My City & Guilds course has begun and it's been fun to get started! One of our first assignments was to work an assortment of samplers to demonstrate our knowledge of specific embroidery stitches. The layout or design of the samplers is up to us, but we need to show that we understand how to do the stitches.  In addition to a more traditional stitch sampler, we're to do a contemporary sampler.For my traditional sampler I chose one of my favourite combinations of fabric and threads: a brown even weave linen with white, brown and red cotton floche. This reminds me of the Swiss and French traditional embroideries that I've seen. In fact, I used a similar fabric and the same thread on a project called Winter Linen which you can read about here.Because there is no design, I'm free to play with the different stitches, arranging them as I like on the fabric. Creating different patterns by combining stitches is really fun and something I've not done enough of before.My French knots are of different sizes, determined by how many wraps I make and/or how many strands of thread I use. There is a list of stitches we're to use for this first sampler, only a few are shown here. There isn't a prescribed order or layout of the stitches, so I have complete freedom! Wheee!The second part of each sampler assignment is a contemporary sampler. For this we're to explore different fabrics and threads. We're encouraged to use material that aren't typically used in embroidery. Well, I loved that challenge!I went to the craft/fabric shop nearby looking for boiled wool, thinking that the texture of boiled wool would be interesting. They didn't have the colour I wanted - in fact, they had a very limited colour selection and none of them appealed to me. Rats.Sometimes, what was a frustration turns into an opportunity and, in this case, it appeared in the shape of a roll of cork fabric. Yes, that's right - cork fabric. A super thin layer of cork is fused onto a very light knit backing, creating a flexible and stitch-able cork fabric. How cool is that!The threads I'll be using include Oliver Twist hand dyed rayon threads, some silk yarn left over from making my RSN tassel and twine that's been un-twisted into single strands.The plan is to cluster the stitches in the different natural shapes on the cork fabric, highlighting the natural shapes with the textures of the various threads.The challenge will be stitching onto the cork fabric. It isn't difficult to get a needle through but I imagine holes will be left if I put a stitch in and then take it out so I'll need to be sure of my stitch placement. Tension will also be something to consider since the cork fabric will accept the thread differently from a fabric made of fibre. I'm looking forward to experimenting! Watch this space to see how it all works out and, if you have ANY experience in working with cork fabric, please let me know!