A Rainy Day at Campbell School

The rain rolled in last night and kept us damp today...but that's OK! It was a good day to be in the studio, working on new embroidery stitches.
Here's Nancy Claiborne, who is teaching us really creative embroidery. Not counted X-stitch, not pre-stamped designs, and not necessarily in straight rows or even size stitches!

I'm loving it!

We're learning different families of stitches every day to understand how they are related within groups. Yesterday were the straight stitches. Today the chain stitches!

After learning a few stitches we start to experiment and combine them in new ways, and see how they may change according to the thread used....I know I am going to need some new fat threads when I get home! Some lovely varigated perle cotton, just to start.

This is a shorter week at the Folk School, so we have to learn as much as we can...and we get excited and start to think about other stitches, so Nancy shows us some that aren't in the "family of the day" too.

You may be amazed to hear I have made bullion stitches!

This is my work area...just like home! Each day we get a new "doodle cloth" to learn the stitches and keep for reference.

Tomorrow I'll talk a bit about the "ultimate goal" of a sampler.

But it's not your grandmother's sampler!