AFTER WILLIAM MORRIS!

At long last both of my William's are finished & mounted!

I needed to make a background to mount them on which used both background colours, so I painted a canvas with them using an archanthus leaf (typical of Morris) to tie them together.

Hopefully it will be accepted for the Embroiderers' Guild biennial exhibition this year.

MORE AEMILIA ARS LACE

This flower was a "freebie" from the Italian site of Aemilia Ars of Antonilla Cantelli as a gift to viewers for last Christmas. I enlarged the lower layer & used a darker shade of mauve. The top layer is the original size. Lots of picots here! Good practice!
I love this lace & will do more in the near future.
I am teaching myself this technique from Italian books. I don't speak the language but the diagrams & photos are clear enough to follow.

AEMILIA ARS LACE (ITALIAN NEEDLE LACE)

For some time now I have been teaching myself Aemilia Ars needle lace from Italian books on the subject. It originated in Aemilia in Italy hence its name. I happen to love it. The technique for doing it is quite different from other needle lace & it takes quite a long time to do.

Here you see the completed doily plus a close-up.

I hope to do much more of it now that I am more used to the technique.

I have other pieces which I did earlier which I will post here later. Keep watching.

FISH PICTURE

Here is a photo of a partially stitched picture which when completed, will hang in my newly renovated bathroom. It is a circular design with another fish curved above this one. I took it from an image I found on the net. Watch this space for the completed work!

 TOADSTOOL HOUSE PINCUSHION

I spotted a pattern for this pincushion in Australian,"Embroidery & Cross stitch" Vol 20 no 8, which was designed by Helen Dafter.
I don't usually do a lot of other designers' work, but this appealed to me so here is my take on it with one or two alterations to the design. Helen used silk ribbon which I did not have in my stash so I used DMC thread instead. I made a curved door instead of a rectangular one, & added a curved window beside the door &  doorbell.

 The left side showing the wisteria vine of beads.

 Right side showing the curved window & doorbell.

Slightly off centre showing a bit more of the vine & garden with stepping stones.

 AN ELIZABETHAN DRESS-FORM PINCUSHION

I started embroidering this before the earthquakes 2 1/2 years ago! Now that winter is here I thought now would be a good time to get it out & finish it. Being a retired dress designer/maker the dress-form shape appealed to me. I designed the embroidered patterns which are worked in hand dyed cotton threads on a fine linen. The technique is Elizabethan which I love.
My next project is stylized fish in on a silk background for my bathroom with hopefully a seahorse to follow.

 How lovely to be this flat - back & front!

 And this small!

Dream on!

 STUMPWORK PEACOCK

I worked this peacock quite a while ago before our awful quakes & quite forgot to post it here! I did it in the Stumpwork tecnique but it does not show to advantage here. Used DMC rayon threads plus metallic threads to simulate the shimmer on the peacock's feathers.

 Flowers are also raised like the peacock's body. Each petal worked then applied to the background fabric.

 The tail.

The body & crest on the head.