Stitching Update....

 

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! 

 

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!

 

Green.....

 

Grow the Leaves... Oh!

Can You remember, Dear Readers, about a year ago when I first posted the "Summer Green" Rhododendron shrub at the Folly Garden and wondered if it really had enough leaves to qualify as "finished"? Well, as some of you might realize, I decided it needed quite a few more leaves to really look right as THE evergreen shrub beside the Folly Porch. It is Evergreen, after all, so only steps aside briefly for the Blossoming version which takes a week or so, and for the Snowy winter version which comes and goes quickly only in Winter, so it had better be really worthy of all the rest of those months of viewing! Above you can see the "revised" version, newly "completed".... even though there are probably a few more leafy stems I will add, in particular in the corner by the Tree House. If you can't remember exactly how it looked before.... I have added a photo from Last Year....

 

And I know the lighting is different, 

which makes it really hard to judge.... 

but I also know that the newer version has nearly 400 leaves

 more than last year's version!

 

Here you can see it again... this years (version #3-2) 

from the side of the Garden near the Tree House. 

It definitely looks "denser" to me.... which was the whole point!

 

 The "trick" was to add the "understory leaves" which are

 the previous year's growth still attached to the shrub. 

And believe me, this was tricky to do! 

And very time consuming. 

And as some of you know, last years "green" shrub

 got a coating of "snow" during the Winter 

and is now the "Snowy Winter" version (#2-2)!

 So nothing was wasted after all!

 

And yes, Mr. Gnome is hoping that some of the disruptions

 to his usually quiet neighborhood will be finished for a while.

 

And maybe I can get working on some of my many other

 unfinished projects.... the list is Looooooong!

 

And Speaking of Green, Dear Readers,

 some of the threads I had ordered arrived

 and among them was a blue-green shade

 that I could use in my Astrological Cushions! 

 

The Leo Astrological cushion design

 was asking for four shades of green and one of gold

 for the ground below the Lion.

 The darkest green had arrived a while ago,

 and finally the blue-green arrived.

 Until it did, I did not want to start stitching

 until I could be sure it would work with the rest of the greens.

 As you can see, it does! So I got stitching right away!

 

Here you can see the Leo Cushion before starting the greens...

 but with the night sky completed. 

These kits are designed for larger scale, 

so the details are quite intricate for this tiny scale.

 I was not sure the two blue colors would be needed... 

but I have decided they work out okay....

 Just the darkest blue would have been

 too much like the black border squares.

 And once the ground is stitched... it makes beautiful contrast...

 

This is just the first two greens...

 

Here you can see the stitching beside the chart... 

it is sometimes difficult to tell which color the printed square is...

 they are very similar shades.

I start with the colors that are clearest to follow....

 the darkest and the lightest,

 and gradually fill in the more confusing ones.

 

Here I have added the golden wheat color....

 

And here the Leo Cushion stitching is finished!

 

 

And because I had also been waiting for

 that blue-green for the Wyvern Cushion... 

I got busy right away with the Green ground. 

This chart only needed the four green shades... 

no golden color is needed.

 

More of the Greens have been added...

 only the last one is still not stitched.

 

And of course, I have started the border for

 the last little Cushion for this piece of mesh....!

 

But I will Leave you here, Dear Readers... 

Wondering what the final cushion will be.... 

because I do have just a few more Leaves to grow

 on the Evergreen Rhododendron Shrub! 

Stitching Update...

 

Golden Threads... 

Some of the Threads I had ordered, Dear Readers, arrived promptly and I was lucky in that I could use two of the colors for my Astrological Lion cushion! You might recall that the design as it is charted in the Book calls for five thread colors for the Lion's body, a dark brown, a medium brown, a dark gold a medium gold and a pale gold, and I had only a pale gold and a bright gold and a dark-ish brown. I was hoping to find a lighter brown that was in the ocher range, and/or a darker gold in the butterscotch/ocher range. What I got was a darker brown.... which makes my first brown the medium one... and a wheat-gold that has to fall between the two golds I already had. 

 Here you can see the threads. I already had the palest gold on the left, the bright gold in the middle and the lighter brown beside that. As you can see, the colors are not as "different" from each other as I would have liked. Both the browns are fairly dark, and the golds are only subtly different from each other. But sometimes you just have to use what you have! So I got to work...

 

Here you can see the two different brown colors have been stitched... 

I know, they don't read as "different" here... it is really subtle!

 And I have started with the darker yellow, or gold, thread...

 

Here you can see the chart... 

the yellow thread I am stitching is the dark butterscotch color in the chart.

 It is quite challenging to discern exactly which color some of the squares are!

 

I have to pay very close attention to where I am in the chart....

 

Here I have completed the "butterscotch" stitches...

 

Next I am stitching the lightest gold color... 

because on the chart it stands out and is easy to place!

 

Here the lightest gold is almost all stitched.

 And at this point you can really see the "texture" 

of the coloring for the lion's mane,

 because the threads had good contrast.

 

Here the lightest gold has all been stitched. 

This is photographed in good morning light

 so you can pick up on the color differences.

But alas, Dear Readers, it is time to stitch

 the confusing mid-range gold... 

and suddenly all is not quite so clear...

 

Because it is so close in hue to the other golds... 

they begin to just blend together.

 

And here the mid-range gold is all stitched.

Some of that strong texture is gone...

 but I comfort myself with thinking that

 it actually looks pretty good for a Lion!

 

 The landscape stitching and the sky

 are still to come Dear Readers,

 but that will be a whole other adventure

 in new and Different Thread colors!