Once I got the scary hardanger section of this ‘Where Stitchers Gather‘ etui pocket by Thea Dueck of Victoria Sampler done, I was all fired up to get on with it!
I did all of this next section in two days.
There are two swans either side of the hardanger heart, and two little frogs among the bulrushes. Then there’s a band of cross stitch, and then some pretty white bargello stitching.
As the theme of this pocket is ‘where stitchers gather’, it makes sense to feature some stitchers! Here they are, all sat around a long table, stitching on frames and hoops:
I stitched all the people before stitching the tablecloth.
Close up, you can see that this simple cross stitch variation makes a nice contrast to the more solid cross stitch of the women’s clothes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Janet Granger's Blog 
That looks amazing. The Hardanger is what would put me off doing this. I’ve tried doing Hardanger in the past (when my eyes were good) and it took me forever to just do a small angel for a Christmas ornament.
I find it challenging – especially as you have to do lots of ‘normal’ embroidery first, so if you then ruin it when you cut the fabric threads, you’ve wasted LOADS of time!! Haven’t actually done it wrong yet, but…..
This is so pretty.
I got a lot less tense about Hardanger after I found “don’t panic” instructions that showed how to repair it if you snip the wrong thread. Not sure if would fix a big mistake, but fortunately I haven’t had a big disaster. Yet.
Emjay
Fray check is a good thing to have handy, just in case!
If you are worried about cutting and weaving the Hardanger.. just stitch the satin stitches and dont cut at all! Just fill in the satin stitches with contrasting colour cross stitches. It will look great and that allows you to stitch projects you would otherwise pass by..
That’s a great idea, Thea – thank you!
Dear Janet, I loved reading your blog. Such great photos and excellent stitching! Thank you for your kind comments about my pattern, and wishing you much enjoyment in your next projects. Love and hugs, Thea. ❤
Thanks so much Thea! I have a huge stash of your chart booklets – when I retire, I want to spend hours every day stitching your designs (especially the gingerbread buildings, and seasonal boxes).