Thursday 2 October 2008

Assisi work



I recently recieved UrsulaDiamonds towel in the TeaTowel Tour. It is the rebel towel on this tour as instead of following an embroidery theme it is evolving into a sampler of different types of needlework. When I received it it had been stitched on by IamSusie with a cross stitch design and by Timpani-Jax with a blackwork design. I was totally confused, what should I add? So I looked through some embroidery magazines for inspiration and finally a light bulb moment; cross stitch + blackwork = Assisi! Basically Assis work is a type of cross stitch where the main motifs are voided and outlined with either holbein or backstitch (I used both) I used patterns from http://www.dunmanidesigns.co.uk/

It took forever to do and to be honest I'm not sure about the out come but that's possibly as I've been staring at it for so long whilst stitching it! Also because of the symmetrical design I rotated the piece whilst working on it and this led me to make a few mistakes, the crosses don't all sit the same way. I just hope Ursula likes it. I used waste canvas which I tacked onto the towel. It was my first time using waste canvas and the result wasn't as regular as using aida but I think it would probably work better with a less 'filled in' design (or one with fewer straight lines!). It's been fun trying something new but I'm looking forward to getting back on more familiar ground with my next project, I'm sure I'll try Assisi again in the future but with a more modern twist (maybe pixel art, pacman, skulls or logos?)

4 comments:

  1. that looks awesome.. ursla does some amazing work! :)

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  2. I think it's so pretty! I think it would be awesome to see some modern designs worked this way. What embroidery magazines do you read?

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  3. Cool! crossstitch takes forever and a day!

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  4. Thanks gang,
    Lily, I read the following magazines ; Stitch, and Embroidery (both published by the Embroiderers' Guild) and Classic stitches. I find the projects in Stitch and Classic stitches aren't really to my taste (Embroidery is more like an art mag with articles about peoples work) but they are good for picking up new techniques and for when I'm running low on inspiration. Are there any magazines available in America that are more aimed at indie crafters (other than Bust which I already subscribe to)?
    Hopefully I'll get the time to do some modern Assisi soon but as Brook rightly said it takes FOREVER!
    Soph x

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