One of my dreams someday is returning to America and opening a handwork musuem and gallery. A place where I can display all the pieces I've collected throughout Europe complete with Studio space where classes can be held. I pretend this is already funded and possible, so I justify all my crazy and obsessive purchases by thinking about them as "aquisitions." If I hang in them in my home, I "install" them. Hee hee. In all seriousness, I do feel that handwork is on the brink of extinction. I am trying to do something about it.
Anyway, my latest aquistion (in the Black Forest no less) is this wall hanging of Little Red Riding Hood or as the Germans say "Rotkappchen."
This is seriously one of the finest pieces I now own. It's framed in a gorgeous linen who's thread count is so good I haven't tried to figure it out. What's most interesting to me is the stitching. Instead of a standard needlepoint stitch where you basically have ///// slash after slash, and instead of a traditional cross stitch where you have the slashes crossed back over in the other direction, this seems to be some kind of star stitch. It's been done with floss instead of wool, and it's basically a cross stitch crossed over with an additional plus sign! Each tiny square has four stitches. A cross and then a plus. It's beautiful.
Eventhough I am not someone to make perfect quiltstitches, this is the reason why I still make hand sewn quilts (and yes, eventhough the designs are originally by me, they are still in the traditional sense).
I could make them more quicker by sewing on a sewing machine - but making them by hand is something special. I just love how the needle is going through the fabrics and in the end, I have created a heirloom... Despite my sloppy stitches! :-)
Jacqueline
Posted by: Jacqueline | October 28, 2008 at 03:04 PM