Creating an embroidery is an expression of our soul.  Whether it has been easy, complex, a challenge or a joy, each one of our creations is important to us.  We labour over them and when they are completed, we want to launch them into the world with as much finesse as we can muster.  Although we can mount them ourselves, the framing part of cutting mattes, glass and frames someone else has to do.  We just do not have the stock or the equipment to do it.

First, embroideries should be mounted on acid-free foam core board. They need to be mounted grain perfect and secured firmly over the mounting board.  I have covered this process in detail in my ebook, Hand Stitch Recognizable Summer Flowers which is published by ebookIt.  This is not an expensive book and is worth buying just for the instructions on how to do this correctly and easily.  Plus, there is a lot else in the book that you will find useful.

“The Caribou that went ‘that away'” was completed and mounted in the method detailed in my book.  I took it to well-known framers.  First, I was surprised at the limited choice of both mattes and frames but we then made a selection together.  When it came back, the embroidery was not mounted straight within the oval matte.  It was twisted/tilted.  The vertical and horizontal laid work thread lines were not vertical, or horizontal.  It was disappointing to say the least.  I forgot to take a picture of it for you.

Then I took it to a private framer.  She suggested a much darker matte and frame with forest green tones. This works a lot better.  The embroidery now appears as if you are looking out of a window and can see the caribou trail with the trees and the wind blowing the sky and clouds.  She found though, that she could not do a perfect job.  The first framers had glued the mounted embroidery to a backing board and that she was unable to remove that backing board.  She included the light green matte from the first framing.,  You will note that the surrounding 1/2″ to the embroidery is not even.  And that is the way it is and, this is why it is that way.

The embroidery itself is not in good camera focus here because of the depth of the matting.

Why do I tell you this?

Because you need to know and be aware that all framers are not equal.  When you have done your ultra best work, you want to locate someone who will treat you, and your work with the respect that it deserves and do the best they are able for you.

I remember a few years ago that Mary Corbet completed an intricate and difficult piece of gold work.  The framers left a visible fabric pucker on the front of her work.  Her perfect piece was marred.  It had been treated disrespectfully.

I stitched an intricate and difficult piece of white work when I was in my 40s.  The framers made it look good but when we took it apart for reframing with acid-free materials, I found that the edges of the fabric had been stapled to a piece of ordinary and dirty white cardboard.  I was horrified.  I washed the embroidery to remove any destructive particles and remounted it on acid-free foam core board.  It was then framed properly and has been donated to the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design together with my samplers from The Royal School of Needlework.

Be wise. Respect yourself and your achievement. Mount your embroidery yourself which is the only way you will be sure it has been done properly.  It is also cheaper than having the framers do it.  Find the very best framer in your area and make sure they understand how important your work is to you.  Yes, it is expensive.  But after you have put your heart and soul into that embroidery, it is better not to get a second-rate framing job.

P.S.  I think that this embroidery has an atmosphere.  I get a feeling of cold, of spring being around the corner, of something about to happen.  The scene is not static.  How did this happen?  I have no idea.  It just happened! It was a tough one to stitch and I like it better now it is completed and properly framed.

See you again sometime soon.   Ann

This is an experiment.  The background fabric is a fine and lightweight white silk backed with white cotton and all the threads are silk.  I do not usually have the luxury of stitching with silk, but being on the elderly side of life, I wondered what I was saving them for.  Also, my ambitions are greater than energy and this took a very long time. Being experimental, there was also a lot of trial, error and reverse stitching.

Without any lines on the fabric, it was necessary to mark the grain directions with basting threads to give me some sense of space and direction.  The design is made to fit an oval frame with a 1/2″ space between the stitching and the frame.  I became desperate for some stable markings and used a blue ink pen on the right-hand side to mark the frame position.  This was a big mistake.  The marks would have been visible if I had used the original frame.  To cover this ‘ink error’, the framing had to be rethought.  More about mounting and framing later.

The sky is laid work technique using flat silk. The long threads in the sky are vertical and for the frozen pond, they are horizontal.  Both are grain perfect.  The flat silk threads were a gift and I had a limited range of colour as well as a very limited length, ie, barely enough.

The long threads are characteristic of laid work and must be secured with crossing threads.  The direction of these security threads show that the wind is blowing which is normal in the north.  There is some frozen water, the start of the trees and the Inukshuk is laid out on masking tape.  He proved to be too tall and out of proportion for the landscape.

The trees are all stitched with a twisted silk thread which is much easier to work with.  Casual use of fishbone stitch achieved the effect of northern evergreens.  Note the blue in marks!

The Inukshuk is made of jade fragments that were in a bracelet I purchased in Victoria, British Columbia.  The holes through the stones are in any direction making it difficult to attach them to the background as intended.   This one was at least the fourth attempt.  There is a limit on reverse stitching before the fabric is damaged and this damage becomes visible.  The trees generally are stitched unevenly and this was intentional.  The northern forests withstand harsh weather and growth is erratic and the trees are wind sculptured.

The caribou tracks are running stitch which has been whipped in some places.

The next entry will be on the framing of this piece.  It has much to tell us all.

These are exciting times for Faith and her family.  This embroidery, by Adeline, was inherited by her cousin, Bill. Suddenly, the embroideries are in the spotlight and other people, besides the family, are seeing them.  Such is the pleasure of inheriting.  I do not know the title of this one – The Bridge maybe – or the Caravan.  It certainly is not an R.V!

Now for some close-ups.

Adeline used Straight stitch to great effect.  The sky is all horizontal stitching changing from pale blue, cream to the lightest of pinks for a soft sunset. Note the texture in the sky. The distant trees are vertical straight stitching and the tree in the foreground is stitched on top of the sky.  Straight stitch is also my favourite stitch and I use it extensively as it is so adaptable.

The bridge and the water have a peaceful aura about them.  But the whole piece is restful to the eye even though it is full of detail.  Again, Adeline has used stitch direction very effectively.

The caravan is a home possibly for the lady standing on the steps.  I remember caravans such as this roaming the countryside of the Lake District in England during the war years when I was a child.  They would stay in the corner of a farmers field for a few days and then disappear as suddenly as they had appeared. They were definitely gipsies.  They caused no problems that I can remember, except for disappearing chickens.  They lived off the land!   They were not welcome to stay indefinitely.

Notice the barred wooden gate and the footpath beside it.  Interesting!   I am unable to see what the background fabric is but it is possibly tapestry canvas like her other scenic embroideries.  The detail and the subtle colours make me wonder if the threads are cotton floss.  I think that they were available in prewar years.

It is a glimpse into our past history as well as being a clever piece of embroidery and art.

Thank you Adeline, for your art, your stitching and your glimpse into history.  Thank you also to Faith and her cousins for sharing.

Stewart, a cousin of Faith, has sent me a photo of the piece of embroidery he inherited that was stitched by Adeline Atkins.  It is totally different from the pieces that are treasured by Faith.  Adeline was a very talented stitcher and could turn her hand to different types of embroidery expression as you can see.

Maybe this one was a commercial design.  The layout and colours are all well balanced and the result is a really interesting piece of wall arts. If she designed it herself, I am totally impressed.

This bird has an unusual mix of colours but they work well together.  They blend as well as being vivid.  I cannot see, even in an enlargement, if the threads are wool, cotton floss or silk.  Most likely cotton floss as some of the stitching is so fine and generally, wool produces more of an ‘effect’ rather than detail.

The detail and colours in this bird are fascinating.  Note the three white lines on the blue, white french knots on the pink and the inclusion of turquoise.  Wow!

This is the upper right quadrant.  The detail in the tail feathers is amazing and includes whipped running stitch and white french knots. Considering that the background is white, they could sort of ‘disappear’, but they don’t do that.

I am unable to see what the background fabric is but it could be a closely woven cotton such as is used for drapery lining.  But that is only a guess on my part. Linen fabric would be more normal but with linen, the texture and weave would be more apparent.  What you can see here is little black specks in the fabric that are probably age spots.  After all, this embroidery is probably about 90 years old. There are no black pattern lines visible anywhere.

Thank you Stewart, for sending me this.  Would you believe but another stitching by Adeline has surfaced and will be the subject of my next blog.

My fellow stitchers, your work, your creativity is important.  Future generations will treasure your embroideries in the way that Faith and Stewart do.  Know this and make it easy for your heirs and heiresses.  Date and PRINT your name somewhere in the framing of your work and add as much information as you can.  It will be appreciated.  Guessing is fun but it can be terribly wrong.

Adeline, if I may call her that, rather than Mrs Willian Roseborough, lived in Owen Sound which is a small town and farming community on Georgian Bay. This is the eastern part of Lake Huron. She and William were married on Christmas Day in 1877. They had a potato farm and retired from this in 1905. Adeline was killed in a motor car accident in 1940 at the age of 82.

Apparently, Adeline was an artist and a stitcher as well as being a farmers’ wife and mother of nine children. The stitched photo above is entitled Adeline’s House.

Faith, a friend, neighbour and quilter, invited our embroidery group over for tea and to see her great grandmothers embroidered pictures. We were impressed and curious about the two very unusual embroideries that Faith inherited.

Getting photographs was difficult due to them both being glassed for protection and window reflection. Below are close-ups of Adeline’s other embroidery.

The picture above contains a lot of trees which are stitched in different ways.

Trees and sky. Blue trees? But they so effective against the neutral and horizontally stitched sky. Take a close look at the detail.

This is lower in the picture but gives one an idea of how it was stitched.  We think that the fabric used is tapestry canvas. Adeline used casual straight stitching to achieve texture and detail and a dramatic effect.

We also think that the thread is wool which would have been more readily available than silk. The dyes could have been natural. Without taking the framing apart, we have no idea if the threads have faded with time. It was stitched in the 1930s when Adeline would have been in her 70s.

There are two birds standing side by side in the foreground. The stitching of them is quite different from that of the remainder of the picture.  Could they be storks?

I hope that your computer will allow you to enlarge these photos.

Stitching friends! What do you think? These are puzzling and interesting historical treasures.

As an artist, Adeline may have prepainted the canvas herself. If it was a kit from any source, I have never seen anything like this before and I have been around for a very long time.

Your comments and ideas would be most welcome by myself and by Faith.

Hint for posterity.
Write relevant details on the back of your work or include information for future generations. We would have appreciated answers straight from Adeline herself instead of guessing this and supposing that.

Here’s hoping to hear from you!

June 6, 2019 marks the 75 Anniversary of the D – Day landings on the beaches of Normandy.  As we all know, the massive invasion of Allied troops eventually brought a conclusion to the war in Europe.  We owe our lives and our civilization to the sacrifice that so many young men of all nations made during World War ll.  Few of the survivors are still alive.  But we, the following generations, are alive, and we thank all the participants for their courage and the sacrifices they made for us during those years.  We are grateful and honoured to be alive and able to, once again, say thank you to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and all the support staff, both men and women, that made D-Day a success.

The D-Day Museum in Portsmouth, England and has been renovated. It reopened in early 2018.  There you can see artifacts from the war and videos about the war effort and victory.

You will also see the Overlord Embroidery.  Commissioned by Lord Dulverton, designed by Sarah Lawrence, it was stitched by The Royal School of Needlework in the years after they completed the Hastings Embroidery.  It is large and it is graphic in its perspective and detail.  There are articles on the web which include pictures.

There is also the blog I wrote for Remembrance Day November 11 2017 which includes both pictures and information.