Completed and new designs

I've emptied some frames in time for the Easter holidays which I'll be able to use for some embroidery time.  But first ..... the final Module design for our JEA curriculum is completed and off the frame.  Happy Dance.  That means that we have at least two designs for each of our first nine modules.   This is Module 8.2, Lotus. 

This design has changed quite a lot from my original idea.  That was to have a white lotus standing out from a coral background.  After the change of colour, because the original background didn't work, it has morphed into a lotus which blends into the background and, in some lights, almost disappears. 

The top photo shows where I was before I went to class in Alton as a student a few weeks ago.   I spent the mornings working on the lotus, because the light was better, and managed to get it completed in class.  Or so I thought.  After completing the holding on the leaf, I reviewed the whole design from a distance and decided that the middle petal at the back was not prominent enough.  I took it out and put it back in with a brighter white rather than the mauve I'd originally used.  Much better.

The final job was the veins in the leaf.  The photo above shows the shell powder guidelines.  I use shell powder a lot and find it a very useful tool for creating temporary lines.  My first attempt at the veins was using a #4 shell silver, which I don't seem to have a photo of, anyway I didn't like it, it was too distracting to the eye, so out they came again.

I decided to use the darkest of the greens in a couched karayori.  This took me to the end of our five day class and the design was complete, I thought.  I wasn't entirely convinced by the dark karayori but, as with every design, I always leave it on the frame without looking at it for a couple of weeks before I decide if it is really finished. 

Home I came and it was put aside and ignored for a couple of weeks.  When I did look at it last weekend I knew the dark green was wrong, so out it came and another karayori of light green went in.  One of the things Kusano sensei talked about last year in our class was how our embroidery makes us feel.  This design 'feels' right, it resonates with me and I'm very happy with how it has turned out.  The next job is to write up some notes as it will now be made available for our students, I hope they enjoy stitching their versions.

My frames didn't stay empty for very long.  I am still working on the Kusano design from our class in Japan (more about that in another post), but those motifs are teeny tiny and I wanted something else to work on which was 'easy' and also, having spent so long designing and stitching for JEA, something just for me.  In the end I started two designs, one is for JEA and uses a number of the interesting and unusual metallics that we have. 

It is quite a small design so it shouldn't take long to complete.  It is one that I've had ready for a number of years but just never got around to.  This is all I've done so far, but with the long weekend ahead I should make good progress.

The other design is just for me because I like chrysanthemums and this green is one of my favourite colours.  I'm still stitch transferring this one so nothing to show at the moment, apart from Flash taking time off from saving the universe to help me with the design! 

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend.

 

 

Keywords

Cats | Green Chrysanthemum | Japanese Embroidery Academy UK | Lotus | Noshi

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