Sampler tree embroidery

As I mentioned in my last post I had the treat of joining one of Jo's classes last autumn.  Embroidery is something I have never really tried.  I have embroidered a few times as a means to an end, sewing faces onto stuffed toys and so on but nothing much more.  I had a feeling I'd enjoy it.  I know I definitely don't get on with cross stitch - all that counting and precision and following a pattern exactly, it really doesn't suit me.  But embroidery somehow seemed a bit more free and relaxed and, yes, I was right - I loved the class (largely, of course, down to a great teacher, yummy cake and lots of good chat with the other participants) and I have really enjoyed finishing the sampler since then.

I did struggle to find the time.  It isn't something I have felt I should work on in any free pockets during the day or when I have had a wee block of time in the evening - I try to use them for sewing.  But on the one or two evenings a week when John and I sit down and watch the television (usually a dvd, we hardly ever watch proper programmes......I guess we may do sometime down the line but I can't see us managing that for many years) I have embroidered* and enjoyed the quiet simplicity of making patterns with prettily coloured thread.

My technique isn't perfect and I'd struggle to replicate a set of leaves all perfectly the same size and shape but that isn't really me anyway - and I like a more random and irregular look, it feels more comfortable to me.  Jo's pattern** is just beautiful.  As is the thread (perle cotton - which doesn't have strands like conventional embroidery thread, it is much simpler not to have to split strands and so on) the colours are gorgeous and have a real sheen to them.  I couldn't recommend Jo's pattern or her classes more highly.  I'm sure I could have worked it all out for myself but it does help to be shown by someone who really knows what they are doing.

I decided to back it in one of my bits of vintage table cloth.  I have a couple which were handed down but I'm not really sure which family member made them.  This one had been chopped up and partially used in a wee quilt I made for Islay  - my first quilt, I think, I really should show it to you although the piecing and quilting is shocking.  The quality of the embroidery on this one far exceeds my own.  I added a wee message and that is where things started to go horribly wrong.  I embroidered my message using the hoop in the conventional manner completely forgetting that it would then be moved to the back, where there is a smaller surface area because of the inner hoop.  Once I put the front and back together I lost some of my message (it read 18 Feb 20, instead of 2013 - my mum's birthday).  Now, this all happened late one night but I didn't really notice the message problem until after I had cut the two pieces down to size - and then I took it all out to change the message to 18 Feb '13.......and only after this did I realise that when I put it back together, with front and back and so on, that I couldn't stretch it properly tight any more because I had trimmed the edges.

I can't tell you how frustrating this is.  I have tightened it to a fair extent with my teeth.  It is surprising what small amounts can be grabbed and pulled with one's teeth, but it really isn't tight like it should be.  And the crease on the back didn't show when it was pulled properly before I trimmed it.

A very big lesson learned.  I don't think mum will mind too much, and I am still proud of it - just less than I might have been.  Mum has only seen photos so far since she is still enjoying beautiful South Africa   After all my hard work I didn't really want to trust it to the postal system so she will get it in a few weeks time when she comes back.

*I have been torn between embroidering and knitting on  these evenings, currently knitting is winning
** But I have my eye on Cedric the Badger next so my knitting may take second place for a while!