Monday, December 11, 2023

Beetles Sampler Framed

 Brown metal frame, no mat, deep spacers to keep the glass (actually acrylic) off the beetles. Ground fabric is dupioni silk, on cotton substrate. I was initially worried about the light fabrics not being able to support the metal threads; it turned out ok.



Sunday, November 26, 2023

Beetle Sampler Done

 Really happy that I didn't buy any supplies - though at time tempted! The last beetle was the most difficult, partly because I don't have the correct weight threads.

Contemplating frame now...

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Jane Nicholas Beetle Sampler

I was almost ready to order the kit from Jane Nicholas before I realized that the instructions and templates are in my beetle book, and the kit only has supplies. I had the brilliant idea of using my stash, making substitutions for the metal threads that I don't have. I'll see.

I printed the templates onto tracing paper and basted it on the fabric. I've been using this technique for a while; it takes more effort, but the basting thread can be removed in the end with no design lines left behind. I use 100 weight fine silk thread for the basting.

I've finished two beetles, the second one is quite difficult to do, and substitutions made it twice as hard! 




Friday, November 10, 2023

Shades of Blue Framed

 Debated between a gold second mat or the blue one; settled on the blue. My framer would cut the mats with reverse bevels, so there is no distracting white edge around the mats. I picked a frosted gold metal frame.


Monday, November 6, 2023

Alison Cole's Shades of Blue

Finished and waiting for my ordered frame. I thought this would be more difficult than Poppy, but surprisingly it was not as hard. Made a couple of changes: one of the petals was stitched with long-and-short stitch silk, instead of chain stitch with passing thread. More significant change was using DMC's metal mesh. It really turned out well; I finally had a use of the DMC mesh that I ordered when it first came out years ago. Next project is Jane Nicholas's Beetle Sampler.



Monday, October 2, 2023

Alison Cole's Poppy

 Thought this would be an easy one - wrong! Finally finished. I used koma to help stitch the filigree leaves. I also simplified the main flower stem by using grecian twist instead of laying on cut purls, so much easier. I used thinner edging for the flower petals - same gold thread as the leaves; using pearl purl per instruction was too harsh. 



Next project is Shades of Blue.