Rushnychok - Canadians helping Ukraine

 The 34th Convention of the UCWLC Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada theme was “A strong Canadian community united in spirit with Ukraine”. To this end I designed and embroidered a rushnychok (a small ritual cloth) for inspiration.

𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗮'𝘀 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗨𝗸𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗮 𝗖𝗺𝗼𝗰, speaks about her role in Ukraine at the banquet.

Firstly, embroidery unites us with Ukraine because we also embroider in the diaspora. The logical solution was to embroider the main theme elements in one composition. The idea of ​​a cross surrounded by tridents comes from an online photo of heavily embroidered patriotic embroidery from years past. The tryzub trident is an important symbol for those who fought for Ukraine's independence 100 years ago and those who protect it now.

Inspiration

I visualized a maple leaf on both sides to symbolize strong Canadian women.

Addding maple leaves

Second, to implement my idea, the easiest thing for me was to sit down and embroider the pattern in time to use a photo of the embroidered motifs as a logo on the convention book and banquet program.

It starts with a cross

I was wondering what to do with the embroidery itself? The idea came to embroider a rushnychok (a small ‘rushnyk’ ritual cloth), because it is our sacred tradition to drape them on icons.

Draped on the icon

At first I embroidered the cross with a dark navy outline exactly as it appeared on the historic photo. It looked black, dark and overall depressing.

Stitching the tryzub

So, I ripped out the initial dark outline around the cross and added a bright blue base to the stylized stems below the diagonal tryzub. This lightened up the look and better represented the spirit of what I was trying to convey.

Completed cross

The challenge was to find appropriately-sized and styled maple leaves that would fit with the embroidered focal design. I settled on Magnificent Minis “Fallen Leaves” by STITCHNMOMMA. These maple leaves were the closest to realistic maple leaves with veins and stems facing right and left.

Stitching the maple leaf

A photo taken by my iPhone shows the weave and textures. A scan of the fabric just showed the embroidery against a white background and was ideal for the programme booklet.

Image showing the weave and textures

I repeated the embroidery on the other side and a rushnychok was coming alive. To hem the runner I pulled two warp threads, folded over the edge and proceeded to create posts in a one-step stitch called ‘merezhka’ in Ukrainian. I finished each end with the fine fringe created by pulling out the weft threads. 

Finishing the fringe

It was the perfect length when draped over the Patroness of the UCWLC icon! The rushnychok was blessed by Bishop Bryan Bayda and in place throughout the convention and banquet.

From an idea to make a theme come alive to rediscovering cross-stitch embroidery, I’m honoured my composition captured the essence of strong Canadian community united in spirit with Ukraine.

Cover of the Convention programme booklet