Bartered Bride Embroideries

 

Several months ago I posted these images of my embroidered stage set for the opera "The Bartered Bride"

 

Here is the first of the characters that will become the border of this quilt/embroidery.

Wool Hand Embroidered Quilt

 

I created this quilt 12 years. The organization I made it for has chosen not to use for promotional purposes so I feel free to finally share it with my readers.

 

Each block is a 12" square.

 

The hand stitching added up to 500 hours.

 

Most of the wool was hand dyed.

 

 

The quilting was done by machine.

 

There are so many blocks, I will show them a little at a time.

 

Enjoy.

Hand embroidery on wool

 

This is my spin on the traditional poem.

 

The sweater Mary is knitting, is a remnant of a sweater I worn in High School centuries ago. 

Hand Embroidery on Wool

 

It is amazing to see the results of only one color embroidery floss and only one color of wool. 

 

All the shades in between are attained by choice of the embroidery stitch and its density. 

 

Welcome!

Hand Embroidery on Wool

 

From the "Making Things" book.

 

A pinkfish in its bowl.

Miss Croatia Doll

 

This is Miss Croatia. Her face and hair were stitched in the embroidery machine, then assembled as a doll head.

 

Here she is wearing a hand stitched jacket. When she isn't wearing her ribboned hair ornament, she wears a plain white scarf.

Cotton Crazy Quilt

 

Even though I did this quilt many years ago, I remember the inspiration came from a Japanese quilting magazine.

 

The Janet touch is the two borders of 'tongues' like the ones you would find on my wool penny rugs.

Crochet

A crocheted lap robe.

 

My favorite way to work a crocheted blanket/shawl is to start in the middle and keep adding rows. When I run out of yarn, or get tired of the project or am just happy with how it looks, I stop.

 

Giant tassels anchor each corner.

 

A granny square piece.

 

My favorite part of this blanket is the border.

 

The fringe is woven to fill in the empty space between the on point squares. Then it is knotted.

Once Upon A Time

 

You have seen this piece in a past post. I decided to make it a night scene. Once is sitting astride her friend Time on the ledge of the clock tower where they live. In the background is the 'River Of Stars' , one of the sites to visit in my World of Possibilities.

 

Once, with the River Of Stars behind her tower.

 

The village is at the foot of the clock tower.

Hooked Rugs

 

My love for working with wool fabric started when I started hooking rugs. I used to begin lectures with the line, "I come from a long line of hookers." It is true since my grandmother was and my mother is a rug hooker.

I can't believe it has already been 20 years since I designed and hooked the piece above. It was done to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage.

 

I used black and white tweed wools to hook the chickens.

 

This was one of the rug hooking kits I used to offer. Sorry, they are no longer available.

Worsted Doll

 

I live in the state of Indiana. Most people have probably seen pictures of, or at least heard about the deadly tornadoes that recently struck the southern part of our state.  

In the almost 30years we have lived in our present home tornadoes have hit VERY close at least 3 times. Before we moved here a barn that stood on the property was flattened by a tornado.

So I have decided to clean out the only room in the house that might withstand a storm and fill it with the things that I would like to see survive if possible. 

So I am cleaning and discovering things in this basement storeroom that I haven't seen in years! 

Here is a worsted doll I found at an antique mall many years ago. I had never seen anything like it.

 

This particular one has been "embellished". A tooth has been sewn unto the hand. Strange snippets of rags have been stuffed inside. 

 

The stitches have been worn down to the body fabric.

 

And a religious medal was sewn to the tip of the hat.

I like to think that was done as a charm to protect a child. If anyone sees something sinister in this I don't want to hear about it! 

 

This is my version. Nice, but lacks the history and character of the original.

 

This is the only other worsted doll I have ever come across.

 

I have occasionally seen them offered on ebay. They all look very well loved.