The bird eyes are done in what looked like a spider web.  The thing that got us about the eye was that it seemed messy.  Wendy was the one who recognized that it was a three leg spider web – which would be messy because it doesn’t have that much to keep it in place.  Here is the finished eye.  I will post the steps to work it over the next four days.  We used the Gilt Tambour Special for the eye.  What is “Gilt Tambour Special”, you ask?  It was a thread made for me by Benton and Johnson.  I said ’something heavier than X and lighter than Y’. It was perfect for doing gobelin background on linen.

Tricia

So we decided to use the lace thread for the plaited braid in the wing.  It makes the tiniest and cutest plaited braid ever!  Not that hard if you use a #7 Japanese needle.  The hardest part was doing it inside a stem stitched border as the thread was puffy around it and my needle would snag the black thread.  I put a pencil in the picture so you could get the scale and see it against the other plaited braid on the jacket. 

When I was researching these gold stitches over the last few years, I would see plaited braid at this scale and think – WHAT THE HECK?  I was blown away at the scale and my mind kept thinking – what kinda thread was this?  Well, now I know and it really looked cool.  I feel a few small scale projects in the offering for a thread of this type with gold stitches… my fingers are twitching and I spent a night looking at spot samplers right after working this.  

Tricia

Sometimes I get distracted from a subject and don’t get to finish postings.  Can we say that I have a bit of AD?  I got it from my kids.  So here are a few posts showing how we finished up the birds

So here is how we are finishing up the bird legs.  When I visited the jacket at the V&A, I saw fragments of thread that gave the impression of satin stitch over the reverse chain legs.  Once we worked our legs, they kinda looked a bit sparse – like the guys were standing on stilts or sawhorses.  So satin stitch we did.  Looks much better now!

Tricia

When we visited Holy Transfiguration Monastery, the Fathers were at first reticent to try to place spangles on the piece.  Always one to try to demystify embroidery – I brazenly called my nine-year old son over to the frame.  He enthusiastically took up the needle and took direction on how to sew on spangles.  I knew he would love to try – he loves to ‘make’ anything.  His personality and interests didn’t fall far from me!  He has visited the project many times over the last two years, often having to sit in the work room all day on a vacation from school or recovering from the latest cold that kept him home.  So he was familiar with the piece.

The Fathers were taken with his enthusiasm (I had to convince him to give up the frame so someone else could work on it!).  Later, Father Boniface brought out his own design work and needlepoint to show us and my son got really excited about the needlepoint he was showing us.

A few weeks later, a box showed up for my son from Father Boniface.  In it was a custom designed needlepoint kit for him.  He was thrilled and got to work right away.

More ripples…We threw a very small stone into the pond and this project continues to inspire others to share and grow.  I love it!

Tricia

Age 9

If you remember, I was invited to visit the Holy Transfiguration Monastery by Father Boniface after I met him at the Holy Cross Convent.  He was true to his word and invited me and my family to bring over some of the jacket pieces to talk to the monks at their order over Memorial Day weekend.

We arrived to find a very vibrant atmosphere as it was just after services on Sunday.  The monastery is in a 1880 house built to look like a Jacobean summer home .  It is an outstanding residence and made even more serene by its grounds which were about 19 acres of gardens designed by the original neighbor – Fredrick Law Olmstead.

My hosts were delighted to hear about the jacket project, see the slides of the spangle making, and to work on the piece itself.  I have never seen such giggling out of joy from a group of monks.  Wendy and I love the picture at the top as it reminds us so much of the classic woodcut of the professional embroiderer by Jost Amman.  Father ‘B’, as he likes to be known, is perfectly poised in front of a Jacobean window.  Priceless.

Father Boniface and Father ‘B’ delighted my family by showing us the residence and their workshops.  Father ‘B’ demonstrated to my oldest son and I how to make the sacred prayer knots he spends his time making for sale from the monastery.  The monastery supports itself making painted icons, laminated icons, enameled crosses and other bronze icons.  They also process numerous tree resins and perfumed oils on site into incense.  We were fascinated by the processing of frankincense and loved seeing the storage area for these fragrant tree resins from Africa that you hear about in the Bible.

The original reason for the jacket was to star in an exhibit discussing how people of the past and present view each other thorough their appearance and often misunderstand each other.  While the exhibit is now not to be, the theme behind it is still strongly evident in the experience for me.  I have met people I never would have come across and have learned to look beyond our outward appearances to find that they are warm and fascinating people.  I feel blessed to have been able to meet all who are also  touched by the jacket.