Monday, August 15, 2022

Tapestry ...

 


Progress...

I am Sure you can imagine, Dear Readers, that I have not neglected my Tapestry stitching during the past few weeks. In spite of the very hot weather (which has subsided, thankfully) I managed to get a lot of  stitching done! This required that I continue with designing my own additions to the Tapestry, and the options were wide open. Should I add another figure (a page, perhaps?), or more animals?, or more landscape...? A castle in the background?..., a forest...? or a Formal Garden....? The space available was not large, and I needed to stay with the theme already in play.... the flowery meadow and Ladies... so I decided the easiest and most necessary part was adding another hound. You can see her above. I only had to make a few adjustments from my sketch as I stitched... mostly with where exactly the shadows needed to be. But this left still plenty of space to experiment with. I had already decided that this was becoming a bit of a "Sampler" for me.... seeing if my design ideas worked okay when stitched. And because I was unsure about what else to add, I decided to stitch the flowery background as close to the original kit design as I could.

And perhaps you recall that I had added
 a whole range of my own flowers to the original designs...
The little white daisies and the tiny bluebells
 were not part of the original designs.


Here you can see the current Tapestry
 next to the already completed one.
Because they are so obviously a "continuation" of the theme,
 I am assuming they were once a much larger Tapestry
 that was cut up into smaller pieces at some point in its history.
 Only some of the pieces have survived.
Which allows me to add parts that "continue" the theme in a larger sense.


I followed the flower placement as nearly as possible
 to the kit instructions before adding my "additions".
This way the new Tapestry would look similar to the first one.


Here you can see the two together again.
I wanted to be sure the flower placement was balanced.
But this was really just delaying the challenge
 of adding my own designs.
At some point I just had to add something!
I decided to add a trellis with a Rose growing on it.


Here is my sketch.... 
set beside the Duchess...
Just to try to get the placement correct.....


I am trying to keep a color balance in the overall design...


And I am trying to work with the greens already in use.


And adding the trellis...
which seems so formal and rigid in this meadow...
But perhaps we are at the edge of the meadow...
(because I wanted to try a tree...... a little Medieval Tree...)


I had to make several sketches before I could start to stitch this!


And again, I am staying with the colors already in use...
 just trying to make the tree look "Medieval".
I really think I will not be able to tell if I am successful
 until the background has been added.
You must remember that it will be a midnight blue
 background like the other tapestry.
The colors look one way on a white background,
 but have a reverse effect against a dark background.
This means the darker colors will "disappear"
 and the lighter colors will "jump out".
But it is way too late to change my mind! 
I must just keep to the design...


(I have to keep reminding myself to trust the charted design!)


But I didn't chart the background flowers.....
I am just adding them in as balanced a way as I can...
and "borrowing" the designs from the other tapestry chart too...


Here they are all added!
Ready to begin the background stitching!
There is a Lot of background to stitch!

And when finished it will join the other
 Tapestry "fragment" in Rose Thorne Cottage.
This one is only 5.5 inches square. 
It is way too small for the Huge Old Castle walls!
I am working my way up to designing one
 large enough to be worthy of the Castle.
So you can see Dear Readers,
I am making Progress on the Tapestry stitching!


8 comments:

  1. Very fine tapestry. very good work. Hugs Britt

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  2. The new hound is so good, Betsy! I love her (?)! You are just as talented a designer, sketcher and a stitcher as you are a painter, and that leaves me in awe of you! I love the rose trellis and the tree in the background. They not only fill the space perfectly, they create such a nice setting for these lovely ladies to walk in! I am really looking forward to seeing the background as it begins to make the details pop through!
    P.S. I hope the Lord's Chamber tiles are coming out like you'd envisioned and that the weather stays cool, too!

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  3. Creatively and Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!!
    Your medieval tapestry is a testament not only to your Excelletent skills as a embroiderer but also as a Composer and Artist of the First Degree!
    BRAVO, Betsy! ❤️

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  4. ¡Es impresionante la evolución!
    Va a quedar precioso.

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  5. The tapestry does not cease to amaze me. It was already super and improves with every edition. Fortunately the heat did not cause you to stop entirely with stitching.

    I love the addition og the hound, you know my weak spot for hounds large and small. :-)

    You mentioning large tapestries to adorn the hall or a chamber in the castle... That will also be a very interesting series I do not wish to miss a post on. What delights await us?

    Huibrecht

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  6. Wow! This is so beautiful! I love the hound and the trellis. Everything fits so well together. A lovely medieval tapestry.
    Hugs, Drora

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  7. You NEVER stop to amaze me (even more as you're able to make so much progress during a heatwave)! It was already an amazing step to create your own design adding a whole new figurine with a complicated and detailed gown. And now you're even going another step further with even more additions. I really like the hound - but adding even landscape is for sure another level.

    Your tapestry is already beautiful in every way and I can't await to see it with the dark background as I can only agree that this will change the appearance of the colors. And one thing is already clear: This is going to become another masterpiece of yours.

    But it was a surprise that this will remain / go to Rose Thorne Cottage as it is just perfect for your castle. Don't you think they also had smaller pieces back then? *LOL* On the other hand - we can expect GRAND stitching miracles from you in the future. ;O)

    Hugs
    Birgit

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