I Got to be the Student!

On Saturday I got to take a workshop in Needlelace with the Bridge City Needlearts Guild!  I was so happy to finally attend a class.  That's why I joined the Embroiderer's guild - to learn more forms of embroidery.  I was especially excited about the Needlelace workshop for two reasons.  1 - there's no counting.  Yay!  (I find cross stitch extremely difficult to pay attention to and follow like a map.)  2 - Needlelace is absolutely gorgeous and I try hard not to drool when I see the samples that Ulla brings
to guild meetings for show & tell.  Here are some of the class samples show by the instructors.

Samples - I think Ulla made these.

These are samples of what the instructor has made with Needlelace.

here is an example of the finished project - each petal, stamen, and leaf a separate piece.

To begin, we baste our foundation to work on and then we couch our threads.  We were told to bring crochet cotton.  I brought along my cherished 12 weight variegated cottons on the spool from Wonderfil to see if it would work.  It was AWESOME and just the right weight too!

couching an outline for a petal using 12wt cotton

So far so good.  I can do this.  I like basting and couching.  Next was to begin the 'weaving' or lacemaking.  That's done with a variety of buttonhole stitches and whipstitches (singles, doubles, twisted).  All good.  I can do that.  Bonus - I AM ENJOYING THIS!! : )

I made another, and another.  I finished this leaf outline we were given using my own stitches and my favorite Wonderfil color - it's like a pea soup color.  Looks like an antique green.

it's not perfect, but for a first try I am REALLY happy with what I made!! : )

It was fun experimenting with different stitches and seeing the patterns they created as you build them up row by row.

Class ended and I went home and just kept on working on it here and there on Sunday (in between much gardening, and several bike rides with the kids).  Last night, I sat out on the balcony and stitched until the sun went down. It faces north.  It's a great place to sit in the days when it's too hot outside, and a perfect spot to enjoy summer sunrises and sunsets.  (From here, summer sunrises are in the northeast and the summer sunsets are in the northwest.)

tada!  Me, a needle & thread, some moscato wine and a calm quite evening.

Isn't that pretty!?  The last step in stitching is to buttonhole around the outside to create a pretty finished edge.  Before I started the purple one I thought about flower petals: pansies in particular.  I figured if I put 2 petal templates together, I would get a big double sized petal done in one shot.  The cool thing was that it made the prettiest heart shape.  I just kept working it and then made some deliberate large spaced stitches, and did some every-second-loop stitches too.  Oh wow - that is when I lace look began to appear!!

The finished Needlelace petal pieces, off the foundation papers. 

I am beaming with pride here.  I've been given several little projects to try at this guild over the last year and a half, and never have I been able to finish even one.  I was feeling like a failure, but maybe I'm just not a 'counter'.  So now I can stay?  YAY!! 

I MADE THESE!!!  : )   My first Needlelace project.  : )

I'm excited.  I have a huge pile of solids and variegates to work with.  Oh I am going to enjoy this!

Happy Victoria Day!



ps - if you are looking for more colours, Creative House in Saskatoon sells the entire line of Wonderfil 12 wts long staple cottons - huge 400 m spools for around $8.)  Pictured below are some of my small variegated spools that I use for teaching.



Okay - back to enjoying a day with the family.  ; )

(Linking to The Needle & Thread Network's WIP Wednesday)