Welcome to my very first online course offering. This is Long Time Gone Stitching - a counted canvaswork embroidery design based on Jen Kingwell's beautiful quilt, Long Time Gone. The design is filled with a wide variety of stitches, making it a great piece for learning about the endless design possibilities available in working this counted form of embroidery. As a quilt, it is often worked as a stash buster to use up small pieces of fabric. As a stitched piece, you can have lots of fun playing with your colour choices and still be confident that your final piece will look gorgeous.
During 2021 I offered this course as an emailed Block of the Month over eight months. Almost 100 students around the world took part and many of them have now finished their own beautiful versions of this design. I'm a big believer in encouraging people to choose their own colours - a palette that you truly love is so much fun to stitch. Just a look at some of the beautiful colour combinations that have been worked already!

How It Works

The course is broken into eight lessons. There are 25 blocks in total plus the border and sashing, so each lesson covers three or four blocks. The course is self paced and you will have access to all the material for as long as need. So you can race through it in a couple of months, or take it at a more moderate pace. It's entirely up to you. Each lesson includes a chart of the blocks covered, detailed notes and stitch diagrams showing you how to work each stitch, and videos demonstrating everything you need to know. It's the next best thing to being in a classroom with me. In fact, it's probably better because you can play the videos over and over again if a stitch is unfamiliar! For those who prefer my more traditional notes format, all the information is also available as downloadable PDFs which you can print out and refer to offline.

Social proof: testimonials

“Thankyou for sharing all these wonderful stitches and patterns, this has been one of the best pieces I have done. I have really enjoyed learning new stitch”

Kay, Queensland, Australia

“Your work is brilliant and you are so inspiring in your warm and professional videos.”

Kathy, Victoria, Australia

“This has been a really fun project. Thank you Ann-Marie, it's been a real learning experience and I have loved it.”

Ann, Victoria, Australia

“Thank you Ann-Marie for another lovely project. Looking back to Feb/March I realise how much I have learned, and how that has allowed me to be more adventurous!”

Wendy, Victoria, Australia

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I can promise you many hours of happy stitching and a beautiful completed project.

Materials

What will you need to complete the project?

  • FABRIC: The project is stitched on 24-count Congress fabric. The finished design measures 39cm x 39cm so I suggest using a piece of Congress that measures 55cm x 55cm. Please note that the instructions and thread quantites are based on my original 24-count version. Finer linen will require less thread whilst an 18-count version will require more. I can supply Congress to Australian or New Zealand customers for AU$20 plus shipping (send me an email at [email protected]). For customers in other parts of the world, it will be more efficient to order it directly from your local needlework store.

  • THREADS: My version was stitched entirely in stranded silk from my own hand-dyed range. This is a great project for using up threads from your stash or sourcing threads from your favourite supplier. The table of threads required is shown below. My hand-dyed skeins contain 9m of 6-strand silk and most of the stitches in the design use 2-3 strands. Variegated 1 works well as a more strongly variegated thread with Variegated 2 more subtle. For example, Beatrice includes shades of pink, purple, teal, yellow, and orange whereas Christina is just shades of blue and green. A thread pack for 24-count Congress including 28 skeins of hand-dyed 6-strand silk costs AU$140 plus shipping. To order, email me at [email protected]. You can choose the standard colour set or I can help you to create a custom set based on any of the colours in my range.

  • FRAMES: This piece is best stitched in an embroidery frame. 20”x20” (50cm x 50cm) stretcher bars or 20”x20” (50cm x 50cm) Q-snaps are both excellent options. You can also work it on a scroll frame with a minimum width of 20” (50cm).

  • NEEDLES: You will need Size 24 tapestry needles to work this on the 24-count Congress. Tapestry needles have a blunt tip and are the best choice for working this style of embroidery.

Instructor

"I believe that every single stitch you make is a BEAUTIFUL STITCH. A small brush of love on the fabric, recording for generations to come the time you put aside to create something special with your own hands."

Ann-Marie Anderson-Mayes

Ann-Marie is a hand embroidery artist based in Perth, Western Australia. She has been stitching for as long as she can remember, but only took it up full-time in 2012 when she started her business, Beautiful Stitches. Her former professional career as a scientist was strongly grounded in mathematics, and that passion for geometry and number is clearly expressed in her embroidery designs. It is all about colour and pattern!

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You will love working these beautiful combinations of pattern and colour.