A weft yarn

Elephants: Mother and son

Date: March 2013

So, after a week's stitching adventures with the elephants I've managed to make good progress on the mother elephant's trunk and front leg. I've also put some shading in under the baby's trunk as well. 

In Jenny McWhinney's notes you are given a picture of her finished embroidery (which looks amazing) and some drawings of the elephants, with stitching instructions. I've mentioned before that I like to work closely with Jenny's images as I think this will give me the most pleasing result. I feel that I still have so much to learn about threadpainting that I'm really keen to just follow the master's instructions.

I love the way the little elephant peeps out from under his mother. Some time ago, I decided the baby elephant was a boy. It just kind of suited me. My first born is a son. So, if this is the elephant mother's first born then it is a son.

We're big fans of the David Attenborough series of nature documentaries and, probably some time in the early 1990s, I remember seeing footage of a mother elephant waiting with her new born baby, who struggled to stand. There were quite a few anxious moments of footage and it seemed uncertain if he'd get it together. The herd wants to move on and eventually they do start moving out, but she stays with him and encourages him. He manages to stand but, in my memory, it is a long time before he is successful. In the documentary you hear the elephant experts theorizing that he was a large baby and the way his legs were folded in the womb resulted in them not being able to stretch out and support his weight. It is a great relief when finally he stands, supports his weight, and can slowly walk with Mum. I tried to find the footage through an internet search and this was the closest I could find > a gif on Reddit. Without the whole context of the film, I can't quite tell if this is the same story. And be warned, it is Reddit, so there can be some... ah...strong language in the comments.   Mother elephant lays down to encourage her new born who can't stand yet.   

We subscribe to National Geographic and I still have the magazine delivered in its printed form, but will sometimes also download and read the articles on the iPad as well. In the September 2015 magazine, there was an interesting and challenging story about the ivory trade in Africa. It is challenging to read how the trade takes its toll on humans as well as elephants. Much of the poaching is taking place in Uganda and Kenya, and the ivory is then trucked through Sudan, to reach sea ports, on its way to overseas markets. As the poaching is intricately caught up with the warlordism impacting on these countries, the article provides many details of Uganda's key warlord, Kony, and his crimes against humanity. Reading it isn't for the faint of heart but that is nothing compared to the courage that it takes to defend Elephants against poachers, or even the courage of being an investigative journalist, or more importantly, the courage to put your life back together after the violence that is dealt out by Kony's gangs.

My kids have this expression they use with me....'wow, that escalated quickly'. Not quite sure how we got from embroidery to disturbing tales of violence and death. Never a dull moment here at A Weft Yarn. To end on an uplifting note, as in there is still good in the world, you can always check out this fabulous site.

 

 

Previous posts

Return of the Elephant (February 2013)

Zebras Finished (February 2013)

Progress on Threadpainting Zebras (July 2012)

Zebras have got legs: African blanket (June 21, 2012)

African blanket: Threadpainting Zebras (April 12, 2012)

Thread painting elephants - Samburu blanket - animal number 2 (September 15, 2011)

There's an elephant on my sofa (August 30, 2011)

Samburu blanket thread painting: Giraffes (June 18, 2011)

Giraffes, Africa, Blankets - embroidery - thread painting (March 23, 2011)

GAAA - Ginette Belanger block

Date: March 2013

Wow. Did we even remember I was knitting this afghan? I love the look of cables with all their structural patterns and rhythmic complexity. By Australian standards, we have a reasonably cold winter, so the idea of a warm cozy blanket for sofa surfing sounds appealing. The Cascade 220 wool is lovely and soft and bouncy and forgiving. Its all good folks. There's really no need to leave this gorgeous project in the cupboard.

In March 2013, I spent 20 hours knitting and have made another Aran square, my fifth. This time, the Ginette Belanger block. I choose to make an 'easy' one and I forgot to check ravelry before I started. It went really smoothly thank goodness. I guess I felt I needed some confidence boosting after my last few experiences.

I have chosen not to block as I go but in some ways I regret that because I'm sure that, while I love this gorgeous block, it will look even prettier once neat. And one more niggly little thing - I photographed this Ginette Belanger block, loaded it up to the internet and then noticed the block is positioned upside down. aack. Doesn't warrant a redo. You'll see it all the right way around, and nicely blocked in some future time, in a universe far far away.

 

One thing I did notice was that I made a note to myself to leave the highlighter tape at the row TO DO. At some stage I came back to the project and found it tricky to work out if the place where I had left the tape, was where I had finished knitting or where I was meant to start knitting. Also was I meant to pick up knitting from the text above the highlighter tape or the text below?  It obviously doesn't matter which way you do it, as long as it makes sense to you and is consistent. As I have a rotation system for my projects, I do put things down and it can take quite some time before I come back to them, particularly if life happens, so its not really surprising that some of my aide memoirs are actually aide confusement.

 

 

Previous posts

GAAA - Janet Martin's block finished (September 2012)

GAAA - Jay Campbell block (October 2011)

Great American Aran Afghan (September 2011)

Oregon Vest: way out west (of the cupboard)

Date: March 2013

Last time we saw this I had done one complete row of the little skeleton trees. You know the little motifs that look like pine trees, that sit just above the colourful v-shapes on the bottom band of the vest.

 

Anyway, by the time I had finished a 10 hour stint on the Oregon vest in March 2013, I had another band of pine trees. Perhaps a Douglas Fir tree - image below from this site.

 Alice Starmore at Virtual Yarns describes how :

I come from a landscape that is virtually treeless, so the forests of Oregon left a lasting impression on me. The memories of a Spring road trip along the Mackenzie River are particularly vivid, and inspired this popular and enduring design. To recreate those memories I designed stylised firs for the main pattern; they evoke the dense, high backdrop of conifers that blocked out the sky.

Well my little forest of fair isle douglas fir trees is growing. One day, I'd like to see those forests in their natural habitat. I'd also like to walk around and smell them. The Australian bush is so distinctive with its hot dry Eucalyptus oil scent. I'm sure the forests of Oregon are completely different. One day.

Previous posts

Oregon Vest: I've been missing you (June 2012)

Knitting through the Australian Open (February 2012)

Progress on the Oregon Vest - Alice Starmore (October 2011)

Alice Starmore - Oregon vest - a start (September 2011)

Alice Starmore - Oregon vest - swatch (June 2011)

Fair Isle Cowl progress (April 2011)

My next project - Alice Starmore (March 2011)

 

Kaffe applique: Dolly quilt block

Date: March 2013

This dolly quilt was a kit from February 2011 and about that time Kaffe Fassett was visiting Australia, calling on the ladies at Material Obsession, and running all sorts of workshops. He was even in Canberra and there's a great story over on Buttontree Lane about her amazing experiences in colour, while at a workshop with Brandon Mably and Kaffe Fassett. I know, right.

The notes from this dolly kit tell us that:

In honour of Kaffe Fassett's visit to us this month, we bring you this beautiful miniature version of Kaffe's Folk Art quilt from his book "Kaffe Fasett's V&A Quilts" link here >  Kaffe Fassett's Museum Quilts published in 2005

If you are wondering what Kaffe's full sized quilt looks like, this blog, with the fabulous title of Fabadashery, gives a review in 2013 of a Kaffe Fassett quilt exhibition and features the Folk Art quilt. Another quilting blog has some fantastic photos of the same exhibition and also has a lovely story about Welsh quilting and its revival. I read a fascinating story in Selvedge volume 33 (March/April 2010), pages 39 onwards (if you have a subscription you can view it online) about welsh quilting from the early 20C (1920s or so). Worth a read if you love historical tidbits about textiles and women's lives and amazing embroidery skills.

Like 99% of the textile world, I love Kaffe's fabrics, and one of the fabrics that we'll use in the dolly quilt is from Kaffe's Folk Art line. We're using the orange one, though it comes in a full range including, blues and pinks and greens.

As part of my process, I laid out the templates on the fabrics and started experimenting to make my selection.

Kaffe drew his inspiration from this coverlet in the Victoria and Albert Museum - the story of which is quite interesting in its own right and seems to date from 1850s onwards. Given our modern sensibilities I'm always so interested to see how drab are the colours of the fabrics from the past...it takes some adjusting to get my eye in and to see the details and liveliness of the prints. I have the same reaction when I see the authentically reproduced Civil War quilts as well.

Me - I'm a girl of the Kaffe Fassett Glorious Colour brigade. Though I do love this story of inspiration, reinvention, and our links to the past. And, I'm thinking based on the details of the 1850s inspiration quilt that the meaning attributed to the images is potentially political (probably anti-slave trading) and certainly thoughtful. I told my daughter who was interested in the story of this dolly quilt, that these images: hearts, shoes, boots, teapots, jugs, vases, houses were everyday items that signified powerful love of domesticity and even material wealth, done by the folk of the time. So, not high art but material culture and its relevance and meaning to our lives.

Here's a copy of the template for Kaffe's full sized quilt, showing which of the images have been used on the dolly quilt version. I got this image from google books.

There's a lot of mess tools used in quilting and one of the more unexpected ones to me was the toothpick, of which 3 arrived with the kit. There's a prize if you can find it in the mess below.

 The instructions told us to:

trim your applique pieces to a scant 16th of an inch and clip curves and finger press. To position your shapes either tack, glue or pin in place. [I just pinned]. Revealing the toothpick mystery: use it to turn the fabric under as you are slip stitching (or blind stitching). Hold it in your mouth as the slight moisture makes it work even more effectively! Another tip learned from Becky Goldsmith last year.

It worked a treat and I loved hand appliqueing. It was funny though. I was kind of reluctant to hand sew the quilt because I do so much hand work through my needlepoint and embroidery. However, I loved this little project and it was my favourite quilt block.

In the photo below, I've managed to applique most of the images to the dolly quilt. This was 11 straight hours of hand sewing with no one home. They were all away and I spent the time sitting and sewing - Jane Austen by day, and Godfather by night. I'm really pleased with the progress on it, though somewhat worn out by the obsessive appliqueing. My technique has improved from the Ode to Susan but is still a long way off quilt show standard.

And if you are interested in other versions of this quilt, you might like the story over here from 2009 > at Fun with Barb where a couple of women use Kaffe's Folk Art quilt as inspiration.

My sampler dolly quilt blocks are done and now I just need to give each a border, trim to a standard size, sew them together with a plain inner border, and place the butterflies fabric around the outside as the outer border. So, yeah. Done. (snicker).

 

Previous Posts

 

Ode to Susan McCord: Dolly quilt block (March 2013) 

Mini Fractured: Dolly quilt block finished (March 2013)

Tanglewood: Dolly quilt block finished (March 2013)

Mini Fractured: Dolly quilt block started (May 2012)

Tanglewood: Dolly quilt block started (May 2012)

Bush Rose: Dolly quilt block: from Material Obsession (May 2012)

Zig Zag: Dolly Quilt: from Material Obsession (May 2012)

Ode to Susan McCord: Dolly quilt block started

Date: March 2013

With four blocks done, it is time to start one of the two blocks that has some hand sewing on it. This Material Obsession dolly quilt is a tribute to Susan McCord's Trailing Vines quilt. This was all new to me, so I was really keen to dive in and read the project notes.

Looking back at the women who have shaped our quilting destiny is a favourite activity for many. One amazing woman was Susan McCord (1829-1909). She was "an ordinary housewife with extraordinary quilting genius", Her quilts are featured in Quilts of the Henry Ford, which is a lovely book full of examples of stunning traditional style quilts.

The McCord Vine Quilt is my all time favourite quilt and is made of nearly 4,000 strip pieced leaves appliqued in 13 vine panels...by candle light and with five children... I have always wanted to make her quilt but a dolly version might have to suffice for now. So here is an achievable McCord Vine Quilt, minus about 3,970 leaves.

Wow. Love it, and off we go.....

It is a fantastic technique for using up scraps of fabric and as we know, you can become attached to favourite bits of fabric that hold special meaning. And you could just want to be resourceful and make sure you waste not. As this is a sampler project, I could see myself using this technique in future but for now the kit came with quite a collection of small bits of fabric off cuts. These we were instructed to cut into uniform widths, something that Susan did not do on her quilt, and then sew them together into four strips per mini block.

When I thought about the historical references for this quilt I was a bit curious that it had a reference to Henry Ford. Images of Model T Fords did not seem particularly resonant with quilting. And certainly, before I started this little project, I didn't know much about the Henry Ford Museum, but if you go to their blog you'll find this explanation.

Pretty cool stuff.

I then did a search on their blog for quilts and found an interesting article for quilt researchers. Not sure I'm as interested in diving into this form of textile research, as I'm spending so much of my time on 17C embroidery, but just in case, and for a future date, I'll add this mental note in here > the quilt index may be worth a look. On first glance, its a pretty serious tool for research, with detailed search fields intended for academics. But then if you roam around and look at the themed galleries Contemporary Massachusetts Quilts, Quilts and Mathematics in Education, Christmas quilts....its the usual rich diversity. A lifetime could be spent here. In the meantime, iron your little 4 strip patches.

Then make a little plastic template of a leaf, buy a silver gel pen, and trace the pattern onto your 4 strip patches.

Then do not absorb the information that tells you to leave a seam allowance. Cut out your leaves on the gel pen line and when trying to applique them, notice they are too small. Start again. This time, leave a seam allowance. Keep all the discard leaves in your note book to remind you (besides they are pretty). Again, I had plenty of fabric in the original kit to do this, and even though I do not quilt a lot, I already have a great scrap collection. So, then you sew the rick rack on and in the photo below I have placed the leaves, but not yet sewn them down. It isn't the final placement, rather just a see....this is what it will look like.

Before I show you my finished product, and just in case you are interested in seeing other wonderful tributes, back in 2011, there was a quilt-a-long for a version of Susan McCord's Trailing Vines quilt. There are some interesting links in the post, if this is your thing.  Here is another lovely tribute to the Vine quilt of Susan McCord's and finally, Barbara Brackman has an interesting article about Susan McCord on her blog. The article discusses a new quilt of Susan's that had just been discovered, as well as some interesting variations on Susan's technique.

As Barbara says " She seems to have invented the string-pieced applique vine....... Nobody else used it---until of course we all made our own."

Glad my cat likes it.

 

Previous Posts

Mini Fractured: Dolly quilt block finished (March 2013) 

Tanglewood: Dolly quilt block finished (March 2013)

Mini Fractured: Dolly quilt block started (May 2012)

Tanglewood: Dolly quilt block started (May 2012)

Bush Rose: Dolly quilt block: from Material Obsession (May 2012)

Zig Zag: Dolly Quilt: from Material Obsession (May 2012)

 

Mini Fractured: Dolly quilt block finished

Date: March 2013

I started this block in April 2012 and then packed it away. I pulled it out again in March 2013 and finished it on a weekend over two days. It was lots of fun watching the pattern come together and it was a family favourite as I sewed it. I received visits at the sewing machine and everyone, Nick, Tess and Tim all loved it and kept an eye on my progress, commenting as it went "oh that looks good".

The instructions provide you with all the cutting and piecing details. The cutting was reasonably straightforward, and certainly there was more than enough fabric so any mistakes were easily re-cut without any dramas.

The thing that I found complicated was sewing the little rectangles together so that they were 'square', if you get my meaning. When I was sewing the angled seam, in way too many of my little rectangles, I'd end up with one side slightly higher than the other. Eventually I worked out that if I aligned my two pieces with one side poking out by about 1/4 inch then it sewed perfectly. I made a little mental note on the whiteboard above my sewing machine.

Once I'd sorted that little technique out I was able to sew the rectangles together quite quickly, in a little string. In my notes, I recorded that I had to make 156 rectangles.

Then you place the rectangles together in a set pattern (one A, one AR, two B, two BR etc, etc). As I did that I noticed that I'd always cut my originals on an angle moving to the right but sometimes you need to cut on an angle moving to the left. So, back to the cutting and sewing, but as mentioned, I had plenty of fabric and ended up with some left over as well. No dramas.

You then sew the patterns into little 9 blocks. The 9 blocks are gathered into a 12 block pattern and then a 2 block top and bottom is added to that.

 Below are all the individual 9 blocks laid out ready to go. As in ready to be sewn into the final pattern. The photos taken without the flash given a better impression of the pale green colour that is the contrasting fabric.

 And in the photo below its all sewn together: mini fractured. I love it. I've spoken about my approach to quilting as one of learning and trying not to be too fussed. So I wasn't after perfection. I didn't need to lines to join exactly spot on, rather I wanted to enjoy myself, learn some quilting skills and put together something that I liked. I'm really happy with the outcome below.

 

And then I sewed the border of black and white polka dots and it really popped (snicker).

 

And finally added it to its companions. 4 of the 6 blocks done! You'll also notice my border fabric right next to the mini fractured block. It is an Australian print, Under the Australian sun 2, Butterflies on Charcoal. Leesa Chandler for Robert Kaufman. I bought one metre of it from Hobbysew on special and the rest from the quilt shop at Gold Creek. It feels like this Dolly quilt sampler is on its way.

 

Previous Posts

Tanglewood: Dolly quilt block finished (March 2013)

Mini Fractured: Dolly quilt block started (May 2012)

Tanglewood: Dolly quilt block started (May 2012)

Bush Rose: Dolly quilt block: from Material Obsession (May 2012)

Zig Zag: Dolly Quilt: from Material Obsession (May 2012)

Tanglewood: Dolly quilt block finished

Date: March 2013

Ah, that's looking better. Last we saw this it was 'learning experience'. Now, it is nicely pressed and ready for show and tell. The missing white fabric was purchased from Hobbysew in Belconnen and cut and sewn together.

My notes on sewing it say "sewing was very easy. Went together quickly and without any dramas". Check out my seams. I'm really lifting my standards here. Neat. Flat. Much better than my first few attempts.

Did I mention that I love these fabrics? The colours are harmonious and the patterns are organic and yet there are bursts of sympathetic colour.

In life I am quite keen on randomness and on harmony. I think you can have both. When given the opportunity to do random things, like put wedges together to form a column, I just grabbed what came first, made some really minor adjustments (for harmony like) and then sewed them together. I think its because I work in statistics that I like to work with randomness. I love that patterns and repetition just happen accidentally. I love that something like artistic creation requires discipline, precision and control but within that, we can allow for accidents and intuition. Romance and Structure.

Making it neat. Nice.

Then finally, in the photo below you can see that I've completed three of the six blocks. Woo hoo. Loving this process of quilting.

 

Previous Posts

Mini Fractured: Dolly quilt block started (May 2012)

Tanglewood: Dolly quilt block started (May 2012)

Bush Rose: Dolly quilt block: from Material Obsession (May 2012)

Zig Zag: Dolly Quilt: from Material Obsession (May 2012)

Beaded Christmas Decoration: Cracker Box Kit: Rhapsody in Blue

Date: March 2013

I am going to share some less than perfect photos of my work in progress.

I started Rhapsody in Blue, my first cracker box christmas decoration kit, in earnest in March 2013. Previously I had worked out that I needed to be at a table and that it involved a lot of ancillary equipment: wide-mouthed jugs, water for the glue syringe, hairdryer etc. Pleh. This is a lot harder than the other kits we've done. When I was doing those kits with the children (during the primary school years we made somewhere between 12-14 kits), we always started out at a table. Then when the children went to bed, I'd put in a few hours in front of the television, making up pins, and pushing pins into little styrofoam shapes. I bought a small folded plastic table that would sit on my lap and that seemed to work fine. But these kits are a whole new level. If you're a girl who likes sparkle....well, you've just got to press on.

I was a bit daunted by the lengthy, detailed instructions and I enlarged them on a photocopier. Here's a sample of some instructions.

2) Don't know WHY, but on the royal ball I'm working on now, the EXACT center bottom is that little hole down there! Beats me! Put glue on the back of one end of the wider braid, and push the glue in with your finger; set the glue with your hair dryer. Snip the end so it is "clean" but on a SLANT of course, so you don't cut through a LOOP. [all emphasis in the original]

and then what follows is part A, B, B(twice), C, D, E, F, G, H, I before you move onto step 3)

I must admit the instructions are eccentric and a whole adventure in their own right. Really, I can visualise this guy (I'm sure its a guy), sitting down making this thing and I bet he records his instructions into a tape recorder or, he talks as he does it and his companion takes shorthand, or he pauses and writes it down while he drinks red wine and chats to someone, waving his arms around.  What's not to love? I'm detailed, I'm fussy. I work through issues. I can do this. He's makin' me smile.

Did I mention the paraphernalia? Here's a list of tools that are in the 7 photocopied pages of instructions

1. tape measure
2. Hair dryer
3. damp sponge
4. wide mouth jar or mug
5. glue syringe
6. a pencil
7. nailpunch
8. sharp scissors
9. needle and thread
10. scotch tape
11. single edge razor blade
12. pliers
13. hammer with a claw back
14. sturdy tweezers
15. candle
16. small needle nose pliers

candle?

You've got to work for your art. And finally, got to, got to. share. some. of these instructions:

• Make 16
• Make 16
• Make 16
• Make 16
• Make 16 ahead
• you'll need 10
• make 24
• you'll need a whole mess of these
• thread on 7 thingies
• 3 more sets
• make another dangle EXACTLY like this one

and my all time favourite,

• needle and thread. (Oh, stop complaining!)

Previous posts

Beaded Christmas decorations given with love (December 2011)

Beaded Christmas decorations - teacher's presents (Nov 2011)

 

Leopard door started

Date: March 2013

I'm back on the casket stumpwork trail and have needed to buy a supply of size 28 tapestry needles so that I could progress the casket needlecase a bit faster. The sharp needles that I've been using catch on the 36 count linen and slow me down. Tapestry needles have a blunt end and this makes it easier to slip it into the tiny little hole in between the linen weave. I use a magnifier and light when I stitch and am impressed whenever I hear of anyone who does this stitching without magnification. I ordered the needles from oz stitch and they arrived promptly and I got going.

Towards the end of this stitching episode on the casket needlecase, I receive notification from Amy Mitten that my Mermaid kit is dispatched, March 2013. There's quite a story to this mermaid mirror. By November 2012, I had been in the Cabinets of Curiosity course for about 8 months and had received my first kit, and gotten excited, and started this Casket Needlecase project in lieu of my actual casket. Through my reading on the forum and in the lesson materials, I had settled on my design and it would include a mermaid. They were very common on 17C caskets and I liked the playfulness of the water, the imagery, the grotto, the little precious stones that the girls added to their embroideries. Also, a big fan of swimming, but that's another story.

Anyway, back to the mermaid mirror story, in January 2012, the Needleprint blog announced a competition to design an embroidered mirror. The prize pool was generous. From the blog...

Many of you know that Needleprint was founded with 3 aims to: open up the world of needlework, by making images of needlework more accessible; conserve needlework collections for generations to come; and promote needlework. So today, I have great pleasure in announcing this major Needleprint needlework competition that will have a first prize of £500 (or dollar, euro, yen equivalent). The objective is to design and stitch a cover for a handheld mirror - the sort of mirror you might pop in a handbag.

In September 2012, they announced the finalists. And the standard was breathtaking. I could not be a judge (and not just because I was busy and they didn't ask me). Thankfully, an appropriate panel was established, because I wouldn't have wanted to choose from the talented entries. Perhaps if it was my profession I could but from my suburban pew, they all look pretty marvellous.

Anyway, 1st November 2012 and the winners were announced. Such beautiful work - and - Amy Mitten, who is also in the Cabinets of Curiosity course, won with her Mermaid mirror. We went a bit nuts in the forum chatting about how wonderful it was. Amy then offered it as a kit and class on her website. A few of us were even emailing her before she posted it for offer. Emailing in a loving supportive way, not like some hungry paparazzi hunting down a celebrity.

I opted to have the Mermaid kit sent by cheaper, slower post from Canada as I was aware that this would sit in the cupboard waiting, waiting. Others in the class got started straight away when their kits arrived and I got to enjoy their progress vicariously, for another day. It really is an amazing embroidery project and so appropriate for us casketeers. In the meantime, I'm going to lounge around and pretend to stitch. Channeling this guy below.

 

Previous Posts

Lion door finished (needs lion though) (February 2103)

Summer Progress on the Casket Needlecase (January 2013)

Starting the Casket Needlecase (December 2012)

 

 

The Ferry - pause for Edwardian hat

Date: February 2013

After 10 hours on The Ferry, I have made good progress through the water and now need to do some of the more complex stitching. The top half of the canvas is all impressionistic painterly splashes of highlighted water, mainly done in fine oblique slav and half continental. But as I've largely finished that, I am at the stage where I get to do some hats and some umbrellas and some faces. Eeek.

The pink umbrella in the photo below will be stitched with quite simple stitches but in Marlitt and Decora which is quite a slippery thread. I'm looking forward to adding a bit of colour other than water strokes.

In the photo below are the ostrich plumes of a large Edwardian hat. I will need to stitch them with long and short stitch. I might make a little sampler before I do that. There is quite a bit of movement and fluffiness conveyed in the painting. The hat is quite pretty and the lady in the blue striped dress is certainly the focal point of the painting. So, I would like to do a good and representative job on this part of the picture. No pressure.

In an effort to distract myself from the work at hand I've been googling images. Its clear that Edwardian ladies loved large hats and ostentatious plumes. I'm not sure how long this fashion lasted but when it ended no doubt it was a relief for the ostrich.  Photo below copied from here. 

Photo copied from here. 

 

While the face below seems to have not much detail painted on the canvas, when you look at a print of E Phillips Fox's painting you'll notice lots of details, one of which is that while the young nanny does appear to be more swarthy than the other ladies, she is probably not from one of the French colonies in West Africa. In the painting, her face is in deep shade, cast from the umbrella she carries to protect the baby. Instead, it just looks like, unlike the bourgeois ladies, she didn't wear an enormous hat out while she hung the laundry out, or walked the children in the park, or did the gardening. Again, I think I'll do a little sample before I petit point her face.

And here's the tangle or organisation of water threads.

My companion is resting.

Previous posts

The Ferry: After the annual stitching weekend (October 2012)

The Ferry: Just before the annual stitching weekend (September 2012)

The Ferry (September 2012)

Back to the Ferry (May 2012)

The Ferry tapestry - progress after Tapestry Guild weekend (October, 2011)

The Ferry tapestry - the 2011 September Tapestry weekend (Sept 2011)

The Ferry - E.Phillips Fox - Baxtergraphix Tapestry (April 2011)