Mandy Shaw - Simply Redwork: Quilt & Stitch Redwork Embroidery Designs

www.stitchcraftcreate.co.uk

This book is dedicated to all my customers and students who want to make my designs: without your support there would be no point.

Why redwork? Well, its simple the colour is chosen for you, the stitches are easy and the results are just lovely, so I think youll agree, why not redwork?

I am drawn to the colour red, especially a good dark blood red. When I visit fabric shops I stroke the red fabrics first! Red is the colour of passion, energy and love. In China it represents good luck, happiness and prosperity; in India it symbolizes purity and is often used for wedding gowns. All the projects in this book reflect my love and passion for sewing, so red is the perfect choice.

Red had always been a difficult dye to make so when in the late 19th century a technique was found to produce a colourfast, non-fading cotton thread, embroidering in red and making red-and-white quilts became very popular, and redwork as we know it was born. It was such a simple idea: outline a drawing in a basic stitch in one colour no elaborate tools required, just a needle, thread and scissors. It was easy for everyone to do and the results simply beautiful. I have created this collection of projects to share my passion for redwork with you, using my own drawings and doodles. So get ready to roll out the red carpet and shine!

I was just so delighted to find this vintage 1920s penny square quilt on an antique stand at a quilt show. It was just a top and it stayed that way for years; although it was always my intention to hand quilt it, eventually I had it long-arm quilted to preserve it. This made it much more stable so that I could use it in my lectures and display it on my hall wall, where it has been so admired that it inspired me to make my own version. It was from this that my redwork hearts were born. My vintage quilt is from the United States, where redwork has been so popular since the late 19th century. Researching the history of the quilts motifs, I was delighted to find that the story of redwork began much closer to home.

In 1872, the School of Art Needlework was founded by Victoria Welby, who received help from William Morris, his daughter May and his friends in the Arts and Crafts Movement. The word Royal was added in 1875 when Queen Victoria consented to become its first patron. Originally housed above a bonnet shop in Kensington, London, the Royal School of Needlework (the Art was dropped in the 1920s) moved to its current home at Hampton Court Palace in 1987. Today, the RSN is famous the world over as an international centre for the art of hand embroidery.

In 1876, the year after it gained royal patronage, the Royal School of Art Needlework, along with over 14,000 other businesses and organizations, exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, the first official Worlds Fair. As well as an opportunity to explore the worlds cultures, the exposition was a springboard for new inventions and scientific advancements. Alexander Graham Bells telephone and Heinz ketchup made their first appearance here, along with the British penny-farthing and the right arm of the Statue of Liberty (the revenue collected to climb the ladder to the viewing balcony was used to help fund the rest of the statue!).

The Royal School of Art Needlework showcased its work with a simple hand surface embroidery sewn with a backstitch, then known as the Kensington stitch after the schools location. The Americans loved the new technique and they began to embroider designs with simple outlines to decorate household furnishings and wares.

At around the same time, synthetic dyes became readily available in a variety of colours although these cheaper red threads faded to a rose or brownish red. Turkey red, even though more expensive, was valued for its durability and the fact that it would not bleed or run or fade. (Turkey red is a dye process producing a rich, colourfast cloth, brought to Europe by Jewish and Syrian dyers, Turkey being the catchall name used for the Middle East.) The process of using this dye was long and complicated and even to this day red dye is expensive to produce.

The advances in these red threads and the inspiration provided by the Royal School of Art Needlework led to the explosion of simple outline designs on a white background, embroidered in red, now known as redwork. Pre-printed squares were later sold with all sorts of images from birds and flowers, to nursery rhyme characters and US presidents. Used to decorate items for the home, these were often made into quilts just like my vintage quilt. With the resurgence of craft and quilting in the last few years, redwork has made a comeback and its simple stitchery is once again very popular.

If you are new to stitching, this chapter will give you all the advice you need to begin with confidence. Luckily most items required for stitching can be found in an everyday sewing basket. The embroideries are hand-stitched, but a sewing machine has been used to make up most of the projects, and I have included some best practice tips here.

I have given details of the fabrics and threads I have used with tips to help you get started with your own sewing stash. There is a guide to the different ways you can transfer embroidery motifs to your fabric, and the section on working the stitches has instructions for both right- and left-handed stitchers. So what are you waiting for? Get stitching!

Just so long as its natural and a needle slices through it like butter, I will stitch it. I have an ever-growing collection of fabrics and threads, and I encourage you to start your fabric stash today. Look out for lovely linens and cottons wherever you go.

Embroider a small test piece to see if you like the way your chosen fabric stitches before you embark on a large project. Traditionally, an evenweave cotton was used for redwork embroidery, but I have stitched on 100 per cent fine cottons, linens and calicos. My favourite is a linen/cotton mix, which I think gives you the best of both worlds a rustic evenweave with a soft touch.

I love to scour second-hand shops looking for opportunities to recycle clothing and household linens to build my fabric collection. I rummage for recycled tray cloths and linens whenever the opportunity arises!

There is really only one felt that I would recommend you use and that is wool felt. Without the wool, felt will not last and is poor quality. At the very least, you should choose a wool/rayon mix felt.