Whitework honeysuckle cushion: hand embroidered in embroidery cotton on pure linen

Photographs of this cushion have been very difficult because of very overcast conditions during the day at the weekends, which is the only time I can take photographs at the moment. The sun disappeared behind a cloud half way  through taking photos of the details and the linen went from looking bleached out to dirty grey before you could say ‘Jack Robinson’, though why one might be saying that completely defeats me now I come to think about it.

Monogram ‘P’: detail from honeysuckle embroidered whitework cushion cover (embroidery cotton on linen).

Made for a work colleague when she left to work in Italy I finished the embroidery a few weeks ago but have not yet managed to make it up into a cushion. I now have a deadline of mid June when she will be visiting Oxford, so that should concentrate the mind and fingers appropriately. It will be the first thing I do when I revert to having Thursdays and Fridays off once more.

Whitework: detail of hand embroidered honeysuckle cushion

Previous blog posts  show how much I love embroidering honeysuckle, both flowers and stems with their springy tendrils. I usually reach for multiple shades of pinks, reds, yellows through to apricots, peaches and any other mellow colours of ripe fruit but P is for Paris who said she would like a whitework cushion. Curiously, I found that I embroidered white honeysuckle quite differently from how I would have done if I used colours. Normally I would do the frilly trumpet-like parts of the flower in a simple stem stitch but I felt with no contrast of colour I wanted to contrast texture, so I used lots more narrow satin stitch which gave the edge a clearer definition. I am addicted to satin stitch anyway and found the smooth sleek sheen very satisfactory on some of the other bits of the flowers.

Whitework honeysuckle embroidered cushion: detail of hand embroidery with honeybee

I’ve never embroidered a bee before and have yet to perfect its fore legs and antennae – I hope not everyone will think it has a toasting fork sticking out of the top of its head.

Whitework embroidered honeysuckle cushion: detail of hand embroidery

Whitework honeysuckle embroidered cushion: detail of hand embroidery

I hope to be able to photograph this design  when I have finished it and before I have to give it away as I feel I haven’t presented it at its best, so I’m hoping June will bring a bit of sunshine and not too much wind.