Tiny Progress...
As I am sure you are aware, Dear Readers, Autumn is Upon us, and the chief manifestation of this in my neck of the woods is the disappearing daylight hours! The temperatures have cooled somewhat and we are seriously lacking in rainfall, but it is the shorter daylight that I feel most keenly. It is dark when I get up in the morning and almost dark by dinner time too. But that is not the main subject of this post other than to lament that it is harder to stitch the higher thread-count projects in artificial lighting. At least I have been doing a fair amount of stitching this summer while the daylight seemed to be endless. I wanted to be sure I "plugged away" at the Chinese Dragon Carpet while the lighting was good and I managed to stitch most of the leaves on the original chart that I did not need to alter from the original placing. Because I added the central dragon motif, it caused an avalanche of changes in the original design all across the central section of the carpet! And then I needed to decide just which parts of the original design could be shifted to where... depending on how they fit and the overall balance of the design. I decided that the simplest thing would be to mimic the arrangement of the leaves at the sides of the central octagon...
As you can see here I have begun stitching the left end leafy section.
The motif is not exactly the same as the one on the side...
but I am actually using the one that is in the chart for this end of the carpet...
but shifting it closer to the central octagon,
positioning it the same as the side panels already are.
The remaining "spaces" will be filled with other small leafy pieces....
Sorry for the dark photo....
yes, Autumn light is in short supply...
but you can see the leaves that have been added.
Most of these were in the chart...
but the ones closest to the Octagon have been positioned by me....
it is a nerve wracking process trying to imagine
what they will look like before they are stitched!
But I have been making progress!
And some of you, Dear Readers, might have wondered
if you would ever again see anything of those
Tiny Cushions I was stitching way last spring...!
Well, I did manage to stitch them all and cut them apart from one another
and even started the process of stitching the pillow backing
and turning them right-side out....
but I neglected to take any photos and even then
I didn't finish even one of them until this morning!
After turning them in-side-out I realized
that the silk mesh showed along the seams more than I had expected.
I was going to need to stitch on a "cording"
(I was planning to do this anyway actually)
using some perle cotton that I had in my stash...
but I thought the black sewing thread would not look right over the blue cording...
and I didn't have any blue thread the right color....!
So I left the project mid stitch....
and this morning I decided to use the black thread anyway
and see how it looked.....
Well, you might think I compromised my standards...
but I think it looks fine...
the checkered pattern is what is supposed to stand out...
not the blue cording.
And since I was zipping along now,
I started right in on the Leo Cushion....
Here you can see it already stitched to the backing
and turned right side out.
The bottom is open for filling the cushion
(I am using seed beads to give some weight to the cushion)
and then I will add the cording as before.
Well, that was quick!
And Then the Wyvern Cushion....
Here you can see it already stitched to the backing material
and trimmed prior to turning right side out.
And here I am adding the cording
the same as for the other two cushions.
So, where are these Beauties going to live...?
Well, I can't say this will be the permanent spot for these tiny cushions....
but I have always thought they would be right at home
in the attic of Hardwick Hall!
So you can see, Dear Readers,
I have not forgotten the many
stitching projects I have under way...
And I even have made some tiny progress!
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