Needleprint Needlework Competition

My translations and my day-job are keeping me away from my blog lately. I want to post however, about the needlework competition of the blog Needleprint. As half of my readers are in Italy, I hope my other readers will forgive this post which will be mainly in Italian.

The connection to Italian Needlework is this: the Needleprint needlework competition is open to the world and I believe it would benefit from contributions from Italy as there are so many kinds of needlework there that are beautiful. As I had one friend who wanted to enter the competition but who doesn't speak English ask me to translate the rules, I thought perhaps my Italian readers would benefit from the translations as well. I hope the Italian is comprehensive, I usually translate the other way around, that is from Italian to English.

For those who don't speak Italian, I am providing the links to the posts in English which I have translated.

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Announcing a major Needleprint needlework competition: A Mirror to My Art

Annunciando una importantissima concorrenza di lavoro ad ago di Needleprint: “Uno Specchio alla Mia Arte”

...e un primo premio di £500 sterline perché il 2012 è un’anno special per noi! Pubblicheremo il Volume 2 della Collezione di Lavoro ad Ago di Micheál e Elizabeth Feller; e speriamo che la mostra della Collezione all’Ashmolean sarà prevista per la fine del 2012 (se non, allora sarà nel 2013); è anche l’anno delle Olimpiadi di Londra; e speriamo che per La Sua Maestà Reale quest’anno del sessantesimo giubileo sarà un annus mirabilis finalmente. Molti di voi sapete che Needleprint è stata fondata con tre scopi: ad aprire il mondo del lavoro ad ago da rendendo le immagini di lavori ad ago più accessibili; a preservare le collezioni di lavori ad ago per le generazioni a venire; ed a promuovere il lavoro ad ago. Così oggi ho il grande piacere di annunciare questa importantissima concorrenza di lavoro ad ago di Needleprint che avrà un primo premio di £500 sterline (o dollari, euro, yen, equivalente). L’obiettivo è quello di progettare e cucire una copertura per uno specchio a mano - una sorta di specchio che ha le dimensioni giuste che si potrebbe inserirlo in una borsetta. Appunti sul disegno, gli abbozzi e gli schizzi saranno giudicati insieme al manufatto finito. Ci sarà anche un premio per quelli sotto l’età di 16 anni - e un premio per l’insegnante che dà un corso per facilitare il processo della manifattura delle coperture ricamate. La data di chiusura del concorrenza sarà il 14 settembre 2012 e il giorno del giudizio si svolgerà il 12 ottobre. Maggiori informazioni seguiranno presto e noi provvederemo a creare un blogspot dedicato alla concorrenza.

Iniziate a pensarci ora - e solo per adescare la fonte della vostra immaginazione - ecco un tardo seicentesco specchio a mano a forma ovale ornato con il lavoro ad ago, su un lato raffigurante Giacomo II con la corona, globo e scettro, che ha venduto per £2,875 sterline comprensivo di sovrapprezzo di compratore recentemente a Bonhams. Ma non abbiate paura - questa è aperta a tutti i ricamatrici ovunque vi siete, e potete usare il punto croce, temari, sashiko, trapunto, lavoro a maglia, uncinetto, stumpwork.....qualsiasi tecnica che usa l’ago. Spero che abbiate grande piacere ed entusiasmo nello scoprire quello che si può ottenere con l’ago e che il vostro specchio sarà un vero riflesso della vostra arte. Cliccate sul angelo qui sotto per stare sempre aggiornati sulle novità sulla concorrenza.

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Judging Panel

Giuria La giuria comprenderà Micheál e Elizabeth Feller e ci sarà un premio speciale “Micheál e Elisabetta Feller” per il Ricamo Ispirato.

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Competition Notes for Entrants

Informazioni per i concorrenti

Chi può partecipare? A Mirror To My Art [uno specchio alla mia arte] è un concorso di lavoro ad ago aperto a tutti, di qualunque età, da qualunque posto nel mondo. I concorrenti devono registrarsi entro il 21 maggio 2012.

Come devo registrare? Clicca qui per registrare

Che cos’è l’obiettivo? L’obiettivo è di creare una copertura ricamata per uno specchietto a mano di una dimensione che si può mettere in una borsa o una borsetta.
Questa può essere una copertura attaccata - o separata come un rivestimento. Il progetto deve anche comprendere gli appunti del disegno e gli schizzi.

Disegni tradizionali o moderni? Decidete voi.

Come lo devo fare? Il lavoro deve essere eseguito usando l’ago e filo (di tutti i tipi).
Esempi: ricamo classico, punto croce, applique, stumpwork, trapunto, lavoro a maglia, luneville o altro lavoro con le perline, uncinetto, merletto ad ago, temari, sashiko ecc.

Quando deve essere terminato? La data di chiusura del concorso è il 14 settembre 2012.

Che cosa faccio con il mio progetto completato? Su o prima di questa data, i concorrenti dovranno mandare per l’email 5 immagini del loro progetto a Needleprint: 3 immagini del progetto terminato (una di queste deve essere della ricamatrice con il suo lavoro); 2 immagini degli appunti per il progetto. Dettagli più precisi su come di indirizzare l’email e le dimensioni delle immagini, ecc., saranno pubblicati ad una data più tardi.

Il mio progetto sarà restituito? Una graduatoria finale sarà annunciato su questo blog ed i concorrenti sulla graduatoria finale saranno invitati ad inviare i loro lavori per il giudizio finale. I lavori saranno restituiti dopo il giudizio alle spese di Needleprint. Assicurazione di spedizione può essere richiesti e pagati dai concorrenti.

Cosa sono i premi?

• Un primo premio di £500 sterline sarà assegnato al vincitore. 
• Un premio di Lily di £100 sterline per il vincitore minori di 16 anni. 
• Un premio di £100 sterline per un insegnante che dà un corso per aumentare il numero di concorrenti (maggiori informazioni a seguire). 
• Almeno £300 sterline di premi tra cui il premio di Micheal e Elizabeth Feller sarà assegnato e assegnati sulla base del merito. 

Come posso sapere i risultati? La decisione dei giudici è inappellabile ed i vincitori saranno annunciati il 30 ottobre 2012 su questo blog.

I premi possono essere pagati in valuta locale? I premi saranno pagati in sterline o dollari o euro o yen equivalente con un assegno per i vincitori dell’UK o tramite PayPal per i concorrenti all’estero.

Maggiori informazioni? Se avete delle domande sulle regole - si prega di mandarmi un’email cliccando sul angelo qui sotto.

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Here are some Hungarian needlework designs with an Italian connection which might be adapted well for this competition.

I look forward to seeing the entries!

Burano Needle Lace on Exhibition in Vicenza

In May 2009 Signora Maria Vittoria Coen Del Vecchio donated the Burano needle lace border of an altar cloth made ​​in the early 1930s to the Diocesan Museum of Vicenza. 

Destined for the main altar of the Basilica of San Nicola in Bari, this extraordinary work was done by lacemakers who made 16 scenes which depict the most popular moments of the life and miracles of St. Nicholas with the scene depicting the elevation of the saint in the centre. 

Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.

Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.

The lace measures 13 feet long by 1.5 feet high and can be viewed right now along with the original designs until April 1, 2012 at the Diocesan Museum of Vicenza as part of the San Nicola, Tiziano, il Merletto exhibit.

Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.

There are a couple of videos on YouTube to watch, the first one talks about the lace at the 5:30 minute mark, and the second one gives closer views of some of the details.

Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.

In February there will be a series of lectures at the museum, the one I would love to attend is entitled Il merletto di San Nicola [the lace of St. Nicholas] given by lace expert Doretta Davanzo Poli on Sunday, February 12th at 5pm.

There must be a show catalogue but I cannot find where to get it from outside of the museum itself. I believe there must be one as there is a listing on the Ca' Foscari University website of an article written by Doretta Davanzo Poli entitled Manifattura Veneziana, in San Nicola/Tiziano/Il merletto a cura di F. Gasparini, M. Guderzo, L. Trevisan, Treviso, Antiga Edizioni, 2011, pp.78-83. 

If you get there, I'd love to hear all about it!

Circular Filet Netting

Photo copyright Filet in Tondo.

Enza Termine has updated her website and added some more photos of her exquisite Circular Filet Netting works.

There is a tutorial [in Italian but there is a Google Translate button on the website] on how to get started with Circular Filet Netting and if you were put off because you didn't know what to make besides a doiley which may not go with your home decor, browse through her galleries to be inspired for other projects!

I love her Nativity Scenes!

Photo copyright Filet in Tondo.

I hope this Holiday Season finds you exploring Italian Needlework and perhaps it is inspiring you to try new techniques in the New Year.

Puncetto Snowflake - Part Three

Continuing on with our little Puncetto Snowflake (see Part One and Part Two), we left off last time finishing up the top selvedge.

When you get to the top and do your last two stitches in the last hole, continue on and join the selvedges with two more rows of two stitches, this time hooking into the stitches of the previous selvedge as shown below:

Second-to-last row.

Last row, return to the extreme right edge.

Turning the work back 90 degrees, it looks like this.

If you're done here, you can just make a small stitch to secure both thread ends in the corners and trim the excess. You could put your Puncetto Snowflake into one of those cards that have a cut-out area on the front inserting perhaps a red, blue or green background and send it off to your favourite stitching friend.

Or, you can finish the edge as you would if you were going to insert your snowflake into a piece of fabric. This makes a nice lacy edge even if you're not inserting it. Doing the edging also hides imperfections in your selvedges and somehow stretches the piece out and back to square if it has become warped in the stitching process.

To add the edging, we're going to continue on with the thread from where we left off at the corner.

The outer lacey edging is just like making the small holes as we did in the first and last rows of our design. Skip one stitch and insert your needle into the next, leaving a bit of a loop do a hooking on stitch and two return stitches to form a column. Continue on to the end of the row. For this design, you should end up with 17 loops (or small holes) because we have 34 stitches along the edge and we're putting a column in every second stitch. I turned the work so that my stitching is along the top, I find it easier to work this way.

Here we are at the end of the first edge with 17 loops or small holes.

Turn the work and insert the needle into the same hole to form another column at a 90 degree angle with a loop which spans the corner:

Continue on in the same manner as before and make 17 loops or small holes along each edge until you meet up to where you began:

Here you will need to insert the needle into the same stitch as the previous column so that you can form the corner loop. Do your hooking on stitch taking care to make your corner loop the same size as the others. Then take your needle behind both vertical threads and do two return stitches to form a single column. You end up with your needle and thread in front of your stitching instead of behind it where you normally would be. Pass the needle through the corner loop to take your thread to the back.

Here we are, all finished our Puncetto Snowflake!

I soaked mine overnight in some Marsiglia soap (as it's called in Italian) to whiten it back up. I had a few blood stains to get rid of for which the best remedy is your own spit - no really! It works like a charm. Then I ironed my snowflake face down on a towel. To finish my thread ends, I just did a really small stitch on the back with both thread ends on either corner and trimmed the excess thread.

Puncetto Snowflake - Part One

Puncetto Snowflake - Part Two

I'd love to hear from you if you found this a useful exercise, and even if you did not, please post below!

Puncetto Snowflake - Part Two

Since I posted part one of this Puncetto Snowflake I have broken three threads! Luckily they were in places where they were more or less easily hidden. If you look for them, you'll probably find them but I was not going to start this again for the 5th time!

From where we left off, I wanted to show you what it looked like when I started to fill my first small square as I was showing you the small holes before that:

The two threads on the right are where I changed threads on my return trip and will be trimmed when they are more secure.

Following along the pattern, I worked my way up to the top where I needed to think about the steps ahead. As we will not be doing a return row in the normal way for the last row of small holes at the top, we need to change threads for a fresh and long new thread somewhere in the second-to-last row so that we will have enough to complete the top selvedge and the loops around the edge if we want them for inserting our snowflake into a piece of fabric or if we just want a lacey edge.

This is the second-to-last-row completed. You can see where I changed threads on the return row (at the right) and I've done my two rows of stitches on the left selvedge to begin the last row of small holes - exactly the same as the first row we did down at the bottom.

After having completed the forward trip on my last row of small holes, I will not be making a return trip in the normal way. Instead, we will begin to create the top selvedge.

Here is where it can get confusing. After finishing the forward row of small holes (you're positioned on the extreme right), you must do two stitches of a normal return row which will take you back to the left side of your right selvedge. From here you will complete two more forward rows of two stitches as shown above.

Do two stitches on your return and then turn your work 90 degrees clockwise and do two more return stitches as shown above. Are you still with me?

After this, we must hook on to the small hole to the left. Imagine that it is the same principle as when we were completing the design and on our return rows when there was to be a filled square above an empty hole, we needed two stitches instead of three in the hole. This time however we have our holes to the left and our filled part (the selvedge) to the right but the requirement is the same, that is: two stitches in the hole, which means two rows:

This is our first stitch in the hole.

This is the second stitch in the hole and we've gone ahead with two stitches to the edge. You can see that we are beginning to build our selvedge.

Again, please remember that this rule of two stitches in the hole applies to small holes and that the rules are different for medium holes and also different again for large holes.

Continue in this way until you get to the top. There is a bit more to show you which I'll continue in another post.

If you are just joining us, take a look at the first part of our Puncetto Snowflake.

Puncetto Snowflake - Part One 

Puncetto Snowflake - Part Three

Aemilia Ars Needle Lace Freebies

The Cultural Association "I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" has given a most wonderful selection of old Aemilia Ars needle lace patterns as a Christmas gift to their readers, students and followers!

This morning I received their newsletter in my inbox and with my heart racing I clicked on the link to read their full letter which tells the story that in the middle of the 1990s, Francesca Ortolani who was part of the religious order of the Sanctuary of Sacro Cuore in Bologna gave to Antonilla Cantelli's students some boxes full of large and small patterns for Aemilia Ars needle lace which had been used by the famous school which was headquartered at the Sacro Cuore beginning in 1912 which taught sewing, embroidery and lace to women.

Antonilla Cantelli being by then (the mid-1990s), a master of Aemilia Ars needle lace had begun her studies at the above-mentioned school which was well and widely known for the high calibre of Aemilia Ars needle lace made there. Antonilla had four students at the time of this wonderful donation from Francesca Ortolani and they were delighted to have their pick from the boxes of hundreds of patterns. 

Later, some of the students of Antonilla Cantelli formed the Cultural Association "I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" which continues to teach the methods of their master and to ensure that the breathtaking needle lace of Aemilia Ars is not forgotten. It is these ladies who have now decided to share a selection of their old patterns with us as a special Christmas present.

The 10 patterns are downloadable free from their website and have indications written on them (in Italian) for the execution of the lace.

If you should like to pursue Aemilia Ars needle lace but cannot get to Bologna to take classes, the ladies of the Association have published two fantastic books of instructions to help you. One is called "Bordi" [Borders] and one is called "Fiori" [Flowers]. You may still order them from Elena at Italian Needlecrafts until the 27th of December when she closes her shop. Elena also carries the lovely book of patterns and photos of Antonilla Cantelli's work written by her granddaughter Barbara: L'Aemilia Ars di Antonilla Cantelli.

For those of you interested in the history of Aemilia Ars needle lace, the ladies of the Association have begun to post original documents on their website under the "Storia" tab.

Italian Needlecrafts Closing

It is with great sadness that I tell you that the Italian embroidery supplies website Italian Needlecrafts will be closing at the end of December (last day to place an order will be December 27th.
:-(

For me this is terrible news. Elena has tirelessly provided me with exceptional service. All those lovely Italian linens and threads, the books, the patterns... well, I'm very sad. If I could figure out how to change the blog to all black, I would do it.