Remember last time I told you that I was zipping along on this project? Well, I finished it over the next two days. It's amazing how quickly you can finish when you're engaged in your work!Above is a photo of the completed linear sampler. I've included all the stitches, some more than once. Those that are repeated are done with different threads so a student could see the different thread changes and the look and feel of the stitch. The 9th, 14th and 16th rows are all stem stitch.In the photo above are two different rows of blanket stitch. The height and width of the stitch is different in each row as is the thread. The 2nd row is blanket stitch in light pink silk and the 5th row is worked in Caron Impressions, a silk and wool blend.In the photo above the last two rows are both quite chunky in texture. The stem stitch (second to bottom row) is done with Paternayan wool and the bottom puffy couching done with 4 strands of Caron's Impression silk and wool blend thread. I've decided I like chunky stitching!As I worked on this piece, I remembered one of the things that first drew me to embroidery - the threads. The colour, the texture and the different qualities of all the fibres we have at our disposal are often my inspiration. When I began this piece, I started by choosing the fabric and the threads. I was drawn to the texture of the linen. I was excited to use so many different kinds of fibres in this piece. Often, when we work on a "real" piece, we use only a very limited number of fibres. In fact, many pieces use only one kind of wool or one kind of silk or one kind of cotton thread. Using multiple fibres is interesting and I'm learning more about how the fibre can define the stitch!Next time my first foray into working with fabric for the City and Guild course!