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Sunday, May 6, 2018

Fox Stitch-a-Long, part 5

SPOILER ALERT: I finished the leaves! I finished the leaves!

There was a lot left to go at the last check-in ... still some green leaves, and almost all of the blue.


But then I finished the green leaves ... AND THE BLUE LEAVES.


Again, it's a little hard to see on the front, but you can see just how much has been filled in on the back!


Oh, and ... I started to stitch the background. I feel like background stitching is probably the most boring part of any needlepoint, but I love how it makes the leaves look even richer and brighter.


Here's a closeup of the top edge -- see how the leaves look brighter next to the navy blue background?


I can't wait to fill the rest of this in -- it's so satisfying!


All of this acanthus stitching and William Morris thinking reminded me of something I read in graduate school -- that the green dyes used in Victorian wallpaper and fabrics contained arsenic and that people were being sickened and even killed by their exposure to them.

I found a book at my library by Lucinda Hawksley, entitled Bitten by Witch Fever: Wallpaper & Arsenic in the Victorian Home.


It's a gorgeous book, filled with rich, full-color images of Victorian wallpapers.





Each chapter cited original sources from the time as they came to the conclusion that the arsenic in wallpapers and fabrics was dangerous, and detailed the eventual shift away from using these dyes. It also gave information on all the papers pictured -- who produced it and when, as well as whether or not it tested positive to arsenic. Again, spoiler alert: all of the papers in the book tested positive. 

The book even included one of my all-time favorite illustrations from Punch -- I had a copy of this at my desk all through graduate school:


I had always taken as gospel the primary source material I had read -- especially the growing outrage in the popular press of the day.

But here's the thing: according to a study in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring from 2004 (republished by the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2005), the "mass poisoning of Victorians by arsenical poisoning" was determined to be an urban myth. I had gotten caught up in "fake news" of the day ... as clearly, have many historians.

On another note, when we were up visiting the tulips two weeks ago, I picked up an acanthus of my own. Being overly indecisive (and planning some big garden work) I decided just to put it in a big pot for now. I look forward to watching her grow!


And speaking of things that are growing; my fellow stitch-a-long members are also working on their growing projects. I've loved seeing what they're working on and how much they are accomplishing! Check out their blogs here:

Avis,  Claire,  Gun,  Carole,  LucyAnn,  Kate,  Jess,  Sue,  Constanze,  Debbierose,  Christina,  Kathy,  Margaret,  Cindy,  Helen,  Steph,  Linda,  Mary Margaret,  Heidi,  JackieHayleyTony, Megan and Timothy.

15 comments:

  1. the black background is really going to make the rest pop!

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  2. I love filling in backgrounds, for the very reason you've given – they make the stitching pop!

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    1. This one is actually pretty exciting with lots of little bits rather than big expanses. But it's fun to see the improved contrast as I fill in!

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  3. This one just gets better and better and I know it'll look even richer and more vibrant in real life. Gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks Avis! I honestly owe my progress to your stitch-a-long. :)

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  4. OH my goodness, you are going to be doing a happy dance next time! This is so lovely, the background does amazing things to those leaves!

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    1. Thanks Kathy! I'm hoping to have the top half of the background stitched by next time.

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  5. Congrats on finishing the leaves! They are so beautiful. I'm really loving this pattern as a whole <3

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  6. Happy dancing with you in spirit. Those leaves were quite the accomplishment! I LOVE the Punch cartoon! Do you suppose I could find a print of that somewhere? It would fit right in with my wall of skeletons. I've seen acanthus leaves in various decorative motifs, from architecture to textiles, but I don't believe I've ever seen (or recognized anyway) a real acanthus plant. Might have to look into that too!

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    1. Thanks! I did a little search for "Punch Prints" and there's a searchable archive of their cartoons. You can buy prints in various sizes too -- though they seem a bit spendy. Then again, I bet they're nice, gallery quality prints. I went to the site and searched for "Arsenic" and it came right up : https://www.punch.co.uk

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  7. Oh..you have done a great progress! And yes, I´ve heard about the wallpaper making people sick. Terrible isn´t it!

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  8. It is looking great. The black background does help the leaves pop out. Love it.

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