Filed under: ANG Delaware's Seashore Chapter, Crazy Quilt/Ribbon Embroidery, Sisters
In the before time (pre-coronavirus days), I had dropped off three pieces to get framed at Romeo’s Fine Arts in Lansdale, PA and a couple of weeks later three more pieces at Repenning Fine Arts in Audubon, NJ. Several of my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter members recommended Pam and Dave at Romeo’s and I decided to try them. But, I’ve been happy with Jim and split my framing between both stores. Note to self: Get pieces framed as you finish them. It feels harder on the pocketbook but it’s really the same. Anyway, . . .
When Romeo’s called saying that the pieces were ready for pick up, I was thrilled. The weather is gorgeous this week and we needed a reason for a road trip. It’s normally an hour going with usual traffic but not today. And, since we were out, we drove further north to a Giant (food store) in Allentown for Lusitania bread and rolls that’s from a local bakery that we like. Pam and Dave met us at the front door for curbside pick up with the pieces wrapped in clear plastic so we could see them. And, we got the last two loaves at Giant. Got steak sandwiches from Pudge’s in Lansdale on the way home. They were still a little warm when we got home but threw them in the oven to heat up and they were fantastic! What a great day.
The one I had framed for ANG’s exhibit at Seminar won’t be posted until after Seminar. But, I will say that Dave did a special mat for the piece and it looks great.
The Crazy Quilt was finished in April of 2018! It was from a class at Edwardian Needle with Betty Pillsbury. I’m very happy with the white and purple mats in a simple white frame. The piece pops. The black you see is shadow from taking the photo outside in the sun.
Pam had a hard time with Sisters, from the pilot class with Nancy Cucci and the good people at ANG Delaware Seashore chapter in Rehobeth, DE. In retrospect, I should have just started over on a different piece of canvas but I didn’t because I thought blocking would fix it. The left side of the canvas was warped oddly. So, despite trying 3 times to block it, the edges don’t line up with the mat on two sides. Pam said if I can’t live with it, she’d try again. But, she got it better than I expected. Now that I look at it, if the outermost silver stitched row were covered, it might be better. What would you do?
Since both pieces had beads, I decided to splurge for museum quality glass. You can’t even tell there is glass in direct sunlight. Photos in the sun are really tough to get with regular glass. I don’t always frame with glass but when I do, I may use museum glass more often. And, I am excited to hear from Jim so we can make another roadtrip.
I got to show off my finished crazy quilt to Pam and others at Edwardian Needle today. Everyone loved it. I had added some ribbon French Knots, strung some beads, placed some lazy daisy stitches along the bottom, and spun a cob web which are typical to crazy quilts as they represent good luck. And, I had excellent luck finding more ribbons and beads to make a second piece. It’s actually not luck because Pam has such an excellent selection. I’ll show my Main Line Stitchers Chapter some of what I learned about beaded and ribbon flowers probably in June. It’ll help reinforce what I learned.
I helped a woman pick an easy, less expensive canvas and Linda helped her pick threads. She never stitched anything and I couldn’t resist helping her (or is enabling the correct word?). As we left, she was being shown how to stitch basketweave. Welcome to our world!
What a wonderful store, owner, employees, and such welcoming patrons. There are even 5 tables for sitting and stitching. Today, 4 of the 5 tables quite full. You can sign up for time with Pam and she’ll help you with your particular canvas. It’s always fun seeing what other people are doing.
Another great day at Edwardian Needle with Betty Pillsbury teaching. The class size increased by 3 today. A nice group of women. All great stitchers. Everyone’s pieces looked wonderful. I switched to a practice canvas because I didn’t have space to practice all of what we’d be going through on my stitched canvas.
I may add a background around the right flower and have it made up into a stand up piece. The center blue arrangement could get an edging stitch and become a bookmark. The left top isn’t finished so not sure what I’ll do with it. And, the beaded sample isn’t enough to do anything with.
As a reminder for me: To make a knot with ribbon, you have to place the needle through the end of the ribbon and then again 1/4″ inside before pulling the needle through the ribbon. If you do it inside to out, you won’t get a knot for anchoring on the back. I learned that firsthand.
Betty Pillsbury is giving us a great class on using ribbons, sequins, and beads. Learning a lot and got a lot done. Pam, from Edwardian Needle, provided a generous kit and Betty brought some more stuff for us to try. I’m the only one that stitched a base and Betty is accommodating me without any problem.
Pam also provided a lovely lunch of salad, eggplant parmesan, sausage/red peppers, roll, and 3 desserts!
Some stitching I did on a practice canvas but most stitching was right on my stitched canvas. Many of the kit’s contents I can use but I am using some of the threads and beads that I brought with me.
Back at November’s Time for Needlepoint Retreat, Pam from Edwardian Needle gave us a line-drawn canvas, a stitch guide, and 2 skeins of Presencia in peach 1468 and light lavender 2687 (other colors were also offered) as a thank you gift for attending. She told us it could be used as a base for a crazy quilt/ribbon class she’d be offering in 2018 (smart marketing idea). I didn’t recognize the name of the teacher and googled her name, Betty Pillsbury. She’s written a book about crazy quilts and has taught beading and ribbon embroidery. She offers stitching how to videos on her website (greenspiralherbs.com). So, I am looking forward to this 2-day class this weekend.
As I was stitching my canvas in the week before the class, I realized that I was running out of the lavender after stitching 2 areas (upper 2 left areas) and nobody sells Presencia around here as far as I know. So, I decided to switch to DMC 210, a slightly darker lavender for the right 2 areas. And, DMC 209, an even darker lavender for the bottom and center areas. I was very surprised by the difference in appearance of the 2 right-sided areas stitched with the same DMC 210 and Presencia 1468. Both use just 2 threads but the top area is so much lighter than the lower area. Switching from a straight stitch to a diagonal stitch really affects the outcome. I’m glad that I ran out of the lavender because it will be a more interesting base now with some variety.
Because of the direction of the stitches, the final result does make the large bottom area (stitched with the darker 209) look more like the upper right (stitched with 210) than the center (stitched with 209). Interesting exercise.
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