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July 10, 2008

Table of Contents

• Sewing Circle -- 42nd Nordic Fest with Whitework and Bunad
• To the Point -- Redwork and Bluework
• Words of Wisdom
• Find of the Month -- Redwork Bird Pattern

Sewing Circle
The 42nd Annual Nordic Fest will take place in Decorah, Iowa on July 24, 25, and 26. The festival features delicious food, traditional crafts, dancing, a colorful parade, lively entertainment, plus a Saturday night torchlight parade and fireworks. People from across the country attend. Plan on seeing plenty of traditional needlework such as Hardanger embroidery (also known as whitework) and needlepoint! There's a bunad show with costumes from all regions of Norway. The craft show features over 100 exhibitors, and the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum sponsors its National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition plus live demonstrations. Now is a great time to visit Iowa as they recover from the flooding. Decorah is also a very unique spot because they are home to Seed Savers and one of the largest US off-the-grid alternative energy communities.

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To the Point
Have you tried redwork yet? It's a variation of blackwork that focuses on the outlines rather than the fill areas. Redwork is called bluework when it's done entirely in blue. Both forms are historical and related the dyes available during the periods. Now we enjoy an unlimited range of floss colors, and there are new areas to explore with the multicolored flosses such as DMC Color Variations.

Redwork (or bluework) patterns were quite common during their era and printed on small squares of fabric known as penny squares. Ladies embroidered the squares and then joined them together to form quilts. Often there were whole series of printed squares related to a certain theme and designed by the same artist.

Words of Wisdom
"A penny saved is a penny earned."

Find of the Month
Continuing the bird theme from last month, here's a vintage 1898 redwork penny square with a bird design. Transfer it onto muslin then trace over the lines using a backstitch plus French knots inside the flowers. Use red floss to make it look like redwork, indigo to make it look like bluework, or try multicolor floss for a colorful, modern feel.

You're Invited: Please share your stitching stories, ideas, words of wisdom, find of the month, or questions. Just reply to this newsletter and tell me what you think! I'd love to hear from you.

The most interesting feedback will be shared in next month's issue!