Date: January 2013
As I mentioned previously, I've started stitching the Casket Needlecase kit from Thistle Threads. I’m not 100% sure how it got bumped out of the cupboard and into the 10 projects rotation stream, except that the Cabinet of Curiosities course may have prompted me. Once I broke it open and started, I was dismayed by the tiny scale of it: 36 count linen, one strand of silk, what was I thinking? This will take me forever.
I spent about 50 hours over Dec – Jan and have nearly finished the lion door – which is about 1/8th of the total project. My estimate of forever seems accurate. Instead of my usual 10 hour rotation, I ended up spending 50 hours because the room was set up for Christmas and it was too difficult to move frames around and rotate projects. It made for an unbalanced mid-year point but it did mean I gave the casket needlecase a real go. Having come this far, I am now feeling more proficient with the tiny stitches but still there is much stitching to do.
One of the benefits of being in an online specialist learning community is the sharing of tips and tricks and the encouragement and inspiration, and the temptations. In the forum, people discuss the latest in research and study of 17C embroidery. So somehow my library is expanding and I am finding a flutter of little Australia Post Cards that tell me a package is ready to be collected. I am going through an explosion of Casket related book buying: Twixt Art and Nature from Hedgehog Handworks ($100 plus a bonus – I bought a lovely hand turned wooden paperweight with glass dome to house the California Poppy sampler so I can finish it).
I also bought the Thomasina Beck book, Embroidered portraits from Jan Messant, Trish Burr’s Colour Confidence, Canvas Stitches, Boston needlework – all because of the Ning forum – I’m also thinking of buying the Needlelace book....hmm will I resist the purchase to save a bit of money? Sigh.
All of this is great for the mind and soul, maybe not so great for the wallet.
Previous Posts
Starting the Casket Needlecase (December 2012)