A crewel work piece I worked on has come back to me. I stitched this piece for Red Strand Design’s Passion & Legacy project. There were several P&L exhibitions, but I couldn’t make it to any of them. So I’m looking at the piece for the first time in almost two years!Back in 2015, my tutor and mentor Jenny Adin-Christie told me that Dr Lynn Hulse is lecturing on the crewel work Tree of Life panels at Girton College, Cambridge University. Lynn used to be an archivist at Royal School of Needlework, so I knew of her, but that was the first time I met her in person.

The lecture was about the Lethbridge sisters (Julia Baroness Carew (1863-1922) and Lady Jane Cory (1865-1947) and Passion & Legacy project. I was so intrigued by Julia Baroness Carew and her Tree of Life panels, which I could see so closely at Girton College. By the end of the lecture, I decided to take part in the project!

I chose one of the Tree of Life designs and the colours of the threads from Lynn’s Ornamental Embroidery. The choice of the stitches were up to me. What a delightful project to work on! I had to use quite a bit of open stitches rather than filling stitches as I had only a couple of weeks to finish the piece, however, I enjoyed every little stitch.

Irish linen was used as a background fabric. It was a bit tricky for me as I’m used to Linen Twill for crewel work, but the sisters are from Ireland, so why not? I used a Faber-Castell PITT artist pen XS to transfer the design.

18″ slate frame.

Mostly wool, but the pink flowers are silk.

My favourite bit. Burden stitch for this snake.

Dr Lynn Hulse will be publishing a book on the Lethbridge sisters. I’m looking forward to it.