T.I.P.'s and Coming Attractions

The first of the Mimbres Pueblo pottery ornaments is finished - all complete with beads, (Anne Stradal's Design - see more here), so it is no longer a Thing In Progress, but a Project Accomplished. Only two more of these to finish, unless I can manage to beg her to drop everything and paint the little canvas with the insects for me.

The mermaid (Gail Hendrix) is next, and I think I'm seeing the end of this one soon - but have thoroughly enjoyed the gorgeous colors! Since taking this picture, I have started stitching the arms and body - using Anchor floss, as I like the rather matte finish of the cotton as compared to the shine on the ribbon floss.

In this detail, you can see that I used (besides the honey/copper Ribbon Floss) on the tail, a bit of Accentuate for blending filament, along with Splendor silk, just on the darker shading on the tail fin. There is enough sparkle and shine on the rest of the figure, that making the entire tail sparkle too would destroy the effect.
The third "thing in progress" is the August Birthday crazy quilt heart that I had put aside - and now it's past time to start on January. (it's good to be busy.) I drew the arrows to point out the "seam" that isn't quite on the 45 degree angle - and also the dots I made on the patch with Hungarian Criss Cross, where beads will be placed.





The green diagonal mosaic was worked with the canvas turned, as it would not have been pretty going the other way, due to the angle not being exactly on the diagonal - but mainly because this stitch creates a strong direction, and looks much much better this way for this design.

The coming attractions include a series of beautiful little sea critters to swim with the Mermaid (Julia). The first of these on my work table, accumulating the necessary threads, is a pink blowfish, carrying quite a load of shimmering pearls. A delightful small project!



The next picture is a scan I made way before I had a computer and digital camera, so part of it is missing. This cross is 13" high on 18 mesh canvas, and will go to Houston when I'm finished with the painting. I'm awfully glad I won't be stitching it myself. It's enough work just to put it onto canvas, as everything on it is stitch counted and painted for symmetry of design. The inspiration for this cross came from a book I have owned and enjoyed for a number of years, "Faberge and the Russian Master Goldsmiths" - one of the best on this subject! The enamel cloisonne' and jeweled boxes, tea services, and other pieces are absolutely beautiful, and have furnished me over the last ten years or so with many many motifs and color combinations, mainly for crosses.


And now off to bed and the T.V.! Saturday night, and I have actually watched two movies I've never seen before. Remarkable - and I'll spend the time stitching. (No idle hands here!) Incidentally, I have no idea why there is a huge, long blank space under this entry - it has happened before. Oh well. Someday I will have this computer under my control. Maybe.