Art vs Craft

<RANT ON>This distinction/arguments has to be my biggest pet peeve ever (and for someone with as many opinions as me, that is saying something!). Without going into a feminist diatribe, why does anything done with a needle and thread, automatically get categorised as craft? Why does anything done with a paint brush get categorised as art? Why is art somehow better than craft?

How can anyone who sees some of the great pieces of historic needlework like the Robes of State of the Order of the Golden Fleece or the Coronation Mantle of Roger II of Sicily or any other that can be named, not consider these as works of art of the highest degree? While they are the product of craftsman they are also the work of artists!!!!! (Are you listening Su?). Art doesn't have to be on a grand scale or hanging on a museum wall, it can be the small works, products of years of skill and love.

Let's face it, a lot of what passes for art these days, in my considered opinion is crap! (A dead sheep, cut in half and stuck in a plastic container filled with formaldehyde is NOT art, it is intellectual pretense of the highest degree). Give me a honest, skillful, artistic bit of needlework any day!</RANT OFF>

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When Embroidery Is Work

I am currently working on a family commission. When you show off your embroidery to everyone who walks in the door, the odds are that eventually, someone will ask you to do something. My Aunt has asked me to make an album cover for her daughters wedding album. I've had plenty of time to do it and had the design pretty much worked out in my head for a couple of months. When I had my leave recently, I had plenty of time to work on it, but not one or two of the materials I needed. Now I have the materials, but a lack of time and more significantly, a lack of motivation. There are so many other things I want to be working on, but I have this which has a deadline looming, so I have come to a standstill. Added to which, Adam has been sick this week which means I takes me about an hour more to get to work and an hour more getting home, then cooking tea and dealing with a sick man, so I'm not really motivated to do any needlework.

I have vowed to try and get most of it done this weekend. It shouldn't really take me that long, once I get started. Technically, I have started. I have marked out the petals of the Oriental Lily and started to stem stitch in the green bit at the base of the petal. Once that is done, I need to sew the felt padding to the silk ground. Then I will applique the petals over the padding. Once that is done, its just a matter of doing the pearl and gold thread border. I am also thinking of doing some diapering in gold thread if its looking a bit plain. Now back to work to pay for the embroidery habit.

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Chateliane Mystery?

Does anyone who has done one of these before have a photo of the finished product? I've been reading about the current one on several blogs and I've just found a shop here in Oz that sells the kits, so I am thinking about signing up for the next one that starts in January next year.

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Survivor: Week 5 - The Worm Turns

Well, well, well - what a difference one person can make. Ryan summed it up best, the smartest thing that Morgan have ever done is get Rupert. Even after only staying a couple of days he made a huge difference. All this time they had a spear gun and never worked out how to use it!!! I don't know how to use one but after 5 weeks, I think I would've played with it a bit and worked it out!! And how lazy is Osten?? He doesn't want to move the shelter until it gets swamped and then only 4 ft! I'm not sure if he is lazy or just more scared of the jungle than he is of the ocean!!

And what was up with Drake and the steering of the boat!! In all fairness, I think even with Rupert, Drake would've lost that challenge. But you gotta love how Rupert handled when Andrew came over for the raid. "You can take whatever you want, but let me show you what I want you to take." and then he gives them food!! And what I great way to store rice, in the gerry can - rodent and moisture free!! So Rupert saves all there good stuff like tarps and pots and Morgan get much needed food, talk about win/win for Rupert!!

I was disappointed they didn't show the Morgan reaction to the food.

And then the immunity challenge. Drake had such a good plan and Michelle blew it. But I have to say, Drake are pretty fair when they vote people off. If it had've been Morgan, Sandra would've been voted off. But Drake placed the blame where it was deserved, with Michelle. Personally, I would rather have seen Shawn or Jon go, but Michelle can't really complain cause she blew the very good game plan they had.

So, not many hints about what happens next week, but the merge is getting closer.

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Fires

I just want to say to anyone affected by the fires in California, my thoughts are with you. We had fires like that last year that burned down about 500 houses in Canberra (Australia's capital) and killed several people. With a bit of luck they will subside quickly.

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Oriental Lilies

Well, finally got down to drawing up the pattern for a wedding album I sort of volunteered to do. Pretty simple, a single, large Oriental lily, petals done in white silk fabric, details of green bits done in silk thread. Then a few leaves in green silk. Then a row of gold cord in a square, then row of pearls then gold again. All on a very pale pink silk ground fabric. Got about three weeks to do it, so I should be alright once I get the embroidery done. Then just need to put padding down, then applique petals on, then gold and pearls!!

No other stitching this weekend.

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Some Not So Light Reading!

Note to self: Bring wheel barrow next time picking up something from Inter Library Loan!

Just got Mrs. Christie's English Medieval Embroidery on ILL. I should've known what to expect but this thing is huge!! All black and white unfortunately but some great diagrams (I love diagrams and Mrs C does them so well!) and lots of technical info. So I will have something to read this weekend. I haven't done any stitching, wasn't feeling 100% last night so it was a night spent in front of the tv.

But I have been good this week, I've been to the gym 3 times so far, and with tommorrow that will make 4 times in the week. Just have to keep it up now.

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Finished Assisi Cloth

Well, I finished off the Assisi cloth. I think it turned out pretty cute. I think I will do some more in this style. Maybe in blue or green. Linn, I pretty much have to put this in the post tommorrow but I would still love the info about edging that you have!

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Near Disaster Averted!

Well, I am working on hemming/finishing off my Assisi table cloth thingy and I nearly completely stuffed it up! I pulled some threads to make turning the hem easier but I didn't leave enough gap between rows. And its started to fray pretty badly on the corners. So I put it down and thought I would come back to it fresh. So I picked it up again last night and the first thing I did was to put some Fray Stop on the offending edges. When that was dry, I ironed the first fold over and then used about a hundred pins to keep it in place. This did the trick. I was able to sew the two, long side hems last night. Intersting working with linen thread, I've never sewn with that before. So tonight I should be able to finish off the two short ends. I am seriously considering putting a nice fancy red silk fringeing around it but I might wait until after the competition to do that, as its not very documentable.

Linn - The Celtic Alphabet is looking good! Will it be available for purchase at some stage? Also, you mention a database for your books, can you give a bit more detail about that? I'm interested in what info you put in and what program you use.

Su - I hope they put this new Henry VIII production on Aussie tv, I am one of those sick people, who if in the right mood enjoys bad costume drama! Although, some can be just plain bad!

Meri - I love the new sampler, a simple, honest piece of work. I believe that we get too caught up in the Victorian ideas about the back of needlework. Yes, a neat back shows a certain level of skill but I think in that neatness, it looses character. It looks just like the rest. It's the problems, knots, missed stitches that show the struggle and effort that went into making something that I am sure the owner was very proud of and which you now appreciate for its simple charm.

Anna - I'm a scrapbooker too!! It's great, I can combine my hobbies, I can make scrapbooks about my needlework projects!

Dani - Yes, you do have regular readers and I'm glad you are feeling better. And yes, I keep the TV on when I am home for the background noise. A totally quiet house freaks me out.

Brenda - Any chance of a picture of the new house?

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Finished Caul

Well, here is the finished caul. I kept a pretty good record of time on this one. It took 40 hours all up. 39 for embroidery and about an hour of construction. I can now officially say that the first part of my Elizabethan outfit is now done!!

Sorry for the delay in posting. Yesterday was my first day back at work and out net was down all morning.

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Survivor: Week 4

Well, another week of Morgan Tribe members, (Ostin in particular) just plain embarassing themselves. Why would someone who obviously isn't comfortable in the water, apply for a Survivor series set on an island? Really, if they don't vote Ostin off at the next tribal council (and I have no doubt it will be them again - unless Drake repeats tonights efforts) I am going to declare Morgan as the dumbest tribe ever on Survivor.

Well, Drake won reward challenge after Ostin nearly drowns, and Tijuana goes swimming without the mask. This means Drake gets the reward (a cool old Singer treadle machine and some material for clothes) and the final piece of the treasure map. It takes a bit of finding, but they eventually get the treasure, a nice assortment of things for around the camp, food, hammock, mosquito net (which they really need, I couldn't believe how many bites Rupert and Christa had!!). Jon, what as whiner! He didn't think the treasure was good enough. I can't believe that he complains so much and spends most of his time drunk!

Burton decides that they should throw the challenge and makes the mistake of trying to get Rupert in on it. After all this time he has no idea of how Rupert thinks. Burton gets a nasty shock when he is the one voted out after they do throw the Immunity Challenge. An interesting twist is allowing Morgan to shanghai one of Drake. They then make the smartest decision they've made in the whole game, they take Rupert. This is good for Rupert because it gets him out of Tribal Council and gives him clean hands on the thrown vote.

I really am going for Rupert at the moment, with Christa as a close second. More next week.

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Mirabilia?

OK, I've just finished reading all my blogs. Mirabilia seems to get alot of mentions, for those that are mad keen Mirabilia fans, what is the attraction?

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Back to the Daily Grind

Well, yesterday was my last day of holidays. I had lots of plans for things I wanted to get done, most of which I of course didn't! I had a big day of Spring cleaning, Adam was SO relieved when he came home to find the dishes done and the kitchen spotless (its his job to do the dishes and he'd been putting it off for a couple of days!). So by the evening I was highly unmotivated but I picked up my blackwork and did the final three hours on it. The embroidery is now complete. All I need to do now is make it up. I will take it to my SCA meeting tomorrow to work on it.

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Book Review: "Art of Embroidery" by Lanto Synge

I've decided to start doing the odd book review when there isn't much in the way of progress to report on specific projects. I will be reviewing new books and also older ones. I don't buy needlework books often so there will be a bit of variety in the topics and ages of the books.

First cab off the rank is "Art of Embroidery: History of Style and Technique" by Lanto Synge. My first comment is this, this is the most expensive book I have ever bought, but worth every cent (I paid $120 Aussie for it, which is about $65US and 40 GBP). This is the type of book that acts as a corner stone to a good specialized collection.

This is a new work, a descendent of his earlier work Antique Needlework published almost 20 years ago. Lanto Synge has had a long association with the Royal School of Needlework in London, so has had access to an extensive collection of needlework, both old and new. This access shows in the depth of styles and techniques covered in this book. This is an historical survey of embroidery through history and not a how-to book.

The book is arranged chronologically, beginning with a general introduction, then moving onto early needlework, Medieval, post-Medieval periods and then by century to the present day. There are side chapters on specific aspects of needlework, of particular interest to me is the chapter on Heraldic embroidery. There are also sections on costume, furniture, Chinese and Indian work.

Each chapter looks at the major stylistic movements of the time and puts embroidery within this as well as wider political, social, economic and religious contexts. For example the impact of the Reformation on embroidery was huge, due to the fact that the Church had always been a major customer for and receiver of commissioned embroidery works. There were also major stylistic changes in the designs and techniques used.

The vast majority of the illustrations are colour, with only a few black and white. There are images on almost every one of the 352 pages, with most having more than one image, in addition there are several full page images which give greater detail of selected pieces (there are even images in the bibliography and index!). In addition to the text and images, there are informative end notes (useful for further research), a 4 page glossary, bibliography, acknowledges for images and finally an index.

For those like myself with an interest in pre-17th century embroidery, a bit more detail. The chapters covering early, medieval, post-medieval and heraldic embroidery take up approximately 78 pages. Images of interest include: full page image of Coptic roundal (silk on linen), full page image of 13th Century German chasuble (good illustration of typical Germanic motifs used for many centurys), 12th Century English mitres (images in black and white), variety of 14th and 15th Century copes - Pienza, Bologna, Syon and Steeple Ashton Copes, mourning cape with heraldic design, 16th Century tent stitch French bed valances and great examples of various uses of heraldic display in embroidery.

Why I Bought the book

My training and passion is history. I love it and that is reflected in my embroidery. My focus (as stated in my blog title) is historical styles and techniques. Because of where I live, I don't have access to any historical works in person, so I rely on books. So when a book like this one comes out, it goes to the top of my lust list. This book has lots of info and pics about a period that doesn't get covered much except in highly specialised books or journals or out of print works that I can't access.

As far as an "Aaahh" moment, it was seeing a whole chapter dedicated to heraldic embroidery. I am involved in the SCA and one of the main applications for embroidery in that context is in heraldic display in various forms. So any book that shows use of embroidery for heraldic display is going to get my attention!

So it was a combination of the above that finally pushed this one over the line. Don't get me wrong. I had to visit the book several times at the book shop before I bought it, but it is a solid bit of historical writing and that is something I am always interested in. On the whole my taste tends to run to about books, not how-to books. I tend to design my own stuff, and I like to be historically accurate as possible, so this sort of book is important in giving me data on which to base my own work. (Thanks to Su for prompting this section).

Details:

• "Art of Embroidery: History of Style and Technique" by Lanto Synge
  
• Hardcover: 352 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.29 x 11.26 x 9.04
  
• Publisher: Antique Collectors Club; (July 2001)
  
• ISBN: 185149359X

How was that? Have I missed anything that you think should be in a book review? Please leave a comment if you would like me to speak to something else about the book.

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Playing with Blog

I really like the layout of this template, but its pretty popular, so I changed the colours when I first started but now I've decided to add some permanent colour to the title bar as well.

I did a couple more hours on the caul, boy, is that taking more time than I thought it would. But it will look great when I make it up. I had planned on putting a simple leaf and vine design on the band but the longer the main part takes, the more likely it will end up plain.

I went and spent a bit of my tax refund today. I want to get more involved in the SCA and that means attending events outside my local area and that means camping. So I bought a 4 person tent on special and a pretty spiffy camp bed. I only like slumming it so much!! They pack down pretty small so I should have no trouble carrying them.

I also had a quick lesson at the sewing machine shop. When my grandmother died this year, she left me a bit of money, so I invested in a decent sewing machine. I got a couple of quilting attachments with it so today was a lesson on putting them on and using them. I usually do all my quilting totally by hand but I figure if I ever need to knock up a small project, that will be the way to go.

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Caul

Small amount of progress. I spent most of yesterday listing stuff on ebay, so not much time for needlework. I am going to work on a corset today, just to see how it goes. Then maybe some sewing this afternoon.

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Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

If you are a Survivor addict like me, you should recognize the above words. I was going to make a serparate Survivor blog (anyone out there want to make a group Survivor blog?), but I think its probably easier if I just put my thoughts here. I will make a note in the title if the post is Survivor related so those not interested can skip it. Be warned, there are spoilers relating to Week 3 below.

Firstly, I'm in Australia so we are a couple of weeks behind the USA. I makes life pretty hard trying to avoid spoilers, but it can be done. I won't worry about going over the first couple of weeks, except to say I think that the tone for the whole series was set in the opening sequences in the village. Even taking into account the advantage gained by Sandra's language skills, Drake just handled the situation so much better than Morgan, who were running around like chooks with the heads chopped off.

And last night, Week 3, Morgan continued there self-destructive ways. Firstly, why keep someone on the island when they don't want to be there? They seem to have this idea that Osten is this super strong athlete type. Well, that was pretty much disproved when he got beaten by the middle aged, over weight guy in a tie dye shirt and skirt!! Don't get me wrong, I love Rupert. I think he has much more strength of will than Osten, who seems to be one of those people who just cruises through life. I think Rupert has a bit more life experience and it showed in the challenge last night, which despite the obvious, was not about strength of body but strength of will. It wasn't even a fair contest.

Then, they vote off Lillian!! Yes, not the best in a physical challenge but they get rid of one of their hardest workers. I think the most telling comment of the night came from Armani Andrew. He still thinks they are in a strong position because they have suffered and that Drake will collapse in a heap the first time they loose a challenge! Talk about denial. He also thinks Drake have the same provisions and stuff as Morgan, boy are they in for a shock when (as if!!) they get to raid Drake after a reward challenge.

I think that after 6 survivors (I missed the 5th one because they aired a stupid Australian survivor instead, talk about a turkey, it bombed in the ratings, there was talk of sponsors suing Channel 9 because ratings were so poor!!), Morgan are going to go against the trend. Usually, the tribe that goes into the merge with the least numbers, loosing the first few challenages, actually ends up doing well, but I just can't see that happening this time. Morgan are already down to only 5 players with a possible merge weeks away. Even Jeff can't believe how bad they are doing.

Ads for next week look interesting. A possible thrown challenge? Reward or immunity? And the supposedly strong Osten nearly drowning??

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Nearly Done

This is the caul at 30 hours of work. I think another 3 or 4 should get all the embroidery done. I am still feeling pretty bad, the sore throat has developed into a nasty cough as well. I also did a bit more on my LOG pouch yesterday. I have now finished all the embroidery on that. When I finish the embroidery on the caul, I am having a make up day. I will be able to make the caul up, put the LOG pouch together and do the hem on my Assisi runner. That should be a good day, getting everything finished.

I am on my last week of holidays and I haven't gotten as much done as I wanted. But doing nothing is probably better for me anyway!! I tried again to make a bodice for a dress yesterday, another disaster, I REALLY don't like making clothes but doing it myself is the only way I am going to get my Elizabethan done.

The other two things I want to get done before my holidays are over is to get my Blackwork pillow marked up. That is going to be a long term project but I can only start doing it once its on the frame. The other thing to get marked up is my Icelandic cushion. The original is an altar hanging but I don't think I will have time to do that so I am making something smaller and more practical.

I am now off to list a heap of scrapbooking stuff on ebay. With a bit of luck I can work on some heraldry stuff as well today.

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New Day

I'm feeling better today. It does help to get it out of ones system when things aren't going well.

I got another couple of hours done on the caul last night. And my other half had the day off and we did a bit of shopping and had a lunch at my favourite restaurant. So today was very nice.

Only down side, is I am getting a sore throat and I think its going to get worse. I laid down for 5 minutes this afternoon and woke up 4 hours later!!

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High to Low

Well, I just had a fairly enjoyable day shopping for embroidery supplies ruined by a sucky email. Apparently I'm doing a pretty crap job of running our Barony's website. Me, I thought I was doing OK, but apparently I should be harassing people more to get info to to put on the site, I'm not trying hard enough. Apparently asking for people to bring stuff, bringing a digital camera every Sunday and waiting all day isn't enough. Well, WTF am I supposed to do?????? The site hadn't been updated in over two years when I took over. I did a complete redesign, new graphics, everything. I update it weekly if not more, I've added a photo gallery, an events page, I update with new stuff the DAY of big events, there is now an A and S section where there wasn't anything before, the monthly newsletter is now up there as well....

I feel like I want to chuck the whole thing in and having a good cry.

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Progress on Caul

I put a few more hours in on the caul yesterday, this is the progress at approximately 20 hours. I still need to do some more cleaning in my work room but I think that I've broken the back of it. I might try and get some scrapbooking done today or tommorrow. I haven't done any in months (literally) and I am starting to get a backlog again. Also, with the wedding, I now have two complete albums to do!! But they should actually be pretty quick to knock out. Just have to work out colours and basic layout.

I also want to finish the tent stitch and goldwork pouch I am working on. I should be able to put the last outline of gold on tonight. Its the outer layer, so it should be a bit quicker to lay. Then its just onto construction. I need to get that done to be in the post in the next couple of weeks. Its always nice to get these things out of the way.

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Big Weekend

Well, it was a great weekend but boy am I glad its over!!

Saturday was my sisters wedding. We had an early start finishing off a few finishing touches to our outfits (beads on the wraps etc). Then it was three hours at the hairdressers. The styles were pretty simple but there was only one hairdresser for the three of us so it took a while. Then we got dressed and straight to the beach for the ceremony. It was only a quick ceremony but it was beautiful. The weather managed to hold off. The afternoon before it was freezing and rainy, the afternoon after it was freezing and raining with hail!! But the day of the wedding turned out gorgeous. Luck was definately on our side. We took some photos on the beach and then headed down to the ferry to take some on there. The ferry guys were really cool and did a few things out of the ordinary so we got better pictures. I won't spoil the surprise, I will post one tomorrow when we get them back from the developers (My boyfriend Adam was official photographer - this is about his third wedding - that is what happens when you have the good camera in the family!)

The reception was at the surf club right on the beach (you can just see it in the top right hand corner of the group photo below). Lovely location. My step sister did the catering. The food was great and the service was very good as well. This was her first "event" so things went pretty smooth (I later found out that she didn't have enough power in the kitchen and had to change most of the menu on the run, but I don't think anyone noticed cause the replacement food was delicious). Then there was the speeches and dancing etc. All wrapped up by midnight, by which time I was exhausted but happy.

Next day (Sunday) was another early start as I had an SCA event to go to. It was our groups big annual event and I didn't want to miss it all so I managed to talk Adam into taking me up for the Sunday afternoon. I found out his cousin had been up on the Saturday as well. He came with us. The weather was OK, but by about 4pm it had closed in. We got a bit of a shower but nothing too bad. As we were leaving we ran into one of Johns friends, who said the rain down the road was so hard they couldn't see the bonnet of the car!! He was expecting to arrive back at the camp and find his tent flooded out. When we were driving home, there was still deep hail all over the place. So were were very lucky not to get it at Spring War.

Yesterday was a rest and recovery day. I cleaned up the house after the mess we made getting ready on Saturday. I still have one room to go where everything just go shoved to be fixed up later. Last night I managed to get a couple more hours done on my caul.

So today will be more cleaning until lunch, then I might have an afternoon of embroidery.

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Wedding Day (After)

Well, the wedding has been and gone. It went off pretty much without any problems, everyone had a great time and the bride and groom look fantastic. A great time was had by all.

Me!

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Countdown Begins..

My sister arrived last night. So there was some last minute sewing on the other bridesmaids dress to be done. As such, no embroidery was done last night. I don't think there will be any done today either. I probably won't post tomorrow, unless its late at night. We will see how it goes.

And yes, I promise to post photos of the wedding!!

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Dye Bath

I spent about another two hours last night working on my caul. It is coming along nicely. I have designed a simple vine and leaf pattern for the band. I'm not sure if I will use it or just leave the band plain. What do you think??

I have just spent the last 15 minutes hand agitating a dye bath for the cloak I am making. It's made from two op shop single bed wool blankets. They have that overall pink, green and brown check that old wool blankets have. I'd already used one box of dye on it, which did a pretty good job, changed the colour to a reasonable light brown, you can still see the check pattern but not the colours. However, it was a bit blotchy, it really needed two boxes (but they only had one in the shop), so I've just put it in another box of dye. That should give me a good dark brown colour and good colour coverage. The blankets cost a total of $12 plus $30 for the dye bath. So a total of $42AU for a slightly larger than half circle, pure wool cloak. Not bad. I am thinking of putting a cotton guard along the bottom (because its a bit short at the back) and maybe some wool embroidery up the front two edges, maybe a nice simple vine and leaf pattern (I know, same as the caul, but vine and leaf covers SOOOO many times and cultures, it's very versitile.

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Finished!!

Well, the wedding outfit is done! Yeah, now I can get back to the sewing I actually enjoy! Don't get me wrong, its great to be in the wedding but I have come to the conclusion that while I quite like clothes, I really dislike making them. This may cause problems as I want to make a middle class Elizabethan outfit, which is way more complicated than the one I just finished.

The blackwork caul is progressing well. The current photo shows 10 hours of work. I did about 5 hours today, I spent most of the afternoon doing it, as a reward for finishing the bridesmaid stuff. Also, my cat Cleo decided she needed a cuddle so I couldn't move for the next four hours. Lucky I had the stitching at hand.

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