Sunday 11 December 2016

Sunday Stitch School - Revision: Stitches 1-5

Five lessons of Sunday Stitch School have taught me the following stitches: Anundsjö, Back, Cross, Danish Knot and Ermine. I think it is time for a wee revision. What have I learned, which do I like and how can I use the stitches?
Click on the links for each stitch to read the original posts, learn the stitches and see the result.

Anundsjö Stitch
It is a charming and easy stitch with an interesting historical background. It 'should' look uneven, so it is a very forgiving stitch that you don't need to pay too close attention to. It is most suitable for  depicting plants, thorny stems, bushy pine needles and the like. Maureen of CrazyQstitcher has made a nice sampler of all the stitches and used Anundsjö stitch for cornflowers - the perfect choice in my opinion. This is the more traditional and Swedish style.
Back Stitch
Here is a stitch with emotional pressure. I think it looks best when spaced evenly, although many have reassured me if you make it too even you can just as well stitch by machine. True, true, the beauty of handwork is that you can see it is made by hand. Anyway, my objective was to hone my stitches and I think I have improved. Concentration is the key.
It is the perfect stitch for fine lines, and both Margaret of Margiestitcher and Annet of Fat-Quarter reminded me that it is just the stitch for Redwork.
Cross Stitch
It seems to be the most common of embroidery stitches, one of the first taught in childhood and extremely popular even in Old People's Homes workshops. It is mainly stitched on even weave or Aida or with the help of waste canvas on plain weave.
I learned to keep the threads flat and untwisted on the front and travel neatly on the back. I also learned the Pinhead Stitch for making single Cross Stitches without long threads on the back.
Renee at Living My Dream has a fantastic way of mixing Cross Stitch with statistics.

Danish Knot
This little charming stitch is sometimes called German Stitch. In Ms Totsuka's stitch collection there are 71 versions!; I will learn some of them. As it is basically a detached Palestrina Stitch, they could be used together for a nice knotted embroidery.
Check out the interesting way Chitra of Jizee6687's Weblog has grouped the stitches here.

Ermine Stitch
Named after the ermine's tail, which it resembles, this is an easy, fast and fun stitch. Although it can of course be used on even weave it is lovely as a free form stitch. You can built other stitches on it to make flowers or snowflakes or use it on its own for stars.
You just HAVE to visit Chitra's Jizee6687's Weblog to see her 15 ways of working the Ermine Stitch.

Revision homework:
Use the five stitches on this design of Sunbonnet Sue.

20 comments:

margaret said...

you are sharing these lessons so well you have a natural talent for teaching Queenie so looking forward to seing your Sunbonnet Sue

Queeniepatch said...

Thank you! Fam looking forward to STITCHING Sunbonnet Sue.

Pamela said...

Great summary! I want to join in soon.

carorose said...

I'm looking forward to seeing just how you will use these stitches in this piece. Thanks for sharing.

Queeniepatch said...

This is a Free School so join in when you want and play truant as much as you like.

Queeniepatch said...

I am contemplating the design right now!

Annet said...

Such a great idea to use these stitches on the cute Sunbonnet Sue. Thanks for the link to my blog!

chitra said...

Thanks for the boost on your post. It's a pleasant surprise to see my name. I agree with Margaret, that you have a talent for teaching. your approach is simple and easily reachable. Best wishes on this project.
Thank you,
Chitra

Queeniepatch said...

YOU inspired me to dress up Sue! She now has embroidered shoes, next for the hat....

Queeniepatch said...

The greatest source of inspiration and encouragement comes from bloggers and blog readers, so if you don't mind I want to share your work with others. Now back to Sunbonnet Sue and her fashion.

crazyQstitcher said...

I enjoyed seeing what other ladies did with the stitches and am looking forward to Sunbonnet Sue's new look.

Queeniepatch said...

SHARING one's stitch fun is so much fun, isn't it?
Sunbonnet Sue now has shoes and a hat with decorative embroidery.

Stitching Lady said...

I love your post, Queenie, even if I will not do the sunbonnet task - can you forgive me?

Anonymous said...

I will look forward to seeing sunbonnet sue, you have such a good knowledge of stitches now you should become a teacher yourself

Queeniepatch said...

This 'school' is for ME! Anyone who wants to join in is more than welcome, but it's a free school, there is no punishment for being absent, neglecting homework or running away!

Queeniepatch said...

By blogging about the stitches I learn I think I take the studying more seriously, but I will continue to be the STUDENT, not the teacher!

Renee said...

Your stitching is all fabulous! I love the ornament cards you made. Beautiful! And thank you for sharing the link to Chitra's blog. Her Ermine Stitch samples are gorgeous. I was not expecting to find a link to my blog. Thank you! I must admit, in the past I was a "serial starter" with cross-stitch projects. I would lose interest and they became UFOs. I find that sharing the percentages helps me see there has been progress when it is hard to see any, and it motivates me to get more done so I have new numbers to share. ;) I do need to learn the pinhead stitch. (I am a knotty stitcher...)

Queeniepatch said...

The Pinhead Stitch was a DISCOVERY and it really makes sense when you want to make a sprinkling of Cross Stitches on an otherwise unworked area.
Chitra did all the TAST stitches in a similar way; she bends and stretches and adds and give each stitch a new life.
I agree that the statistic bit encourages one to continue.
Keep up the good work.

FlashinScissors said...

Great summary Queenie! Nice to be able to visit the other ladies and see their versions of these stitches too! I love your tree decoration idea .... I must try to make some for next Christmas!
Barbara x

Queeniepatch said...

Making cards with a strap to hang in the tree and placing them in a window cards is a smart way to make Christmas cards.