Green Seaweeds

The seaweeds look very nice! Today's progress:

I made the little fish nibbling on the seaweed - as I made a mistake and didn't stitch his mouth separately, like the other 2 fishes.

Seaweeds

Started on the seaweed stems. The Miko-Yori threads are nicely stitchable. I put 4 strands on the needle and couched them down. I didn't have to lay them flat side-by-side - they look good without having to use the laying tool.

The fronds of the seaweed were done with 2 strands.

Small Goldfish Done

I finally got back to stitching this piece - the small goldfish is done. I broke down and got the LED clamp lamp, which works better for under-the-fabric lighting.  It clamps to the side of the stand, and casts a small circle of light, but it is not hot and does not interfere as much with my stitching.

And now all three fishes are done. The remaining seaweeds and bubbles should be easier...

For bragging rights from the recent GPR Seminar in Eugene, Oregon - I got First Place ribbon and Judge's choice in East Asian embroidery for Camellia; First Place ribbon for Goldwork for Blue Flower; and First Place ribbon for Beading for Rosy Posy - although for this one I got one point deducted for some scrunching of the yellow beads around the center circle; as it was stitched too tightly. I was not able to submit Falling Stars, which I think is a better piece; since I was only allowed to submit a maximum of three pieces, finished within the past 2 years.

Large Goldfish Done

Finished the large goldfish. For the scales of the large goldfish: I did not follow the instructions of using 4 #1 gold couched together, which did not work at all for me. Next I tried a single #4 gold, couched, but the wraps are too big to bend for the arc of the scale. So finally I stitched with a single #3 gold, couched, as I did not want to keep sinking the two ends of each scale. It turned out reasonably well, although it is probably a no-no for traditional Japanese embroidery. For the scales of the medium goldfish, I used 2 strands of #1 gold.

I've stitched two tissue paper covers over both fishes,(front and back of the piece) in preparation for transport to Mary Alice's class next week, after the EGA GPR seminar. I am not transporting the backlit lamp, which was really a pain to use, not to mention that I kept jerking back from touching the hot bulb with my fingers while stitching! I should have enough to do for the 3 days of class without having to use the lamp.

Large Goldfish almost done

Bumps are showing up nicely in the goldfishes, after I put in the holding stitches. One fin still left to be done, plus the scales for the big goldfish.

Using the light underneath the fabric to see the guidelines is really tiring - I'll be glad when this piece is finished.

Medium Size Goldfish

The medium size goldfish is almost done. All that is missing is the eye, and some holding stitches.

The scales were a BEAR to do because I tried to stitch according to the printed lines!! Then I notice in Midori's picture that they were stitched larger, which would have made them easier. It may not be easy to see - but there are 3 rows of scales instead of 4:

I just noticed that the tummy in the picture is a lot bumpier - maybe when I put in the holding stitches the bumps will show up.

Back to Goldfish

Since JE class with Mary Alice is coming up in a couple of weeks, I have to get back to it.
Today's progress: