I've noticed a lot of what I'll call Embroidery Art at thrift stores lately. Perhaps this kind of hand-made decoration became really popular a few decades ago and is now finding its way into the secondhand stream, but I can't offer any kind of educated explanation for its ubiquity. This piece stood out because of it's unique design, with lots of negative space and great angles in the tree limbs. Even more interesting is the fact that the directions for making the embroidery are still affixed to the back of the frame, on a separate piece of paper. Presumably recorded by the creator him or herself at the top of the paper, the note reads: "Completed - 2/16/71 C. J. [?] Houston - Baltimore." So we know that this is over 30 years old, and that it was made here in Charm City. On a bit of blue paper pasted to the right of the directions, it's revealed that the work was custom framed by Ludwig Katzenstein, a company still in business today in nearby Lutherville.
The hand-drawn directions don't include any stitch counts or measurements, which would imply that the final product was stitched free-hand (impressive!). The names of the stitches used in embroidery are interesting--padded satin, coral, stem--but seemingly not at all self-explanatory.
What really drew me in when I saw this tree was how it seemed to echo some of the shapes and colors of the Bayeux Tapestry. It wouldn't seem out of place among the other stylized trees that separate the embroidered scenes narrating the Norman conquest of England, and it has inspired me to put down my knitting needles and crochet hooks and give embroidery a go! Maybe in 2050 some poor sap will buy the fruit of my labor--and let's hope it actually looks like fruit--from a futuristic Goodwill store (an oxymoron if ever there was one).
Looks like an Osage Orange tree (I always call it a Tennis ball tree too). Good find! :)
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