The Good Shepherd

My good friend, and fellow collaborator on needlepoint for this church, came over today to bring me the first of the pew markers I've seen totally finished. One of the ladies who was stitching, left hers on an airplane - so it has to be replaced. Oh dear.

Anyway, this is much more effective, I'm sure, in the church than hanging off my daughter's kitchen island - but you can see the basic effect. We chose to use the shepherd's crook with some grape leaves for color, and I painted 12 each of red with the white crook, and the red crook on a white background.

My favorite finisher, Vikki Pinson of Austin, did the final work - and she weighted the bottom point so it would hang straight when in use. The other side - the one that will hang just inside the pew, has a very heavy weight in it so that it won't slip off. I painted a simple Latin cross on that end so it will look nice from this side too.

The stitching is simple - I had them use mosaic stitch for the background, and basketweave inside a framework around the crook. The thread is Paternayan Persian, and by using these two stitches, it looks like two slightly different shades of one color - due to the light breakup on basketweave surface vs. the long, flat stitches of mosaic.
The other business was for her to pick up the Alms Basin (collection plate) pad I was supposed to stitch as my part of the project - but wasn't able to get it done.

It is to be a memorial to a child tragically lost in a boating accident two years ago - the little son of my granddaughters' God parents. I painted a number of these pads in different designs for the main church, and then several for the children's chapel, which involved lambs.


I have lost the pictures of the big ones, but they were paintings of the stone carving outside of the Good Shepherd. (here in Austin)