Stitches

There are so many beautiful panels on the 143 metre long Scotland's Tapestry with the most exquisite needlework but I have chosen this which is not as colourful or detailed as many others but I think it is symbolic of the exhibition. I chose it, not because of its title and the fact that it is actually on show at the Scottish Parliament building where elsewhere in the building proposals for holding the Scottish independence referendum were being discussed by the Holyrood parliament, but because of the work of the principle designers and the wide variety of stitches and techniques used.

Alexander McCall Smith had the idea for the 143 metre long Great Tapestry of Scotland and Alistair Moffat researched the history while designs were drawn up by Andrew Crummy who also designed the Prestonpans Tapestry. Overseeing the 1000 stitchers was Dorie Wilkie who also embroidered much of this panel. The national flower, the thistle, is worked in a wide variety of stitches and the threads lead to coded numbers which represent Alistair’s recent research cataloguing the different genetic codes of the people in Scotland. In the top left hand corner there is a reference to Kirkliston where the first recorded Parliament met in 1235 during Alexander II’s reign. The two bottom squares show the names of the three who sewed the panel, with the left one using the ancient ogham alphabet.

This morning in spite of the queue apparently it was "quiet" but considerably much more crowded then on my two previous visits. There is so much to see and well worth visiting if at all possible before it finishes on the 21st.

Several groups recorded their progress on making their panel. One is coastal60