Do you have one of These in your stash?

Have you Always wanted To embroider a 17th c Style Fancy Mirror but dont know WHERE oh WHERE to Start???

 Are you one of the many with a Thistle Threads Fancy Mirror Frame base sitting in your stash collecting dust??? You had every intent and dream of a beautiful embroidered mirror gracing your favorite space, but got stuck for whatever reason? Maybe the thought of coming up with a design was too overwhelming.... or you don't have a slate frame big enough??? 

Well my friend~ my Four Seasons Quaternion Class may be just what you need to make your dream a reality!

 Several students in class are currently working on their Quaternion pieces to mount onto a Fancy Mirror Frame. When I was designing the pieces for class, I specifically sized them to fit the Thistle Threads Fancy Mirror, just in case anyone wanted to do just that. They are super versatile~ they can be stitched and mounted separately, in pairs, or as a group...they can be incorporated into a box or casket design, and they are a super GREAT way to kick start your Fancy Mirror journey!

 No~ the frame does not come with class. If you don't already have one, you can buy them on the Thistle Threads webstore. But if you do have one, I will show you in class how the cartouches can be incorporated into a mirror design~ as you can see above, they really do fit perfectly! There is enough space left around them to accommodate the traditional tape trim that usually edges the mirror.  

Will I design the rest for you? No, I wont. BUT...I WILL help you with your design, and guide you through the finishing. ....

Which brings me to another point~ I will also share with you my ideas on finishing a mirror in steps~ like a casket. You don't have to have that huge slate frame to work the entire design at once. I'll teach you how to break it down into small, easily digestible pieces so that you can mount and finish your mirror in steps!  

If this interests you, you can learn more about my Four Seasons Quaternion Class here

There are 11 Spots in the fully kitted class remaining.

Class just started on the 15th of April, and its work at your own pace anyway, so you won't be behind. If you want to join us, we would love to have you!

Now Open for Enrollment!!

The Four Seasons Quaternion~

A Study of 17th c Embroidered Beasts

   

Would you like to stitch these wee beasties for yourself????

This 8-month fully kitted web-based class at  Diamond K Folk Art Online Academy takes the student on a journey of exploration into 17th century embroidered animals. Each 4"x4" season is viewed within an opulent cartouche of looped glass beads and silk-wrapped plate purls, which the students will make themselves. There is one beast for each season, inspired by Ann Bradstreet's 1650 poem, The Four Seasons of the Year.        

Sweet Spring depicts a cheerful leopard relaxing upon fertile green hillocks..... 

Burning Summer is represented by a stately Bactrian camel......

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Eden's Autumn depicts the ever-popular 17th c noble Lion.....

Snowie Winter shows a beautiful 17th century winter landscape

I only plan to run this fully kitted class once due to the difficulty I have had acquiring the materials for it. This class will be limited to 30 students, half of which have already filled from the newsletter sneak peek, so as of my posting, there are only 15 spots remaining!!

Class will begin 15 April 2025 and run for 8 months. 

You can learn more about the class or purchase an enrollment by clicking the Four Seasons Quaternion tab at the top of the blog page directly under the header or by clicking here. 

17th Century Beadwork AKA "Beugle Works"

 Applying Learned Techniques to Different Projects

Over the next few days, I will be shooting a number of videos of different things I have made using the techniques I teach in my 17th c beadwork class, Beneath Thy Poft Oak.  So many marvelous things can be made using the core techniques from class~ change the beads... the pattern...change the colours and BAM! you can make some new something of awesomeness!!!  Today I will share a peek at my Padded Mirror Case. While I no longer offer this class specifically, I do still sell the pattern and figures for it. The surface work, three-dimensional berries and leaves, and clothing/figural work are all covered in the Beneath Thy Poft Oak class. I think the only thing not covered in this piece, is the making of Kings Crown, and the covered watte acorns. All of the beads on this piece are antique, which adds to its perceived complexity. As well, note that all of the beads are NOT the same. There are big ones, little ones, and metal ones....there are cut charlottes, and large bone beads (the berries above the Queen). There are opaque, transparent, satin, and greasy glass beads. For a proper 17th Century impression in your beadwork, aside from the colour palette, the more variation in materials you can glom on, the better!

17th c Beadwork Class

Beneath Thy Poft Oak, 2022 Registration Open

 Registration is now open for my 2022 running of Beneath Thy Poft Oak, The Art of 17th c Beadwork. Spaces are limited so if you are interested, you can learn more about all the particulars and/ or enroll here. You can also click the tab at the top of the blog page here for the Diamond K Folk Art Online Academy to see all the classes currently offered. 

 It's hard to appreciate any beadwork in a flat photo, so I made a video for you. I will have more videos in the coming days of other beadwork projects that can be made using the same techniques that I teach in class....my padded mirror case, beaded basket, and of course my beaded casket~ I hope you'll check back!

 

Would Ye Be Interested???

 In Finishing Workshops?

 I have been entertaining the idea of offering either in-person or online Finishing Workshops. Students would bring whatever project they need help or guidance with and work on that. Would ya'll be interested??

 The project would not have to be mine either.  You could bring a Christmas ornament you need a little help with to get together, or any wooden box or casket you need help with covering. 

      For in person class I would bring my tools to help with finer box/casket fitting and adjustments. 

 I love this idea because I can help you to achieve your dreams for your embroidery! Not all embroiderers have my woodworking background or have the right tools to get everything ship-shape.

For a beautiful finished project, as much time and care should be spent on the finishing as the embroidery itself.

I have lots of tips and tricks I can share....

Please let me know what you think. If there is enough interest, a Finishing Workshop could be in your future!

There is ONE spot left!

 My New Online 17th Century Beadwork Class

Starts October 1st!

I am very excited for class to start~ its going to be super fabulous! Tricia at Thistle Threads is my gracious hostess for 12 months worth of online lessons to work the above pastoral Texas view.  There will be technique videos illustrating stitches taught in class and we are scouting out an online platform so everyone can get together in a group/class setting to discuss the lessons and anything else having to do with period Beugle Works.

This is my most in depth class yet, and I aim to provide a firm foundation of basic techniques that can be used not only for this class piece, but that can be applied to future projects as well.  My lesson on making detached yellow roses can be applied to making any flower that you can dream up in your head~ real or not! 

All class kits are in the mail, so for my students, check your email for your tracking number because they have already been sent.

 There is one spot remaining in class, so if you would be interested in taking this journey with us, please email me at rlkinnison@yahoo.com

New Online Class Open for Registration!

Beneath Thy Poft Oak

  Last year I was asked to design a 17th century inspired beadwork class to teach in person in Dallas by Access Commodities.  Lamora wanted a pastoral scene that showcased the beautiful Texas Post Oak trees and yellow roses. We had great plans for a 5 day long seminar in Dallas, but due to the current world health situation, travel was no longer an option so we rolled with the punches and decided to take it online.

Tricia Nguyen of  Thistle Threads will be hosting my class at her online university platform. 

  For those of you who keep asking me about teaching here in the USA,  this is the perfect opportunity for you to do so right from your own stitching chair! This is the most comprehensive class I have ever offered, and like all my classes, all materials you need to complete Beneath Thy Poft Oak are included in the class kit. All the student need provide are a few tools and slate frame. The class will be divided  into 12 easy to complete monthly lessons. Each lesson will contain a slew of pictures, step by step photos, instructions and videos for completing this pastoral Texan scene.  This is not just a class to work the shown picture~ it is a class aimed to teaching you all you need to know about 17th c beadwork techniques and how to apply them to other projects you have milling around in your head.

As you can see above, my scenes are complete. Ladye is not just sitting under a tree with a one dimensional top of a skirt draped over her lap....she has beautiful legs, shoes, stockings and garters under her full 360 degree gown!

  Each kit comes with a one of a kind 3 piece hand sculpted papier mache figure set (bust and two arms).

  Along with flat and louped cartouche treatments, speckling, grounded and in hand peyote stitch, flat and curved couching, French wired leaves and flowers, detached hair and lace techniques, netted overlays, designing and working clothing, and bead history, I will also teach you how to make these gorgeous fully detached yellow roses. The same technique can be applied to any flower~ known to nature or contrived of your own imagination. 

The cost of  this year long course is 1,000.00USD, and includes full class kit, kit shipping, and 12 monthly downloadable lessons. I am super excited to offer my class on this new platform! Class starts October 1st~ if you would like more information on how to sign up, you can email either me at rlkinnison@yahoo.com, or Lamora  at lamora@accesscommodities.com. 

What A Time!

 2019 Bath Textile Summer School

  Have just arrived back home to Colorado from spending the past few weeks in England.  I had a fabulous time, and want to send a big Thank You to all of my students at the Bath Textile Summer School for taking my classes and being such enthusiastic learners!  Bookings open on August 24th for next years summer school~ click the link above to go check out the new website and see the classes on offer.  I am honored to have been asked to return in 2022, and will be designing a special piece(s) to commemorate the Great, Beautiful, city of Bath, as seen above, looking on from Prior Park.

  This year's classes were held at the Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution situated in the heart of Bath alongside the Queen's Square.

  In my first class, Pretty Ladye, we focused on surface bead techniques and how to build up a figure

 The BRLSI has gorgeous classroom spaces~ they are large & bright,with ample lighting. My room directly overlooked Queen's Square...and yes, that's a dinosaur casting on the wall. It's easy to see why the Lonsdale Room is referred to as the Dinosaur Room!

  Not bad for a single day's progress~ the beads do work up so much faster than silk

 My second class, Bath Bunny, focused on more detached techniques, and specifically how to build beaded stumpwork animals~

 It was an absolute joy to have two of my prior students visit and bring with them their completed Bath Arbor Baskets~ It's great to see them side by side to see how different & unique they are~ I love them!

  I never require my students to have any prior knowledge of beadwork to take my classes. Some work fast, some work slow~ it doesnt matter. I always provide step by step written instructions so that they can be referred to at a later time~ but just look what these girls were able to get finished in class...makes me super happy! 

Thankyou so much to Lynne & Michael Roche for inviting me to come and teach~ they both work so hard to make sure everything runs smoothly. It was and honor to be in such fine company with fellow tutors Jenny Adin Christie and  Janet Bolton again. Ah! Such. A. Wonderful . Time.

If you have placed an order whilst I have been away, thankyou for waiting! I am on my way to the post today to ship them all out, so look for a ship notice email later on this evening.

Always Thrilled

To see my Students Finished Pieces!

Gennie P sent me a picture of her 'Duke'~ she took my class in Williamsburg this past March. She did a gorgeous job! I am super happy that she changed some colours, and altered the cartouche to her liking. I always get surprised when folks write and 'ask' if they may change/substitute  colours~ be it beads or threads.... I want and always encourage my students, and folks who so generously purchase my kits, to absolutely change them up to suit their liking. Its your kit, your project, and your time spent working it~ I want you to be proud of your work and end up with something you are totally chuffed about!  

Registration now open for BTSS 2019 

 Can you believe tomorrow is Sept 1st? I will admit time has got away from me and it wasn't until a few folks   emailed me to tell me they had signed up for class, that I realized registration was even open! There are 15 seats in each class, and Lynne has told me both classes booked to a little over half full already~ so if you are thinking about it~ I would love to see you in class next year!

Bath Textile Summer School

Click the link above to go to the home page of Summer School~ there you can see all of the different tutors and classes~ not just mine! There is something for everyone!

New 2019 Classes

Dogs & Berries in Beads!

 I have literally been working my tuccass off this year designing new classes for next year~ these two I will be teaching at a private needlework seminar in Williamsburg next spring. Both are based on 17th c beaded raised work techniques~ this one, is D.O.G.....which stands for Duke of Gloucester, after Main street in Williamsburg. I affectionately just call him  'Duke'.  It is a fun challenge to see how many different techniques I can fit into a small project like this. 

  I am also teaching with modern beads this next year, to show that one can still get detail in a small space, with larger beads. They also are awesome to teach with, as they are easily obtainable...unlike the antique ones I usually use. Its easy to get enough beads for working something once...but when you have to make several of those over and over again for kits, its nearly impossible with antique beads.

This class focuses on surface techniques, and somewhat different from those I am teaching at the Bath Textile Summer School. I love how his tail is totally free from the ground!

 The other class I designed is 'Fruit of Thy Hands', which focuses on totally detached techniques, like those that would be used to embellish a basket frame. Students will learn the challenges of twilling over a shaped form, leaf techniques and how to assemble all the little pieces into something cohesive and pretty.

 Looks like something I would put in one of my casket drawers.....

I designed Duke to fit on a Thistle Threads Trinket Box top, but I framed mine....he looks like he may need something else around the outside edges to cover all that blank space....maybe some lace or something.... 

If your group is interested in having me come teach my techniques at your special event, just drop me a line~ my email is in the sidebar. 

2019 Bath Textile Summer School

Bath, U.K. ,12-17 August 2019

    The classes have now been posted on the Bath Textile Summer School website for next year, you can find them here to learn more about what I am teaching. Hover over the 2019 workshop section, and you will find me last in the drop down menu.  This year pictures of some of our past workes are included on the information page, so as to not be confusing, I thought I would post pictures of both class projects here. Above is "Pretty Ladye", and below, "Bath Bunny".  My focus this year is surface techniques, for those who would like to add a beadwork element on to a casket panel or picture. Both classes work with modern Japanese Miyuki size 15/0 seed beads, so they have nice large holes, and are both good representations of the details one can get with this larger size of bead.   Pretty Ladye is a super special class, each large bust is sculpted with brown lampwork glass eyes. Aside the fact it takes me about 3 weeks to sculpt a single figure, I had a horrible time getting suitable glass eyes this small, and for this reason, BTSS 2019 may be my only running of this class.   (She would be a wonderful start to the top of a casket...hint hint!)

    Bunny is so adorable! Students of this class will learn detached techniques, such as the flower petals, and my method of working up an animal figure in beads using twilling, or peyote stitch.   I am making a great effort this year to keep the kit cost as low as possible, but more even, the international shipping~ so I will be only shipping the prework kits for each class, and handing out the rest of the kit in class. Prework will include silk satin ground, instructions, and padding for the cartouches only, so packets will be small to keep both shipping & customs charges to a minimum. 

One things I love about teaching the beadwork, is that my methods can also be used for regular raised stumpwork in silks and metals threads.. the materials maybe different, but the way one goes about it, in the steps, is the same for both.

 I have been plugging away on my special something and am super happy with how its coming on so far.  I really love 17th c blackwork, and it is such a challenge to creating depth on a flat surface while painting with a single color.  Like I said, I am painting one for me, and one to share, so here I took advantage of having two to show the difference between just penwork, and painted. I loooove it!  This bunch of grapes took just under 3 hours to paint...of coarse I am keeping track of the hours!

Class Updates

Bath Textile Summer School 2019

  If you are interested in 17th c style of beadwork, and will be in the beautiful city of Bath, England in August of next year, you may need to come join me for one of two, (or both!) classes I will be teaching. 

 Registration will be opening on Sat, 25 August 2018 for classes on the Bath Textile Summer School website~ (the link is to the right in the sidebar)

I will be teaching two 3 day classes~ Bath Bunny, and Pretty Ladye.  Classes this year focus on surface techniques, and instead of antique beads, we will be using 15/0 modern beads.  Detailed information, including kit costs,  will be up on the website in August.  

Back Home!

Spring in Williamsburg, Va

   I just got back Tuesday morning from a wonderful trip to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. The weather, even with the bomb cyclone, was just wonderful~ the cherry trees and Japanese Magnolias were blooming~ makes me pine for Spring.....here in southern Colorado, everything is still in a winter's coma.  I went to attend Chris Berry's 17th c raised work embroidery class 'Curious NeedleWorks'~ if you have a chance to take it, do it~ it is fabulous.  I stayed with my bff Sharon and arrived a few days early to take in Agecroft Hall and all that is 'Colonial Williamsburg'. Visiting the Historic Trades was my favorite~ I could watch them work all day long, every day...  above is a view of the back of the Governor's Palace, from the gardens.

  Of the zillions of pictures I took, this one, I think, is my favorite. There is nothing like the view thru wavy glass~ small glass panes like this were made by blowing glass into a cylinder, then cutting the ends off, cutting one side and then rolling it out flat.

 The Shoemaker was fabulous and a favorite of mine

  Another reason for getting your butt in a quick jiffy to the Dewitt Museum in Williamsburg is the 'Printed Textiles' exhibit. To say it was ultra mega extraordinarily fantabulous is an understatement. 

 Both clothing, and home furnishing printed textiles are on display~ there is no publication accompanying the exhibit, so if you want to study these pieces, you have to go in person~ and yes, take all the non flash personal use photographs you want!

 Several dolly houses are out on display as well~ the little tuck combs always a favorite of mine

 So of all the trades, if I had to pick a favorite...it wouldn't be the shoe maker's, which is strange, as many shoes as I make, and as much as I am absolutely infatuated with early shoes....nor would it be Sarah Hunter Millinery Shop....as much as I like to sew & study antique clothing.....the Tailor's was really fabulous, and came in a close second to the Wig Maker's....oh my golly. I died and went to Heaven in there! Many new techniques were learned and I have a zillion ideas sprouted in my head for dollys who simply must must must have hair!

 Chris's class was just fabulous~ it starts simply enough with detached buttonhole and before you know it, you are working up & down buttonhole, trellis, ceylon, and all sorts of knotted buttonholes~ I had worked regular detached buttonhole before, and was worried that I would get behind in my stitch samples as I have never worked any of the others before(tho I have studied them for years), but she explains them so completely, and in such a way that I think a newborn baby could work them if they could hold a needle. Because you work your own samples, you know how the stitches work, how they interact with others around them, how they look from the back and from the front, loose tension, tight tension...how they look different being worked with different threads....it was just a fabulous course and I highly recommend it to both novice as well as advanced stitchers.

  Before heading out to the airport, I stopped by the Bakery and they had just pulled out two pans of ginger cakes~ I had room enough in my purse for one piping hot bit of deliciousness.... so note for next trip...get a bigger purse.

 I wasn't even home a full day and zoomed down to Albuquerque to pick the bead palette for next year's classes at Bath Textile Summer School....yes...you read right~ class~'es'....I will be teaching a short 3 day workshop on working a little bunny in a cartouche on a ground fabric, and then another 4 day workshop on a large bust, similar to the one on my casket lid~ but this year, we will be using modern beads, so students will have the option to purchase my bead palette, or bring their own colors!