RSN Diploma – Stumpwork
June 2021
It took eighteen months to complete with advice from five tutors (because of interruptions and staffing vagaries due to Covid) but my RSN Diploma Stumpwork is complete. Based on a combination of two photos of my youngest daughter in her wedding dress I used sateen for the dress, needlelace triangles and clear beads for the train and applique techniques for the chair all set in a “room” featuring a print of the view outside the window. I think I would have approached the project differently, but I am happy with the result and my daughter is not moaning about it at all so she must be content with how “she looks”!
First day back at the RSN
Hampton Court Palace has opened its doors again and the RSN is open for business albeit with classes of six students all socially distancing of course.
There were four of us there on the first day back and we quickly became the poster girls for the RSN’s return – we had our photos taken and were asked for a short comment that they could publish. The following appeared on Facebook the next day.
Today, after much planning at RSN Hampton Court Palace, we were thrilled to welcome back our first class of Certificate & Diploma in Technical Hand Embroidery students, with RSN Tutor Rachel Doyle. Our students said, “When I returned to the RSN, after a four month break due to lockdown, I felt very rusty, but my Tutor, Rachel, was so patient and understanding that there was no need to worry.” And another said, “Absolutely thrilled to be back at the RSN…already today I have learned two new techniques to jump start my Diploma Stumpwork unit! Thanks.” Meanwhile Rachel said, “It’s so great to be back at the RSN after such a long break. Both the students and myself, the Tutor, took up our needles like we had never left!” With rebookings and full classes coming up, as well as new students starting their RSN C&D journey, we look forward to seeing many more happy faces in the near future!
RSN Diploma – Canvas Stitches
In September 2019 I started my Canvas Stitches unit of the Diploma. For my subject I decided to recreate a photo of the Little Church in Guernsey which I had seen on a visit to the island in the summer. The church was started in 1928 by a priest who used broken china in mosaic fashion to cover the outside and inside of the tiny building.
I loved all the colour of the walls and steps and I thought it would be good to bring these out in the canvas stitches but it turned out that the trees surrounding the small church took centre stage in the design and the only place to highlight the colours was in the mosaic shapes in the steps. I think it works. It was ready to submit for marking just before Easter 2020 but we all know what happened then and we have not been back to the RSN since!
RSN Diploma – Applique unit
For most of 2019 I worked on the Applique unit of my RSN Diploma course. For this I chose to replicate a greeting card of two parrots sitting in foliage with a mandela in the background. Being a quilter I thought the applique unit would be fairly easy for me, which it was, but there was a three dimensional aspect to the project (eg Stumpwork leaves) that I had never encountered in quilts before. I also had to figure out how to gild the leaves in the foreground, how to make the branch and what to use for the parrots gnarly claws etc. I love Persephone and Pamela and they netted me my highest mark yet.
RSN Certificate in Hand Embroidery
In January 2017, I started the Certificate in Hand Embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) based at Hampton Court Palace. It has been a joy to attend the classes as, not only have I met some fabulous people and seen some amazing embroidery, but I get to walk about Henry VIII’s historic palace as if I belong. The RSN runs a lovely little, but well stocked, embroidery shop which is a must for lunchtime visits. Speaking of lunch – the grounds of HCP are just perfect for our hour long break alfresco.
