Italian needlework at EGA

Slowly, slowly I'm getting organized. I've been home from San Francisco for 4 days and while there are still piles of things to sort, the piles are getting smaller!

Here are a few pics from the Embroiderers' Guild of America National Seminar at the Marriott Hotel in San Francisco:

This is the display table we set up on Saturday, September 4th (no sympathy for jet lag, we got right to work!) with lots of help from Giovanna of Tuttoricamo...


Beautiful Italian needlework from Assisi, Panicale, Deruta, Perugia, Lake Trasimeno and other towns in the delicious region of Umbria, Italy.


Clara Baldelli Bombelli of the Giuditta Brozzetti workshop with some of her daughter's handwoven pieces.


Signora Derna stitching some Assisi work (she's been doing it since she was 5 years old!), she was a joy to watch. It was her first ever journey outside of her hometown of Assisi, Italy and she had an excellent time in San Francisco.


Anna Maria Porzi braves an extreme close-up to display some beautiful crocheted earrings from the Lake Trasimeno area of Umbria.


On Market Day the two ladies from Assisi dressed in Medieval garb to sell their wares, this is Tiziana Borsellini, President of the Accademia Punto Assisi.

It was a fantastic week of Italian needlework emersion. I helped the Italian ladies with their display tables and their booths on Market Day, I took Vima deMarchi Micheli's four day Notebook of Italian Embroidery course, attended her lecture on September 5th and helped with her Exhibition on September 8th.


On the 12th of September we rented a car and drove up to Vima's home for one last taste of La Dolce Vita before returning to our respective homes. I miss them all already!

Thanks to my daughter for taking the group shot!

Coloured Deruta Embroidery

Let's have a little colour today. While in Assisi last year I photographed this sign outside a shop, thinking excitedly that it was a store selling Deruta Embroideries (which is what it says) but alas, inside there were touristy things and books – the shop clerk said that during the 1950s it was the shop I was hoping for.


I do know however, that Coloured Deruta Embroideries do exist and that they are still being stitched today.

As is the case in many instances, embroideries were initiated to match tablewear or were inspired by ceramic tiles. Deruta is especially known for its outstanding ceramics worldwide. The colours fascinate me and I find myself drawn to ochre, terracotta, green and blue - if you looked at my collection of threads you'd find that anytime I had to buy some kind of thread just to bring it home without any special project in mind, these are the colours I chose.

Coloured Deruta Embroideries are executed on medium weight Umbrian linen with Embroidery Floss.

This work was featured on an Italian telephone card for Telecom Italia in 2009:


There is a 4 minute video on YouTube of the Fili d'Amore presentation ceremony in which you can see some of the embroideries and fuserole which were also featured on telephone cards. (Make sure you watch it in 720pHD!)

Embroidery in Deruta dates back to the 13th century but in the early 20th century it experienced a revival with the national movement of "Feminine Industries" which popped up all over the country promoting special styles and stitches from each region of Italy. Embroidery schools and workshops were started in Deruta by nuns and a pair of local sisters, Aurelia and Luce Corcioni which experienced worldwide success in the selling of their beautiful needlework. Local ceramic beads called fuserole were incorporated into the tassels on their cushions, curtains and tablemats.

These are some of my fuserole, purchased at both Italia Invita Forums in 2007 and 2009:


Fuserole started out as the weights to balance spindles when spinning thread and date back to Etruscan times. Between the 14th and 17th centuries they were glazed, coloured and decorated with sayings and good wishes, names or virtuous designs and were given as love tokens. This one is a reproduction of a 15th century fuseruola:


In 2004 the Accademia Punto Deruta was founded to preserve and promote Coloured Deruta Embroidery and the other two styles of Deruta needlework: Antique Deruta Embroidery and Catherine de' Medici Embroidery.

Modern Coloured Deruta Embroidery is made using Long and Short Stitch and Stem Stitch and sometimes Rush Stitch as well (which is similar to Roumanian Couching).

From the Italia Invita 2009 Forum book:


There are some free patterns to download at the Italian Embroidery magazine Ricamo Italiano's website, all text is in Italian: here and here.