Friday Homework for Lesson 184: Herringbone Ladder Stitch

On even weave and Aida fabric it is easy to space the basic Back Stitch correctly. Without staggering them properly the 'ladder' lacing does not look good.

Apart from that this is an easy and enjoyable stitch.

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth

What's In A Quilt - 17

 I recently completed my crazy quilt project Crazy for Crazy, and now want to write its history.

Anyone who has seen my other quilts, Trinity Green, Log Cabin Challenge, Mola, Cathedral Windows and so on, would know that I have a liking for teal. I am drawn to any shade with a blue tint in it, but especially the greens, like teal, aqua, turquoise, Tiffany blue, azure, cyan, emerald, aquamarine...

You can understand that block #17 is one of my favourites.

I paired teal with gold which makes it even more beautiful!

Now what fabric treasures do we have here? 

On the right there is a piece of patterned kimono LINEN, stiff and cool, used for summer. 

A small strip of chirimen crepe will show you the beautiful wavy pattern of the weave. 

The gold brocade is from a ball gown, the light blue is a remnant from a pyjamas my husband's aunt made me. 

Then comes the reverse side of the Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth I am stitching my Sunday Stitch School sample stitches on, my followers see the front every week on Friday Homework.

There are two pieces left. Let's begin with the piece at the top. It is obviously a piece with two Japanese prints, but what is the fabric? 

It is a part of a handkerchief I salvaged after it was stained with soy sauce. Soy sauce? What has a hanky to do with soy sauce?

When I was still in primary school in Sweden I often carried a handkerchief to school, or anywhere I went when dressed up. It might have been a plain square, sometimes there was an edge of lace and an embroidered initial. As Kleenex tissues and disposable handkerchiefs were not yet available in Sweden at that time, a handkerchief was used to dry your tears or blow your nose. It was laundered daily, pressed and sometimes even starched.

My father had a handkerchief in the breast pocket of his suit, my mother had one in her handbag.

Then came the new fashion, white shirts and ties were replaced with polo necked sweaters, the handbag became a practical shoulder bag slung across the body to prevent it being snatched, and for children... well the hanky just disappeared as people started using packs of tissues instead.

Both Mum and I kept the handkerchieves as they were so beautiful, but I don't think we used them any more. One day in the 90s I went shopping with my Dad, he had to attend a funeral and needed a white handkerchief for his suit pocket. I can't remember how many shops we visited before at last we found a plain white handkerchief. In your country, can you easily buy a handkerchief these days?

Well in Japan you can! Even in 7-Eleven and kiosks at the train station you can buy a proper cloth hanky! Of course clothing stores and department stores have sections where they sell handkerchieves along with fans and scarves.

Now these handkerchieves are not used to blow your nose. Heaven forbid! That's what Kleenex tissues are for! You use a handkerchief to dry your tears, to wipe the sweat off your brow in summer (you can see the hanky in the pictures, one side is towel the other gauze, it looks almost like a face flannel), to cough or sneeze in elegantly (or use in lieu of a mask in Corona times!), but most of all they are for wiping your hands when using a public restroom. More often than not there are no paper towels, even in hotels and fine restaurants.

So where does the soy sauce come in? Well, the other job of a handkerchief is that of a serviette. In a French restaurant in Japan you might be given a napkin to put on your lap, but in most other eateries there are only small and thin paper serviettes, totally useless for protecting your clothing. That is why everyone carries a handkerchief to catch drops of soy sauce and other spills, (eating with chopsticks can be difficult even for the native).

We talked about funerals, and I am afraid that the final piece of fabric on the octagon block, the piece in the middle, is connected to funeral rites.

The parish church of my childhood has some beautiful ecclesiastical textiles, one of them is a pall. For those who do not know, a pall is a cloth that you cover the coffin with. 

At many funerals the casket is of beautiful wood so it can be shown, and there is an arrangement of flowers on top. In some cases, though, the coffin may be of simpler wood or there are no flowers. Instead a pall is draped over the casket to lessen the severity of the funeral act.

Unfortunately the parish got a new catafalque (the wooden stand the casket is placed upon) which was too high for the pall to cover both the casket and the legs of the catafalque. It was an eyesore.

After the funeral of a family member I decided to make a larger pall and donate it to the parish. It is of teal tweed with a cross in light teal and blue tones and copper.  I used silk and the Flying Geese pattern.

The pall can be viewed here (scroll down to the bottom).

Now back to the octagon block. It has a length of gold lace and gold net. There are light blue beads and gold sequins. I made a David star Shirtwaist button, a Whipped Half Wheel and a circle of beautiful Indian Chermanthy Stitch. I also used Indian Herringbone Stitch, Indian Edging Stitch, German Knotted Braid Stitch and Knotted Running Stitch.

I worked this block between 21st Oct and 16th Dec 2020.

Thank you to Mrs I, Frances, Auntie, Kaoru, Jacquie, Elizabeth, Deepa, Nacka Parish, Titti and my supportive blog readers.

WIPW - Covering Up

 Hello, here is this week's Work In Progress Wednesday report.

Log Cabin Challenge

I quilted 19 blocks, marked in orange on the grid. It has taken me 11 weeks to get this far. How much longer will it take to complete the quilting, I wonder?

Sunday Stitch School Stitch Sampler

The two linear stitch lines I made last week were a bit too thick. Where they joined the thinner lines didn't look good. I covered up the joints with orange circles made with my nifty circle appliqué tool. Then added the following stitches in purple: #176 Buttonhole Cross Stitch for the dots, #96 Buttonholed Fly Stitch (on the left) and #91 Double Fly Stitch (on the right).

May I Suggest ... Monday?

Every Monday I want to promote blog reading. The names of blogs I like have been written on pieces of paper, and today I picked two slips of paper from my box.

Needle 'n Thread

This is one of the most well known websites for hand embroidery. This is no wonder, as Mary Corbet is THE ultimate authority on anything about needles and threads, and how to use them, where to get them, what to do with them... Her knowledge, skills and experience stretch much further than that. She blogs about other tools, including scissors, frames and hoops, lights, storage systems... and books. Yes, when it comes to book reviews it is a good idea to first read Mary Corbet's review, then consider getting the book or not. 

Mary Corbet seems to know all about embroidery, its history, styles and technique. She writes long articles, but with a humours touch, there is nothing heavy or 'academic' about them. 

Here you will also find a number of How To stitch videos, plenty of projects that you can follow or just enjoy looking at, then there are ebooks and kits to buy. From time to time there are Give Aways, too.

For me, the main reason for visiting Needle 'n Thread, though,  is to enjoy the beautiful embroideries of Mary Corbet. Her stitches are SO neat and even, her shading is SO beautiful, the embroideries have a special aura and are a delight to behold.

Like with so many other blogs, it is well worth reading the comments, too - and there are many who do comment. Advice and suggestions are abundant, Mary answered some of them, but other readers also join in the discussions. You can learn A LOT at Needle 'n Thread.

Don't miss this wonderful website!

Let's Learn Embroidery

I recently found this interesting Indian website. It contains a lot of videos for unusual embroidery stitches. These can also be watched on YouTube. I will eventually include some of them in Sunday Stitch School, probably one of the two-coloured stitches!

This blogger has a message: Don't copy or show the content, text, pictures and videos, without giving full credit to the website where you found it. 

As you know no one OWNS a stitch, it is important that we share stitches and have right to use them. However, I believe we should link back to the source where we found a stitch, instructions or a design, and never publish someone else's photographs or instructions and pretend they are our own creations.