Elizabethan Garden Box

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Stitches used: Raised Work Detached Buttonhole Satin Double Running Spiral Trellis Couching Long and Short Tent Broad Chain Back This chart's retail price is $25

Inspiration for this box was drawn from many sources. The title itself defines three major areas of influence. Elizabethan embroderies were often characterized by scrolling vines upon which sprouted infinite varieties of flowers, fruits, and vegetables encapsulated in circular compartments and worked in rich silk and metal threads, sometimes in a raised fashion and commonly surrounded by a scattering of spangles. Gardens of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were usually quite formal in arrangement, with paths enclosing groupings of flowers and shrubbery in a geometric pattern, sometimes even a "knot configuration. A common layout consisted of divided quadrants surrounding a central section that sometimes contained a fountain. The arrangement of the Elizabethan Garden Box is similar to that of the formal Tudor or Stuart garden. The primary inspiration of this project was to create a stumpwork box,a richly worked exterior of hardwork to protect the treasures to be hidden within. Raised embroidery is a labor of love. Each element brings great satisfaction, and the final result rewards every enjoyable stitch.