Unbelievably busy!

It just can't possibly be September yet! The summer has flown by and I've gotten some, but not a lot, of embroidery time.

We had family for just under a month staying with us from all over and loved every minute! I got some stitching done and finished a project I'm teaching to the lovely members of the Quinsippi EGA in Quincy, Illinois at the end of September.

This is a new crewelwork piece I designed just for them called "The Queen's Pomegranate". It was inspired by the emblem of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife.

The design changed some as I worked up the model. I was really unhappy with how the lower leaves looked when I stitched them as illustrated in the drawing, above. My initial idea was to have satin stitch on the bottom half and seeding on the top half but that was a non-starter right away. Not enough color or texture in relation to the rest of the piece.

The next rendition of the lower leaves was to use the same techniques I'd used in the crown - namely stem stitch and French knots. That REALLY didn't look good - too busy!

I let the first stem stitch/French knot sit while I worked on the turned over leaf which I decided to work in long and short shading. When it was finished, I was very happy!

As it turned out, shading was the perfect answer. Everyone who's seen the pomegranate comments first on the shading - 'Ooohhh, I love those leaves!". Obviously it works!

Along with embroidering the model, I've been working hard with my graphic designer on upgrading my kits. I am so excited to show you what the completed kits will look like! However, I'm going to let the members of the Quinsippi EGA Chapter see them first. The one thing I'm most proud of is that the kits will not contain disposable plastic.

If you belong to a group who would be interested in having me come to teach, just let me know via email at kathy "at" theunbrokenthread.com. I'd love to hear from you!