Slow work takes time

I realized that I haven't posted in a month! Still no workshop access, so not much going on in the woodworking department. Still raining off and on here, so no reliable working outside, alas. Meanwhile I keep plugging away on this cushion. It is slow going, and slow work takes time. The picture shows about 2/3 of it, I'm doing the pattern now and will fill it all in when that is done.

Another German Tapestry... the Thomas Teppich from 1370

From Kloster Weinhausen comes the Thomas Teppich, embroidered wool, circa 1370.  This image of the full tapestry is from the book Meisterwerke der Niedersächsischen Kunst des Mittelalters.  I have some other scans of tapestries I think are more interesting, but this one is color and the the other ones I liked are black & white.

The detail picture is from the same tapestry but published in a different book, Kloster Weinhausen by Horst Appuhn (ISBN 3-9801316-0-2).  I actually own this one so can scan from it at will, instead of traipsing over to the library.  This book has 72 photographs (many in color) in addition to the German text.  The photographs are of textiles, the exterior and interior of the kloster including many wonderful wall paintings, furniture (chests), stained glass, sculpture, illuminations, etc.  I'm sure I'd learn a lot if I read German, but I get what I can from the pictures.  I'll have to start learning German in my spare time... heh, heh, heh...

One of the things I love about the Weinhausen book is the variety of things included in the photo section.  It is easy to see the continuation of the design aesthetic in everything that was made there, from the wall paintings, painted furniture and sculpture, stained glass, illumination, metalwork, and needlework.  If I were going to design an embroidery somewhat based on embroideries of the time I would also use these other objects as design inspiration. The wall paintings are especially inspiring to me.

I have scanned several examples from Weinhausen and will post those next.

German tapestry from 1200... another image from my library scans

I recently received some nice feedback from people who liked my posting of historical needlework photos that I scanned at the university library.  Work has been keeping me busy lately so I haven't been back in some time, but looking at these scans again does make me want more.

This is from a book called Meisterwerke der Niedersächsischen Kunst des Mittelalters by Horst Appuhn (1963).  The caption on the tapestry dates it to Halberstadt circa 1200.  The larger picture is The Tree of Jesse from Hildesheim, also circa 1200.  Sorry about the larger than usual file sizes but when I made them really small they were very pixelated.

Cloisterstitch Needlebook

I decided to give cloisterstitch a try and here is my first effort. I used Medici wool on 28 count evenweave linen, lined with felted wool and the "pages" in the needlebook are the same burgandy felted wool. Maybe non-evenweave would have worked but I used what was handy. The edge and tie are fingerlooped wool braid.