Stitching Idyllic

Stitching by Ann Bernard

Archives for February 2019

by

Needlepoint project that has taken 3 decades to stitch

In 1991, members at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon USA, began a project to create unique needlepoint pew cushions for their sanctuary.  What follows are images and descriptions for some of the hundreds of scenes that are included in cushions.

As the video says it all, I will let you see this amazing project and hear from the stitchers who are involved.  The cushions look wonderful.

My thought is that they are too beautiful to sit on and I hope that they are well protected with Scotchguard.

Needlepoint Pew Cushion Project from Westminster Presbyterian Church

Four women devised a plan to stitch  these unique intricate  needlepoint cushions for the pews in their church.. Only one of the four, however, knew how to needlepoint.  She taught the other three.

Word spread, more teachers were brought in and other members joined the enterprise. Eventually, more than 150 women, a few men and some kids, ranging in age from 12 to 92, joined the Needlepoint Pew Cushion Project.

For nearly 30 years, they worked as a team, daughters and granddaughters taking over when older women died or quit because of failing eyesight. Here in the heart of the city was an old barn-raising group effort. People used their money, time and talents serving a greater good.

The 85 cushions in the sanctuary have been replaced. What remains are the cushions for 10 pews in the balcony.

If all goes as planned, the project will be completed this year.

Amen.

***
The genesis began 5,000 miles from Portland in Hingham, a small town in England.

Enjoy a post from the past

  • THE MAGNA CARTA PANELS
    The Magna Carta Embroidery Panels were commissioned by Runnymede Borough Council and designed and created by Rhoda Nevins, a member …

Judy Wyss, a Westminster member and Portland resident, spent time each year living in Hingham. She attended the town’s church and was taken by the beautiful kneelers used by parishioners during services. Each kneeler featured a needlepoint cushion depicting church history as well as secular subjects including local pubs, landmarks and buildings.

When Wyss returned to Portland one year in the 1980s, she heard that Westminster members were debating what to do about those old brown pew cushions. Wyss told a fellow member what she’d experienced in Hingham. They agreed needlepoint cushions would be grand in Westminster. Two other women heard about the idea, and the four formed a team to make it happen.

Read the full article This gift to a NE Portland church will outlive all who created it.

by

The Changi Quilts

During 1942, mainly between March and August, three signature quilts were made by the women interned by the Japanese in Changi Prison in Singapore.  This is the British Quilt.  Apologies for the quality of the picture but this is what is available.

To see better detail, go to Changi Quilts  – Images

It is now in the possession of the British Red Cross.

When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, the Australian and British troops, along with their families and civilian personal were interned in Changi prison.  The women and children were housed in a separate wing.  As a way of communicating with their men, the women embarked on making these quilts.

They were given a 4″ square of flour bag fabric or sheeting.  Their supply of  threads and needles was limited and treasured. Each woman stitched her name on a square and included an image which would have meaning for her man. For instance, the British quilt shows a mother rabbit with a baby rabbit wearing a blue ribbon collar to indicate that a son had been born in prison.

Supposedly made for the wounded in Changi hospitals, the quilts were actually meant to relieve boredom, to boost morale, and to pass information to other camps.

This is the Australian quilt which was made in the same way and for the same reasons.  It, and the Japanese quilt can both be seen in the Australian War Museum in Canberra.

Enjoy a post from the past

  • Elizabethan Post Script
    Before getting into the Jacobean Embroideries, I thought you would like to see this piece of embroidery. It is labelled …

The Japanese quilt contains no coded messages and there are duplicates of some of the images used in the British and Australian quilts.  The goal was to not offend the Japanese so that quilts would be seen by the husbands and friends of the women.

The squares were assembled with posterity in mind.  On the reverse side is a note advising that the quilts be dry cleaned.

For more information https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/quilt

Olga Henderson is a survivor of the camp and talks about her experience and how a group of girls scrounged the materials and made this quilt.  I hope that you will watch this short video.

We are privileged to be able to see these Embroideries that Record History.  Our thanks to the ladies who were motivated to use needle and thread and to create them.

It seems to me that some time has to lapse between an historical  event and it being recorded by stitchers.  Is anyone stitching a record of the Trump Presidency?  Is there a quilt or tapestry chronicalling the wars in Vietnam or Afghanistan?  If so, I would love to know about them and share them with you.

by

More Spring Flowers.

This is a follow up blog on the last one which featured Spring Flowers that were stitched in adaptations of chain stitch.   This group are all stitched using Straight Stitch.

It has got to the be the most basic of all stitches.  I use it endlessly.  It is my absolute favourite stitch.  When you think about it, it really is the foundation of every stitch in existence.

“You put the needle in.. and then.. you pull the needle out.”                    What direction and where it goes is up to you.

Daffodils  Two shades of yellow  are used here but they are not blended.  Also, the leaves can be taller than the flowers.

Hyacinths have the same structure and use the same stitching technique,  Besides the obvious difference in colours, there are some subtle changes in the basic technique.  The leaves do not grow so tall.

Grape Hyacinths or Muscari.  A quick and bold effect.  These bloom in many different shades of blue.  As long s your choice is congruent with nature, they will be recognizable.

Dandelions.  Everyone has these in their garden!  As they also carpet parks, fields and street verges, they are a sure sign that spring has arrived in the neighbourhood.  Different stitches are combined here. Straight, open chain and leaf stitch.

Primulas.  In our area of Canada, they are an annual and a pot plant.  These use a combination of stitches such as chain stitch for the leaves, straight stitch for the petals plus french knots for the centres.

Enjoy a post from the past

When stitching all the flowers in Hand Stitching Recognizable Spring Flowers, it is essential to use the correct mix of greens threads for the foliage and the correct colours for the blooms as prescribed by Mother Nature.  Otherwise, the flowers will not be recognizable to the human eye.

For more details, see the previous blog entry. Weatherize, it is milder and much of the snow will disappear in the next few days.,