Designed & Stitched by: Joanne Grimes Size: 73/8" x 73/8" Thread: 2 strand embroidery Stitches: Stem, Satin, Long & Short, Split, Running and French knot
I'm really in the mood for embroidery work, so why not do another one. Besides I want to make my quilts and embroidery gallery equal for some OCD reason. Not really, but it's a nice excuse. Or maybe I don't want to haul out the whole kit and caboodle needed for quilting. Anyway here I go.
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The fabric I picked out is a rough weave and sort of irregular. It appears to be cotton. It's a pale yellow.
It's getting to be Fall and Halloween season, so I found a design that I made about 20 years ago while still in VMFA-235 Marine Corps F/A-18 squadron. VMFA-235 has since been decommissioned. I sketched the design on the back of a code card. Sheesh I'm old.
This is how far I got today. The actual size is about 2 inches in diameter. The design has some really small elements in it, but I'm not going to cheat by getting rid of the teensy elements.
On the 2nd day I penciled in more of the design onto the fabric.
The penciled in parts get done. My thread selection has been pretty random. It kind of depends on what I think each element is supposed to represent. This doesn't always mean each element is going along the same theme. I am trying to stay in a Fall color palette, but some elements like the tear drop shapes take on different meanings such as tears or blood so the color changes. This piece doesn't represent anything in particular. It just has little bits that feel or look better in certain colors. When I draw these things I can do a round in one theme then abruptly change course for the next round, so any potential symbolism is imagined by the observer. I don't put any thought into meaning of these things.
Today's progress...I did have a before pic with the lines penciled in, but for some reason I cleared everything off my SD card. Then the battery died on the camera while I was trying to take a better pic. This one isn't that great. I think I succeeded in reducing the motion blur a wee bit. At least I have a couple more days of stitching so better pics will be forthcoming.
I found a washable marker that didn't bleed all over the fabric like the green one, so I was able to draw my lines in a little easier. I needed that because some of the eyes have some real delicate lines.
Aaaaand here's how far I got today. I started the outline for one of the eyes. Once I finish this round and sign it I will be done. The image colors vary depending on what sort of lighting I get stuck with which depends on what time of day I take the pics. Nope no pro light box yet for me. I honestly don't know where I'd put it if I did build one.
I am basically done. I didn't need a 'start-of-day' pic because I picked up where I left off from yesterday. The only thing I added in marker was the date and signature. Yup the eyes are odd, but isn't Halloween supposed to have odd things in it?
Today I added a border. This isn't part of the original design, but it is needed to take up negative space. As you can see I did a lot of scribbling and redraws.
This is the back fabric pinned and ready to sew. I put this part together like a pillow with front of fabrics and design facing each other.
The piece is turned inside out after I embroidered the border and machine sewed the two fabrics together.
Aaand Ta-Da! The final piece is washed and pressed. I sewed in the proper size piece of heavy duty cardboard and it's ready to hang.
