practice makes perfect

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Caron Lage asking permission to link to my French knot post from her blog. She gets a lot of requests about French knots for a very special reason. A couple of years ago she started a fiber art installation project to commemorate those who have lost their lives in the Iraqi War. The project involves making a six-inch square quilt for each American military death with each square having 212 embroidered French knots to represent the Iraqi citizens who have died.


The French knots are designed to form geometric patterns.

She's gotten a lot of help from family, friends, and embroiderers all over the country but needs to finish the last 600 blocks by Memorial Day. You know how I'm always telling you to practice your French knots? What better way to do that than by making 212 of them!


The blocks are completed with black knots on solid colored fabrics.

Read more about the project on Caron's blog And Still Counting? There are lots of photos to look at here. And, if you'd like to help with a block or two she has requirements and instructions listed in the right sidebar on the blog.

french knot

French Knot or, as some of you have started referring to them, the dreaded French knot. Really, they aren’t that bad.

French knots are essential to embroidery because there’s nothing else quite small enough or that works so well for fine details—facial features like eyes and curls, for example.



They’re most often used singly for the centers of flowers, or massed together to form the flowers themselves.





They’re also very handy for making single dots—like for polka dots on a dress or for depicting fleece on a lamb (for a baby pillowcase, perhaps).