like trying out new stitches and seeing how the colours look together.
Thanks,
Rachel
Oh! What a wonderful opportunity! Thank you Mary. Your site is so inspiring. I’m learning a lot.
Being a newbie, my favorite is where I began, counted threads. However, I’m exppanding my knowledge & my references. Would love to try whitework & the RSN book review makes it seem doable. Thanks again.
I went to London last year and one of things I most wanted to do was to go visit the RSN at Hampton Court. I got out there and sigh- it was closed that day!! I was so sad but I took one of their brochures for classes and books. I like to do white work because I make Christening gowns and like to embroidery them white on white and add the child’s name. My favorite emboidery technique is freeform- I just finished a tree of life on the back of a jacket- very freeform and lots of bright colors. I also like to combine ribbon and yarn to do emboidered flowers on sweaters and jackets. I like to give expression to my creations and adding freeform embroidery is just the ticket.
Many years ago I started making Christmas gifts
for my Mom and four sisters in crewel work,then
I tried redwork embroidery,but the love of my life was counted cross stitch.I made many wedding samplers,baby birth samplers,and things for the home.I loved collecting all the many colours of embroidery floss,from light to dark in each color. I think this whitework would be another challenge for me. Net in Texas
I’m a lover of all kinds of needlework but must admit have always been in awe of whitework. The beauty created using nothing more than needle thread and a piece of cloth and the imagination of the stitcher can bring me to tears. I thank you for the opportunity to win the wonderful book.
What’s your all-time favorite embroidery technique and why do you like it?
Well, I started with Counted Cross-Stitch and it remains my go-to embroidery of choice. Lately, however, I have been expanding my horizons by learning about crewel (super fun and easy), candlewicking (can’t wait to get my first book on it), and chicken scratch (oh what an addiction!). I am starting a 4-H Fiber and Needle Arts Project to teach members in DE about knitting, crochet, X-stitch, chicken scratch and huck weaving this year. Next year they will expand their horizons even further! I cannot wait to get the project started and start teaching young people how to be artistic in fiber based media! -Dr. McCrea in Dover, DE
My all-time favorite embroidery technique is thread painting because of the beautiful depiction of flowers.
I like the purity of white-on-white embroidery. I’m a surface embroidery nut. In general I enjoy playing with all kinds of threads, colors, textures, stitches and fabrics, but my favorite fabrics are the linens, and I really would like to win the book because I know I will learn a lot from it. I’m sure that with the book’s help my creativity will go wild.
I just love needlework. I started doing it as a child when my great-grandmother took needle and threads and set me down. I haven’t had time for it in a long time and want to get back into it. I love the way it helps me relax and I can do some kind of needlework anywhere. I especially love the comments people make about how hard it has to be, much of it is not hard, just something you do. I am interested in doing white embroidery. I haven’t tried this one yet but the skills seem similar to blackwork.
I am very much taken with Goldwork, on a silk background, and using silk threads to couch the threads, and do any other stitching. However, the thought of white silk on a white background also appeals…….
Oh, I really hope to win this book!! My favorite type of needlework (embroidery) is probably cross stitch or some type of counted, even weave work. I like the geometric preciseness of working from a chart. Not being gifted at drawing stick figures, it is much more to my liking to have a chart or pattern to work from.
Thanks,
Deborah from Alabama
While I have tried and enjoyed needlework of all types, I’m always drawn back to counted thread projects, especially counted cross stitch. I love making all those little x’s and watching the design form under my fingers. I’ve only done a bit of whitework but would love to become more proficient.
Hi, Mary,
Several months ago you mentioned the classes at the Royal School of Needlework — I took your suggestion and enrolled in a one-day blackwork class with Lizzie Landsberry while we were in London last month!!! She is one fabulous teacher, and while she mentioned the publication of this book, it was not available at the time. Thank you for giving me one of the most lovely days of the trip.
I am a needlework junkie — I love virtually any type of work done with a needle. I am, however, particularly enamored of whitework embroidery — it was one of the few types of embroidery my grandmother didn’t have a chance to teach me. I’ve always been sorry about that and have tried to learn the techniques ever since. I love the way the precision of the stitches really matter in whitework because there is no color to distract the eye.
Thanks for such an outstanding website! It’s a treat I look forward to every day.
I would say I’m an all around embroidery person, but the white work intrigues me and I’d love to learn more about it!
I’m a self-taught embroiderer with the help of your very valuable videos. I don’t comment often, but want to thank you so much for your website and newsletters. I have your link on my blog.
My favorite technique? That’s like asking which child is your favorite. If it involves a threaded needle, I’m interested.
Je suis une mordue de dentelle au fuseau, je pratique également diverses embroderies: stumpwork, broderie d’ombre, painting. La délicatesse de whitework embrodery me fascine et je souhaiterais gagner le livre afin d’explorer cette magnifique broderie.
Merci Mary
Micheline Québec
Hi, my name is Stephanie and I’m addicted to all surface stitching. My grandmother got me hooked as a young girl. We would embroider pillowcases for the family every year. In the 70’s I embroidered Holly Hobby on everything. I loved using different stitches to fill in the patchwork on her apron. I love cross stitch as well, but really go wild with embroidery designs, cause I can use whatever stitch strikes me at the time. Needle arts are regaining some lost ground, and I am teaching my daughter and grand daughter the joys of this creative craft to carry on. I love your tutorials and ideas!
So far I only know how to do redwork! A friend showed me how as I spend a lot of time in the V.A. Clinics with my husband as he is a disabled veteran. But I would love to learn more. Thank you
I absolutely love doing charted needlework especially geometric designs. I’m very detailed oriented and I am drawn to the clean lines and interesting stitches used in many charted designs.
White on white is stunning and so classical. What a wonderful give-away! I love Colonial Knots! They are so fun to do and add so much texture.
I have a very close tie between needle painting and stumpwork. Which ever of the two I am working on becomes my favourite for the duration of the piece. There is just something special about using the coloured thread to create a picture on fabric. Since I can’t paint worth a damn, this allows me to be creative. When I’m not the above, I opt for whitework, which comes in a very close third, so this book would be just perfect. yet another wonderful giveaway Mary, thank you.
I don’t think I could possibly name my favorite – I love canvas work, hardanger, embroidery, cross-stitch, blackwork, … I have always admired whitework and do have several of the RSN books (but not this one). I am itching to get my hands on it just based on your review.
BTW – your site saved me when I was away on vacation. I was working on a project that required roses made from Bullion stitches and the pattern instructions were abysmal. I was able to connect to your site and review your instructions and I completed my very first bullions quite brilliantly due to your very excellent instructions – Thank You!!!
Heather
While I love all surface embroidery, I particularly fell in love with white work when I took Lizzy’s class at the RSN. There are so many combinations to make an infinite number of designs. Plus, it’s simple: fabric and one color of thread!
I would have to put myself in the total “nut” category. Each type of embroidery offers a different “thrill” and appeal. I love the delicate “sweetness” of white-on-white heirloom embroidery. Crewel embroidery is bold and the stitches offer much variety and fun! The theraputic precision of counted work. The challenge and beauty of “painting” with silk threads. And goldwork — what could be more amazing! There is just No Way I could pick only one! Can’t wait to get my hands on this new RSN Whitework book!
I love everything to do with handwork. Color and texture from threads on any work surface make me happy and content. Thread, floss, ribbon and beads make their way into most things I create and most things I make are given away. That is double the contentment. I appreciate learning in new areas and thank you for your words and videos to this end. Books are treasures to savor and this one is no exception.
My all-time favorite embroidery is cross-stitch on linen. I recently completed Moulan Rouge in Red on 40 count linen… beautiful! turned out to be about 21 inches square. But… I love all kinds of stitches and have done white work which is why I’m interested in this book.
Thanks for the opportunity and for your blog. Always enjoy it!
Hi Mary, to quote your words with additions, general all-around surface and raised embroidery nut who works with silk, cotton, wool and whatever who has just bought Yvette Stanton’s Portugese Embroidery Book.
Thank you for this giveaway as I embark on a new needlework adventure plus very clean hands.
I have a dish towel created by my Grandma,it is done in applique.A beautiful spray of flowers with each petal and leaf done in layers.I have worked for more than forty years trying to duplicate the piece.Her stitches are so tiny it takes a magnifying glass to count them.There are as many as twenty five stitches per inch.This is my favorite type of needlework.Thank you for a chance at the book,something I have never attempted.Judy-In-Frenchtown.
I like to draw pictures with thread. 🙂 I’m not very good at saying I use one style, but I do like to meander with string. Your website has been especially helpful because you give me an idea of what I can do with new stitches! Currently, I am embroidering samples onto baby onesies. My friends love them!
I like doing anything with a needle. One of the things that appeals to me most is the tactile nature of embroidery. I want to TOUCH the finished embroidered piece, feel the smoothness of satin stitch, the nubbiness of french knots, the texture of herringbone. I love the springy wool used in crewel, the satiny feel of silk and the crispness of cotton. Then there are the colors! White on white is classic and cool. Muted or bright colors, I love it all.
While I love almost all kinds of embroidery and needlework, embroidery based on blackwork is my emotional favorite. I remember a visit to England many years ago as a college student, seeing blackwork for the first time in a pattern book. I bought the book and still have it. I think it’s the rhythm in blackwork that I like so much, if that makes sense.
It’s odd to extol blackwork in a quest for a whitework book, but I like whitework very much, too; it is probably more versatile than blackwork, and I love its subtlety. I am beginning to do more church embroidery—not the glamorous stuff like vestments, but the utilitarian stuff like purificators and corporals, which are white on white. I just finished a very simple set with a New Zealand theme for a friend being ordained over there, and while he was genuinely pleased with it, I was conscious of the deficiencies. I’d like to do a little better next time.
I have a hard time deciding! I think things that have to do with counted thread are more appealing to me because I don’t have much confidence in things like crewel where you have to decide where to put the thread. I want very much to do crewel… right now I think things like blackwork and hardanger are more appealing, and I have wanted to learn whitework for a long time!
Hi Mary,
Iam fascinated with Crewel Work at present. I’ve managed to get hold of some undyed two ply wool and now waiting for the right time to color a few bits and pieces and try this wonderful style of embroidery.
But that does not mean that I would squander away this chance to win this lovely book.I love whitework too,so please put my name in for the draw.
Regards,
Deepa
Dear Mary,
I only recently discovered your wonderful website in the last month or so, but I am thoroughly smitten with all the wonderful stitches you show and have videos.
Yes, at the moment, I am a counted thread stitcher but I have looked all you have shown and I think I’m ready to take the plunge. I have done some hardanger work, but not enough to say I am proficient in any way.
Thank you so much for all you do for needleworkers everywhere. You are an inspiration.
God bless, Nick in New Orleans
I have a passion for many textile arts and would not want to name one as my favorite as it changes all the time. I am learning to incorporate what I learn into my current projects which makes things much more interesting. I love whitework for its simplicity, relying on pattern and workmanship to catch the eye.
My all time favourite embroidery technique is long and short stitch. Im still relatively new at it. I think its probably the most deceiving stitch of the lot. ‘Long and Short stitch’ straight stitches only, one of them long, one of them short, how hard can it be???? Little did I know!!! I am going to perfect it though even if it takes me years!
xxxx
I love all kinds of embroidery. All for their own unique characteristics. I am a thread – silk, cotton, wool, metallic and ribbon- junky. Absolutey love linen as my ground fabric in all kinds and colors especially hand-dyed.
I confess that I’ve always wanted to explore the world of whitework. It reminds me of my grandmother and all of the beautiful embroidery she had in her home. I’d love to add this book to my ever increasing needlework library and can’t wait until I retire so I can devote more and more hours to my favorite passtime. Thanks Mary for another great give away.
Brenda, Wilmington, Ohio
I love the look of white work. It has such a crisp, clean look. I’m coming back to embroidery after about 45 years. My mother taught me to embroider, but it was just for table linens, and pillow cases and not too fancy. Now I’m finding all sorts of things that can be done, and so many techniques it is amazing.
Terri
I like almost all types of needlework. I don’t like blackwork at all, but really enjoy all the other forms of counted thread work. I love whitework because of the elegance of the finished product.
Thanks once again for a wonderful blog. Sandi in Eugene, Oregon
I’m a bit of a novice stitcher and I tend to develop a passion for whatever technique I’m trying! I go back to cross stitch often as it’s easy to do when I’m really tired, I also love surface embroidery, I ADORE blackwork and I enjoy crewel and I love hardanger. Love it. I love the way it looks so intricate and difficult, but actually isn’t!
Whitework is classy. It temps the eyes to really look at the stitches which invites curiosity. I’ve often said “I have to do this”.
First, I must learn. Here comes the books and this one looks like a winner. Would love to have it. Even, the pictures look delicious.
Mary,
I am so glad you wanted to brighten up Monday morning! I would love to win this book. My favorite technique is Hardanger embroidery. I love working with charts, the terror or cutting threads & the overall appearance of the finished piece. It is a challenge every time I work on a project. Thanks again for doing this. Sheila from CA
My favorite kinds of embroidery fall in the surface embroidery category. I love silk and metal the most, but stumpwork is really up there. I have struggled with soft shading and so I really love the challenge of improving my shading. Just lately I am developing an increasing interest in counted work. I loved the Mountmellick project I did.
Oh my, my, my. How can you pick just one kind of embroidery to be a favorite. I love anything that is embroidered.
But if I have to pick just one, I would have to say tone-on-tone. Whitework just happens to fall into that category.
I would love to win a copy of the book, but good luck to all who enter.
I love doing crazy quilting embroidery. I like the randomness of it. I like adding beads and other things and the sense of anything goes. YEA. All the different stitches and threads and a crazy story too.
My all-time favorite embroidery technique changes as I work on a new one! Right now I am favoring underside couching in gold. it is soooo shiney! The theory seems simple, but the execution in gold has been challenging. I have finished one piece where the gold is absolutely blinding when placed in the sun.
Yes, I’m definitely an all-rounder and nut is the operative word. I can’t wait to try a new design, love learning new stitches and techniques that I can combine in my work. When I stitch I’m in a world of my own, a peaceful place where the outside world can’t get in. Thank you for the lovely giveaway, the beauty of whitework intrigues me, as well as finding the history fascinating. Kind Regards Mandy Currie (mandycurrie@googlemail.com)
I must confess that counted thread work is my all time favorite, with hardanger being at the top of the list. Then I discovered needle turned applique, this is a very close second. I love the challenge of learning new things, and white work is on my list of want to learn.
Thank you for the opportunity, and I love your daily email.
I absolutely love, love love to do whitework. It’s a lot less fussy than trying to decide on colors and there are so many different types of whitework to do. I can never be bored with it.
I have the other books in the series and can honestly say they are fabulous. This would be a wonderful addition to my library.
This is a hard one. I Am besoted with embroidery for some unknown reason that intrigues me! I spend hours looking at historical pieces and am compelled to learn every stitch i see. Recently my love of certain textile prints from the early 1900’s led me to notice how they take from embroidery. So is embroidery really the source–the origin of much textile design? Those early folk embroiders had So much skill in design and technique.
Anyway i think i love surface embroidery that has some dimension to it best at the moment. And whitework does seem to make much use of dimension… since it’s white on white. Thanks Mary!
My interest in embroidery is vast. I love to do all the stitches. I love the challenge and the learning experience.
Have a super great sewing and stitching day!
I really hesitate to say what embroidery is my favorite as I enjoy quite a few styles. If forced to single one out, I’m going with embroidering crazy quilts because that embraces quite a lot of the styles – from crewel, to goldwork, to cross stitch to hardanger, and on and on. You get the idea? It’s pretty much well anything goes. 😉
Thank-you so much for offering another book giveaway. Hugs, Diane in Churchville – and yes there are a lot of churches in my small town. 😉
A year ago I would have said plain old double running stitch blackwork. But of late I’ve fallen under the spell of Renaissance era voided work, with drawn grounds. There appears to be a whole interconnected aesthetic family of counted, pulled, and darned styles, that leave the foreground unworked (or minorly adorned); but cover the background with monochromatic stitching. Some are long armed cross stitch, others are pulled to produce a mesh like effect. Still others use withdrawn threads to magnify the mesh, and others go all the way, withdrawing all but a whipped scaffolding, then darning in the foreground in a contrasting color. Please don’t ask me to pinpoint a fave any more closely than this family. 🙂
I love to do cut work the best and especially in white. It just looks so clean and no distractions and table cloths and runners and pillows look so nice when completed.
Sue Ames
I’ve been addicted to all forms of counted thread work: cross-stitch, drawn thread, pulled thread, hardanger, etc. Lately, I find myself attracted to embellished work with ribbons and beads. This past week-end, I read “Crewel Twist” by Hazel Blomkamp and now I am dying to try her Jacobean sampler in just Ivory/Creame color scheme. A new twist on Whitework. In the past, my whitework has been white DMC on pale pink or pale blue background. So this will be a new exploration!
Hi Mary,
My all-time favorite embroidery technique was shadow and those that you have to count the threads, however, after I tried needle painting, counting threads is history. White work is so elegant that it might be my next interest. Thanks for your site.
Salvador
I loved you “Turkey work” post, it was funny and it looks like a lot of fun!
My favorite technique is free style, by that I mean that I like to draw my work and then embroider over it. To me it brings an even more special sentiment when given as a gift. I am fairly new to embroidery so I LOVE receiving your posts on the “How To” stich videos. I incorporate those stitches into my work, so THANK YOU for making them! 🙂
I could really put this book to good use if I should win.
Thank you,
Tammy W.
I love whitework. I have admired it since I was a little girl and that is over 60 years ago. I am ashamed to admit I have never tried it. But I was thinking that with this book I could have the knowledge to know how.
My favorite technique is surface embroidery. I love to use wool or cotton and the satin stitch is what I enjoy most and do best. Thank you for your lovely blogs Mary. I look forwared to what you have to say every day. Janice Miller
I love tone-on-tone embroidery (white on white, black on black, etc.). I think it looks elegant and classic.
My mother taught me to embroider when I was a little girl. Years later when I was in my 20’s one of my co-workers was doing counted cross stitch and once I saw that I was hooked! I also do hardanger which I love also. I like learning new stitches. I have never done whitework but the book looks great and I would love to learn this technique also! Love you site!
My mother taught me to embroider when I was a little girl. Years later when I was in my 20’s one of my co-workers was doing counted cross stitch and once I saw that I was hooked! I also do hardanger which I love also. I like learning new stitches. I have never done whitework but the book looks great and I would love to learn this technique also! Love your site!
A needlework topic I don’t know much about. Would love to learn though.
I like padded embroidery stitches because it adds so much dimension to the piece. I also like crewel work because I like combining different threads and yarns.
I do not have a favorite stitch or process. My favorite thing is to find samplers to work, or projects that have a variety of stitches.
I like to stitch on quilts, wall hangings and more. I think it adds so much to the result.
I love all needlework but my favorite is any counted work ESP Hardanger. Always love to learn new things and white work sounds perfect. I have not done much in white work. Enjoy your articles!!
I want it – I need it – I am 10 years late in making up a whitework ring cushion for my nephew’s wedding! I promised them an heirloom lace cushion but did not like the bobbin design half way through. Moved to needlelace – cannot find an arum lily design she likes! So with its aid could perhaps create my own design and finally my concience will be quiet. I used to hate longnshort, but two embroidered fans later I just love it. It is soothing, almost a rhythm develops over large areas. I can listen to music, my feet can be up on a stool under the frame holder – bliss.
Mary, As for favorite technique, don’t really have one, but I usually lean towards counted. I am willing to try just about anything as my guild stitching friends will probably tell you. I do really like most of the whitework techniques I’ve tried and really love the RSN books. They have wonerful illustrations! THanks for the give-aways!
My favorite embroidery is the sampler. I like learning a new stitch and dislike having to always refer to a chart. With samplers the stitcher goes from one side to another doing a different stitch with each band. I like the pulled and drawn work on a sampler the best.
Book give away on White-Work. I try all different kinds of embroidery over the last 40 years it is very enjoyable and relaxing of all hand crafts that I do. I like to try new designs and techniques all the time. i also share with my daughters and grand daughter for them to learn as well. I volunteer at a local center and help young girls learn the crafts as well. I hope I have a chance of winning the book. Thank you for your consideration. Mary
Dear Mary,
I am a new subscriber to your web site. I have been reading and referencing your site for several years, but only recently subscribed. Now that I am retired and can spend more time on needlework, I just couldn’t risk missing any of the wonderful tips you have to offer! I absolutely adore cutwork!! I love the patterns that are formed by the stitching and the color of whatever is below it peaking through. I have been sewing and stitching for over 50 years and just love all kinds of white work – beautiful monograms, schwalm work, guest towels – all of the goodies! I made my own wedding gown in the 1970s which included crocheted inserts I made to put on a sheer yoke; crocheted ladders on the princess seams with satin ribbons laced in and out; and the crowning glory was the tatted edging I made for the collar, the yoke, and the cuffs of the sleeves. I am not sure I can surpass that piece of needlework, but I am sure trying in my old age! I hope the length of this entry is not too long. Believe me, it is totally out of character for me to even write anything for a web site … I am not a blogger and don’t even own a gadget that “texts”. (I would rather spend my limited money on needlework supplies!) I would be so pleased to win the book and put it to use. Thank you for this opportunity to try for that chance!
Laura
P.S. Although I am sure I am quite a bit older than you are, I am constantly amazed by the similarities in our tastes in needlework and all the related topics you cover. I feel like a soul mate! I continue to be captivated by the Marian Medallion Church Embroidery Project. The details are exquisite and you are such a master for being able to carry out all of those techniques so beautifully!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful talents!
Dear Mary
I love your book reviews! Would love to win this book.
Maggie
I lovevall types of embroidery. I especially love silk ribbon. I have not tried white work but love its clean look.
I love doing blackwork and would to give whitework a shot. This book would make a great addition to my collection. Thanks for the chance to win it book.
I think my passion is all around threads. Anything threadlike, wool like, or silk, anything I can do with my hands, is for me. I love the look of the white on white, it’s crisp, clean, and just gorgeous to me. I have no one particular method, I see something I like, or a crazy idea, and I just sink my hands into it whole heartedly. Unfortunately, right now, I can do nothing for several more weeks. I’ve had another surgery on the arm, and can only L@@K at projects piling up! Thanks for the chance!!
I don’t have a passion just yet, but I sure am amazed by gorgeous whitework!
I guess I would be in the “general all-around surface embroidery nut” category as I absolutely love all the colors and textures of not only one type of thread but of all types of embroidery. Sometimes I think Brazilian is my favorite, then I see Hardanger and go gaga over that, then there is stumpwork which gives a whole new meaning and type of dimension to my projects. Though I’ve not been brave enough to try gold-work it is on myI guess I would be in the “general all-around surface embroidery nut” category as I absolutely love all the colors and textures of not only one type of thread but of all types of embroidery. Sometimes I think Brazilian is my favorite, then I see Hardanger and go gaga over that, then there is stumpwork which gives a whole new meaning and type of dimension to my projects. Though I’ve not been brave enough to try gold-work it is on my to do list. White-work however is so lovely and lacy looking, adding a delicate somewhat vintage touch. Oh how I would LOVE to learn that.
Thank you for this opportunity to acquire this lovely book. to do list. White-work however is so lovely and lacy looking, adding a delicate somewhat vintage touch. Oh how I would LOVE to learn that.
Thank you for this opportunity to acquire this lovely book.
Sorry about the repeat on the last section of my comment. We lost connection just as I submitted and it seemed to have copied a portion of it. 🙁
I discovered African embroidery last year and am totally hooked. I love using the bright colors and against the black, it just pops. I would love to do white on white next, so would love to have this book.
Tammy from Strongstown.
I had to add that I almost died laughing when I saw you put Pat from Punxsutawney, I am from there originally!!
I think that I am drawn to all types of whitework the most. As an architect, I am drawn to the symmetry and balance of whitework and the monochromatic color scheme. Whitework has always reminded me of elegant tracery windows in a limestone cathedral, where the supports are hidden and seem to defy logic.
Even though it is not as fancy as some of the other types of whitework, recently I have been quite passionate about drawn-thread work. I am trying to employ it in combination with other embroidery techniques. For some crazy reason, I decided to unframe all of my finished samplers and complete a turned down edge with a drawn-thread border. It looks great, but it has been quite the undertaking.
Thank you for the opportunity to win this great book.
I love the look of crewel but I think I like counted cross stitch the best to work.
I just love the simple hardanger and hemstitching to create a lace-like effect so easlily. This is in addition to canvas work of any kind as is shown by the many, many stitcher bars with half finished pieces on them. It’s so much fun,,, until the next project comes along!!! Thanks so much for your emails, you have a gift for sharing…
I am a beginner so the only thread I’ve used is dmc floss, but I enjoy learning new stitches, and playing we some stitches that just seem ordinary, e.g. the running stitch.
Love all your posts they are so helpful!
I’ve probably done more crewel work than anything else but I’m moving into more surface embroidery and crazy quilt embellishment. This book looks beautiful. White work just seems so pure and pristine. Really lovely!
Thank you for this giveaway and for your wonderful blog. I’ve learned so much useful information since discovering your blog.
At the moment my favorite technique is whitework, especialy traditional Lithuanian one, called “adinukė”. After I’ll learn it, maybe my favorites will change. I like trying and learning new stitching techniques very much and my prefers are the techniques I am learning at the moment. So this book now would be very useful for me.
Agnė
Vilnius, Lithuania
Although I love all kinds of embroidery, my current favorite is Brazilian Embroidery for a couple of reasons. First, I love the sheen of the rayon threads used and the beautiful stitches that are used. I am just learning Brazilian Embroidery, so that is probably why it has become my favorite!!!
Last May I took a goldwork class taught by Sophie Long of the Royal School of Needlework. I am so in love with working with the metal (gold) work that I found a design and have ordered all the bits to do a silver metal-work project. I mostly love the goldwork because it is something new to me and I was taught by a professional and I didn’t have to struggle to learn on my own. Anyway, there is a Royal School of Needlework whitework class coming up in September in my area and I would love to have this book to get a jump on my whitework knowledge. These books are fabulous – I have the other four. Thanks Mary for your wonderful give-aways and for your spectactular website. (Not just buttering you up to win! Haha) Liz B. of Redwood City.
Hi Mary
I´m an all-rounder embroidery fanatic – but crazy quilting still beats everything for me: the oportunity to mix everything up has a special attraction for me. However, I´m always on the look-out for speciality books like this one on whitework – I must soak up all the info + techniques – so thank you for another opportunity to win a gem!
I took a beginner’s class in whitework in Italy years ago and fell in love with it. I like the various hemstitches as they as so useful. I also like the four sided stitch and cutwork as I like the open effect of these stitches. I would love to have this RSN book to build on my limited knowledge.
Beautiful book. I have explored many types of embroidery, and I have to say whitework is my favorite. It is beautiful in it’s simplicity (that is not to say that the needlework is simple!) I tried to order it but it is not available as they have sold out of the book. I will check back in a few weeks to see if it is back in stock. In the meantime, I am so happy you reviewed it and gave us a glimps into the content. Thank you!
I’ve only done crewel and cross stitch and would like to learn more methods. Whitework looks beautiful and would love to learn it. Thank you for your newsletter, I look forward to reading it everyday.
Wow! this is awesome. The RSN books are wonderful.
I’m fickle with needlework–I tend to like best the technique I’m doing at the moment. I love crewelwork; I like stitching with wool. But when I’m doing goldwork, I like that best. The metal “threads” are so different from anything else. I love whitework; the lack of color puts the focus on the design and techniques and textures. Then again, I just picked up a needlepoint piece I tried to design some years ago–I finally got it going, so right now I like that best.
I love whitework and do it often. The book you are displaying ( and offering!) looks so helpful. I love the graphics and also how the book is bound.
I hope that I am a winner!!!
hand drawn surface embroidery designs are my favorite to do!
thank you for this inspiring website! i would love to try whitework and combine that with french hand sewing!
My favorite type of embroidery is what is sometimes referred to as counted thread embroidery. These projects are pieces that have cross stitches and other stitches that are based on counting the threads. I tend to get bored with all counted cross stitches. These works sometimes have beads and surface embroidery (stems, tendrils, french knots, etc.) along with the cross stitches.
My first love is counted cross stitch, but I do love earning new techniques. I’ve “dabbled” in whitework and am fascinated by it. I was very excited when you reviewed this book!
Wow what a great set of articles you provide, including this one!
My passion is for counted thread needlework, especially samplers…I like the idea of patterns, knowing where my threads are going on the fabric, and symmetry. Organization is my love!
I would love to add this book to my collection as I want to learn how to do beautiful whitework and I own two other RNS Stitch Guides. I appreciate the authors’ thoroughness and detailed precision with the skills they teach.
Thank you again Mary, your site is such a joy!
Claudia
I enjoy most forms of needlework but my most favourite is goldwork i love the sumpouteous threads. I do like to do whitework as well, i think this form of embroidery is very elegant.
Thank you for a very informative website Mary
After reading your review, I put this book on order with Amazon, but, of course, if I win, I’ll be very happy to put another book from my wish list it its place. As for my favorite needle art, I would have to say Hardanger. I think I love the symmetry, the rhythm that builds as one works and the endless number of designs possible between those kloster blocks.
Once again I am trying to win one of your give away’s I have never done white work but I have done quite a bit of Hardanger as this is my favorite.
Keep up the good work I would miss my daily fix.
Regards
Beryl one of the Rockingham Lacemakers
I have to say that this is the first time I got EXCITED about a give away. Why? Because this is my real interest. Whitework. I have done a couple of small projects of my own, have done a lot of reading on the internet about whitework, its history, etc. Have never bought a book on it; however, this book, which was reviewed recently, is one I had already put on my Christmas list, as it is a bit pricey. To win it would be divine. Thank you for the opportunity!
Lyn Procopio
My favorite technique is crewel because I love the colors and variety of stitches and the wonderful textures and designs you can create. BUT I have recently become obsessed with Ayrshire embroidery. I have three antique Victorian christening gowns from the UK and I keep visiting ebay just to look at the fabulous ones I can’t afford. I would love this book as it would prod me to attempt whitework instead of just looking at it. Thanks for all you do for us.
I love redwork. I just enjoy the rhythm of it and watching the design come to life. However, I also enjoy whitework which I need to learn a lot more about. I like to do ecclesiastical embroidery, but I need to improve my skills! I have only done very simple things in the past. Thanks for your website which has breathed life into my love of embroidery.
So far, my favorite technique has been Black Work. I learned it years and years ago, and was instantly captivated by the precise, orderly, little lines marching across the linen, mirrored perfectly on the back of the cloth. I have started dabbling in other techniques of late, and have yet to try White Work.
I love smocking for my granddaugther. I enjoy the bullion stitch because you can make frogs to roses using them. Just fun.
I love all kinds of needlework but have been stitching samplers and associated needlework techniques for almost 20 years. I am particularly drawn to whitework in samplers and marvel at many of the other techniques involved in whitework, including lacework. Thank you for offering this give away.
Judy in Cincinnati
All right since you are “begging” us to enter the give-away–count me in. In fact I should have, could have done this before but talked myself out of it. I really want that book. I mean REALLY! It is the subject of my latest adventure in the surface embroidery world. I can not get enough of putting monograms on anything white at my house. My DH does not have one white hankie without some sort of white embroidery on it. Starting out small and gathering all my linens with a new eye towards them–with visions of wonderful techniques and designs to learn and finished work to touch and enjoy.
I am an all-around/over surface embroiderer. Lots of quilts, wall hangs from cotton and dabbling with wool and my embroidery stitches. Lots of colours and textures in the floss. That is why white on white has sneaked up and bit me. I want to learn all I can about it!
Thank you for your generous and encouraging post.
I love the beauty, simplicity and pristine qualities of Whitework the best, as I use it very much in ecclesiastical embroideries. (This love of whitework is closely followed by silk and metal thread work — again for ecclesiastical use — and hardanger because that is what my grandmother loved best and she taught me so many years ago!)
All the RSN books are wonderful and this would be a great addition to my library — it would be very well used!
My favorite embroidery is little bits of delicate embroidery on heirloom baby clothes. Often white on white but sometimes pretty pastels. In either case, it adds so much. I do smocking,too, and am beginning to experiment with elaborating on stamped embroidery patterns on pillowcases and other linens. I want to do more than just outline and lazy daisies, and generally work in a smaller, more delicate style. You can see why I’d like this book.
I love all types of needlework and have been stitching in the sampler area and its associated techniques for almost 20 years. Whitework is one area that has always drawn me to it. I love the look of white on white and also the lacework that is part of it. Thank you for this give away.
Judy in Cincinnati
Hardanger is my favorite type of embroidery. I love it because it’s geometrical, has great texture, and is a LOT easier than it looks! And, although it can be beautiful white on white, it’s also wonderful with colors. I’m learning other types of pulled & drawn thread embroidery from other parts of the world, and I’m fascinated by how similar the stitches can be and yet produce very different effects.
I’ve thought about ordering this book because it looks like a great resource. But I wouldn’t mind winning it instead! 🙂
Mary in MN
I absolutely love hardanger and anything similar. I have done several pieces over time and designed my own piano runner. Always thought I’d try and enter it in a contest but have never gotten around to it. That would be fun. I would love to see how to do these whitework stitches.
Hi Mary,
I am a stumpwork, crewel addict because I “love” the three dimensional aspect of it. Touch and feel touch and feel <3. I am presently trying to improve my whitework technique because I have a couple of old doilies that are magnificent whitework pieces and are kinda falling apart. Would love to be able to restore them without belying my kindergarten level….I've had my eye on this book in your previous posts. (hint hint)
thanks so much,…Judy in Pittsburgh
Thank you, MAry, for another very generous give-away!
My favorite type of needlework is crewel embroidery. I love the richness of the wool[both color and texture], the variety of stitches, and the history behind the art.
Thank you.
Kathleen -in WI,PA, and PR
Too hard! Counted thread. It’s what I always come back to. Cross stitch mainly but am now doing just as many Hardanger pieces which definitely takes some counting. I’ve done some canvaswork also. But oh, I want to get better at surface work. Crewel, thread painting, embroidery, redwork, Hebedo (I have Danish roots), drawn thread, pulled thread and of course (because I love white hardanger) whitework. Isn’t it wonderful that so many needleworkers out there take the time to put these techniques down in print? And aren’t we lucky to have the internet to get hints from blogs, websites, and online shops to all those other techniques we’ve never heard of? I thought I was passionate about needlework before (and I’ve been stitching for 30 years or so, but my passion just keeps growing! I’m a lucky stitcher.
I have always done counted cross stich and in the last 2 dyears have enjoyed teaching myself Hardanger embrodery. I am ready to try some new techniques, especially Brazil and stump work and am delighted with this newsletter. I stumbled on it while trying to find a source for coton broder #16 in white. I look forward to it every day as it inspires me do go outside my comfort zone of stiching. Many thanks……..Lori in Columbia SC
I only do cross stitch at the moment which I find a nice relaxing was to unwind after a day of running round after two kids. Love watching all the colours blend together for form the picture. I do really want to learn something new, and this looks lovely.
Hi Mary,
My favorite needlework is the project I happen to be working on right now! I enjoy almost all types of needlework. The “almost” includes needlepoint and Blackwork. I don’t know why those two aren’t fun for me since I enjoy precision and counting as much as curves and freedom. Who knows the fickle workings of a woman’s heart.
Thanks for another great give-away,
Vickie
I am a needlework “junkie”. I love seeing and doing all kinds of needlework, but it’s been a while since I’ve done any embroidery. I have fallen in love with your website and would love to have this book to encourage me to really get back into it.
Thanks for the really pretty and fun ideas and comments you give us.
I belong to the East Texas Embroiderers’ guild of America. We do not have this book and it would be a great contribution to our library and that way many people could use it. I don’t know how to do whitework , my love right now is canvas work like counted needlepoint. I have learned so much since joining the guild. I still enjoy crosstitch and crewel. I have done embroidery since being a child when I belonged to 4-H. I would love to have this book and learn a new technique. I love your website , you give so much useful information, and I wish you to have a great Monday. Thanks Carrie from Texas.
Hi Mary,
My absolute favorite stitch is Chainstitch because it is the most versatile techinique and allows embroideres to make all kind of shapes, create volumes and almost whatever effect I wnat to get from it From simples lines to intricate forms and because we cam mix all kinds of traditional or non traditional materials. Chainstitch allows me to make from folk to very refined embroideries.
Best regards,
Paul Phillip Evans
Hello Mary
I just love texture and the most amazing thing about whitework is that it really emphasises texture because there is no colour competing with the textural effect. I love the gaps and worked areas and the contrast between filled and open areas. I would love to learn some new techniques to enhance my work.
Thank you for an amazing website. You really came to my rescue recently when I was stuck for how to proceed with a goldwork project I was working on, and had no access to any reference other than the web. Your website came up and now I look forward to the daily mails and some new tantalising ideas for embroidery
I really enjoy counted thread work. I’m not particularly fussy whether it is white on white, tone on tone or coloured work( can you tell I’m not American) I think I like it the most because you know that you have done it right, you have to be accurate. Sometimes I think that I can’t even count to four when I go back and realize that I’ve gone over three instead of four thread, but I love it just the same. Thanks for the opportunity to win the RSN White work book 🙂
Fiona Hamilton, NZ
This is such a generous offer, thank you.
A favorite form of embroidery? If I have to name one I guess counted work with specialty stitches. But I love the look of whitework, so pristine and crisp. I’ve worked some simple pieces, but learning new stitches and the correct technique would be wonderful.
Trying to pick a favorite technique is like trying to pick a favorite color or vacation spot. Depending on the moment I like most of the techniques I have tried. I have a friend who loves white work and even substitutes it in some crewel designs. She would appreciate and use this book. Thanks for the review. Your information has been helpful in purchasing some other publications.
I loved crewel – because that is where I began my travels in embroidry.
But of late I want to venture in the white and black work techniques.
I’m absolutely gobsmacked over this book – I’m waiting waiting waiting. Please oh please.
I am fairly new to embroidery. So far I like general surface embroidery learning the new techniques and trying stumpwork, thread painting, etc. I saw a woman at a church function wearing a jacket with whitework embroidery on it, It was just beautiful with the pulled thread and white on white work and my first thought was I want to try that kind of embroidery. I would love to win this book so I could try it. Thank you for the chance. Hugs Karol
I think maybe my favorite is stumpwork. But I have done some whitework in classes and my church needs new linens. I would like to learn more so I can contribute to my church.
I love Brazilian Embroidery because it is three dimensional and very textured.
I very much admire White Work because of its elegance. and the many stitches that a creative stitcher can apply to add texture and create a feeling or emotion for the person viewing the piece. White work is a techniques that I am eager to learn more.
Thank you for the opportunity to win this enlightening book.
Esther
Of the techniques I know, I enjoy crewel the most. I really like traditional crewel designs. I would like to try whitework, and I think this book would be a great resource.
Hard to pick out any one technique as a favorite – I especially like to work pieces that combine techniques; for example, thread painting on a countable surface with a counted thread technique for the background. I can say that silk thread is definitely my favorite thread, with gold and silver metals to accent the piece. Thanks for offering a wonderful give-away prize!
I think my favorite technique is…..well, I can’t decide! …anything counted. I have this ‘thing’ about symmetry and love working on the grid of evenweave fabric. So, – pulled, drawn, Hardanger, cross stitch, blackwork – all of them.
Oh, gosh. Asking me my favorite embroidery technique is like asking me my favorite kind of chocolate 🙂
I think I’d have to say needlepainting, with whitework a close second. Needlepainting is what I find myself doing most, but I just love the look of whitework! I don’t do nearly enough of it.
I would love to win this book. My favorite is needlepoint but I love crazy quilting and others. I like the freedom of using any stitch I wish on CQ and the chance to be creative with fibers.
Thanks,
Dolores Still, Poulsbo, WA
I haven’t settled on any particular style of embroidery yet. Right now, I love them all! I am just starting on a sampler of sorts which will explore different threads and different techniques. This weekend I was poring over articles on your web site and library books about drawn work and cutwork. This book would be a treasure!
My favorite type of embroidery is crewelwork. I just love the funky 60s and 70s look I have seen in old crewelwork pieces, and it’s something I am trying to recreate.
I love to embellish my quilts with simple embroidery and beads. Your blog inspires me. I enjoy seeing your projects and really appreciate all your tutorials. Your blog is a wonderful resource!
Susan in Carson City
To keep up with my passion for surface embroidery, I recently bought my first crewel kit, and I can’t wait to complete it!
It’s a beautiful butterfly motif with satin stitch filling and few stem stitch borders. I might add long and short stitches to lend a natural look. I also love working on bird and flower motifs since it gives me a opportunity to think out of the box and play around with variety of shades and stitches.
Hi, Mary
Thank you for providing so many opportunities for folks to win wonderful books like this one. Hopefully my name will be drawn this time around. I think whitework is some of the most beautiful embroidery there is. Kind Regards, Linda
Hi Mary,
I’m one of the needlework “nuts” I guess. I like a lot of forms of needlework, including crewel, embroidery, and cross stitch. I guess my true favorite so far is counted cross stitch – it’s so wonderfully precise! I have been investigating white work in the last couple of months, though, and it truly intrigues me – I would love to learn. Thank you so much for the chance to win this book – I think it would be just the one to learn from!
I have always been a huge fan of anything Jacobean, but love the looks of Whitework.
It just looks so clean and perfect. The book would sure help me work on that first project
I want to start.
My very favorite is band samolers because they can incorporate so many stitches and even types (such as whitework, pulled and drawn). I’m currently working on THe House, and realize thet while it’s stretching my knowledge, I much prefer counted thread to surface.
My grandmother did the most beautiful white embroidery and it has always fascinated me. The different pulled work stitches that made a plain piece of white fabric come alive was just amazing and, the delicateness of the whole piece was to me breathtaking. To this day I am partial to white lawn or linen handkerchieves with white embroidery and I go out of my way to acquire them.
I think I would be in heaven if that book was in my mailbox! Thank you!
hi
wow its good book
i think i leran every stitch
so thank you
best wishes
My Mom did this when se was younger – now her eye sight is not so good – I would love to learn this skill it is beautiful
I love the pictures and description of this book and the fact that it lays flat with a spiral is a real plus. Counted thread is my favorite because I love the reproduction samplers and reading from the chart. Anne from Texas
I still consider myself a beginner. I really enjoy all-around embroidery and tend to use chain stitch and stem stitch for everything!
I do not have an all time favorite embroidery technique. I joined our local embroidery guild about 18 months ago and still take every class they offer. I seem to love everything and am still learning. I am also starting to collect Royal School of Needlework books and I don’t yet have their book on Whitework. Thank you for making this offer available.
I mostly do counted cross stitch, but I’m beginning to try other forms of embroidery and really enjoying learning new things. I’m just about to begin a crewel project.
My favorite embroidery technique is needle lace. I consider this embroidery since it is made with a needle, and I consider other such techniques such as pulled thread and drawn thread to also be lace. I love them because I love the way designs are created by the use of negative spaces.
haven’t picked a favorite yet, i really like jacobean with all the beautiful color choices…but whitework i’m looking forward to doing lacy and ladylike. delicate and beautiful…thanks for this Mary
Hi counted cross stitch would have to be my favorite. But I love all needlework. I love to learn new technique there are so many out there to learn. Also today is my birthday (monday august 13) what a great present this would be to win. Thank You. Jean in Missouri
Whitework is like a narcotic. I can look at it (either in a book or for real) over and over and over. It’s pristine and reminds me of work that I have that’s 100 years old – it is NEVER dated. If you use first rate materials, it will last a long, long time. I like it also because you can get so many varieties of white fibers now – thick, thin, shiny, matte, silk, cotton, linen – you name it. Ahhh. I need this book. Really really. Rachel Bourneuf
I don’t have a favourite yet. I like Hardanger because it appeals to the OCD in me (counting all those little squares and having to get them *perfect*, yes!). I’ve just taken my first steps into Schwalm. I don’t like cross stitch, maybe if I designed my own…
Life is an adventure and I’m having fun learning all about stitching. Thank you for your wonderful help along the path.
I am absolutely smitten and addicted to white on white Hardanger embroidery. To me. it is a wonderous thing to be able to take a plain piece of fabric, needle and thread and turn it into something that is lacy and beautiful.
I love the feel of the fabric, of the needle pulling thread through it and watching as the design takes shapes under your fingers. Cutting all those threads to make open spaces that you then fill with almost gossamer weaving. I am not an expert and I know there is a lot more to learn. Hopefully Whitework will be .dded to my collection of books. Thank you.
I have always wanted to have the skills to do whitework. I love the antique scarves that I have and they always look perfect. While I don’t have much hope of perfect I know that your book would help me to be able to strive for as much perfection as I’m able. t would be such fun to win one of your books.
I am addicted to cross stitch. I know that’s not very fashionable now, but I still love it. I love going from little “x”‘s on the fabric to a picture emerging. I love the fact that it’s easy to change colors, cover errors, use all sorts of really lovely thread, and sometimes even substitute in a fun alternative stitch. My second love is hardanger, the handwork of my Norwegian foremothers. I love the pristine quality of white on white, the steadfastness of counting kloster blocks, the adrenaline rush of cutting away the unwanted fabric, and replacing it with intricate, lovely stitches. Oh, how I do love stitching!
I am crazy about all sorts of fiber arts. I started with crewel work as a young teenager. It is still one of my favorites because of the historical link and the use of varied stitches. I fell in love with counted cross stitch as a new mom. It gave me something I could do while the kids, once they were older, played or watched tv. I’ve dabbled in blackwork, candlewicking and opus anglicanum. English smocking won my heart when I learned to do it. I went on to teach the craft and won several blue ribbons back in the 80’s. I’m retired now and still discovering new styles and techniques of embroidery. I still have that warm spot in my heart for crewel work but love the white texture on white background of whitework. Maybe I’ll discover a new favorite.
I am new to your newsletter, but I have to comment that my absolute passion is counted cross stitch. I have tried and had momentary obsessions with macrame, crewel and many other embroidery techniques. I try to expose my stitching experience to as many different types as possible, but I always rely on counted cross stitch for my comfort zone. I usually have up to 10 different projects in the works at any one time, but only a few of these are something different. I like to work with a deadline, because that forces me to finish projects. Why do I like this technique so much? Couldn’t say, but I really like how projects look when they are finished, as the walls in my house will testify.
I love white work best… Making textures from one color intriques me. Thanks for the giveaway!
Mary,
My all time favorite is counted cross stich. I’m going to keep this short since my internet connection is not really good and I’ve written this comment twice already.
I learned to do counted cross stich in high school at age 15 and remember clearly how my teacher made me undo a ton of work because I tried to cover up a mistake. Even today I will undo work if there is an error and redo it, lessons learned………
When I cross stich I get carried away into a place where I can dream and create with no worries – it’s an absolute distraction from my normal carzy busy days.
Let me go before I lose internet access again.
Amanda
Oh – by far, gold and silk embroidery top the list, with white work as a close second. The contrast between the two – as seen in nature-might be comparable to the beauty of an English garden in full bloom, or a snowy winter day in Minnesota. Both are stunning and unique in their own way, and enjoyed for a variety of reasons.
My favorite type of embroidery is surface embroidery. I love the freedom i have making up my own patterns and experimenting with different types of stiches. I have embroidered everything from pillow cases to t-shirts. I have always loved the pure look of whitwork and this book seems to be the perfect way to learn this beautiful form of art. Your site is an inspiration to me!
Hi Mary! Well, it is kind of a hard choice….but I have to say Crewelwork embroidery is my favorite. I fell in love with Crewelwork while perusing art and history books from the 15th century through the 18th. I love the beautiful colored wool and the stunning patterns of flowers, trees and animals depicted. I was also beguiled by the history of Jacobean motifs and their symbolism with the Tree of Life and biblical story telling. Thanks!
Gosh – it is so hard to choose just one, but I do love turkey work. One of the first things I ever embroidered as a child was a picture that had a squirrel and I gave him a nice fuzzy tail.
Thanks for the chance to win this really wonderful book.
Mary Ann
Hi Mary! I really like to do silk embroidery and counted cross-stitch – so far. Would like to get into stumpwork and some goldwork. Oh and crewel embroidery. I love the feel of natural fibers such as silk, cotton, linen and wool, as it moves through my hands. It is so calming. Thanks!
Pulled thread done on white, free of the distraction of color, allows the full impact of the basic design to provide the drama. It depends on the way light bounces around on it—-the shadows and the shines. It is my favorite. Whitework has similar qualities.
Thank you for your website; Its such an adventure!
I love white on white or pale colors embroidered on fine material for baby items. Not very practical for today’s moms but oh, so beautiful for a special occasion.
I’ve worked many types of embroidery. One of my favs is Temari. I just love the play of the colors. However, the items I own that I love to display are the white work items made by my grandmother. I would like to give a try to these techniques, and this book looks to have wonderful instruction to take me to success.
Thanks for the offer.
I don’t really have a favorite because there are so many things I haven’t tried!
I’m a crewel fanatic, but love to try other techniques. I’m a newcomer to your blog, and am so excited to have found you. Tonight I’m planning to try your interlaced herringbone stitch — wish me luck!
My favourite needleart form has to include white and beiges and monotones. I love to do a white on white embroidery and be able to change the stitches from what the designer sees and what I see.
I love to combine whitework with a touch of silver or gold and soft beadwork.
I would love to learn to do more of the exquisite stitches.
Thank you for your generosity.
LINDA
Counted embroidery, definitely. I began with cross stitch, but enjoy doing all kind of counted stitches, and hardanger, too.
My other passion is for metallic threads, blending filaments, silks, all kinds of shiny thread, the shinier the better.
After your latest video tutorials, I think I would enjoy experimenting with wowen picot sunflowers and cast-on stitch roses, too. 🙂
Hi Mary,
I love your news letters & read them while I’m having breaky in the morning – such a nice way to start the day & sometimes I just have to try something you’ve been talking about straight away. I love counted work & I have done a few repoduction samplers filled with speciality stitches & I also design my own pieces as well. Then there is surface stitching, yes I love that too. I do prefer cream on cream rather than white on white, which I find a little bit harsh. Hardanger is another favorite & the threads we have now are great, I particulary love the subtle shades with just a hint of colour for satin stitches.
I would so love to win this book my fingers are itching already. Cheers Ley R in NZ.
My favorite embroidery technique is goldwork. I love all the different things one can do with it.It fits into my desire to do ecclesiatical work. That is also why I would like the whitework book.
As a beginner I love to just watch your videos one by one then do each one. Most of the time I end up with a beautiful piece of fabric with lots of color and pretty stitches. Thank you for the videos. They have helped me learn so much.
Blessings
Charlotte Oliver
My all time favorite is thread painting. I love seeing the animals and landscapes come to life.
Mary, I really love surface embroidery the most, either with floss, silk, or wool. I love not having a graph to work from.
Sharon K.
I would love to have this book. Whitework would be an all new experience for me. It is beautiful and I would like to learn to do it.
I guess my favorite thing is Hardanger. I love the history and the look of Hardanger and it is so easy to make something that looks so hard.
I have been doing embroidery on and off for years. My husband and I moved to France where we lived with our two sons for six years and I began collecting old embroidered linens there. Since then I have been trying to learn to embroider as beautifully as the ladies who worked on my old linens – I still have a long way to go but it is so enjoyable along the way!
Thank you for offering this lovely book,
Peggy Horn
My favorite needlework is cross-stitch but I also do some embroidery and needlepoint. I’ve seen alot of whitework lately and would love to learn how to do it. It’s just beautiful! Thank you for the chance to own this book!
I like using silks for satin stitch and long and short stitch.
I have just finished a 3 day course on Carrickmacross lace (all white)at the RSN, and I would like to learn about white work next.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE redwork embroidery.And of course, as I’ve learned along the way,redwork embroidery does’nt necessarily have to be red! It can be blue,orange,and my FAVORITE PURPLE!! I have’nt had the opportunity to try whitework yet,but have always loved the way it looks so crisp and clean!
I enjoy many techniques and typically most of my completed pieces are counted thread. The reason for that is because counted thread is what I feel most comfortable doing . . . experience has it’s advantages. That said, I don’t want to say counted thread is my “all-time favorite” because I received the greatest amount of satisfaction from the few stumpwork pieces I have done. So let’s make stumpwork my all-time favorite . . . maybe I’ll do more of it soon.
I have a confession to make. It’s whatever I am doing at the moment. If I’m doing crewelwork it’s my favourite thing ever, likewise Or nue, or blackwork, or silk shading.
If I had to pick and absolute all time favourite, it would probably be silk shading, because silk, duh! What is NOT to love about silk. It has a sheen, it comes in subtle but vibrant colours, and it feels nice.
I love any white on white embroidery, especially drawn work, so clean and elegant. I have mostly done counted work in the past, but recently tried monogramming and it turned out a lot better than I expected, though I could definitely do with some tips and practice! Thank you for the giveaway and also for asking questions of your readers – I so enjoy reading everyone’s replies.
Right at this particular moment is time I would say my favorite embroidery technique is redwork as I have 3 separate redwork quilts in progress. Of course I also have one surface embroidery block of the month in progress. My current counted thread project is extremely detailed and is quickly becoming my least favorite activity. lol Hope
What a wonderful book!
My heart lies with Brazilian Embroidery love the colors and feel of the threads, and the wonderful freeness in the art. I try to do a little of everything, however. They are all on my bucket list! Just finished Romanian Point Lace. Hardanger, pulled and drawn thread, even cross stitch, you name it and I have tried it at least once. At 72 I have been blessed to enjoy many forms of embroidery. White work is comming up on my list so this book would be a real plus.
Your email is a joy to me. Can’t wait to see from day to day what you will come up with. I try every stitch I can and have made a library so I can refer back. Your diagrams are fantastic. Each method I dabble in I try to put my own twist on it somewhere on the piece. I started out years ago doing Tole Painting and evolved to stitching and doing my painting now with a needle.
Keep up your wonderful work Mary. It is enjoyed by many!
I am interested in learning all types of embroidery but seem to be most attracted to counted stitching of all kinds though recently some crewel stitches have taken my fancy. I would love a copy of the whitework book as I am increasingly attracted to white on white.
It’s hard to choose, but I do love goldwork (only from afar as of yet, though!)
I am relatively new but enjoy all things old. Redwork, samplers, crazy quilting, I enjoy the historically connectedness. I feel like I am connected to all the women who have sewn before me. I also love the clean look of whitework.
My favorite embroidery method would be almost any type of surface embroidery as I consider myself a bit of a free spirit and I tend to change it up along the way. I like to modify designs and make them my own, so I rarely follow the exact pattern. I do indeed love the look and feel of white work for the crisp, clean designs that remind me of my grandmother’s embroidered linens. I have two of the RSN books thus far, and they are an excellent learning tool for me. I would love to be the lucky person to win their Whitework book!
I love the challenge of making a piece of linen even more beautiful with texture. Pulled thread techniques does that for me. I tend to finish pieces that have more than an X but I do love those as well.
Books of this educational type help whenever you need a good teacher at your side..Thanks for the opportunity
Pat
Your encouragement and lessons have made me do more than just simple line embroidery, even though I am not anywhere near my learning curve.
And so, this book or your next one will be a boon for me to branch out.
Thanks for all that you do for my world.
I have been looking at this book several times, but not yet had a chance to buy it. I love embroidery of all sorts. I started cross stitching when I was 12, when my sister gave me a piece she lost interest in. Since then I have been smitten. I started doing hardanger thanks to a designer friend (Vicki at http://www.indiagrace.co.uk), and very soon started doing some model stitching for her, learning while stitching. I have fallen for hardanger and just love the effect of pulled thread work and the variety that comes from using a variety of stitches. The latest thing I have started exploring is crewelwork. I am working on a cushion cover from the Inspirations magazine for my mum. I really want to learn whitework as well. I aim to try everything before I die:) The butterfly on the front of the book is stunning, and I would love to make it:) Growing up in the north of Sweden we had one single shop to buy from, and they only did kits, so I was not exposed to the amazing variety of threads, fabric and patterns until I moved to the UK 12 years ago. I think I will always go back to cross stitch, it is my first love and what got me interested in crafts. May I just say a bit Thank You for being an inspiration and coming with so many instructional videos and free patterns for us. Thank you, Ylva in Inverness, Scotland
I like to learn new stitches. The back stitch and french knots are my favorite.
Thank you for another opportunity. This book is definitely on my wish list!
My all time favorite technique is all things counted. I’ve learned that’s my mind’s preferred way of working, rather than traditional surface techniques such as crewel.
I love pulled and drawn work, as well as hardanger and counted cross stitch. And much of this is tone on tone.
I have several of the other RSN books, and plan to add this one.
My current favorite embroidery technique is bullion knots because I recently learned how to do them, and do them well, thanks to Mary’s website. They are such fun and can be made into all sorts of things. Thanks again Mary,
Shelia in Oklahoma
Hello Mary,
Years back ,for Christmas gifts for my Mom,and
sisters,I did a lot of crewl kits,which I enjoyed,then I started redwork embroidery,but
when I started counted cross stitch that was
the love of my life,Through the years I’ve done many wedding samplers,birth samplers and
had the pleasure of doing my parents 70th Ann-iversary piece.I love the different colors
from light to dark,and it took me a long time
to be able to collect all the colors,so I would
like to give this whitework a go.I love
all your tutorials of different stitches.
I’m hooked on Hardanger – at the moment. I enjoyed doing the Nordic Needle monthly projects and recently have “graduated” to a bigger project. I also enjoy the Hardanger group on FaceBook. However, I really want to know more about white work because I see infinite possibilities of new stitches in the Hardanger genre of stitching.
I am new to most handwork. But I do love Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery. I just started a crewel project and have to say I love working with the wool. So that is a close second.
Mary in Oregon
So far my most favourite type of embroidery is long and short stitch. I love the possibilities available with the use of colour in this application. I enjoy building the form of things and I love love the colours available in all the amazing threads out there! But at present I am embroidering napkins for one of my sisters and have decided to do white on white. White coton broder on white linen. Some satin stitch and we’ll see what else. Nautical themes. If I had the book I could just look up all the other possible stitch choides… of course I can look other places,… but, still, if I had the book….Love your site Mary. You do a great job! thanks
I fall into the surface embroidery nu (aka addict!) Big pieces, tiny pieces and everything in between. White work has been catching my eye lately. Time to add a new catagory to my skills! Thank you.
I can’t really say that I like one particular tpye of embroidery. I love the textures and
colors of different threads. The thing that I love about embroidery is that there are so many different techiques that one does not get bored with doing the same thing constantly.
Hi Mary
I have never won a thing in my life, not for the want of trying!! I would love to win this book to add to my library. Whitework is one of the many techniques I love and enjoy. I always love white on white – I think its the simplicity and purity of it. I love other techniques, but I still get drawn back to whitework. This book would be a great prize to win.
Chris of Sydney Australia
I have recently rediscovered the joys of embroidery. I love the cross stitch because i find it very versatile, you can turn it in to lovely stitched stars or for filling in different shapes.
I’m a general surface embroidery person right now. Cross-stitch isn’t quite enough any more, and I’m enjoying trying out a bunch of new stitches. I also love smocking and doing little bullion roses or whatever on baby clothes. But I’ve never tried crewel work or silk or ribbon embroidery!
Must confess to loving doing casalguidi and stumpwork (there’s something about the 3D effect that is so appealing) and after having just completed three workshops at the Koala Embroidery Convention in Brisbane (two of which were stumpwork – the other gold work) when I return home I go all gungho into them to finish and move onto next project; however, saying that, I also love surface embroidery white on white, cream on cream, and Elizabethan – next year I will be trying a crewelwork workshop for the first time. Who wouldn’t want to win a Royal School of Needlework guide to whitework!!!! It would be the ultimate possession in my sewing room.
I would love to win the white work book. My all time favorite embroidery technique is drawn thread work. I like the mindless hemstitching as well as the more intricate patterns. In trying to analyze why I like it, I think it is because in most cases there is one and only one correct place to put your needle. No decisions to make! No trying to get all your stitches the same length or in a straight line. Just put your needle in the correct hole!
I’d love to win a copy of this book. the illustrations look so clear and whitework is something I’ve been interested in but has always intimidated me. To date my favourite embroidery is surface embroidery using combined stitches. I really love experimenting with how they can be stretched until they become either messy or glorious.
My first love is counted stitch and began with cross stitch and am now obsessed with bargello, especially historic pieces. I really believe I’m not very creative and so love to have a pattern. That being said, I do change colors, thread, and placement but feel “comfortable” with counted stitch.
Thanks, Ann
I love the dynamics of drawn and pulled thread work. Like surface stitchery, it can be adapted from white on white to textile blends and myriad stitch patterns. Although I love colour, my favourite piece at home is an antique white cotton table cloth. It was patiently and expertly embroidered by overworking four stitches at a time in a tiny square, forming the prettiest floral design and flounced edging. A miracle in a metre that exemplifies the best of texture, thread and design and something that reminds me of what can be done.
My latest love is crewel work because I love all the different stitches one can use. I also am in love with the wool threads and the silk and wool I use. Speaking of silk I also love silk ribbon embroidery because of the gorgeous colors of ribbons and the realistic dimensional effect of the stitches. Then there is whitework – a relatively new discovery for me – the stitches are divine. Then there is….. Guess I am just addicted to stitching in general.
My latest passion is crewel work – I love all the different stitches one can use. I also love the wool threads and the silk and wool blends that I use. I also am a big fan of silk ribbon embroidery as I love the dimension the ribbons bring to the work and of course the glorious colors the ribbons come in. Then there is Brazilian – again the colors and the dimension of the stitches. Whitework is a recent love of mine – the purity of the work is glorious, the stitches divine! Thank you for the opportunity to win the book Mary!
I am just getting back into needlework as I used to be an avid cross-stitcher but health/medication issues make counted work to hard for me to track. I am doing free form surface stitching on tea-towels right now and having a blast. I love chain and stem stitch the best and I am appreciating that my hand and brain can still do this form of needlework! I spend a lot of time laying down and this is a craft I can do on my back!
Since I’ve read your review on this book, I have put it on the top list of book to buy this year.
I would love to learn all embroidery stitches, but frankly the one I love most is white on white.
Thanks for the oppotunity you give us to have this wonderfull book.
Pascale
Good Tuesday morning from Australia 🙂
My favourite embroidery stitch has to be the bullion. I love the way the loops glide along the Bohin needle like butter on a pancake. I can make roses bloom, daisies dance and leaves lament….ha ha ha. No, truly, I can.
Ciao from Toowoomba
Maria
What’s your all-time favorite embroidery technique and why do you like it? I gravitate to crewel because of the textures it creates and candle wicking because I like the off white thread against the cream color fabric. I think it is awesome how the design is so subtle and clean looking. That is why I like white work, the clean lines are very vintage looking and have a more elegant look to them. I would love to win this book so that I can learn how do white wrk. I think it makes sense in the development of my skills. I quilt also, I just. Love needles and thread. Thank you Mary! Have a great week.
I’m guessing that you won’t have another “Clairee”, as in all my 79 years, besides myself, I’ve only heard the name once, and it was in a movie. My favorite needlework style is not one, but many. I love Crazy Quilt stitching, since there are so many different stitch possibilities, along with endless variations.I love doing every one of them!
My favorite thing about embroidery is doing it with my hands. I love the feel of the needle going through the fabric. I love seeing the thread tighten up as it makes the part of the stitch that you are doing. I love the feel of the pattern once it is finished. I love the crispness of the fabric and colors of the thread. But, most of all, I love the feel of the fabric and the needle in my hands. Love your site! I have learned so much! Thanks for all that you do!
Lynn Herrin
I have always enjoyed counted cross stitch, but now I have learned to do hardanger–it is a lot of fun. The white on white is elegant, but I can use varigated threads too for a different look.
My “problem” is that I love all types of embroidery. My al time favorite is whatever I’m doing today. So many stitches, so little time.
I love working with bright colours. Medium and pattern are not so important as a beautiful colour combination.
I love the white on white but have veered away from it a tad and doing ecru on ecru, a crazy quilt and am enjoying the many different stitches that you have refreshed us on with your “Stitch Play”. They have added a new dimention that I wouldn’t have had. Thank you for the time you have put into it for us to gleen from. The book would be a great addition to my libuary.
I like to do different hardanger fillings.
I would love to wind the Royal School of Needlework’s new Essential Stitch Guide on Whitework embroidery. My love all types of needework, but my all time favorite is Blackwork….It contains everything I love, counted work, it is worked from a graph,and it’s just beautiful.
I’m a beginner with needlework, but I have special attraction for whitework because I love making hankies. This would be such a lovely book to have for that!
There is something magical about whitework that has always captivated me. I first began my love of whitework when I started collecting (in a small way) antique linens, like doilies, pillowcases, table runners. There were always many multicolored linens from the 1940s that were for sale, but the vintage whitework linens were quietly special. Finding whitework gems and admiring them encouraged me to study needlework techniques of the 19th century as you often find vintage whitework linens utlizing more than one needlework technique. For example, you often will combine whitework embroidery with hemstitching or drawn-thread work. And whenever I am creating a whitework piece, I always feel connected to that bygone era of afternoon tea on the lawn under the trees. The weather is fine and the table is set with pretty tea cups and exquisite whitework table linens. Whitework brings out my inner Romantic!
My husband and I lived for a year in London in 1970-71. I now know that the Royal School of Needlework was there at that time but I did not know about it! In retrospect, I shudder at the thought of missing out on all that I could have learned if I had known they were there! I remember during that time doing hemstitching, hardanger and cross stitch embroidery on my own. This book would be a wonderful addition to my library and would give me a modicum of JOY, knowing that it came from the RSN.
Karen from Minnesota
I posted a pic from a magazine seveal years ago and at the time I didn’t have a clue what type embroidery it was…..now I have discovered white work and absolutely love the romantic quality of the appearance.
I love all kinds of needlework, especially counted techniques, but I have to say that I always go back to counted cross stitch.
My favorite embroidery technique? While I’m somewhat of an all-around surface embroidery nut, my passion lies in all counted work on evenweave fabric. I usually am working on both a whitework project, such as Hardanger or pulled thread, and a colorful project at the same time since I love variety. I’m a big fan of this site, and it inspires me to learn new stitches, and then work them into my projects! I work on both canvas and fabric, but find I’m happiest when working on fabric since I enjoy the softer feel of making each stitch that working on fabric provides.
I am fairly new to embroidery, so there are lots of techniques I haven’t tried yet. But so far, I really enjoy sashiko, probably because the printed lines on the fabric projects I’ve bought make it seem less intimidating. But I am slowly expanding my efforts, and your review of this book really motivated me to try a whitework technique soon.
I think that my favorite (and it is a difficult decision) is hardanger because it looks so hard and scary when you have to cut threads but it is not really that difficult and it gives that white on white look!
I would love the opportunity to learn white work and thank you, Mary, for giving us this chance to win the book!
Lynn
my favorite is freehand embroidery or redwork. I like them because to me more freedon of choice of stitches.. you can use.
Joanie in West Tennnessee……
I do a lot of quilting so my embroidery is put on the back burner until you publish a new stitch video. My favorite thing to do is use your videos and create a piece of what I call art work.I thoroughly enjoyed and finally finished the rooster you had several months back. I just love to learn new things and try to make my work look like some of the beautiful things on your site. Thanks for all the articles and videos.
Another whitework book? YEAH! Seriously, i am obsessed with whitework and would love to have this book.
I think my favorite is surface embroidering. It really gives you the option to try out so many different styles. I love being able to let my imagination run away. I keep a note book by the bed because I keep having ideas pop into my head just before I fall asleep! Ive actually been meaning to try my hand at white work as its intrigued me for a while. I was going to buy this book, but Ill try out for your competition first! Thanks for all the great tips and advice.
Oh my–I would love, love to win this book!
I am mainly a counted cross stitch fan but have recently started to venture out into other areas–I have enjoyed the hardanger card club from NN. Looking to expand my expertise.
Dede
Monrovia, Kansas
G’day there Mary,
Crazy is as crazy does!
Love the stitching techniques usually used on crazy patchwork, and, what can be used unconventionally for it too. Particularly like the stranded floss like DMC for this, but variety being the only option for a crazy (adjective and noun!) from Alternating chain stitch to Zwoven wheel and thread from Abroder to (other?) Z twist threads, well I’m pretty well crazy for anything.
Have always found white/white, cream/white, cream/cream very appealing. Thanks for the oportunity.
Cheers, Kath from Oz.
I like counted charts at this time although I’m hoping to start some new embroidery techniques in the near future.
Whitework is something that intimidates me and this is a book that has found itself on my wishlist.
When I first worked in hardanger it was the most fasinating work. I love the look of white on white as well as pulled and drawn threads. I have been lucky enough to belong to the EGA and have been able to attend workshops but whenever there is white on white I am there. This book would help me make the cloths for the Church. I have always wanted to do something very speical for my Church and I can see how this book would allow meto do just that.
I guess I’d be interested in most if not all kinds of embroidery, but it’s the opportunity to rise out of the piece with stumpwork that I’m really hooked on.
My favorite technique thus far (I’m a beginner) would have to be the ability to give friends a personalized gift. I’ve been embroidering monograms on pillows for friends and they love them! I’d love to try some embroidered linens for my church communion service, all in white of course. I have a small collection of white work that I’ve picked up at local antique shops, and I’d love to learn how to achieve the beautiful textures.
Sorry. I forgot to give some identifying info in my name before!
LOVE these books! I just bought the Stumpwork book and can’t wait to try some of the techniques.
Right now my favorite type of embroidery is Brazillian. I like it because of the sheen of the thread, the wild colors and the elaborate stitches. And I like it because learning Brazillian has been the first time I’ve embroidered with a group. I have so much fun with the ladies in the Brazillian embroidery guild who adopted me when I moved to Colorado by myself. As my teacher said–it is better than sitting in a bar! Actually, it is a lot better and husband approved 🙂
Great give away Mary, my first favourite embroidery was cross stitch and cross stitch has started me on my needlework journey. I am at the stage where I want to learn new stitches and I am keen on seeing what is out there. I recently purchased the Beginner’s Guide to Goldwork by Ruth Chamberlin so I am very keen to attempt gold work. Love your blog.
I attend a Country Women’s Association Craft Group where we learn all different types of embroidery and share ideas. Currently we are mastering Black Work, but if I won the Whitework book we could all learn the techniques of Whitwork and it would be all black and white.
Redwork – It’s cheery. and cute. and so rural French. and it makes you think of cheery cherry pies and cups of cinnamon tea and chickens.
But then there’s…
Blackwork – It’s stark. and precise. and intricate and powerful like Eliz the first. and should never be seen being foofoo.
But, wait, you know…
Whitework is elegance and worthy of passing down the generations. And I need to learn some and I need a book!
Hello Mary
Embroidery is my passion. I have returned to embroidery after many years. A passion is best shared with like minded people. Mike Parr was my instigator !! It started off with – come to the Tuesday night cross-stitchers (now called the Tangled Skeins). Then there was join the Guild. Sure – why not. It opened my eyes again to creativity, and colour and texture and shine
Now I am stitching whenever I can – breaks, lunch etc.
I am doing a fundraiser project for Seminar 2014 (held in Ottawa during Tulip Festival) and with Mike’s permission, I have adapted one of Lily’s design for a corner design of a napkin.
I am going on about this as I have been struggling with colour choices – traditional Hungarian, modern fashion or Delft tile tones.
Your offer of the White Work book has created yet another choice. White on white would be wonderful and elegant….so much stitching to do now !!!
My favorite embroidery technique….oh, I’d have to say the kind done with a needle. I love drawn thread work, white work, and gold work especially!
I love your website and the tutorials…thank you very much!
I’ve never done whitework yet, but it so fascinates me. I know the technique would work beautifully on altar cloths.
I love all kinds of embroidery with color and different types of thread and fabrics. I like to mix them together and add beads and other things. I so love the beautiful whitework. Learning new types of embroidery and stitches is wonderful, so I enjoy your website and newsletters very much. Because I like to learn new things, I have many unfinished projects that my husband reminds me about frequently. Always something new to learn. Thank you, Kathryn in Woodland, California
I am not the greatest at “fancy” embroidery. I learned from my Mom, who did a lot of stamped
items. I love collecting redwork patterns from
the 1800s, and I also love vintage embroidered
tea towel patterns. I find old linens and towels, and then embroider on them. I am also
starting to do qrazy quilt blocks, incorporating some decorative stitches, and embellishments. Thanks for the chance to win!
wigglypup2(at)yahoo(dot)com
My favorite embroidery technique is counted thread. I find it easy and comforting to do. Although surface embroidery is becoming a new favorite because of all the different stitches and fibers one can use in one piece.
Thank you so much for this giveaway! My favorite kind of needlework is any type of counted work! I love needle work books because I have learned all the types of needlework I know from books. I have taught myself this way since I was a young girl. I enjoy your emails very much.
The RSN Whitework book would be a wonderful addition to my stitching library. I have never tried Whitework but love the finished look. Being rather new to embroidery I would have to say that all techniques are tempting to me. At the moment I am working on a counted cross stitched piece that I may finish by the time I’m 80 years old. Hopefully my eyes hold out.
Cheers,
Linda A, Ontario, Canada
Whitework is my favourite. Even at its simplest, it is elegant. It was the favourite of my grandmother. All eyes and quietness, I remember watching her making art with a needle and white DMC, which probably accounts for its being the fave. I find it cooling to work with, even in the heat of summer. I live in a winter country, where white = snow. There is something pristine about a morning after a snowfall. Each time I take a whitework-in-progress out of its Zip-lock bag, I get that same sense of pristine-ness.
It is hard for me to pick my all time favorite embroidery. I love silk and metal thread embroidery on canvas for its glitz and shine. But, I equally like whitework for its beauty, how different stitches give texture and how it reflects my heritage.
Thank you for offering the book.
There is some elegant and creative about whitework. I enjoy drawn thread work and pulled thread work. The open designs on fine linen are so beautiful.
Hi Mary
I love all forms of needlework, but prefer counted techniques where I know precisely where to put the needle. I enjoy whitework because of the varied grounds and threads which produce such a varied result! And seeing how fine some of the work is in museums it truly amazing, especially considering that it was done without all our modern amenities. I would love to own this wonderful reference.
Thank you.
Pat
My all time favorite embroidery is Crewel work, because it allows me to learn and explore so many different stitches. White work looks so clean, precise, beautiful and ageless that it makes me want to learn and explore it also, and this books sounds and looks as though it is the ideal beginning.
I’ve started my first blackwork piece over a year ago, and there is just.. something about the technique that keeps tugging at me. I did not expected that, because in general I really do not like counted thread work. But there is something about the way the pattern takes shape that makes me smile.
Otherwise I like what I call ‘freeform’ embroidery. No pattern, just a drawing that then i s added to stitch by stitch, trying to unveil it almost as you work through.
My favorite type of needlework is surface embroidery enhanced with color crayon shading. I mainly focus on the stem stitch, with a few other stitches added for interest. Thanks for this chance to win a wonderful book.
Hola Mary:
Me gusta este tipo de bordado y me gustaria tener el libro para conocer y mejorar la tecnica. Seria genial tenerlo!!! Espero que el azar me favorezca!!
Hi Mary,
I love pulled and drawn thread embroidery. The emphasis on texture and space rather than colour and the geometric nature and precision of the work really appeal to me. The book would make a wonderful resource.
Thank you
Jenny
Trabalho com bordado livre na ONG A PAZ VALE MAIS.
As opções de fios e cores do bordado livre me encanta e possibilita a expressão do que cada um traz dentro de si. Em cada ponto uma história …
Ganhar o livro seria maravilhoso!
Agradeço
Norma
My favorite embroidery technique is embroidery painting, where you can color and handle satin stiches freely, combining it with drawn thread work and other surface stitches. Of course I love white work and it is one of my favorites, since I love making small eclesiastical linens for Mass altars.
My favorite is counted thread since I love to follow a pattern/chart. But I’m also a fan of whitework and would love to learn more about it.
I really would love to have this RSN Whitework book. I love embroidery and so want to help others learn more about the traditional techniques such as Whitework. I am sure I can find things in this book that not even my grandmother taught me about needlework and this is particularly an area of deep interest for her. Thanks for the opportunity. As for your question: I love samplers -all types. I started with counted thread samplers, both spot and band styles. I love doing simple cross stitch to techniques such as pulled and drawn thread on them. I also enjoy crazy quilting because it is like creating a sampler of surface embroidery techniques to me. You can do ribbonwork, brazilian, traditional embroidery, beading, etc. If I had to do just one technique for the rest of my live though it would have to be Hardanger. It is so organized and precise with just a touch of danger in the cutting. Of course there are those who are taking it “outside the box” nowadays and I find that exciting, too. Shari in Colorado
I enjoy all kinds of embroidery.There is no particular favorite technique but love surface embroidery.I also enjoy doing cutwork and hardanger may be because of the rhythmic stitching.Please put my name in the draw and thank you Mary for this beautiful give away.
I did crewel embroidery as a youngster and tried to copy my Mom’s crocheted pansie doilies without success. I’d given up needlework until recently when introduced to Hardangersom at a Norwegian Heritage camp locally – which I LOVE. The idea of pulling out the threads without having it fall apart amazes me. I think the complex simplicity of whitework and blackwork is beautiful and am looking forward to trying some. I doubt you’ll be able to mail the book to Canada, but I wanted to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed your website and tutorials. I’ll be back to visit! Thanks. G
My favorite is counted thread, especially geometric designs. I enjoying learning new techniques though and the book looks like fun.
I enjoy doing all kinds of surface embroidery. White work and drawn thread work is something I want to explore. Thank you Mary for all the wonderful information you freely share.
I love all forms of traditional handwork stitching. It’s hard to choose just one but I do love Painting with Thread work. I think it is the realism of the finished product that I like best. All forms of Whitework are also on my favorities list. Thanks for the chance to win such a great book.
I’m a keen gardener and your question is like
asking whats my favourite flower ??
I tend to like fine embroidery and guess I’m a bit of an all rounder who spends just about as much time choosing threads and fabric as I do
stitching.
Surface embroidery for me.A little of gold and white, crewel, ribbon embroidery. The work doesn’t need to have all of this but a 2 techniques give it a nice depth and variation. Thanks for your generous offer. Fingers crossed adn hoping to win.
What’s your all-time favorite embroidery technique and why do you like it?
My favorite stitch is the back stitch because I am new to embroidery and I can use this stitch for a lot of things.
My favorite type of embroidery is brazilian embroidery. I find it absolutely fascinating to try all those beautiful stitches which give a three dimensional effect to embroidery. Incorporating sitches like the bullion and cast on stitches which you very clearly demonstrate in your how to videos makes it even more easier to try. I would also love to win this book so I could also experimemnt with something new. Thank you
Like a kid in a lolly shop I love all forms of surface embroidery and want to do them all.Everything neat and precise, freeflowing there just arent enough hours in the day or night!To try all of them and do them well. The RSN books are fabulous like your own personal tutor taking you every step of the way. They are the ultimate thank you Mary for the opportunity to win one.
Whitework is my absolute favourite of all embroidery – it is timeless. One of my sons once made a comment when I was doing some blackwork “at least it has some colour in it”. However, I have always gone back to drawn thread, myreshka, ruskin, reticella – the list goes on.
Janice from Arizona. Started embroidery when I was 10, like to do different types of stitches, and different types of projects. Doing some Medievel things currently.
I like to explore new stitches (new to me!)and use them in surface embroidery. I use
embroidery to embellish my quilted wall hangings. I have done cross stitch, crewel and some needlepoint in the past. Currently I have
been following Karen Ruane (and you)and am smitten with her white work.I want to explore, especially woven stitches. With the wonderful instruction I find here and in books/magazines I am excited to be experimenting in a new direction!I make sure I spend at least one hour everyday devoted to embroidery! Currently I am working on an encrusted work and am delighted with the results. Thank you so much for this amazing web site!
I can’t pick a favourite technique, other than traditional embroidery used in untraditional ways. There are techniques, however, that I would never have the patience for, such as counted cross stitch. But,I have recently been working on a table cloth in “Broderie Suisse” as my French friends call it, which uses some cross stitch, and you do have to count the squares on the gingham before you start! The size of the stitch then depends on the size of the gingham squares, so it’s hardly delicate, but the effect is lace-like. It’s all very contradictory, really!
What’s your all-time favorite embroidery technique and why do you like it?
I love blackwork, and have the RSN Essential Blackwork book. I’d love to branch out to White Work, since we’ve just had the bid accepted on our first house and I’ll need to make some table linens 🙂
Norma (Amsterdam)
I enjoy crewel embroidery the most, but recently I worked on a cream and cream Mountmellick, eventually the piece had 35 different stitches on it. I find alot of rest and peace when stitching.
I have been waiting for this book to be released!!I just got the 140th. newsletter from the RSN and there is the most beautiful white work on the back cover. If I could just have perfect stitches like that, that would be amazing. My other favourite is blackwork. It is so simple and yet the designs give you such complex pictures, I’m constantly amazed how the picture turns out. It’s absolutely beautiful.
I’ve only just begun, and so my favorite is surface embroidery, I guess. I am falling in love with my needles and thread, and learning all the magical things i can do with them! I look forward to each morning knowing that i can create something with them and your video instructions. I’, so Happy that you made the herringbone pamphlet…its going to be a great help in making my stitching better. Thanks Mary, you’re the best. Whoops, oh yeah, thanks for the chance to win the white work book(i almost forgot why i was writing), i know it will be an invaluable guide once i get to whitework.Gentle blesings, have a fabuloso week, vickey b. from san antonio.
Hi Mary!
This is one of the books in my wish list!
I just love white on white embroidery and white on a more rustic linen. And love free embroidery, and gold embroidery and so on and so on… 🙂
But haven’t tried some techniques yet.
Thanks so much for this giveaway!
Have a great week!
Although I do all sorts of different types of needlework I always seem to return to some form of counted work, it can be on linen, canvas or anything else that allows “counting”.
This is the type of work I find to be the most relaxing.
Hi Mary, what a lovely give-away! I love crewel work as it allows me to play with colour, texture and stitches. I am also able to use beads and metallic threads. As a bonus, it is just so creative! Gay B, Knysna
Hi Mary,
I love whitework (pulled/drawn thread etc) because it allows such a variety of textures. Even if you choose not to add colour, the techniques available are awesome, and the subtlety of the white on white allows the texture of the stitches to be emphasised.
Also, once I got the correct materials, it’s really easy to do the work both quickly and neatly, so I have many options for gifts. I’m currently working on several little projects for friends and family preparing for weddings and births 🙂
Hi Mary, I don’t know if I have ever mentioned this but my all time favourite type of embroidery is Japanese Embroidery 😉
There are many things that I love about it but the one thing I like about it more than anything else is working with silk and the way it looks.
Thank you for another great give-away.
CA
i learned to embroider at school but as an adult was too busy to continue that hobby. when we were living and working in a pretty needy inner city area i loved the contact with so many interesting people and from so many different cultures but found the neediness from the poverty and unemployment draining on my morale. i took up stitching again because the colours are comforting and cheering and the logic, especially of geometric patterns, is kind of soothing and reassuring. we need to bring things of beauty into our lives to counteract the dehumanising effects of the inner city. it was a pretty tight time for us financially too but i used my hobby to make cards and presents for people – not expensive but very very satisfying, made with love.
The embroidery technique I like most is anything that counts threads (even though I usually can’t count, even up to 4!!!) and is worked from a chart. I think I like the predictability of it all ….. Would love to win this book as white-on-white is just the best!
Julie at Whitlands, Australia
I’ve done counted cross stitch for years, but have always loved the whitework garments ladies used to wear. Never had the courage (or knowledge) to attempt anything like it and so would love this book to teach me how.
Indeed Mary, I am besotted with crewel work at the moment. It has caught my imagination and until I am as good as I can be I suspect I will keep at it.
Does this stop me admiring all needlearts – of course not, my other guilty pleasure being embroidery books, websites and all things visually pleasing. I do so enjoy my ‘stash’ of books!
Hi Mary,
I usually do ribbon work and thread embroidery of almost all type but i love to learn any type of embroidery because its my passion. Although i haven’t done white work embroidery but my mother and grany did a lot. And if i win this i’ll love to learn this technique too.
When I was younger I started with cross-stitch, then gave a try at pulled work which I loved! When the babies came I moved to hardanger because it meant working with one color thread and repetitive stitches so I could work on a project even when I had multiple interruptions by toddlers. 🙂 It’s been a few years since I’ve picked up stitching, my youngest is almost ready to leave home and i’ve started stitching again. I’ve done some hemstitching and started a sampler with stitches from your tutorials in order to practice before I start on a mini crazy quilt.
I loved the beauty and texture of the white work and have been thinking it would be a good choice for me living overseas since I wouldn’t need such a large selection of colors so shipping supplies wouldn’t be as costly. I’d love to make some pieces for my three daughters as they are starting their own homes. The whitework book would be an awesome resource.
Thanks for the work you put into this site; it’s professional, friendly, a fun place to come and learn.
Karen
New and still learning. Currently attempting a simple outline embroidery of oak leaves and acorns. Thank you for all the tutorials. I might even be brave enough to try some satin stitch filling? Thanks for the chance to win this amazing book.
Hi Mary, My favorite embroidery is crewel I just love working with the wool. Lately though I have found a passion for bullion work. I have never done white work but I have always wanted to try it.
Next week a friend of mine who is a fantastic hardanger embroiderer has offered to teach me how to do it. I would love to win this book as I am sure it would be a great help to me as I have no books on white work at all. Thank you again for your generousity in giving away another book.
Kind regards,
Berenice Holmes
THIS KIND NEEDLEWORK TAKES ME FAR BACK TO MY
MOTHER AND MY GRANDMOTHER. THEY USE TO DO THIS KIND OP WORK. UNFORTUNATELY THEY DID NOT LIVE
LONG ENOUGH TO TEACH ME THE TECHNIQUE.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS TO HAVE A PIECE OF THIS TYPE OF EMBROIDERY IN YOUR POSSESSION.
IT WILL BE THE MOST BEATIFUL THING TO DO EVER IF I CAN MASTER THE TECHNIQUE, AND I BELIEVE THE
ONLY WAY IS THROUGH YOUR WONDERFUL BOOK.
Whitework is my favourite embroidery technique because it combines many things I enjoy. I like the precision of counted stitches and cut threads and the delicacy of the lace patterns. I am learning Lefkara and Reticella with help from teachers at my local Embroiderers’ Guild and books.
OH Gosh! I’d love to learn to do White work!
My all time favorite embroidery technique is…well, right now I am doing a lot of smocking and shadow embroidery. My faborite one I have alwas wanted to learn is White Work though. Maybe I’ll finally get to learn:)
Hard to single out any one technique as a favorite – I especially like pieces that combine techniques; for example, thread painting onto a countable surface so I can stitch the background with a counted thread technique. Easy to pick my favorite fiber – definitely silk thread accented with metals.
Thanks for this wonderful give-away opportunity. Janet.
Not sure about a favourite type, that changes but my fall back is always cross stitch or canvas work, there is just something so comforting about having holes to work the stitches into, it is so relaxing. But that is not to say it doesn’t have its problems, miscounting has led me to unpick on many occasions but it is still my go-to technique, does that mean it is my favourite?
I’ve tried just about every kind of embroidery but I still head back to anything canvaswork when I want to sit and REALLY enjoy myself. I’ve had several bouts of eye surgery and my vision is somewhat wonky. At my worst vision, I could still do work on canvas because I could hear and feel my needle on the canvas. I love the ability to try new stitches and threads and never get bored because of the variety of both. Plus I can add beads to my heart’s content!
I’m pretty new to needlework and haven’t formed a passion yet. What I do love is learning new stitches and techniques. It is sort of a mixture of brain-candy and ability to (sometimes) make the needle and thread do what they are supposed to. The best part is when you are done you’ve got something interesting-maybe even lovely- to be proud of.
I’m particularly interested in counted thread work. Primarily that’s because I started with needlepoint and disliked the painted canvases that were common at that time. I graduated to counted cross stitch and recently have been experimenting with some hardanger and other types of whitework,
Thank you for giving us a chance to win this book.
The answer to “what’s your favorite form of embroidery” has changed and grown over the years. I started with counted cross stitch, and plunged into highly detailed work. For a long time I was all about the counted works — double running blackwork (love working out the “path”), brick stitch canvas work and others. I’ve branched into the non counted forms and am just as likely to pick up some laid and couched work or a split stitch motif. Overall, I think my favorite is either what I’m working on now … or what I’m planning next.
Thanks Mary for this wonderful giveaway. I like the RSN books: great format, great information and great inspiration. I switch favourite techniques year-to-year, month-to-month. Right now I like counted white work (schwalm and hedebo) but a couple of months ago I was collecting fabric and threads for crazy quilting! I always seem to return to whitework, though. Thanks for your website; I really like all the stitch tutorials but I wonder … what are *you* working on right now? Hope you enjoy the rest of the summer!
My favorite kind of embroidery is satin stitch. When I first saw the RSN’s guide to embroidery techniques, it literally changed my life. I had no idea embroidery could look literally like a painting. All I had ever seen consisted of cheesy outlines and kitschy country motifs. But this was real art, made with a needle and thread. It became an enduring passion (my friends would say “crazy obsession”) from that moment on.
What a great book! I have loved all forms of needlework and started embroidery when I was 6 years old – a really long time ago! At the moment I am stitching a vintage stamped quilt top,cross stitching a reproduction sampler from Tennessee Samplers and just about to finish hand quilting a wedding ring quilt for my daughter and her new husband.
My favorite is counted thread–linen and canvas. I think it’s because I can be sure of where the needle has to go.
I’m still learning so I don’t have a real passion for a particular technique yet. I love learning new stitches. Some of them are like figuring out a puzzle. And then discovering how small changes have a big impact on effect is just icing on the cake.
I love surface embroidery and colors! But, lately I have been drawn to the white on white. The stitches really shine. There is such creativity in selecting varied stitches to create visual interest and textures. It is cool work. I would love to add it to my tool kit and the book would be wonderful!
Love your blog! Would love to have this book as it’s a technique I haven’t tried yet.
Right now my favourite technique is hardanger combined with cross stitch and specialty stitches. Would love to add whitework to the repertoire.
Thanks Mary for offering so much: books, lessons, show-and-tell projects. I have been an embroiderer for decades and still learn tips and new stitches here. I am anxious to incorporate the banded stitch you recently showed us. Right now I am adding embroidery to a blouse I am making: bullion roses, stem stitch, french knots – simple but pleasant flowers and stems. Thank you for giving us all the opportunity to win this book!
Barbara in Kennett Square
while I enjoy any kind of embroidery and needlework, whitework is definitely what I love best. It just fascinates me looking at pictures of white and dreaming how I can do something similiar. And especially since I do christening gowns (for charity) whitework is definitely what I loved to use on them.
As a very young girl of 8 I lost my Mother but was blessed with a wonderful stepmother that instilled in me the value and joy of sewing and needlework. Hence, I have always done surface embroidery mostly as embelishment on my
childrens dresses. Lately I have been doing a lot of vintage monograms and have your sight to thank for that. As a sufferer of depression and anxiety, embroidery has become my “out”. It gives me a way to turn my fwars and worries into something productive and beautiful at the same time. I love learning more techniques and quick tips about embroidery. Winning the book on whitework would fulfill my desire of learning more. I also want to thank you for such a friendly
welcoming and useful website. I love it.
Sincerely, Nelwyn Mills
I suffer from depression and anxiety too and embroidery is my out and salvation too. I can fully relate. Best Wishes and Blessed Stitches.
Good Luck,
Mindi Hammerstone
I would love to win any book you tell us about.The Essential Stitch Guide on Whitework embroidery sound wonderful. I love to collect book on Embroidery and try different stitch techniques.
i do all kinds of needlework, but over the years I think we all narrow our field
To the ones we like best. For me it is pieces which encompass a wide variety
Of stitch techniques in one piece, the more the better, as the various hardanger
Stitches requiring cut work and wrapping are becoming my favorites, but I like
Them best when combined with other techniques. One of my current projects
Is a stitch along called around the world in 80 stitches, by Papillon and I am enjoying every stitch I make! Would love to win the white work book.
I loved the book the first time you showed it to us. White on white is just beautiful and the sneak preview you have given us makes this book top of my wish list. Although cross stitch has been my standard trying to explore other areas and this may be the answer for me.
I do love all types of thread work, but I would have to say that my passion is needlepoint on painted canvas. I think I like this best because I’ve been needlepointing for so long that it has become second nature. I don’t fret about what I’m going to do. I also love combining all the different thread types and stitches to achieve the look I’m after.
Thanks for making this give away possible! I have several of the RSN books, but not this one. I love how they present the information in an easy to understand way.
Reticello (italian needle lace) is my favorite type of embroidery. After cutting the threads (scary!) beautiful patterns appear within the empty squares. It is like magic everytime again!
Thank you for the opportunity to win this book. I like this kind of challenges;-)
Kind regards, mari-jan
I am a general all-around surface embroidery crazy person. I love playing with all kinds of threads, colors, textures, stitches, and fabrics.I like variety.
I would really love to have this book as i have started learning Ruskin Lace & i am hooked on needle made laces. I live in Sri Lanka, the pearl of the Indian Ocean, where its difficult to get books of this nature. Thank you for offering this book to a lover of sewing. Regards, Pauline from Sri Lanka……..
Oh Squeee! I really, really hope that I win this book. I am a fan of all surface embroidery techniques because they allow me so much creativity and such a huge range. I can use wool, cotton, silk, rayon or blended threads. I can embroider on anything from the finest imported linens to a cotton dishtowel or t-shirt. I can make heirloom quality linens or embellish clothing or make a picture as wonderful as any painting. I can make needlelace and needleweaving. I can use any palette from the white on white of whitework, to a single color in different values to complementary and split complementary palettes. I can mix surface stitches with stumpwork, lace, brazilian. I can add the glitter and beauty of goldwork threads and pailettes and beads to any of the possible palettes and materials. You get the idea – surface embroidery allows for an infinite amount of creativity.
I have spent the last year expanding my available techniques and I have done some whitework techniques and hope to do more. I especially want to learn the sandwich technique with whitework stiches worked on three layered fabrics with some of the fabric layes eventually cut away.
I hope I am the winner of this book. Thank you as always Mary for a wonderful site.
Anastasia M
Wow! What a fabulous giveaway! I like most embroidery, but love redwork. Red’s my favorite color! I love your emails and wish I could be as proficient as you!
xoxo
Joy B in Southern Indiana
Wow! What an opportunity to win such a book.
I would love to be a winner.
You have a great website. I am fond of it.
Kind regards,
Marjo
What a wonderful looking book. when I see White work…I have a hard time not thinking about doing some of the designs in color. Monocromatic stitching is a great challenge. I have a library of books and use lots of them all the time. Some are for inspiration and some for actual help with stitches. I also have a few that are historical in nature as I love to read about needlepoint from other countries or back in history. One of my favorite books is Stitches On The Go…a small book that is always in my stitching bag. I really enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work. I know it is work as I maintain a blog also. Happy Stitching !
My favorite needlework technique is counted thread work. I love stitching designs that have lots of different stitches and this includes whitework. Right now I am working on the stitch along at Papillon Creations called Around the World in 80 Stitches. I would love to have this book. It would help me to further my skills in this area.
Dawn C.
Southcoast, Ma
I too am working on a Pappilon Creations piece called Love with a Capital L! Good luck with yours!
🙂
The question as to my all-time favorite EMBRODERY technique is very difficult. I would more like to ask what is my favorite NEEDLEWORK. Then I could answer…embroidery!
My all time favorite is crewel. I love the feel of the wool, the softness of the colors, and how crewel is a little more forgiving than silk or cotton. On the opposite extreme, I love the purity and elegance of white on white or beige on beige.
After thinking and thinking, I decided that I am a regular surface embroiderer because I feel freer to make changes in stitches and colors. But I admire all kinds of cut work but have been hesitant to try it. If I could learn to stitch the butterfly on the front cover, I will be as please as pie. Thank you, Mary for all the help you offer us. Maggie
I love Turkey Work, It is fun, makes a great effect on any project and I just love the name. I actually learned to do Turkey Work on a plastic canvas project making a cat doorstop while sitting with my mother in the hospital. It was easy to do and the project was beautiful using a multi-tone grey yarn. The fur on the cat was very realistic. So, any chance I get to do Turkey Work I take. Gail Clark
I am passionate about Crewel Work but it only just edges its way to the front ahead of Mount Mellick which grabbed me with an enormous hug the 1st time I did a workshop in it. My Quaker ancestors would have been pleased with me I was thrilled with them for making it all possible in the 1st place. Whitework of all types appeals to me because of its crisp clean lines but Mount Mellick with all the fruits and flowers just fills me with joy as I stitch and away then admire the finished article. I love it!!
I enjoy many forms of embroidery, but for sheer beauty and dimension I adore silk ribbon embroidery. You may use it to embellish regular embroidery or silk prints, or you may do an entire picture in ribbon flowers. Ribbon embroidery is my favorite.
Every kind of surface embroidery is intreging because you are able to use all types of fabric, thread and especially use one’s imagination. There are so many stitches to explore and vary.
While I enjoy almost all embroidery techniques, my absolute favorite is Drawn Thread work. I love needleweaving and creating an intricate design around the remaining threads. You can make so many different patterns. They are all visual treats.
Stitching away in Illinois,
Mary Alice
I enjoy several types of needlework… from counted cross stitch to needlepoint to embellishing quilts with couching & hand embroidery stitches. The white on white embroidery is very elegant looking. Thank you for the chance to win this book.
Hi
I read your page every morning before I start work and it sets me up for the day. At the moment I dont have enough time for my embroidery which is upsetting but I think my favorite is anything with gold on it. I have some egyptian gold thread and it is so good to work with. I would like to try whitework and this book looks to be a nice one which would help me to start whitework. Heres hoping that i will be the lucky one
I would love to have this book. I recently became a new mom to an adorable baby boy and quickly discovered that there aren’t many options for equally adorable baby boy clothes. This conclusion has tumbled into an obsession to create items for my little guy. I’m just starting out so I haven’t discovered my needlework passion yet, but I love the simplistic elegance of Whitework.
Erica in Chalk Hill
Hi All,
At this time, my favorite type of needlework is textural. Love pulled thread, counted thread, surface embroidery, etc. I know this does not nail down any particular form, but the idea is that the piece is textural. Not just one stitch technique. The project can be one color or many colors. It can be stitched in one fiber content or many. Silk always gives nice texture with it’s sheen.
I’m a long time sewer- and often use needlework to accent my clothing. I am in the SCA (Middle Ages Re-enactment) and like the pop embroidery provides my garb. I am recently getting into the Steampunk scene, and would like to learn whitework and drawn-thread embroidery to decorate my garb for that hobby. I have collected vintage hankies with drawn work since I was young, and this is a natural extension of that passion.
Currently my favorite form of needlework is cross-stitch. I have recently completely a large piece designed by Renato Parolin. I love the thread colors and the relaxation therapy any needlework gives me. Thanks Mary
I’m definitely a surface embroidery girl…freestyle, with a little bling added. However, I adore the white work of vintage linens, as well as thing published by the RSN! I hope I win – but even if I don’t, thanks for the opportunity to put my name in the virtual hat.
Dear Mary,
I really enjoy counted cross stitch, blackwork, surface embroidery, goldwork, and Brazillion embroidery. I would love to be introduced to whitework via this contest!!! All I know about it is that it is beautiful and something that I would love to learn about and try!
Thank you for giving us the chance to win this wonderful book!!
Sincerely,
Mindi Hammerstone
I enjoy many types of embroidery and like to repair vintage work done by others, often whitework. On my own, I like crewel and have been using many of the new stitches I have read about on this website.
Crewel is my favorite. Yes crewel for sure!
Elaine in Las Cruces, NM
I love whitework and always looks so regal. Thanks for offering the giveaway. Please, Please
draw me lol
Becky Gilliam
I have grown and processed by hand a small area of flax every year since l983(except for 2 years) and so I suppose linen is my first love but when I read your article I realised that what I really enjoy – quite mindless enjoyment – is taking a length of broken twill woollen cloth made from my Poll Dorset sheep, taking a “biro” and just drawing a crewel pattern freehand. I take a needle and thread it with 4 ply worsted wool which has been dip dyed into variegated colours by Mrs. Pilkington up in Teesdale who keeps those delightful sheep which have “wringlets’ which cover their eyes and come down to their feet and I just stem stitch my way up the lines and maybe venture into an exotic flower with even more exotic stamens! For some reason I so enjoy the sensation of the needle going in and coming out of the woollen fabric – sheer enjoyment!
Armorel Carlyon, Truro, Cornwall UK
My favorite embroidery technique is counted thread, primarily on linen, but canvas is OK.
Perhaps it’s because I have a very logical, linear mind set. But mainly, it’s the stitches!
I love the stitches – the profusion and the precision of them. Yes, counted thread is my first love.
What a beautiful book! thank you for the chance to win it!
My favorite embroidery is hardanger with cross-stitch on linen or in combination with quilting. And yes, I really am originally from Punxsutawney, PA with Phil etal.. made famous by the movie. I first learned embroidery from my grandmother when I was about 5 years old… love it all!
Dear Mary,
Thank you for your generous offer of a chance to win Whitework by the Royal School of Needlework. I LOVE the crisp purity of whitework. I love the challenge of providing interest by using design and texture. And with white on white there is no need to angst over colour options, where we are spoilt for choice, that for me often stalls other projects …. sadly some into UFO’s residing at the bottom of my craft pile.
Crewel is my favorite right now. Love the feel of the wool and the colors. Would love to get this book as I already have three of the others in this series and they are terrific! Thanks so much for the give away Mary.
I love embroidering. I just get the relaxing feeling of an incomprehensible accomplishment that gives me so much satisfaction and peacefulness. My embroidery is that of a basic beginner eager to do all kinds and all different colors of threads and fabrics from gold work, crazy quilting, white work, including all the innovating ideas that British, Australian, Brazilians, and Americans embroiderers (artists) create and post in the internet. I just cant’ stop looking at them and dream to learn how to make them all. Although, I have focused on Gold work and metallic threads because of my passion for angels I will be delighted and extremely for ever grateful, if I happen to possess a book such as the Royal School of Needlework’s new Essential Stitch Guide on Whitework embroidery. I think very highly of that school. I actually dared to get inspired with one of their beautiful gold work angels posted on their webpage in RSN Studio, and learned and practiced “short and long stitch” that gives that incredible effect to the hair of the angel.
Please make me a winner, I will be your forever follower!
Yours Truly,
Soledad Diaz Chavez
It is kind of hard to pick a favorite because my favorit is what I’m in the mood to work on.
But I guess I will choose silk Ribbon Embroidery. Because it’s so easy and is so bright and fancy when it’s done. also it goes rather quickly. I have never done white work but would like to try someday. Maybe if I won the book I would get going on trying it sooner.
Thank You Mary for everything you do.
Robin Marks
I love exploring all types of embroidery using a variety of threads! I have been intrigued by whitework as I have some pieces from my great grandmother and my grandmother. I would like to try this technique out too. I love all the information you pass on to us! I have learned so much. Thank you for a chance to win this book!
Estoy haciendo un bordado de orfebrería, con canutillo oro y plata y me ha costado trabajo conseguir información sobre la tecnica del bordado y los materiales que se ocupan, lo que tengo se lo agradezco a Mary, pero me gustaría tener mas información, gracias por la oportunidad de este libro
All around general embroidery. I love all the different threads and materials that are available. You can change the whole feel of a picture by the type of materials used.
Hi Mary! Thanks for the opportunity to win another book! I feel like I should say whitework is my favorite since that what the book is, but honestly it is what I would call “modern” crewel work. I love the yarns and I love experimenting with different stitches to make different effects. I say “modern” because I like to do scenery and other pictures and plants rather than the traditional Jacobian patterns.
All-around surface embroidery to play with different stitches, counted work (more blackwork, etc, than cross-stitch because what I love about it the historical accuracy), “historical” embroidery…just about any of it, really. I’ve never tried whitework, and that’s why I’m so excited for the opportunity to win this book! It looks glorious.
Hi Mary! I would love to include this book in my embroidery library..thanks for the chance to win it. Surface embroidery is my first choice for stitching. Redwork is always a “must do” particularly during the holiday season.
I have done lots of cross stitch projects and really enjoyed it. I used to stitch on flour sacks my Grandmother gave me to use for kitchen towels. I’d love to learn more. I enjoy of these wonderful tutorials. I’m just trying to decide what pattern I want to stitch. I can’t wait to begin.
I love the textures possible with whitework, both the counted and surface stitching styles. I have done delicate whitework (and would love to learn more about needlelace) and bold styles like candlewicking. I cannot choose a favorite.
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to win such a lovely book.
Crewel is my favorite to look at because my grandmother’s crewel work is the first embroidery I was aware of. I don’t do any crewel work myself, though. As far as my favorite to do, I’m still figuring that one out!
I love whitework although I’ve never tried it. It reminds me so much of my loving (now departed) mom’s embroidery on all the bedsheets and pillows that she made before her wedding in 1940!
I love ribbon work – it “grows” quickly, I love the textures and varying heights! I have found there is so much to be learnt from this seemingly simple form of embroidery, and I think that’s what excites me the most – there’s so much to learn that I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it!
I enjoy all types of embroidery but mostly work in counted thread specifically samplers. I love them because of the variety of stitches that can be used plus the history behind them intriques me. This book would be perfect to expand my knowledge of whitework. Keeping my fingers crossed!!
Please don’t make me choose a favorite, because, in 40 years, I haven’t found a needle and thread technique I didn’t enjoy.
I suppose I tend towards complicated and precise pieces that make my world as small as my fabric.
Ganhar uma cópia desse livro seria uma glória. Bordar whitework é um desafio em terras tão distante sem um professor, apenas a dedicação, a paixão de bordar um bordado tão belo, mágico. É gratificante cada hora dedicada a ele. Obrigada pela oportunidade de receber essa preciosidade. Abraços, Algecira
I do a lot of different embroidery styles, but I suppose my favorite would have to be Richelieu – maybe because it was the first technique I learned (after cross stitch, but that doesn’t count for me). I like the designs and the precision required in the cutting out part. I also think that it could be combined very prettily with other whitework techniques, which I also like very much: it is great to see all the different textures and effects one can create without using any color. I think this book would be a great source of inspiration in that sense, so thanks for the chance of winning it!
I have the other four Essentials and love them. It would be wonderful to have this one too. Greedy ? I am afraid so, but it is a lovely thought, so I am hoping I may be very lucky – fingers and toes double crossed.
I enjoy so much the visits from you in my workroom every day. Thank you. Peggy
Mary’s ‘Give-Away’s” are always worth a try! Favorite embroidery technique, at the moment, in the ‘besotted’ category is needle painting. In the love range is surface embroidery for the variety of stitch textures , colors, and threads. Gold work will hopefully be in my range some day. Whitework will soon be necessary as I have eight children and seven more weddings to look forward to.
Thank you Mary for all your guidance, history lessons, book reviews,stitch tutorials and wit. I very much enjoy your daily blog.
Blessings,
Sharon in ID at the moment
My all-time favorite embroidery technique – for right now anyways – is needle painting with long & short stitch. That’s because I’m teaching myself out of Trish Burr’s books on the technique as well as color.
I have always wanted to do whitework, though. That will be the next thing I teach myself…hopefully with winning this book. I can’t imagine a better starting place.
Wow! This is amazing. Where do I begin?
First I have to admit I am totally new to this handwork. I haven’t done enough to know which one I like the most. Wait I do know. It’s the whitework that always catches my eye. I have collected antique table runners and items that all have whitework. I even buy ready-made clothing that have the look of whitework on them. I am just so amazed at the beauty of these works of art. My goal is to be able to create works like this on my own.
The only lessons on handwork I had was during a Home Economics class at school. We made a gym bag and I embroidered my name on it. I don’t know of too many schools left that have these Home Economics classes in them now. What a shame.
I have purchased every one of the Country Bumpkin’s Inspiration magazine and their A to Z books . I’ve also purchased several of their kits. All with the intention of doing them of course.
These books are my nighttime reading while in bed. Then during my dreams I am an artist. Now if only I could be that during the waking hours.
I see the pictures in the magazine or book of how the stitches are supposed to look but somehow mine don’t always look the same when done. Not all the images are as detailed as I have found on Mary Corbet’s website.
My latest adventure is with a piece of linen 38 count which has pulled threads. I’m planning on making this wedding ring pillow from Country Bumpkin’s Inspiration Issue #74.
I am so pleased to have found Mary’s website which has helped me so much. I didn’t even know how to count how many threads I had in a piece of linen until Mary answered that for me.
I’m using a smaller scrap piece of linen to practice on.
I’ve also joined a Stitchery Guild in my area this year. Can’t wait for the group to start meeting.
I have the RSN Whitework Stitch Guide on my wish list to purchase. I would just love to win this book. Then I would have more money to buy other RSN books. Just from the images of the pages Mary has shown from the contents of this book makes it a MUST HAVE for my collection.
I’ll keep practicing so that someday I can become an artist of whitework.
Eva
I love embroidery! My favorite is counted cross stitch for the way the designs turn out so perfect. My eyesight has me doing less of it lately and I enjoy redwork for its simplicity. Thanks so much for giving us the chance at winning this great book on white work! If I don’t win it, gonna have to buy it!
Hi Mary,
Thank you for having another lovely book give-away.
My favourite stitching technique is gold work; I just love how the threads sparkle and shimmer.
My second favourite stitching technique is thread painting or silk shading; which I love because of how realistic the designs look once you finish stitching them. I am thoroughly enjoying stitching Margaret’s strawberries class.
I appreciate all needlework and I have tried as many techniques as possible. One of my favorites is whitework! The simplicity and elegance let the stitches shine 🙂
I guess i’m predominately counted cross stitch because all the choices have been made for one….lol…don’t have to really think about color and stitch choices.
sharyn in cincinnati
Surface embroidery was my first introduction to the world of needlework. The satin stitch and french knots seemed so exotic back then. And now that I’m a “senior” they’re still exotic because I realize what skill it takes to do them well. I would be just as happy sitting with white cloth stretched in a wood embroidery hoop with a silver needle dangling white thread. SUBLIME!
My favourite all time embroidery technique is always the one I am doing at any moment in time – does this mean I’m shallow?
I like to try lots of different things and have found each have their own wonderful way about them!
I haven’t really tried whitework yet – but would love to!
I love the white on white embroidery. But to appease my overall fascination with embroidery and all things stitched…I love embellishing crazy quilts.
Susie Jarosz in Omaha, NE
Hi Mary,
Crazy quilt stitching is my favorite stitching because I do it on lots of different things – like dolls, in silk buttonhole twist – gorgeous colors. It is creative, involves lots of stitches and is visually so much fun to look at. Thanks as always for your cool book giveaways!
I am only two years into embroidery but I have been a collector of whitework for many years, mostly Victorian children’s clothing. So far in my embroidery I like using different fibers like Krenik threads and Sparkle Lame. I am doing a sampler of all sorts of bugs and am so pleased how my praying mantis came out!
Geraldine
I have just started white work embroidery after years of colorful embroidery. Much the same way I went from colorful quilts to making several white on white quilts, with each one more detailed than the one before, I think white work developed as a natural extension of embroidery and quilting. As much as I love color there is a quiet beauty in the pristine look of white on white whether embroidered or quilted. My plan is to be good enough to make a queen size white work embroidered quilt.
Choosing just one is hard…counted threadwork is a long-time favourite because it appeases my need for symmetry!! But…
My ‘best stitching friends’ are a group of keen pulled/drawn thread embroiderers who do lots of whitework and it’s becoming like a gravitational pull for me. I’d love a little help from the RSN Whitework book to help me catch up!
My favorite embroidery technique is counted thread. I love cross-stitch but prefer to have lots of specialty stitches in pieces I do.
My all-time favorite type of embroidery…wow, way to ask a hard question Mary!! This book is gorgeous…I love the RSN guides, and purchased the Crewel Work one on your review. But…my favorite type of embroidery would have to be just taking out a fresh piece of linen and picking some threads to just stitch where the surface stitches take me. I have loads of these little doodle cloths, it’s a great way to learn a new stitch and to get inspiration for a project. I love seeing you work surface stitches in doodles as well! Thank you so much for creating such great conversations. It’s wonderful to see how much there is going on in the embroidery world!
Gracias por la oportunidad de poder ganar este libro.
Hace tiempo que bordo en punto cruz, y este año estoy aprendiendo otros tipos de bordados, como el hardanger y este blando, me enamoró.
Cariños
I LOVE French Knots. I am addicted to doing minature knot rugs with french knots and colonial knots. They are my go to when I’m stressed or just a bit out of sorts. It’s like my mandala and sooo relaxing. I have done about seven now and am still going!
But there may be more out there that I haven’t discovered…you just never know. Haven’t done white work yet and it is on my to do list. 😉
I really like surface embroidery because of the variety of threads and stitches that are used. But, I always have a cross stitch project going because I can leave it for long periods of time and then just pick it back up very easily. Thank you for all your give-always!
Dear Mary,
I would love to win this lovely volume for my birthday-yesterday. I have downloaded the booklet of church patterns from your website; I am inspired by your posts & information. I’ve loved embroidery since I was a child & would try to analyze my mother’s & grandmother’s work. I was extremely nearsighted so it was easier for me then. I’m recently retired from 23 years of nursing (my second career) & looking forward to embellishing some of the plain linens I care for at our church. I’ve always been fascinated by weaving holes in fabric to make intricate designs. This book contains a lifetime of creativity in it. Thank you for the opportunity to win. Yours truly, Mary Davidson
My goodness! I have never seen such a competition:) Mary, I have been following your articles quite a while for now and I can no doubt say that you have not only brought us needle-crafters together but have been inspiring us all the way telling – ‘this art is not going to be obsolete despite automatic machines, it is definitely going to stay for long.’
I love all kinds of needlecraft, especially counted cross-stitch, free style embroidery and crochet. I enjoyed every bit of it even when I had less resources. I was working as a project manager in an IT MNC until last year, when I realised strongly, that I have to get back to my first love – needlework! So I left my thriving IT career just to pursue my love for needlework. I cannot convince more than this about my craziness for needlework.
As for whitework, I have not done any yet and I bought a beginners book last year on drawn thread embroidery, keeping White work on top of my learning list. But I would just call it WOW – Wonder on White !
Dear Mary, another generous offer.
My all time favourite embroidery is crewel, I love the traditional designs they have a very regal appearance to me, I have the RSN Crewel work book and I am hopeing that the Whitework will be the same in its description of the work,the thing I like about whitework it is so clean totally opposite to crewel work with its blaze of colour, and I am keen to learn.
Regards
Flora C. Western Australia
I learned to do embroidery from my wonderful Grandmother. Whitework is ( in my opinion) some of the most beautiful. I have never done any as of yet. I didn’t realize until I found your site that there even WAS books on these things!Oh to learn something new….
Hello Mary,
I enjoy all types of embroidery ( and learning new techniques). Crewel, using different threads, is my favorite. I also enjoy pulled work, Hardanger, needlepoint (the variety of stitches one can use is amazing and fun to do) and cross stitch. I just started learning Assisi, Blackwork and de Medici stitching. White work is beautiful and elegant and next on my very long list to learn!
I look forward to your daily letter, it gives me the inspiration to rush home from work and spend some time embroidering in the evening!
I would have to say I am an all-around kind of girl. I love all the different fibers that are out there (and they keep coming up with new ones). I do enjoy the counting and the ‘order’ that can come with it. Thank you. Teresa
I like all kinds of embroidery, but especially white work. Because of the variety of points (each one more beautiful than the other,the elegance and
delicacy that gives the embroidered cloths and also because it is a family tradition.
Receive this book would be a plus for me.
Thanks for the sharing!
Teresa (Lisbon)
I love Whitework. It is so elegant. Really easy to focus on the design and workmanship without color to distract the viewer.
My favorite type of needlework is anything counted. I like the precision of most stitches and yet there is lots of room for individual creativity.
Is needlepoint a type of embroidery? I sure hope so because that is what I love to do. I am not very co-ordinated, and having the canvas to keep my tension even is a real blessing. I keep practicing and am hoping that after a few more years of practice, I will get better.
I would love that book–whitework has always fascinated me. I most enjoy crewel work now but would like to try fine thread work. There are so many beautiful threads that you’ve introduced me to, that I’m itching to thread a needle with some of them and make a small beauty.
I love to embroidering. My favorite kind of white on white embroidery, Ukrainian merezhka, crosstich, Hardanger. I embroider a long time, taught me to sew my grandmother. At home I have my grandmother embroidered shirts.
Sorry for my english..
Thanks for all you do!
As a little kid, loved the white works granny made and my question was why White on white, any other color wud luck more splendid, but she used to give a smile where her wrinkles looked more prominent. As a grew up and was introduced to embroidery, by her and few good friends (blog community also included), I realized how white on white looks lovely specially if its in Silk. How I wish I learn more crafts and arts as a tribute to grannys hobby and pass time!
Thanks for posting the opportunity to win the book. Lots of competition, wonder who is the lucky one this time!!
I love jacobean embroidery the best, but have always wanted to learn whitework.
Thanks for the chance to win this book!
I love trying new stitches or new quirks to old stitches!
Hi Mary & all,
Hmm, all time favourite. Rather hard to choose, but I think stumpwork and various other somewhat three dimensional techniques would top the list for me. Having said that, I’ll try almost anything!
Hi Mary & all,
Hmm, all time favourite. Rather hard to choose, but I think stumpwork and various other somewhat three dimensional techniques would top the list for me. Having said that, I’ll try almost anything!
Oh, just realised I forgot the ‘why’ part. I just love the raised dimension, 3D effect – a little something extra, I suppose.
Sou obsecada por tudo o que vocês fazem e estou completamente obsecada pelo livro mas moro no brasil e não sei como consegui-lo.Acho tudo maravilhoso.
Ana Maria
My favorite so far has been counted cross stitch but I have just recently found your website and been tryiing so many new things! I am fascinated and wish I had all the needles and supplies to try it all.
All forms of needlework intrigue me… it is amazing how much can be achieved with just one color of thread and a needle. Whitework and Blackwork continue to engage me AND I would love to win just once!
Thiis book makes me drool! Thanks for offering it as a give-away.
Whitework will always be my first love, but as my eyes age I am learning to enjoy bolder colors and bolder threads. I want to keep embroidering for a long time.
oh how I just love your site! If I had a tenth of your knowledge! a favorite? so so hard to say…but I love linen ..any kind…so have done oodles of counted pieces and enjoy them..lots of samplers..but I like fuzzies too! lol…I am a WHITE and Cream kinda gal…so itching to try the whitework…and heaven knows I will need a BOOK to guide me! thanks for a chance…good luck all
I just enjoy threads – and colour – so I’m ready to try different styles of embroidery, even white!
Hi, I’m a real newbie as in I know nothing if there are many techniques in embroidery such as surface work, crewel work, white work etc. At the moment I’m fascinated with Satin stitch since I haven’t conquer it yet. My goal at the moment is to be able to do monogram using the stitch. I want to be able to put my monogram on my own clothes, and be proud of it (means smoothly raised satin stitch without any crooked line as what happen now LOL).
I found precious tutorial from this site, so thank you, Mary! You’re wonderful.
Hi Mary,
I am a great fan of the RSN books. Haven’t seen this one ‘in person’, yet. Thanks for the chance to win a copy. My poor bookshelves are groaning . . .
As for a ‘favorite’ needlework technique . . . I’d say it is a tie between Stumpwork and Goldwork, not that I get to do as much of either as I’d like. I spend time with many types of stitching; counted, surface, canvaswork, drawn, pulled and lots of others. I do some whitework on church linens and would love to improve my stitching in this lovely technique.
Thanks again for your lovely site and fantastic videos and newsletter. I look forward to checking my e-mail each day.
hello Mary,
my passion for ribbon embroidery back 12 years. When I discovered this beautiful embroidery in an American book, I was immediately seduced by the volume obtained with silk ribbons. I searched and developed tricks for embroidery ribbons. Embroider little flowers with these wonderful silk ribbons gave me much joy. I’m still as passionate as ever. I learned white embroidery with an excellent teacher in Paris. This is my second passion. I also like the traditional Japanese embroidery.
Thank you for sharing your expertise with us.
Cordially.
I am just getting in to embroidery after years of knitting and quilting and this book would be a wonderful resource. Thank you for the chance to win it!
I would love to win this book as I actually have it on my Amazon wish list. I haven’t tried whitework before but have been wanting to try as I love the look of it. I have only been embroidering for almost a year and have tried as many stitches and techniques as I can. My favourites of what I have tried up to now are stumpwork as I like the dimensional quality; beadwork because I love beads anyway so I get a double shot for my addictions with the beads plus the stitching; and a technique that I tried recently called encrusted calico where objects are trapped between two layers of calico and then various stitches are added in just one colour. I really liked this as keeping to just the whites and creams that I used really emphasised the texture and dimension of the piece.
Mary:
I thought I had done thie but since my computer had been hacked and been gone for a week, I must have dreamed that I sent my comment. Anyhow, my Mom did white work and I have some of what she did. Now I would love to learn this special embroidery. I am basically an embroidery just a little beyond a beginner. I do a little emb. on my quilt applique blocks and would love to learn how to make special works for my children and grands, and now I have a g-g-daughter. Maybe I am not too old to learn some new tricks. Here’s my name to be added. Thank your for your most informative and teaching lessons.
Hi Mary-
I’m so fickle – my favorite embroidery technique is the one currently in progress! I love them all, and especially love learning a new one. Whitework intrigues me, although I’ve only done a small amount of Hardanger – like the white flowers in my garden at twilight glow in the dusk, I can see whitework glowing indoors during a long Rochester winter.
This is a book I plan to purchase soon, if I don’t win a copy.
Quem não gostaria de ganhar um livro desses?
Eu quero o meu, afinal, devoro todos os pontos de bordado que vc ensina, mas esses do livro ainda não tentei.
Obrigada Mary.
Fica com Deus.
Bel Monteiro
I love the look of white work. So classy looking!
I have loved counted cross stitch for over 40 years. After not doing any for a while, I got back into it a couple of years ago and discovered all of the new linens, overdyed and silk threads, and new stitches and techniques. I am enjoying learning pulled thread, hardanger, and whitework. No more plain cross stitch for me! I want to learn something new with each piece. I would love the book to help me with that.
Thanks for your website and inspiriation.
Rencently I havefallen in love with Italian hemstitching, pulled and drawn thread work. I was scared to try because of the cutting of fabric. I like to match tone on tone with the projects but would love so much to try whitework too! It so beautiful. Having a great resource like the RSN book would be so wonderfull.
Thanks Ms Mary
Audrey
North CA
Love color, as much as white on white work is so classic, I do prefer ‘general all-around embroidery work. The more brilliant the colors the more I enjoy the work. Still In want to give a try with stump work.
the first embroidery i learned was schwalm I bought all the books on the subject even those of Tekla gombert. and tried many white worksFor sure I would like to win this Give away book. Thanks
Hi Mary,
I would like to enter this giveaway, since I want to plunge deeper into the world of whitework.
For the instance I’m an avid cross stitcher but into special stitches as well. I mostly stitch the Chatelaine designs by Martina Weber/Rosenberg. This includes cross stitches, lots of special stitches, overdyed silks and lots of different beads – stitchers’ nirvana 😉
In the past I already tried Richelieu and Hardanger as well and now I want to try whitework (like Schwalmer and other types) and pulled tread.
This is it for now! 😉
Have a nice weekend!
Ann
Old fashion embroidery using DMC or whatever embroidery floss desired. I love the look of hand embroidered such as pillow cases, towels and projects such as Christmas or Halloween scenes. Judy Neil
Mary, my favorite technique is Hardanger. I think I like the thrill of taking that first (or second, or last!) snip of the fabric and still hoping you didn’t snag more than you wanted. Upon completion, it is so satisfying – with any technique – to see how transformed the fabric is! But with hardanger, knowing that I created the lacy holes…. And when it’s white on white, it’s just so classy. I enjoyed your review of the book, and would love to look through it and learn so much more about other whitework.
I do mostly cross stitch, but like most needle nuts I am not opposed to doing different types. I have just recently tried my hand at Schwalm work, it is really a beautiful technique, but bless those little coral knots heart. I look forward everyday to your post. Your tutorials are wonderful thank you so much, Mary.
I would love a copy of the RSNwhitework book.
Hardanger has been my favourite since my neighbour showed me her piece from lessons she did. I bought a book and taught myself challenging myself as I mastered the various stitches. Now ten years later I am retired and wanting to experiment with other techniques of embroidery. I have bought Yvette Stanton’s book on Portuguese whitework and already have the material and thread to start teaching myself once I have finished the drawn thread sampler I am doing at present which will be a ‘been there done that’ form of embroidery. The RSN Whitework book you are giving away would be a welcome addition to help me combine both forms of whitework and hopefully achieve the same standard of accomplishment as hardanger has. I just know by looking through Yvette’s book that I am going to enjoy it.
Hola, me gustaria participar en tu regalo, empiezo diciendote que soy nueva en el arte de bordado, estoy apasionada aprendiendo tus puntadas porque en realidad las que estoy haciendo me han parecido faciles, pero es que tus videos son muy didacticos. Gracias por compartir.
Hi
Thank you, Mary, for such a lovely give-a-way and an opportunity to win. Honestly, my favourite type of needlework is whatever I am currently working on. That’s the great thing about embroidery – there are so many techniques and stitches that it is always interesting and there is always something new to learn. It never gets stale. Whitework is a technique I admire and would really like to learn. This book looks like a great place to start. Thanks again.
That’s a really tough question! One day it may be hardanger, another counted canvas, then another day counted thread, etc. I love them all because they are hand work which is becoming a lost art! Thanks so much for indulging us with all the great giveaways!
I am hooked to doing Hardanger!
i only learnt how to do it at the begining of this year. i greatly enjoy the challenge!
and getting it just right.
kind regards michelle
I guess I am an all around surface embroidery nut because I do like playing with all kinds of threads, colors, textures, stitches and fabrics. I also love to learn new techniques too.
Mary, Thank you for the chance to win this wonderful book! I’ve had the most experience with counted cross stitch and I’ve embroidered a few baby daygowns. However, my first love is whitework! Unrequited love: I’ve looked at beautiful pieces in books and in real life, and I admire the visual texture, but so far,nary a stitch. Well, that’s not quite true. This summer I began a whitework sampler, but I’ve miles to go yet. I can’t decide which kind of whitework I like best; I would like to learn how to do them all! Thank you for all you share with us – and thanks again for your generous giveaway.
Your blog is such an inspiration! I love all handwork, at least all I have tried so far:-)! One of my favorites so far is redwork. I really enjoy the tone on tone. I am British born, but we moved when I was 3, so I loved finding both the book and Royal society on your site. Thank you for all your videos, they are wonderful to watch! As a visual learner I am eager to try each one.
My favourite technique is hardanger, I feel so relaxed as I stitch. My first piece was many many years ago, and I can remember being away for easter break at the beach and being quite addicted to seeing the pattern grow!
regards
Julie N
DID I ALREADY ENTER THIS? I APOLOGIZE IF I DID.
Anyway, whitework is something I have always been fascinated with; in fact, I have already requested this book for Christmas from my family, as I read your review and it looks wonderful. I would love to win it!! Thank you for this opportunity.
Lyn Procopio
Lakewood, NJ 08701
I love all needlework so much and it’s really difficult to decide what my favorite is. Having to make that choice, I am going to select cross stitch. There, I’ve said it.
Cross stitch is comfortable, it’s organized and it’s so lovely with all of the shading and highlights. Now that the trend is to use shiny threads and delicious little beads and sweet charms, it’s even more exciting.
Having said all of that, I’m still going to continue with all of my loves and enjoy them all to the fullest.
Thank you for this site. I visit every day and just love your videos. Your writing is always so conversational, I feel like I’m sitting across the table with you.
Linda
Whitework has always been special to me. Why? It just looks so good on tablecloths, bed covers etc. Would love to have this book, if I don’t win it, I will surely buy it!