I picked up the incredible Mellerstain Crewelwork kit by Philippa Turnbull of The Crewelwork Company as I knew it would make a perfect firescreen for our open fire in the sitting room. I got home, took one look at the size of it and put it all back in the bag! One beginner's class and I thought I could stitch something this big!
Fast forward to Sept 2014 and after a few months of classes, one Tipsy Thistle Bag
and one Robin Cushion later...
I was finally ready to start. The kit is amazing! Detailed instructions...
With Sophie's help I framed up my design and made a start...
I then came to a complete stop for more than 2 years - I had to move my frame as we were rearranging the room and I no longer had the space for a large frame to be set up permanently.
I have thought about picking it up again several times, but it seemed too much hassle, until I read Mary Corbet's post about this project, in it she describes how Philippa recommends a hoop seat frame. I have one of those and I love it! so today I got my firescreen back out of the box it's been languishing in.
I am really enjoying working on this again
I love how easy it is to blend the colours when silk shading with wool
I spent about an hour and a half working on it this afternoon
On the plus side, I know I will continue working on this and will finish it using my hoop, it just makes stitching so much easier. I take the hoop off after each session, my hoop is bound with bias tape and I don't seem to damage the parts I have already stitched. The only negative that I can see is that I may get some wrinkles and distortion. Philippa recommends a good wet blocking at the end of the project so I think I will just have to go with that.
The kit is still available from the RSN HERE however I am shocked that the price is now £140, I know I paid £98 as the price is still on it, Hmmmm