Friday, November 13, 2009

Community circle project update

The 'Heaven' is being created from repurposed vintage handkerchiefs.

Yesterday was the third Thursday in the lengthy project that I am leading at the Little Current United Church. I am enjoying working in the church hall as the wood floors and high ceilings are spacious and have a good vibe. I'm especially enjoying the community of women who are coming together to stitch and am in absolute awe of those that also belong to the UCW. (United Church Women). Every time I have set up my project there is something else happening. (Rummage Sale prep, Luncheon for the Dairy men's association, decorations ready for the Christmas tea/bazaar on Saturday). I made a pattern for the 'sky' part of the hanging I've nicknamed Twig Cross so that I could make good use of the many damask tablecloths that have been donated to the project. This is a slight change from my original design, but I think it will work well. Most of the women who come have been stitching these 4" squares full of "Mantioulin Knots". Each square usually takes about 40 minutes to stitch.

6 comments:

April said...

mom this is gonna be great!!

Judy Martin said...

I think so too. Thanks for your encouragement.

jude said...

fabuolous, i am imagining how those knotted square feel.

leilani said...

Judy, I Googled "Mantioulin Knots" and I didn't find the answer to what they are there. Could you please enlighten me?

Watching this project 'become' is quite exciting.

Judy Martin said...

Leilani,
I have adopted the more usual French knot into an easier and more substantial knot that can be stitched by all levels of sewers into the silk.

I'll try to explain here:

a)Thread the needle and put a small knot at one end. Use a single length of perle cotton #5 weight or all 6 strands of cotton embroider floss.
b)Mark a grid of 1/2" pencil dots on right side of fabric. Bring the needle and thread up through the first dot.
c) Working now on the top of the fabric, grab a tiny bit of cloth with the needle right beside where the thread comes out and pull the thread through that to form a loop.
d) go back into the loop twice with the needle and thread before guiding the threaded needle to the back of the work very near where it first came up.
e) pull gently to form a beautiful knot on the top of your piece. Carry the needle and thread to the next pencil dot and come up from behind.

Much easier to show than to write about. It's just a knot on the top of the fabric that uses a loop of thread instead of just going through wrapped thread first. It's a little easier than a french knot actually.

Unknown said...

This is wonderful. The pleating looks like a grand addition! Using vintage cloth is very apealing.
I love french knots and have been stitching away on a work in progress that is loaded with them. Your collection of squares look fantastic.