Stitching sampler started.

On Thursday it was so hot, it was impossible to get anything done outside apart from hanging a load of washing on the line (sheets) which were dry in about an hour!  So I decided it was the perfect day to sit inside in airconditioned comfort, and got all my supplies together to start my basic stitching sampler.   Funny to think that I did a very similar project at the Embroiderers Guild just a few years ago, and have the sample pieces in a neat folder, but barely look at them...

I have a number of hardback books on embroidery stitches, but I love these vintage leaflets put out by Semco, Anchor and Clarks so long ago, and decided to make use of them. Scissors, needles, and floss, and I cut five pieces of fabric into 10" squares - one Aida and the rest evenweave.  Then I marked a border and lines half an inch apart with removable blue pencil.  However after I had done four rows of stitching on the evenweave, it just wasn't working, so I pulled it out, and re did it on calico, which was much more suitable to those particular stitches.  I will use the evenweave for the stitches that suit that counted thread type fabric.

On the calico I worked Stem stitch, straight stitch, looped straight stitch, back stitch and whipped back stitch.

On the evenweave, I did Back stitch with twists, which was easier to do on that as I could count the threads to make the stitches even.  I've never done that with back stitch before, so I learnt something from this.
The second stitch is cable stitch, one that I have never done before, and found that it was better done in six strands of floss instead of two because the cable effect was more visible.  And again, much easier on the even weave.

So there we are.  Surprised?  I am!  Given that I am allowing myself to do one row of a new stitch per week, I have completed the first six weeks of this year :-)