Category: Arts

Arts: Embroidery – Shell Cross-Stitch

Erin Penn Leave a comment

TIMELINE: May 2, 2026 – July 17, 2026

The Shell Cross-Stitch Project is about using new tools.

5/2/2026 – The kit: Cotton embroidery thread, precut, Aida cloth (14 count), directions AND a frame with matting and glass. The point of this project is to learn new skills related to sewing. Primarily framing embroidery, which I have never done before though I have framed my painting. If this works out, I will then from the Two Fish with Seaweed canvas-work project which I have completed and have brought all the materials for framing over a month ago but haven’t gathered the bravery to cut it out.

5/2/2026 – For this project, I am using a thread sorter. I’ve never used anything like this before, but it has the PERFECT number of holes to hold all the different threads of this project. I am adoring the magnet in the center to hold the needle as I pull the flosses apart before I thread the needle. I will be using this tool in the future if only to hold the needle instead of sticking it into furniture.

5/5/2026 – I’ve done four nights of work on the project. The threads are really light in color, mostly pastel. The cross-stitch is easy, keeping track of where all the subtle shades need to be stitched less so. Below is pictured both the front and back of the project so far.

   

5/9/2026 Four more nights of work, usually about an hour each, for a total of eight at this point. There is a total of 12 different colors to sew; I am beginning to finish off some.

5/13/2026 Four more nights of sewing complete (upto 12 now). All cross-stitch is complete and now onto the backstitching and the French knots.

5/15/2026 Two nights of sewing done (total nights spent on embroidery was 14). All embroidery complete – the backstitching and French knots. Only things left to do is the framing. We shall see how long that takes. Below is the front and back.

   

7/16/2026 I finally grabbed an hour, and the framing process ending up taking only about fifteen minutes using the kit provided. All framed and ready to hang on the wall.

     

Other Cool Blogs: Cotton is King

Erin Penn 2 Comments

GW Researcher Identifies Oldest Textile Dyed Indigo

With my historic embroidery, for a while the research was “linen and wool, silk when they could get it, but cotton is a modern fabric.” Well, cotton has existed for a long time, why not cotton for embroidery – it is my DMC floss – I WANT IT!!!

Cotton requires hot temperatures and the research was being done in England where wool and linen grew. India was where Cotton was king and until the East India Trading Company started moving it, not much happen fabric-wise in Europe with cotton. But in India, the cotton embroidery, fabric prints, and weaves are amazing throughout their long history.

During the A-to-Z challenge, one of the bloggers did twenty-six days of FABRIC!!! So beautiful. My favorite, of course, is the cotton (https://how-would-you-know.com/a-to-z-challenge-2026-c-fabrics-and-king-cotton/), but other topics about materials and weaves Andrew Wilson covered during the month are equally interesting.

Check them all out here: https://how-would-you-know.com/a-to-z-2026/

Art: Embroidery – The Bargello Boxes

Erin Penn Leave a comment

TIMELINE: 1/15/2026 to 6/17/2026

      

1/15/2026 – My embroidery guild January’s meeting did a simple Bargello square. I always forget how fun and easy canvaswork is. I’ve never had the opportunity to use stretcher bars before, so that was an interesting new skill set. Before hoops and scroll frames have been my go-to. I do like the bars for canvaswork. The guild provided the canvas and thread from its stash. The provided thread was variegated, and I chose two skeins from the mass of randoms passed around: a blue-green mix and a purple-yellow mix.

             

1/18/2026 -Oh, oh!!! I know what I want to do with this random learning piece. I want to make a BOX!!!! The top is done. Now I just need to do it four more times. (The box doesn’t need embroidery on the bottom.) This project is going to take major scrounging. I have three stretchers frames and begged two more off the teacher with the canvas already attached! Five frames in hand, I managed to find two more canvases of the same grid count – same of the canvas is white and some ivory, but I’m covering it up, so that should be fine. Now for the thread, because what I snagged during the lesson won’t be enough for four sides. Found some. I took a picture of the label that came with one of the overdyed threads. I think I am good. (Six hours on the project so far.)

I like the concept of the box, but my autistic side does not like working with variegated threads (no control over the color change). The original concept for the project chosen by the teacher was to use the variegated threads to highlight the textures used, so I am stuck with that. It looks great as a finished project; I just hate WORKING with them.

     

1/26/2026 (10.75 hours; total hours 16.75)– The first two sides of the box are complete. These used the same skeins as the top. A golden-yellow-to-light-lilac mix and a blue-to-green mix. The next two boxes are using two different skeins, but with the same sorts of colors. In this case the green-blue mix is darker and the yellow mix is more chaotic. I started working on them.

           

2/3/2026 (4.5 hours; total hours 21)– All five sides are now complete. Next up, I need to create narrow strips for the lips that will go on the side of the box. I am out of this particular type of canvas, so I need to take the canvas off the frames, cut and finish the sides and assemble the bottom of the box and hopefully enough of the canvas will be viable to make the edges for the lid. Then I will need to design the edges and sew those with the scrounged thread which is beginning to run low. The hardest part, as always, is cutting the embroidery ground cloth to make the final project.

         

6/13/2026 (1 hour; total hours 22) – Remove the embroidery from the frames. Cut out the excess canvas. After that fold over the canvas edge and secure it to the back through sewing. (You can see how this looks in Bargello Box 2.) Pictures of the front and back.

     

5/17/2026 Bargello Box Part 2 – I ordered needle cases. When they arrived, I realized they would be the perfect size for the Bargello Box (whenever I finish assembling it) – three in a box. I had six needlecases.

Oh.no. I need to embroider another box.

I took the old sides off the frames and added canvas to work the new sides. The original box was worked in Watercolor (a type of thread), but I don’t have enough of it laying around to make a complete new box, so instead I will be making this box out of ThreadWorx variegated thread. Canvas stretched; colors chosen. Everything is now ready to rumble!

5/21/2026 All the embroidery will be done in ThreadWorx colors, where the original box had been done in the Watercolor brand. Watercolor is three-strands and the embroidery was worked one strand at a time. While cotton, it acted large and wooly. ThreadWorx is an overdyed cotton brand with six-strands, and I am working the embroidery with five strands for the stitchwork, except for the cross-stitch edge which will be worked in four-strands.

The colors used:

one) Internal lines and cross-stitch edge – Morning Glories 1080.
two) The red/blue sides – Lipstick Red 1090 and Natures Berries 10261.
three) The brown/blue sides – Kaleb’s Cherry Patch 10372 and Midnight Skies 1140.
four) Top will have the mix of these colors.

Today’s picture has all the Internal lines done for all five sides, plus 3/4ths of one of the red/blue sides. This is four days of work, including two meeting nights.

5/25/2026 Continuing a little every day. Five more days plugging along, for a total of nine day, completing one square and starting the next, plus some special work on the lid.

         

5/30/2026 Four more days working on this project. The second square is not complete; I still need to do the cross-stitch edge. Since I am avoiding that, I instead am working on the third square and continue to work on the multicolor top.

6/6/2026 Six more days completed. The second square is now complete with the cross-stitch edge; I got it done while talking to a friend on the phone. Now one to sides three and four, completing one color for them and adding it to the top as well. Onto the final color of the project except for the cross-stitch edging.

   

6/13/2026 Six more days completed. All squares are complete including the cross-stitch edges. I removed the embroidered sides and lid from their frames, cut the excess canvas off. From there I have folded over the sides on four of the five pieces. Pictures are of the front, back, and how the sides will be assembled.

       

6/14/2026 Final day, the box has been assembled. The “lid” ended up being the bottom, so it is more a cup than a box.           

6/17/2026 Final day, the box has been assembled from the yellow/green panels.

Art: Embroidery – B is for Blackwork

Erin Penn 4 Comments

TIMELINE: 2/17/2026-2/22/2026

I will be teaching a blackwork class for my EGA (Embroiderers Guild of America – egausa.org) local chapter in April (2026); specifically I will be teaching the historic Holbein Stitch which most people know as reversible blackwork. For the class I created two samplers based on the wide range of skillsets within my local chapter. Some haven’t ventured beyond simple cross-stitch and others left the safety of the Aida-cloth shore long ago.

The first sampler is for the newer stitchers, worked on 16 point Aida cloth with two-strands of DMC cotton embroidery thread (color is 310, black). The second sampler is on clothing grade linen fabric worked with one strand of the 12-strand Splendor silk thread. I think the linen count is in the fifties, but not sure. I stitched the edges of the linen with Londonderry Linen thread (100-white) and the edges of the Aida with white thread I had around the house; it may have been cotton, polyester, or a blend.

I stitched the Aida version first over a period of three days, about three to four hours.

     

2/17/2026 Here is the front and back of the Aida cloth sampler. The lines are (1) explore the running stitch; (2) learn the Holbein stitch (reversable running stitch); (3) branches off a line which return to the line; (4) wiggling the line (with an example of what every other stitch looks like); (5) mirror the look (6) Combining branches and wiggling; (7) the modern sampler name and date; (8) mirror the acorn line to complete the sample leaving a bonus area for whatever the beginner wants to attempt. In this case, a pattern from a 1568 German woodcut has been chosen.

Oh, I guess I should say the history of each line. The three crosses to explore branches off a line was created by myself. The mirrored crosses (lines 4 and 5) are from a 1533 French woodcut. Likewise the acorn line (6) is a 1533 French woodcut. The letters for the modern sampler name and date were created by me.

As this is a teaching sampler, I didn’t attempt to perfect the reversibility of the project. I wanted something that looked doable by someone with cross-stitch background.

      

2/17-22/2026 Now to do the same thing again, but on linen. I used clothing grade linen and repeated the sampler, but at 40 stitches wide instead of just 20 stitches. This modified the Sampler name and date setup. Again, I didn’t worry about the back as this was a teaching tool. I attended a convention, Fencon, from February 20 to 22 and stitched like mad in during every panel to get this done so I could have it in hand to pump the class at an embroidery retreat on February 28.

Below the (8) the mirror acorn line are all the other available designs I have available as optional for the students. ( 9 ) is just a single line wiggled to create those complicated crosses – 1568 German woodcut; (9) the geometric design is two lines – 1533 French woodcut; (10) is the big advanced student project with four line which MUST match across the linen threads. This requires precise counting of the linen to it pull off. It is based on the Holbein painting “Meyer Madonna.” The original pattern had three vertical repeats, not just two. I charted the design based on the painting. (11) This final one is from a linen sampler used by a tailor to sell their product. It was worked on a 50 thread count ground and embroidered in blue silk. The year around 1345 and likely origin is Egypt. I charted the design based on a picture of the extent embroidery.

A comparison of the width is provided to show the difference cloth can make. The Aida cloth was 16 count. I don’t know what the linen is – 50 threads maybe? Half that thread count because working over two threads. Anyway one is 20 stitches wide and the other is 40 stitches wide.

Finally. I did linen thing with plenty of room leftover should I decide to do other sampler work on linen.

 

Art: Embroidery – In Memory Of

Erin Penn Leave a comment

TIMELINE: 1/18/2026-3/7/2026 (Hours unknown)

I received two Mill House cross-stitch and beadwork kits from a stash redistribution from a friend who passed. All of us in her group got a little bit from her sister. I’ve never worked with this type of kit before, but the friend adored them so I thought I would try. Beadwork AND embroidery in this manner is a little modern to my tastes and I have never worked with Perforated Paper before. Learning process combined with stitching in the memory of a friend.

1/18/2026 I started poking around with he Mouse Kit was work on first. As you can see thread, PERFORATED PAPER, directions, and beads were provided in the kit. The gray face had a big area to stitch at the speed my mind was willing to work.

2/27/2026 The Mouse embroidery and beadwork are complete. Much of the embroidery was done at FenCon (Friday Feb 20- Sunday Feb 22), including the pink beads on the ear. I experimented with how to attach the beads using three different techniques from beadwork I have done in a historic manner. I used technique two on the pink bead on the ear look different from all the rest; it didn’t result in the look the Mill Hill was after, but I like how it looks like an ear piercing so I kept it.

     

1/18/2026 Like the Mouse Kit, the snowflake kit came with beads, embroidery floss, two needles, and instructions (the stork scissors are mine). As mentioned, I inherited this kit from a friend who passed. She had started the Snowflake doing one color of two radials for the snowflake. I will be completing her project for her. It is interesting to lay stitches alongside someone in their memory.

I have previously repaired two quilts made by my grandmother who died before I was born. Matching stitches, reaching back through time and memory with projects worked on by other people is an experience.

 

      

2/27/2026 Completed the Snowflake while at an embroidery retreat (Feb 27-March 1)  with other people who knew the lady. The embroidery was done on Perforated Paper, which I had never worked with before (and likely won’t ever work with again – it constantly caught the thread while I stitched). I sewed the “treasure” bead on the bottom and added the loop as directed to the top. When done I cut out the project as directed by the instructions. – and, yes, cutting a beadwork project on paper is exactly as nerve-wracking as you expect. 3/7/2026 I debated backing it and decided to do another new thing. First time using self-glued felt. Just pull off the packing paper and attached. DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS AFTER CUTTING OUT THE SNOWFLAKE. Oh boy was that a mistake. But what is done is done.

     

3/7/2026 The mouse finishing was more of a challenge in that the instructions didn’t tell how to finish it off except maybe an magnet on the back. I liked the loop on the Snowflake so I recreated it here with a mix of beads from the two kits as I only had exactly this many extra red beads (20!).  Having learned the lesson with the glue-felt, I applied it while the mouse was a square and then cut through both. Much better finish. I should mention, I did a special mix of threads for the tail, breaking from the instructions because the gray by itself was not showing up. Three times I went “off” from the instructions, but I think the end result is worth it.