A Fantasy: The Water Droplet Finished!

I really didn't think I could create another one, but this one I enjoyed as much as the others! A lot more experience in handling the Memory Thread, and, as always, a creative experience in choosing the threads. It still takes a bit of nerve to begin "painting with my needle" on a bare, stitched background - in this case, sand and sea water on a coral reef.

After placing the "main elements" - the seaweed (DMC Satin Floss), the Coral, and the first urchin, it was time to proceed with filling in the usual delightful clutter on the sand.


First, of course, the blue star fish, as I'm still enchanted with this. Then, just a dumping out of random samples in my stash - and leftovers - to choose a few that are compatible with the emerging color scheme.

Again, I seem to do best on this with no pre-conceived "color scheme." Just adding one thing at a time does the job, and then it's easy to see what else is required. One must consider, of course, in these color choices, the texture of the threads. They should enhance and complement each other. Too much sparkle or too much shine wouldn't be pretty as a whole.

I did use another of Sharon B's threads on the blue star fish, (which was worked with a fly stitch plus two spokes in the normal ribbed spider web stitch) because it also had the little bit of iridescent sparkle, but wasn't fuzzy - a smoother fiber. Lest this sound confusing, I've always seen "raised" or "ribbed" spider web worked on an even number of spokes - normally 8. However, for a star fish, 5 were required. This "5" format, being an odd number, is what we use to make silk ribbon roses, just weaving the ribbon over and under going around the foundation spokes.


The last photo is a detail of the sandy bottom of the coral reef - it needed some green, so I started with another sea urchin, but this time with Sea Grass by Thread Gatherer, which is smooth and small in diameter, so I was able to make a tiny one.

I'm enchanted with the form this method of stitching "spider rib" takes - it looks rather like a snail shell, which isn't what I had imagined. Hmmmm. Maybe I'd better get ready by working another "blank" water droplet.