I’m making a cimaruta amulet for the friend who does all the gorgeous henna on me. I wanted to give her something in return. I asked her if there was something like a hamsa in her tradition, since I had been doing a lot of hamsas lately. She told me about the cimaruta and that she’d wanted one, but with more modern “charms” on it. We decided I would make her one.

Traditionally the cimaruta is a pendant that is all silver and double sided. I chose to use metallic silver thread for the design, but only half of the charms are silver toned. The charms I chose for her are based on her life and things that I felt would be protective for her.

The design is based on the one I found on a Stregheria website, which is the foundation my friend’s spiritual path.

There is still a little more detail and highlighting I need to do, but it’s just about done.

Technorati Tags: cimaruta, amulet, embroidery, hand-stitched, stregheria

8″ on cotton “Empress Woo” fabric
Stitches:  Back stitch, blanket stitch, french knots, satin stitch
Private Collection

More pictures on Flickr

Musing on Empress Woo is a new direction in my “musing” pieces.  With these pieces I draw on the fabric with air erasing ink and stitch as the ink disappears.  Generally, I have to redraw the design many times – which ensures a very organic experience.

With Woo, I only knew what I wanted to do as I did it. I wanted to enhance this gorgeous fabric, but it’s a fine line between enhancing it and over doing it.

The final piece is 8″ framed in a round embroidery hoop.

I used a mixture of silk, cotton, and metallic floss used.  Primary stitches are back stitch, blanket stitch, french knots and a touch of satin stitch.

The piece was created as an original design to be donated to the 2009 Open Hearth Foundation Spring Ball Auction.