More Stitching...

 

The Astrological Cushions Continued... 

I Left you several weeks ago, Dear Readers, with the not quite completed Wyvern Cushion and the beginnings of the final cushion framework. You can see above that the Wyvern is very close to completed, and even would fool most viewers into thinking it was all done. But I am still waiting for the purple thread I ordered... there are only about 25 stitches to fill with that color.... (mostly along the beasts neck) but I am not giving up yet! The green ground has all been completed. As for the choice of which of the four cushion designs to choose for the final cushion, it was an easy one for me. The Goat and the Bull were both too similar to the Leo I had just completed. I wanted a challenge and chose The Pisces cushion! I was really looking forward to testing my skills and my patience with that elaborate gold thread background. And besides, my birth sign is Pisces. The usual difficulties with matching thread colors from the original chart gave me some challenges too.

 Here you can see the chart with the accompanying list of threads. These are all for DMC threads, not the silk I am using. And there are no comparison charts to rely on. So I am doing my best as I did with The Leo cushion, and making some inevitable compromises. The biggest difference is once again with the gold threads.... the ones in the border squares, not the metallic threads in the pattern. The two golden yellow threads I have are the very light gold and the mid range gold that you can see in the border on the Leo Cushion. But I think the pale yellow is too pale. When I compare the picture of the finished embroidery in the book, the darker yellow is really almost a rusty color, not a gold. It is similar to the ocher color we did not have for the Leo cushion. Because it was so difficult to decide, I left the yellow border squares for last and started right in with the Fish!

 I started with the dark Navy Blue....

 

Followed by the Medium Navy Blue... and then the Bright Blue...

 

And then finally the Pale Powder Blue....

They did not take too long to finish.

And then for the metallic Gold Thread....

 

 

It was a bit challenging to follow the pattern... 

a very random swirly pattern inspired by

 the gilded backgrounds of Medieval Miniature paintings.

 

The most challenging part was trying to see the stitches you already had sewn...

 because the light glints off the thread... 

sometimes it looks like no stitch is there when one is already sewn!

 

And here the gold thread is nearly all stitched...

I know it is difficult to identify the patterns,

 partly because the thread shines through the cloth!

 

 

And here the metallic thread is all done,

 and I am starting to add the darkest of the red background threads. 

This is where the stitching gets really tricky!

If you look closely at the chart above, 

you can see that there are four colors

 of background "reddish" thread in the mix.

 Isolating the particular red you are stitching

 and finding all of those little random stitches

 in the already stitched pattern of gold threads

 was quite absorbing!

 Yes, I said I wanted a challenge!

 

Here the darkest red has all been stitched....

 or so I thought...

 I did find missing stitches as I sewed the next colors!

 

 

Here the dark red and the bright cherry red have been stitched.

 Sometimes it was really difficult to tell

 the middle two reds apart in the chart.... 

and because it was so challenging, 

I stitched the lightest color next... the coral color.

Here you can see it has all been stitched....

 

 

And finally, stitching the mid-range lighter red...

 really a very burnt orange color.

This is where I fill all the empty holes... 

unless I realize they were supposed to have a different color...

 in which case I go back in and add the missing color!

 

 

Until all those missing stitches are found!

And now I can go back to the the border 

and try to make the colors either match the chart

 or the stitched one from the book...

 

Which you can see here.... 

the darker of the two border "gold" threads

 looks almost like the orange... 

it really is the "missing" color,

 and I have to compromise!

 

I started with the darker yellow of my threads..... 

which is for the lighter yellow squares in the chart...

 

And then the medium range orange.

 I thought the two yellows would be too different

 from the rest of the design

 and would look too discordant.

 

As for the Wyvern and the missing purple threads, Dear Readers,

 I am happy to report that the purple threads arrived at last!

 Here you can see the Wyvern before the purple has been added....

 (just look carefully under his throat and along the side of his neck)...

 

And  Ta Da...!

 Here the purple threads have been stitched! 

There is also a small section below his breast 

and two dots above his tail 

if you want to try and spot them all!

 I can personally see the difference they make in the shadowing... 

so I am glad I persevered!

 

I don't know whether this is a better shot... 

but I thought I'd include it anyway!

 

Now, all I have to do, Dear Readers, 

is make all these little "designs" into tiny cushions!

 And you can rest assured....

 I have plenty more stitching still to do!