No attempt was made to cover
every square inch of the hangings with embroidery: the group of needlewomen
was a small one. The backgrounds, sky, etc. were painted on ‘duck’ – artist’s
canvas, which is equally good for embroidery – and the churches were embroidered
on patchwork fabric and appliquéd to the background. Only simple stitches
were used. By far the most challenging, but also enjoyable, part of the work
was in populating the foregrounds of the hangings with Actonians in many
different periods of dress, but all padded to stand out from the hanging in
bas-relief. The 20th century figures, with their tight-fitting clothes, were
the most difficult of all.
