A Stitching weekend

For the past few years, I have demonstrated Japanese Embroidery at the Stitch and Creative Crafts show in Manchester. The shows are hard work but good fun and it is always nice to get together with my JE friends. Denise and Jane did not exhibit this year but Denise invited Jane, Sue and me to stay with her so that we did not miss out on a stitching weekend. Unfortunately, Jane was not able to join us.

Since Bridge Between East and West normally gets an outing at the show, I took that with me to stitch. The flowers at the centre of the design are nearly complete; only a few stems and details remain to be done. I decided to make a start on the rows of balls on either side. The balls are all padded but the amount of padding gradually decreases from the largest balls to the smallest. Likewise, although they are all stitched with twisted silk, the number of strands in the twist gradually deceases and the direction of the stitches gradually changes. In order to keep the padding, thread weight and direction of the stitches consistent, I stitched 3 or 4 balls on one side then rotated the frame and stitched the same balls on the opposite side. The balls are very small and did not take long to stitch so I was rotating the frame frequently. It made the stitching rather fragmented but I think it was worthwhile as the finished stitching is nicely consistent.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

We probably spent more time chatting and eating than stitching but had a lovely weekend and are already planning to do it again later in the year.

Happy Stitching