I had a grace hammer fall on my head yesterday while working on the method to recreate this lovely embroidery. The kind of hammer that felt like a bit of a "d'uh!" moment, but I'd rather give credit to Our Lady and my Holy Angel for dropping grace into a situation when I can't see the forest for the trees.
I don't have enough time to thoroughly examine intact antique embroidery to determine method then completely hand stitch the stump-work so I considered recreating the design using my antique chain-stitch embroidery machine. The machine creates lovely embroidery and seemed the only reasonable option given my timeline and all of the other projects I am currently juggling. But I was not satisfied with the thought of embroidery that was so different in style from the original.
One trial led to another when it finally occurred to me that I could use the machine to do the basic outline and fill and add satin-stitch by hand over the top of the chain-stitched design. This method saves a lot of time and effort. It also honors the original design without taking more time than I have to complete it.
With all materials in hand and now a reasonable method of implementation all that's left is execution. Prayers appreciated.
