I've been itching to some some more blackwork for a while, constantly pinning ideas on Pinterest doesn't help matters. I've been intrigued by the use of negative space in blackwork where by the blackwork frames the design be it a letter, a flower, or in this instance a map. While I can't claim originality on the concept of negative space in blackwork, the design is my own - the map taken from a website resource for blank maps and the block pattern just one of the hundreds of blackwork designs that are out there. As a form of embroidery, blackwork has been stitched since before Tudor age, however it's somewhat lost it's popularity and pattern books are hard to come by - on the few and far between occasions I find them at estate sales, they are like finding gold.
Between the Upper and Lower Peninsular's that make up Michigan are several islands - they do get blurred into the pattern somewhat but they are there if you look hard enough. Traditionally blackwork was stitched in black thread, sometimes red or gold being used to give that something extra. I was deciding for ages before I decided to go with a purple shade, a bright colour would have been great, but with only using one thread (bar the outlining which is in two) you always need to work with a colour that can stand on it's own. The finished design is framed in a 5" hoop I had on hand (yes it's another addition to the embroidery hoop wall).
Not that I need to give myself any more projects, but I was thinking about adding and creating some more state based designs from the states I visit as and when, perhaps even though in a map of East Yorkshire to balance it all out.
Ya know because I don't have on my crafty projects to do and all.
Ya know because I don't have on my crafty projects to do and all.
