Learn techniques from Ruth’s banner project

Have you been following Ruth O’Leary‘s series on the St. Cuthbert’s banner? Back in September she reminded us,

This is a fantastic project commissioned by the Northumbrian Association to make a new version of a lost medieval processional banner for presentation to Durham Cathedral.  No pictures of the original, which was destroyed in the Reformation, survive, but there is a detailed description of it, and the team’s artist, Fiona Raeside, has drawn a beautiful design based on that.

The central crosses for the banner (front and back) were completed last year. For the past several months, Ruth has been working along on the flowers that will make up the border. She’s embroidering them on linen; then she’ll then cut them out and applique them onto the banner. This means each flower, each leaf must be stitched in such a way that the background can be cut away without affecting the integrity of the stitches.

Ruth is letting us watch over her shoulder through each step of the project. Her excellent photos amount to tutorials for each of the techniques she’s using. I thought about pointing out some of my favorite technique-oriented posts, but you’re probably going to want to see them all and choose your own favorites. Luckily, Ruth has categorized the posts related to the banner so we can view them in order and without interruptions from other blog topics. To watch the evolution of the banner, go to Ruth’s home page and click the St. Cuthbert’s Banner link in the right-hand column. Or just follow this link to the series.